Firefighters raise £5000 for colleagues in Ukraine
Big-hearted firefighters from Linlithgow Fire Station have raised £5000 for their colleagues in Ukraine.
The on-call firefighters donned all of their work gear to walk down the town’s High Street in the special fundraiser.
The fire squad spent eight hours, from 9am to 5pm, relay walking dressed in all of their heavy fire retardant clothing and breathing apparatus.
Firefighters walked from the cross to the roundabout at Low Port and back all day.
They took it in turns to brave the relay, with the others standing at a booth at the cross sharing information about firefighters in Ukraine and collecting donations.
Marching firefighters in the centre of Linlithgow attracted a lot of attention from locals – who generously donated £2903.49 in cash donations.
The crew also raised money through a justgiving page ahead of the relay walk on Saturday bringing the current total to £5219.49.
The money will go directly to Fire Aid UK and help support firefighters in Ukraine with a convoy of fire fighting vehicles, PPE, and equipment, which is due to leave for Ukraine on April 20.
Iain Withers, an on-call firefighter with Linlithgow fire station, said: “I think we’re all racking our brains right now trying to figure out how we can help those in Ukraine and when we saw Fire Aid’s campaign we knew we had to get involved.
“Fire stations in Ukraine are being actively targeted and destroyed – so the people there really need some relief.
“Around 20 vehicles will head out – fire engines, 4x4s, and general support and rescue vehicles – all of them will be filled with safety gear and firefighting equipment to help them deal with this horrific situation.”
A representative from Fire Aid got in touch with Linlithgow Fire Station and confirmed that another convoy of fire equipment will be heading to Ukraine in the next couple of weeks.
The Linlithgow Fire Station’s JustGiving page will remain active on their Facebook until the convoy leaves on April 20 and is also accessible through via https:// justgiving.com/fundraising/linlithgowfire-station
Said Iain: “We’re absolutely astounded by the response we got from the community and the money we’ve raised, which will go a long way in fuelling the convoys to get down to Ukraine.
“Firefighters in Ukraine are really putting their lives on the line – carrying out rescues and putting out fires, all whilst a war is being fought around them.”