An on-call firefighter from Weymouth is getting set to tackle an almighty tyre-pull fundraiser.
Billy Lewis, 25, will pull the Jeep tyre for six miles from the Frontline Café on Portland to the Old Spa Pub on Dorchester Road, Weymouth. And if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, Billy will be doing it in full fire kit.
The fundraiser, on Saturday, September 3, is in aid of The Firefighters Charity - which helps over 5,000 people each year.
Billy said he was inspired to take on the fundraiser after they’d helped him through some tricky personal circumstances.
He said: “I have struggled with mental health for the last couple of years and depression my whole life, really, and the fire service is so supportive but they pointed out The Firefighters Charity. I had a bit of time off, for a few different reasons, and The Firefighters Charity helped me with private physio and they also took me away for a four day ‘mental health reset’ workshop and that was incredibly helpful.
"Their support is absolutely life-changing. You see some things as a firefighter that can be tough to manage and, as a collective, I feel firefighters are doing a really good job of breaking the taboo and talking about our mental health.
"Everything just sort of got on top of me and if it wasn’t for the help of The Firefighters Charity then my life would be completely different, no doubt.”
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Billy has been an on-call firefighter for five years and said it was the perfect combination of “being able to help people and staying physical”.
Ahead of the fundraiser, Billy said the biggest challenge would be the conditions on the day.
He said: “The heat and the grip will be the hardest challenge: fire kit is designed to keep the heat of the fire out but that also means it keeps a lot of your heat in. So when I’m pulling it for six miles it’s going to be hard to cool down but you’ve just got to push through it.
“I’m probably not the best at a few things but I’m a big guy and I can lift a tyre so I’m going to do that and see how much money we can raise. We’ll have some live music and a big raffle at the end so hopefully we’ll be able to give back to the charity.”
To find out more or to donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tyrepull
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