Crews, their colleagues and other volunteers carried out a bucket collection outside the Fire Station and in the town centre to collect cash for the BBC charity, which supports disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.
Personnel from Huddersfield Fire Station have carried out collections since 2000 and the team were thrilled when this year’s collection led to a grand total of more than £120,000 collected over the last two decades.
Jean Gledhill, station clerk at Huddersfield Fire Station on Outcote Bank, said: “We hoped that this year’s collection would get our total since 2000 to over £120k – when the buckets of cash kept coming in we knew we had reached our target. We weren’t sure how much we would raise this year, as often people don’t carry cash, but the generosity from everyone was incredible.
“We collected outside the fire station and took the fire engine into the centre of Huddersfield, it was amazing when members of the public were ready for us with tins full of cash. Because we have been collecting for over 20 years they knew to expect us, and it was great to see the number of people who had saved up their small change to donate to us.”
The collection on November 18th raised £6,584 - Jean said it took staff 12 hours to count all the cash. “We started collecting money at 6am and finished in the evening, as well as mountains of cash people also came along with cheques,” she said. “Our youngest collector was one-year-old Bella, who is the granddaughter of one of our team, and we were thrilled when ex-colleagues and District staff joined us.
“Crews took the fire engine into the town centre, near King Street, for morning, afternoon and evening collections. The reaction from the public was really positive and we really appreciate how generous everyone was – it was amazing to see everyone coming together to support our teams and this fantastic charity.”