A group of Aberdeen firefighters are set to go the extra mile for charity – by running the New York City Marathon.
The four, who work at Aberdeen’s Central Fire Station, will be taking on the run on November 4 to raise money for The Archie Foundation and the Fire Fighters Charity.
Three of the participants are part of the station’s Red Watch team – crew managers Chris Malcolm and Graham Smith, and firefighter Ross Urquhart, along with their station manager Andy Buchan.
The men have a fundraising target of £5,000 and have so far raised around £3,500.
Station manager Andy said: “With the marathon being such a high-profile event, we thought it would be a great way to promote the charities.”
Andy said: “A few of our colleagues have had children who have used the Archie Foundation, so it is quite close to our heart.
“It is local, and we do a lot of things with them already, like taking some of the appliances down to the hospital at Christmas.
“The Fire Fighters Charity is close to us because it helps us out in our time of need. If we get injured or even fatally injured at work then they will help to look after our families.
“They’ve also been doing a lot of work lately with mental health issues like post traumatic stress disorder.
“We always try to feed back into that charity whenever we can.”
In their first fundraising effort, the four held a car wash outside the fire station on Saturday, raising £2,500 for their charities in the process.
The Fire Fighters Charity regional fundraiser for Scotland, Margaret Barnes-Smith, said: “They will be raising vital funds that will help us to support firefighters in need across the UK and we wish them the best of luck in reaching their fundraising target and training for the event over the coming months.
“Their enthusiasm and dedication will always be appreciated.”
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