A car wash will be held in Newport on May 25 to raise funds to transport much needed fire engines to Romania.
Staff from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service are holding the Saturday fund raising event at Newport Fire Station from 10am to 3pm.
“We need as many people as possible to come and have their car washed on the day and to contribute what they can towards the charity trip,” said Newport firefighter Charlie Cartwright.
A team of ten from the county’s fire and rescue service have volunteered to give up their holiday to deliver two redundant fire engines from UK fire stations. On board will be 500 firefighting uniforms donated by Lion Apparel Systems.
…to be replaced by another redundant UK fire appliance
They will set off aboard the fire appliances and a Land Rover on June 3 for the week long 1,700 mile trip to Transylvania travelling by ferry to France and on to Germany, Austria and Romania stopping at fire stations on the way.
Shropshire firefighters will train their Romanian colleagues in how to operate the fire appliances which will replace ancient fire engines desperately needed in rural parts of the country.
The Shropshire delegation, which has paid £150 each towards the aid trip, will also spend a day decorating a former prison, now an old people’s home.
A number of aid trips have been made to Romania by Shropshire fire and rescue staff over the past few years delivering a dozen old UK fire engines to support the rural areas where fire protection is “medieval” and many old people’s homes are in need of support.
