The sponsorship money is still coming in, but on the day over £16,000 was pledged. By the time all sponsorship money is received, it’s hoped that the final amount will be more, meaning a greater benefit to the local recipients and The Fire Fighters Charity.
As soon as the final total is announced we’ll confirm it here!
Keep coming back too for other updates and snippets of information.
The 2007 Fire Swim raised a total of £17,440!
Thank you once again to all who took part and helped to raise this great amount.
Don’t forget the presentations are in April and all those who are due to benefit will hear shortly, as will those who have won an award.
On Saturday 15 March 2008 Colchester Fire Station were proud recipients of the Award for Fire Station of The Year at the annual Spirit of Fire Awards.
The event celebrated the achievements of Fire Service Personnel, and members of the public, for either their bravery in the face of adversity, their fundraising achievements and their dedication to the Fire Service and their local communities.
During the afternoon some of the nominees, including senior officers from the Essex Fire & Rescue Service met the Prime Minister at Downing Street. In the evening all nominees joined a number of celebrities at Wembley Stadium for the Awards Ceremony, hosted by actress Amanda Holden.
Members of the Fire Swim Committee were amongst the representatives from Colchester Fire Station present at the event and were thrilled to be able to accept the award on behalf of the Station.
As detailed in a previous news feature, many Individuals at Colchester Fire Station have been involved in fundraising events for The Fire Fighters Charity and all those involved in the Fire Swim, including swimmers and sponsors, have helped towards the recognition resulting in this award.
For some more information and pictures of the event take a look at the Spirit of Fire page on our site which is dedicated to this achievement.
We’re pleased to announce that by the date of the presentation some more sponsorship money had been received and therefore, the total amount for distribution was a fantastic £18,000.
At the presentation 50% of this was handed to a representative of The Fire Fighters Charity (formerly the Fire Service Benevolent Fund) whilst the other 50% was presented to local Charities, Groups and deserving causes. The Beneficiaries can be found on the appropriate page on the website.
As well as the donation money being presented, the winners of the Fire Swim Trophies were also announced and presented with their hard earned Trophy! Again full details of the winners can be found on the designated Trophies page of the site.
All those that attended the presentation evening had a wonderful time, and we’d like to thank all attendees for coming along and helping us to have a very enjoyable evening. We’d also like to once again thank Colchester Leisure World for allowing us to hold the evening there.
Now, don’t forget ...... we’re booking already for this years event so get in touch with Alison and book your lane(s), or download a form from the site and send that through to us. You’ll soon be able to see which lanes are available on the site, but this can be subject to change so even if the time you initially thought of isn’t available don’t let that put you off getting in touch -
Congratulations once again to all the beneficiaries and Trophy winners and we look forward to seeing you all again later in the year.
2008 Fire Swim
This years swim took place on 4 & 5 October and was another successful event.
A grand total of £15,444.60 was pledged at the event, which is fantastic, particularly bearing in mind the current economic climate. The event total usually increases slightly once all monies are collected but this is a wonderful amount to be confirmed initially.
The event ran smoothly as usual, with a huge number of participants and support from
numerous helpers, Colchester Leisure World, Hospital Radio and our Sponsors for this
year, once again -
The Fire Swim Committee would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all those who took part, in whatever capacity. The continued support from all parties involved is much appreciated and will once again mean that a number of local charities and the Fire Fighters Charity will be able to benefit.
Oct 08
In September 2008 Kevin Lay, one of the Fire Swim Committee members went along to Hospital Radio to be interviewed about the Fire Swim.
Oct 08
As well as members of the general public taking part in the Fireswim, numerous elements from within the Fire Service also take part and their participation is also appreciated. The following is a copy of an internal memo to them from the Fireswim Committee.
UPDATE:
A Big Thank You on behalf of The Colchester Fire Swim Committee to all of you that have played a part in making this year’s swim another success.
With great support from all areas of the Fire Service including Workshops, SHQ, STC & Various stations & Commands we have been successful in raising £15,444. This total is expected to rise further once all monies are paid in. This total is divided equally between The Fire Fighters Charity & Local organisations/charities.
And a Big Well Done to Pete Walker of G/W E34 who completed a staggering 1,172 lengths
in an 11 Hour stint!! Considering he was a last minute replacement for an injured
colleague, this was a fantastic achievement. This being part of his training towards
his cross-
Many thanks to all for your fundraising efforts.
These included a sum of £590 raised by one 10yr old girl.
Most money raised by one team, a fantastic effort of £1,000.
The most lengths swam by one team was 238.
Oct 08
COLCHESTER FIRE SWIM -
Colchester Fire Swim is an annual charity event, organised by members of Colchester Fire Station, which has been running since 1981 and takes place at Colchester Leisure World, Cowdray Avenue, Colchester on the first weekend in October.
The idea of the Fire Swim is to have teams of six, swimming in relay for one hour.
Our aim is to fill all six lanes of the pool, every hour, for a full twenty-
The sponsor money raised is divided equally between the Fire Fighters Charity and local charities/groups or deserving causes. In addition to the donations, awards are given for the Best Fancy Dress, the Most Lengths Swum, the Most Sponsorship Raised by an individual team and a special award for Outstanding Contribution to the Fire Swim. Last year a new trophy was introduced, in memory of Kim Collier, one of the founder members of the Fire Swim. This will be awarded annually to any Scout, Guide, Cub, Brownie, Beaver or Rainbow unit that raises the most money in this category.
To date the event has given away the magnificent sum of £465,000. With £232,500. going to the Fire Fighters Charity (formerly the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund).
The 2008 Fire swim took place on the 4th & 5th October, and a presentation evening was held on 23rd April 2009 at Colchester Leisure World. The event was sponsored for the 2nd consecutive year by Travis Perkins, Colchester and raised a magnificent £20,000. Representatives of the 21 local organisations benefiting from the event, attended the presentation to receive their donations, these were:
Prettygate Brownies. Trevor Porter Campfire Appeal. Open Road.
Home-
Alresford Pre-
1st Gt. Horkesley Scouts. Colchester Carers for Children. 3rd Stanway Brownie s.
The Evergreens. 1st Layer Brownies. 4th Colchester Guides.
Colchester Sea Cadets. 25th Colchester Guides. Rainbow Pre-
Out There Youth Group Stepping Stones Play & Learn Group. Colchester Toy Library.
Trophies were also presented to the following:
Best fancy dress: ‘The 3rd Stanway Brownies’
Most Lengths: ‘Sloths 1’
Most sponsorship: ‘Great Bromley Village’
The Kim Collier Trophy: ‘The 36th Colchester Garrison Scouts’
The Trevor Porter Trophy : ‘Smith & Watts’ – Printers.
The Fire Swim Committee would like to thank all volunteers who gave up their time before, during and after the event, but most of all, we would like to thank the swimmers who raised the money.
If you would like to take part, entries for this year’s Fire Swim, taking place
on the 3rd & 4th October 2009 are now being taken. For more information please visit
our website: www.colchesterfireswim.org or contact: Alison Bruce, Fire Swim Co-
April 2009
CANCELLED
Earlier this year Colchester Leisure World commenced some essential work on the roof
of the swimming pool. This was due to be completed by mid-
Unfortunately, this means that the work won’t be finalised until after the date of the 2009 Fire Swim and thus the pool will not be available for the event.
A number of options have been considered with a view to enabling the event to still take place, but unfortunately, none can be accommodated which means that sadly, the 2009 Fire Swim has had to be cancelled.
All those who have already booked for this year are being written to with information relating to the cancellation and of how we intend to move forward for next year. The aim is that anyone who has booked for this year and still wishes to take part in the 2010 event (we hope everyone!) will have their time and lane position from this year honoured. If you wanted to swim this year, but hadn’t yet booked, then please still contact us and we’ll book you in for next year instead in any free times that are still available.
We hope that everyone will still want to swim next year and that as we’ve missed out this year sponsorship will be better next year to make up for it!
As there will be no swim this year this does mean that we’ll have no sponsorship money for distribution in the Spring. If you were hoping to apply for funds please bear this in mind and apply after the 2010 swim instead.
We’re obviously all saddened by the fact that we are unable to have the Fire Swim this year and won’t get to see you all, but we look forward to meeting up with you all again for a spectacular 2010 event.
The Committee
August 2009
FIRE SWIM TURNS INTO FIRE BOWL!
Following on from earlier news that due to unexpected delays with the renovations of Colchester Leisure Pool the 2009 Fire Swim had to be cancelled, we’re pleased to announce that an alternative has been negotiated.
Rather than a 24 hour swim, this years event will now be a 24 hour bowling extravaganza!
Colchester Ten-
Those who already have times booked to swim are being invited to bowl instead. Obviously, we are unable to collect sponsorship money for the swim, but will instead be accepting donations. We hope that those who have already sponsored swimmers will be happy to instead donate to those who are now bowling as we still would like to make as much money as possible for our local charities and The Fire Fighters Charity.
If you need further information, or would like to see if there are still times available to take part, then please contact us.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience with all of the changes and for your continued support and look forward to seeing everyone at the Fire Bowl!!
6.9.09
FIRE BOWL -
The Fire Bowl, which took place as a last minute event instead of the usual annual
Fire Swim, due to over-
A number of those who would usually swim turned out to bowl instead and there were even some who still turned up in fancy dress! Well done and thank you to all for helping to make the occasion one to be remembered.
A total of around £2,000 was raised at the event by way of donations and it is hoped that over the coming months this figure will rise.
The Fire Swim Committee would like to thank all of those who took part and/or made donations and would like to offer their thanks once again to everyone at Ten Pin Bowl for their assistance in getting the event off the ground and for helping it to run so smoothly, particularly bearing in mind the lack of time to get everything organised.
Thanks also go once again to Travis Perkins who kindly transferred their sponsorship of the Fire Swim to the Fire Bowl.
Planning for the 2010 Fire Swim will start again soon and so if you’re interested in taking part, then please get in touch and full information will be provided to you.
October 2009
FIRE BOWL PRESENTATION NIGHT AND THE 2010 SWIM
Although the Fireswim presentation night is usually held at Colchester Leisure World, in line with the fact that the 2009 event was a whole different thing, presentation night is different too!
This year it will be held on 25 May at Colchester Fire Station. Due to the last minute nature of the 2009 event and the fact that it was a Fire Bowl rather than the usual Fireswim, the amount of money raised was much less than usual. This means that the amount available for distribution is therefore, obviously lower. The event will therefore, just be a small affair with those that are receiving cheques having been invited to the station for a brief presentation and gathering.
There will be no trophy giving this year either as these are all related to the Fireswim.
We’d like to offer our thanks again to all those who took part in the Firebowl. Your support and attendance was much appreciated.
Now this year ....... everything is back to normal and if you’d like to take part then please get in touch as we’re starting to book the lanes now.
Don’t forget night owls are highly sought after as those midnight hours are hard
to fill. Why not make a night of it get a big group of you together and come along
for a swim and then cheer those other late night/early morning teams along! Your
sponsors might even be more generous if they know you’re swimming in the middle of
the night which all goes to help :-
Whatever time of day or night you swim THANK YOU. The event wouldn’t exist without your help and we know that the Charities that benefit from the money raised are all extremely appreciative of the efforts made by those that take part.
We look forward to seeing you ...... first weekend in October as usual ........... put it in your diary now !!
April 2010