Firefighters in Huddersfield braved the cold weather to raise more than £6,500 with a street collection for Children in Need.
BBC charity
Crews, their colleagues, and other volunteers carried out a bucket collection outside the Fire Station and in the town center 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 was thrilled when the collection led to a total of more than £120,000 collected over the last two decades.
buckets of cash
Jean Gledhill, the 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."
It was great to see the number of people who had saved up their small change to donate to us"
Jean Gledhill adds, "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 center 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.”
morning, afternoon, and evening collections
The collection on November 18th raised £6,584 - Jean Gledhill said it took staff 12 hours to count all the cash.
“We started collecting money at 6 am 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."
Jean Gledhill continues, “Crews took the fire engine into the town center, near King Street, for morning, afternoon, and evening collections. The reaction from the public was positive and we appreciate how generous everyone was, it was amazing to see everyone coming together to support our teams and this fantastic charity.”
