West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has donated an incredible £20,300 to us in our 80th year from its quarterly prize draw – the latest in a series of generous donations over more than 25 years.
The service runs an internal lottery in support of us, with 10 per cent from every £1 share coming directly to us, while the other 90 per cent goes into the prize draw.
Run by a small team of volunteers, the lottery was first launched in 1996 and the service has been donating to us ever since – with more than £200,000 raised in that time.
Stuart Wilson, who works in training support in the service and is one of our Company Members, helps to organise the lottery.
He says: “It’s a fantastic way to support the Charity and is always an exciting time for those across the service when we have a bumper amount available. Remember – you have to be in it to win it!
“The draw’s done quarterly and is run by a small team of volunteers, both retired and working. It’s a real team effort and, importantly, it’s a sustainable income for our Charity.”
Our Chief Executive, Dr Jill Tolfrey, recently met with some of the volunteers, as well as the service’s Chief Fire Officer, John Roberts, who presented us with the cheque for £20,300.
Alex Byers, our Community Fundraiser for West Yorkshire, says: “I’ve seen first-hand the incredible support for our Charity from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service over the last few years, and this incredible donation shows just how much the whole service values the support we offer.
“On behalf of everyone at The Fire Fighters Charity, I want to send my heartfelt thanks to all those involved in the service’s lottery and all those who took part, we couldn’t continue offering our life-changing support without you.”
The latest winner of the draw says: “Wow, what can I say! It was such a welcome surprise to hear Stuart Wilson on the phone confirming that I had the lucky number plucked out to receive the West Yorkshire Quarterly Prize Draw top prize of £9k in the June draw. I was convinced I was on the wrong end of a wind up!
“I’ve been supporting the Charity with a monthly contribution for many years since I was injured at work in 2007 and received treatment at Jubilee House for a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. And I have been in the draw every month since it’s inception and always hoped that I might get lucky but never really expected to.
“So far the draw has generated over £2.4 million in contributions, giving over £240k to The Fire Fighters Charity to ensure that support is there when our colleagues, serving and retired, need it most. I cannot say enough good things about the fantastic team at Jubilee House, but they cannot do it without your continued support and without the fundraising efforts of the QPD team.”
