Bollington firefighters to do gruelling 35-mile walk in uniform for charity
Two firefighters are spending their Bank Holiday raising thousands of pounds for charity.
Bollington Fire Station's Tom Ladds and Jack Drogan will walk The Gritstone Trail, in full fire kit, on Good Friday.
The gruelling challenge will raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity.
Incredibly, they have already raised £1670 before the challenge has even began.
Macclesfield Nub News went down to Bollington Fire Station, on Albert Road, to find out more.
"We are hiking the entire 35 miles of the Gritstone Trail in a single trip from Kidsgrove to Disley," said Tom.
"We will be wearing full fire kit and carrying breathing apparatus sets on our backs.
"Every year, we always try to raise funds for the The Fire Fighters Charity.
"So I came up with the idea of doing The Gritstone Trail in full fire kit.
"We have a great team of 14 here at Bollington, and Jack was the only one to say yes."
The fire kit, helmet, breathing apparatus weighs 18 kilograms. That is almost three stone.
They will be setting off in Kidsgrove at 2am on March 29, and hope to make to Macclesfield 12 hours later, with Bollington and then Disley being the final two stops.
"It is going to be so difficult walking past our houses," joked Jack.
"A crew from Macclesfield are going to meet us at Tegg's Nose. And it will be tough going past the café without having a sitdown."
"The other guys are going to do stages of it with us, or have supplies or us at checkpoints," explained Tom.
The Fire Fighters charity provides support to firefighters from both a physical and mental side.
They run a crisis line, support the families of firefighters, and even retired fire service workers.
Tom has done a dry run of The Gritstone Trail without apparatus. But doing it with an 18kg weight on their back will be a whole other challenge.
"Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, and thanks to everyone that will donate," Tom added.
"If people want to meet us, do a section of the walk with us, updates will be posted on the Bollington Fire Station social media."
Macclesfield: You can donate to the crowdfunder on this link.
Alex Byers, Community Fundraiser at The Fire Fighters Charity, says: "On behalf of everyone at The Fire Fighters Charity, I send my heartfelt thanks to Tom and Jack for organising such a fantastic challenge, not only raising vital funds for us, but also awareness about the support we offer fire service personnel, like themselves, and their families across the UK.
"We wish both of them the best of luck on Friday. Every pound they've raised will make an incredible difference."
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