Tuesday 23 June
16.30hrs
A group of firefighters has raised more than £4,000 for
charity after climbing one of the UK’s highest peaks, wearing full
firefighting equipment.
The team of four from Avon Fire & Rescue Service set out to
climb Mount Snowdon earlier this month, and despite carrying kit
weighing almost 60kgs, they reached the summit in under two hours.
Mike Collin, Nick Baldwin, Pat Foley and Rob Atkin scaled the
1,085 metres (3,560 ft) wearing everything from their
firefighting tunics, boots, gloves, trousers and helmets to
breathing apparatus sets and cylinders.
The climb took place on Saturday 6 June, the 65th 
anniversary of the D-Day landings, and as a result the team decided
to raise money for Help for Heroes as well as The Fire Fighters
Charity.
After eight months of planning, the quartet and their 13-strong
support crew set out in the early morning and under a grey sky to
make their climb. Using air from breathing apparatus sets to make
the ascent more of a challenge the team followed the Pyg track to
the summit. After the testing walk, and a number of cylinder
changes, the team eventually reached the summit in just one hour
and 58 minutes. Fortunately they missed the worst of the bad
weather as just hours later a group of 30 competitors in a race had
to be rescued from Snowdonia because of the bad conditions.
Team leader, Firefighter Mike Collin, said: “Everyone coped really
well with the conditions. In addition to the best wishes from Sir
Ranulph Fiennes and David Hempleman-Adams, I would personally like
to congratulate everyone for their teamwork and good humour
in accomplishing our objective safely.
“At the end of the day, the overriding intention of the stunt was
to raise funds for the two charities, Help for Heroes and The Fire
Fighters Charity. Four companies, Imagine IT Support, Bristol
Uniforms, Scott Health & Safety and WDS Associates Legal
Services Ltd, as well as many individuals have already made
generous donations towards our total of around £4,000 so far.”
The team is still accepting donations towards their £10,000
target. To contribute you can visit www.justgiving.com/michaelcollin
to support The Fire Fighters Charity or www.justgiving.com/michaelcollin1
to support Help for Heroes.
Donations can also be made directly to the appeal holding
account - Three Peaks Mt Snowdon Appeal, LloydsTSB account number
2444299 sort code 30-98-06.