T ward shipping - helping firefighters abroad

As a responsible local business and supporter of good causes, we’re delighted to work with the International Fire and Rescue Charity (IFRA), a fantastic organisation that has been sending unwanted emergency vehicles, equipment and clothing to less fortunate countries since 2002.

The charity was set up in 2001 after founder David Kay, a serving firefighter at Lochgelly Fire Station, Dunfermline, saw for himself the need for fire equipment in Bosnia. The services were woefully under-funded and David returned to Scotland and with help from a local school he managed to organise fundraising efforts to buy an Isuzu Trooper which was sent to help the firefighters of Kljuc.

Since then, the work of the charity has been expanded to help firefighters in Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Albania and Bosnia, where fire services are extremely under-developed.

IFRA also helps to train firefighters in countries where the fire services need extra assistance.

We have been able to support the work of the charity by arranging for transportation of some of the equipment to Mexico, Bosnia and Argentina. We shipped two crates of equipment to Mexico at the beginning of August and we’re sending three more to Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay later in the month.

The pallets contain specialist clothing like tunics, boots, helmets, gloves and trousers, all essential gear for helping to kit out around 4,500 firefighters- helping to keep them safe while they carry out their important work. This specialist clothing can’t be used in the UK for health and safety reasons and would only have to be destroyed if they weren’t gifted. Destroying them costs money so sending the unusable items abroad doesn’t just help the fire teams in other countries, it also saves the UK money; a real win-win situation.

The items are no longer of any use in Scotland or the UK but are still perfectly usable, according to David, who added that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, but they were considered redundant because their expiry dates had passed.

We at t ward shipping are pleased to be able to play a part in this important work, and we look forward to working with IFRA in the future. You can find out more about the work of this incredible organisation at: http://www.ifra.co.uk/

Find out more about our range of freight forwarding and shipping services at t ward shipping