Cleckheaton firefighter and brother recognised for Grenfell charity challenge
A Cleckheaton firefighter and his brother have been nominated for a prestigious national award on the back of raising over £3,500 for The Grenfell Foundation and The Fire Fighters Charity.
Kev and Mike Sutcliffe, who work for West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services respectively, have been nominated at the National Armed Forces and Emergency Services Event after completing an endurance challenge at Bridgewater Place in Leeds last year in memory of the victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze in 2017.
The pair raised over £3500 by conquering 24 storeys, symbolising the height of Grenfell Tower, 72 times. Each climb symbolised a life lost at the devastating tower fire in London, with the challenge seeing them take a total of 138,000 steps.
They have now been nominated in the Most Outstanding Fire Service category at the National Armed Forces and Emergency Services Event, which is due to take place on Thursday, September 12.
Kev, a firefighter at Cleckheaton Fire Station, said “It was tough, but I never wanted to stop. It was a good mix of doing it alone and with other people that kept us going for the nine hours on the day.
“We are both strong minded and strong willed. There was no way we weren’t doing it. Halfway was tough – we went faster at the end than at the start.”
The brothers attended North Kensington Fire Station in London to meet their colleagues who were first on the scene at the high-rise tower disaster as part of their campaign to raise funds for the charities, and to understand the work of The Grenfell Foundation.
Mike, who is based at Acomb Fire Station, added: “It’s really strange to be nominated for this award but we are really looking forward to going to the ceremony in Sunderland with our wives.
“It’s a huge honour.”
The pair are now eyeing up their next challenges as Mike will be running the London Marathon while Kev is taking part in an open water swimming challenge, with a four-hour swim. The challenges are to raise funds for The British Forces Foundation who help boost the morale of our Armed Forces personnel – something Mike and Kev appreciated while serving abroad.