On Sunday, eight firefighters will tie up their laces and join more than 40,000 runners taking part in the London Marathon.
The team, from North Kensington fire station, were the first crew on the scene at the Grenfell Tower fire last June. Since then they’ve grieved with the community. But now, they say, it’s time to “heal and re-build”.
They hope to raise £50,000 for children who survived or were impacted by the tragedy so they can access crucial services like counselling, alongside lighter relief in the form of discos, dance classes, art therapy and parties.
“Everyone at North Kensington Fire Station would love the children of our community to grow up with their lives defined by happy times and achievements, not by a tragedy,” reads the team’s JustGiving page. “Please donate and help to make this a reality.”
All money raised will go towards grassroots group Kids On The Green. The firefighters hope to fund essential equipment and enable the group to deliver crucial services for years to come. One of the major goals is to buy a re-conditioned double decker bus so they can travel around London giving the community access to therapies and much-needed services, like counselling.
So far, the eight firefighters - Mike Dowden, Chris Secrett, Tom Abell, Dave Badillo, Danny Bills, Danny Brown, Michael Kirkpatrick, Justin O’Beirne - have raised just over £30,000 of their £50,000 target. You can donate to their cause here.
Zoe Levack, founder of Kids On The Green, told HuffPost UK: “We are honoured and blessed to have these heroes in our corner.
“We will be there cheering them on and we could not be more proud.”
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