Firefighters’ £10k bonanza

A DOZEN organisations, including six schools, have shared in a cash bonanza worth almost £10,000 thanks to Buckie’s retained firefighters. The fire station packed last week as representatives from a variety good causes gathered to receive a chunk of the £9800 raised by the firefighters over the last year through charity car washes and their Christmas street collection. It was also a special moment for the station’s watch manager Dougie Annand, as he revealed to the gathered audience. “I’m absolutely chuffed to be able to hand out this money to so many good causes. “It’s a huge amount of money which we couldn’t have raised without the continuing support and generosity of the people of Buckie and the surrounding area. “I’m really glad we were able to get everyone here tonight; I retire in three weeks so I wanted to get the money handed out before then.” A mix of national and local good causes benefited from the latest windfall courtesy of the fire station team.
The biggest cheque of the evening, totalling £5000, went to the Firefighters’ Charity, with a further £1000 handed over to the Fire Service Family Support Trust. Helping fire service personnel deal with and recover from a wide range of injuries, be they physical, mental or emotional, is one of the primary roles of the Firefighters’ Charity. The Support Trust is the oldest fire and rescue charity in the UK and is for the benefit of service personnel, retired members and their families There were £500 bonus in store for the fire service Heritage Club and also Buckie Christmas Lights. Finding themselves £400 better off were Friends of Buckie Square and Monument and Keirans Legacy. The remaining cheques – all for £200 – went to Portgordon, St Peter’s, Cluny, Millbank, Portessie and Findochty Primary Schools.