CREDITON Fire Station Watch Manager Neil Hargreaves is planning to run the London Marathon on Sunday, April 21, in aid of The Firefighters’ Charity.

He is being supported in his fundraising efforts for the charity which cares for fire service personnel who might need some assistance as well as eligible dependents.

Neil, a fitness adviser with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), and fellow crew based at Crediton, recently held at successful car wash at Crediton Fire Station.

There was a steady stream of people who went along to have their cars washed for a donation to the charity.

Unfortunately many of the volunteer fire crew washing cars had to leave to attend a persons reported road traffic accident, which resulted in a lot of work for the remaining firefighters and a long queue forming.

Neil explained: “A big thank you to everyone who attended our car wash.

“We are back next Sunday, February 11, for another car wash from 10am to 2pm if you manage to get your car dirty between now and then or just missed us last Saturday.

“There was some incredible work by the crews today and great team spirit shown throughout.

“We will give a total for both car washes once we have added it all up but for now we wish to say a huge thank you to everyone involved and who came to support us.

“A special mention to the two crew members who were left to keep washing as the rest of the crew responded to a persons reported road traffic collision and thanks for the patience of those who waited or came back later.”

Neil is hoping to attract business support in the form of donations towards the charity and also of prizes towards a bumper raffle.

To donate directly to Neil’s efforts follow the below link, all donations are really appreciated!

ABOUT THE CHARITY

If one of these applies to you or your loved one, you are eligible for The FireFighters Charity help*

• Fire services personnel (wholetime, retained, on-call, uniformed, control or support)

• Former fire personnel with five years’ service (or two if you were made redundant)

• Medically retired fire personnel (no qualifying length of service required)

• Works firefighters and former works firefighters with five years’ service

• Ministry of Defence firefighters and former MoD firefighters with five years’ service

• Those who manage or assist a Fire Services Youth Scheme

• Fire services chaplains or faith leaders

• Eligible dependants of any of the above

• Fire services volunteers.

*(qualifying criteria may apply).

WANT TO BE A FIREFIGHTER?

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service recently issued an appeal for more people to become on-call firefighters at Crediton, Chulmleigh, North Tawton and Witheridge.

On-call firefighters need to live or work within five minutes of one of the on-call stations.

Visit DSFRS careers pages to find out more about becoming an on-call firefighter and which stations are recruiting at: https://www.dsfire.gov.uk/careers/vacancies/on-call .

Most Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue fire stations are crewed by on-call firefighters.

On-call firefighters do the same emergency work as whole-time firefighters, but they can also have other jobs. While on duty, they carry a pager, which activates when they need to attend an incident. 

You don’t need to have any previous firefighting experience, just the passion to protect and help your community, and a good level of fitness.

Full training is given, applicants must be 18 or over, have a good level of strength, good eyesight, be able to drive and have a good grasp of maths and English.

Crediton Station Commander Neil Hargreaves said that anyone interested in joining at Crediton can obtain more details, or just call in for a chat, at one of the Crediton Station Tuesday evening training nights from 7pm.