London Firefighter Jimmy Durant has donated £1000 prize to the Firefighters Charity.
Absolute Radio’s Breakfast Show with Wickes is saying thank you to keyworkers and Enfield firefighter Jimmy was nominated by his wife Cassandra for going above and beyond during Covid-19.
Jimmy, 32, volunteered for Pandemic Multiagency Response Teams (PMART). The team’s work ensured a safe response to Covid-19 deaths that may occur in the community at home, in a care home or hospice and to help reduce demand on the London Ambulance Service, enabling them to prioritise emergency cases.
The Fire Fighters Charity has launched an urgent appeal for new donors after its usual fundraising income fell by around £200,000 a month during the lockdown period. The Charity, which offers specialist mental health, physical health and social wellbeing support to all serving and retired members of the UK’s fire services community, receives no government funding and relies on its fundraising income to raise the £10m it needs each year to operate its national services. However, the cancellation of all face-to-face fundraising and mass participation events over the past few months and for much of the remaining year, means that the organisation’s income is falling short by hundreds of thousands of pounds each month.
Jimmy said: “It’s very humbling to be nominated by my wife Cassandra and an honour to receive the prize. Working in the PMART was challenging at times and involved long shifts and my thoughts will always be with those who were affected by coronavirus. I’m pleased that my colleagues and I were able to be in the position to step up and help the public.”
“I accept this award on behalf of all of my colleagues who volunteered and helped protect London during these testing times. I’m donating the prize to the Firefighters Charity. Covid-19 has affected the charity’s fundraising ability and as someone who has used their services I know the incredible work they do to help rehabilitate fire service staff and support their families.”
Jimmy has been with the Brigade for two years after transferring from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. He lives in Bedfordshire with his wife Cassandra.
Staff across London Fire Brigade have raised around £30,000 for NHS charities and Firefighters Charity. In Hounslow over 70 firefighters and senior officers took part in a 24/7 marathon with teams running, walking and jogging in a relay on running machines. Having surpassed their target of £2,000 within just 24 hours, they raised a fantastic £10,206 for NHS Charities Together and The Firefighters Charity.
Firefighters Charity Chief Executive, Dr Jill Tolfrey said:
“This is an unprecedented time for The Fire Fighters Charity. We have never before faced such an extended period of time without any traditional fundraising activity and, for an organisation that is almost entirely funded through the generosity of its supporters, we need to find a way to turn this around.
“I am therefore hoping that this urgent appeal will strike a chord with those generous individuals and every member of our incredible fire service family. From frontline firefighters to support and control staff, retired personnel and everyone for whom we provide our services. We will always be there for the fire family when you need us, but right now we need you. So we’d like to say a huge thank you to Jimmy for showing such generosity and for helping to promote our appeal with his donation.”
For more information, go to www.london-fire.gov.uk/
