Trainee West Sussex Firefighters Honour Longstanding Charity Tradition

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s latest cohort of wholetime trainee firefighters will tackle an extreme endurance challenge to raise funds for charity.

The eleven recruits will be cycling 180 miles - the equivalent of visiting all 25 fire stations in West Sussex from Joint Fire Control (based in Salfords), with an additional visit to The Fire Fighters Charity site, Marine Court (based in Littlehampton). 

The event will take place on Friday (24 March) at Tesco Express in Horley, and all donations will go to The Fire Fighters Charity, which is celebrating its 80th year.

The fundraiser comes as the recruits near the end of their 13-week initial training course, which will see them deployed to different fire stations around the county upon completion.

Steve Buchanan-Lee, Group Manager for Development and Operational Training, said:

“The group of trainee firefighters have pushed themselves to the limits during their training course. They have learnt invaluable skills such as how to release injured casualties from road traffic collisions, put out fires and rescue from people water, but this is their final chance to push themselves one last time and raise as much money as possible for charity.

“I am confident that their grit and determination will help them sail through their challenge and raise as much money as possible for a great cause.”

Trainee firefighter Imogen Lawson-Evans added:

“The Fire Fighters Charity does brilliant work to help firefighters and their families to live healthier and happier, and I feel proud to be supporting such a brilliant charity during their 80^th birthday year. 

“We’d love to meet as many people as possible at the event, so please do come along and cheer us on as we cycle across the county on our static bikes!”

If you would like to support the trainee firefighters and help to beat their £2,000 target, please visit the JustGiving page to donate.