An entrepreneurial spirit rose amongst the primary school pupils from Billingshurst. The hottest day of the year was cashed in by the pupils to raise exceeding of £40 for The Fire Fighters Charity. Jasmine and Harvey, five and eight, respectively, decided to battle the heatwave by selling ice lollies. Andreas Hajiantoni, their neighbour who is a firefighter on call in the fire station situated in the village, inspired the siblings to give their earnings to The Fire Fighters Charity.
Mathew Gravell, Billingshurst Crew Manager, stopped by their stall to check how they were doing on Thursday morning. They were invited to visit their local fire station for a tour along with their parents, Sarah and Alex Harvey, to witness the lives of firefighters and try it first hand.
Sarah confessed that it has been exciting for the children to spend their summer vacation doing something out of the ordinary. She put it as, “Jasmine came up with the idea of holding an ice lolly sale, and we planned it for the Thursday. It just so happened that it turned out to be the hottest day of the year. They couldn’t have prepared it any better really!
“It was lovely how the community came out to support them – people we hadn’t even met before came along to support the stall after Mathew put a post out on the fire station’s twitter account. It was so lovely to realise just what a supportive and friendly community we live in here.”
Jasmine and Oliver visited Billingshurst Fire Station on 30th July, where they were given a private tour by firefighters Ronnie Hampton and Mathew. They introduced the children to various factors involved in firefighting. They got a tour around the fire engine in the village, along with learning to work a hosepipe and understanding the uses of CPR. The children presented their earnings of £44.80 from their ice lollies sale to the firefighters, after understanding what the lives of firefighters look like.
Mathew puts it as “When we heard that Jasmine and Oliver were holding an ice lolly sale in aid of The Fire Fighters Charity I just knew we had to pop by and say hello and to thank them for all of their hard work.
“But they had put so much thought into this that we really wanted to do something more for them, which is why we invited them along to the station too. It was an absolute pleasure to show them around the fire station, they definitely enjoyed working the sirens on the appliance.
“But we were also able to share some really important fire safety messages with them too, which they will be able to share with their friends.”
Sarah expressed how excited and eagerly, the children were looking forward to the visit. “They had been looking forward to it all through the weekend after Mathew came to see them,” she said. “And Oliver, especially, had a great time visiting the fire station. Since he was very young, he has always been curious about ladders – if there’s one left out, he always has to climb it. And if there’s a hosepipe in the garden, he will make a beeline for it.
“Clearly we have a firefighter in the making with him!”