From Christmas lunches to charity football matches and from senior citizen shows to Santa’s grottos, our crews will be busy reaching out to their communities to spread some seasonal cheer and raise money for some fantastic causes.
Kicking off this Saturday when Ryde Fire Station play host to the 2022 Wight Brainy Bunch Christmas Market from 10am.
With live entertainment, seasonal stalls, a Santa’s grotto and festive refreshments on offer you won’t want to miss out if you’re on the Isle of Wight this weekend.
This all takes place before the official switch-on of the fire station’s Christmas lights at 4pm.
Close to the hearts of the Ryde crew, The Wight Brainy Bunch charity provides emotional support and financial assistance to Isle of Wight families whose lives have been affected by the devastating effects of brain tumours.
Fresh from his visit to Ryde, Santa will be crossing the Solent to pop into Southsea Fire Station for the young carers’ annual party.
Around 50 youngsters are set to come along for some food and games before being treated to the local pantomime.
If anyone would like to help or donate to the party, please email Elizabeth.Medway@hantsfire.gov.uk or Joshua.Cowdery@hantsfire.gov.uk.
Next weekend, the HIWFRS Men’s Football team take on the award-winning charity football club Unity 101 FC in match to raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity and the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) mental health charity.
With kick-off at 16:15 on Sunday 11 December don’t miss out on the charity half-time raffle where you can take home some brilliant prizes generously donated from local businesses.
Firefighter Ben Taylor said:
“We’re looking forward to taking on Unity 101 FC and more importantly raise money for two incredible causes – The Fire Fighters Charity and CALM.
“I’d love to see as many faces as possible coming along as we’ve been kindly given some amazing prizes for people to win as part of our charity raffle.
“It is sure to be a great day.”
Organised by the HIWFRS FireREACH network which provides opportunities for individuals within the Service to come together, share ideas, provide peer support to one another and drive Service Improvments for equality, diviersity & inclusion.
If you’re unable to make the game at AFC Stoneham’s home ground on Stoneham Lane in Eastleigh, you can still show your support by donating online.
Two staples of the HIWFRS Christmas calendar take place on Saturday 17 December.
Firstly, Bordon are once again opening their station doors to host Santa’s Drive-Thru Grotto from 10am.
Crew Manager Dan Todd at Bordon Fire Station said:
“Once again Bordon Fire Station wants to spread some festive cheer by welcoming Santa to host his yearly grotto for local children, raising money for The Fire Fighters Charity at the same time.
“We’ve raised thousands of pounds for a brilliant cause through this event in previous years, even throughout the pandemic our fantastic team worked so hard to ensure we were able to make the event a success.
“I am proud we are able to hold these events, putting smiles on the faces of children in our community and making a difference.”
Book your place in the grotto from midday on the 10 December.
Then from midday on the 17th local firefighters are returning to the Ambrose Allen Centre to cook the long-awaited over-60’s Christmas Lunch in Tadley.
Having been stopped due to the pandemic, the hugely popular event returns with lots of food, drink and entertainment for the over-60s Tadley community.
Jumping into 2023 and the firefighters of Portsmouth will be hosting their 40th annual senior citizens new year show!
From its origins at Southsea Fire Station, the event has grown and evolved and now the spectacular showcase packs out the Portsmouth Guildhall.
The team are on the hunt for volunteers to help out and perform on stage at the variety show taking place from 2pm on Sunday 22 January,
Crew Manager Beth Medway said:
“We have been fortunate to have such a fantastic venue at the Portsmouth Guildhall and support from First Bus and Portsmouth Dial-a-Ride who have supplied transport free of charge.
“Funding has been an ongoing effort and the firefighters at Southsea are always inventing different ways to raise funds. In particular one way to raise funds was to ride our unique ‘23 seated bicycle’ around the city visiting many watering holes on the way.”
To qualify for a ticket to the show, guests need to be of pensionable age and living in Portsmouth sheltered accommodation. For more information contact Beth – Elizabeth.Medway@hantsfire.gov.uk.