Firefighters have praised a group of students from NEW College for their hard work in promoting the Fire Service's FireFit Challenge during an open day at the Redditch campus on Saturday (21 April).

The FireFit Challenge is a national initiative aimed at encouraging both Fire Service staff and those in the wider community to get more active ahead of this year's Olympic Games. Locally, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) is aiming to complete 5,250 miles in total during the course of its FireFit Challenge, the equivalent mileage the Olympic torch will travel from Beijing to London.

To link in with this, a group of students on the Public Services course at the college planned to 'virtually visit' as many Olympic venues as they could during their open day, with teams of three taking turns throughout the day to row, cycle, walk and run to each venue, with the routes via London, Weymouth, Birmingham and Manchester plotted on a large chart to enable everyone to watch their progress.

Station Commander Phil Griffiths from HWFRS praised the students for their efforts, saying: "This was a well-planned, highly visual concept that linked in perfectly with our FireFit Challenge. The students had obviously worked hard beforehand to pull the idea together and they worked even harder on the day on the various exercise machines!"

He confirmed that the three teams completed an impressive 526 miles during the open day which not only boosted HWFRS's total FireFit mileage to 3,200 miles but also raised money for the students' chosen charity, the Kelli Smith Appeal.

Representatives from HWFRS's Community Safety department were also on hand throughout the challenge to offer home fire safety advice to those visiting the open day.

SC Griffiths added: "Since the FireFit initiative was launched last autumn, people throughout Herefordshire and Worcestershire have been getting involved in many different activities but this event at NEW College was particularly inspiring. It was fantastic to see young people working so hard and achieving so much - they should be very proud of their efforts."

Visit www.firefithealthchallenge.co.uk/hwfrs for more information on HWFRS's FireFit Challenge and details of further FireFit events being held in the run up to this summer's Olympic Games.

ENDS

NOTE: The Kelli Smith Appeal - Kelli is a 3-year-old girl who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer when she was just three months of age. NEW College is supporting the Kelli Smith Appeal to raise money to help Kelli receive treatment abroad. Visit http://www.familiesagainstneuroblastoma.co.uk/FamiliesAgainstNeuroblastoma_Kelli_Smith.html for more information.

Issued by Julie Wedgbury, Press Officer on 01905 368411