Weeley firefighter raises £2,000 for local girl
On-call Firefighter Jon Turner from Weeley Fire Station has raised £2,000 for a local girl following a 24 hour walk from London to Brighton on 11 September.
Wearing a Breathing Apparatus set - which weighs around 15kg - Jon walked 100 kilometres over a 24 hour period from London to Brighton to help 8-year-old Alexia Rose Sinclair.
Jon said: “Alexia hasn't had an easy time since being born. She needs many specialist therapies to help her reach her potential and give her a better quality of life.
“I chose to do this walk after bumping into Alexia’s dad on a training course and he mentioned that they wanted to fundraise for her. I also wanted to raise awareness for Alexia, regardless of if anyone donates, raising awareness of what she is is going through and how not everyone has quite an easy ride through parenthood was important to me.”
Raising £2,000 himself, Jon was joined by a team of local friends including Alexia’s dad and together they’ve raised almost £10,000.
While walking 100 kilometres in 24 hours was a challenge in itself, Jon decided he wanted to set himself another challenge of walking with a Breathing Apparatus set on which added 15kg to his kit.
He said: “It was tough, really tough but we did it and raise lots of money for a good cause.
“I didn’t put two and two together that the day of the walk was also the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and as a tribute to everyone who lost their lives, I’ve chosen to donate my fire service wage from being an on-call firefighter to The Fire Firefighters Charity.”
You can find out more about Jon’s 24 London to Brighton walk and donate to his fundraising efforts here.
Could you be an on-call firefighter?
Jon has been an on-call firefighter at Weeley Fire Station for a year and balances the role around his family and career installing air conditioning and refrigeration.
If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter and be paid to protect you community.
Find out more about the role at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call
Page last updated 21 September, 2021