Date: 27th July, 2018
A Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service officer is taking on a 430 mile cycling challenge to mark the end of his 40 year career.
Station Manager Ade Hurren, who is 58 and lives in Corsham, joined the then Wiltshire Fire Brigade in 1978 as a firefighter based at Swindon Fire Station. He has worked in a variety of roles since then, including at the fire and rescue service training centre in Devizes, and will be bowing out in charge of Chippenham, Corsham, Calne and Malmesbury fire stations.
Ade is a keen cyclist and, back in 2012, he was the first person to achieve the 24 hour challenge of cycling to all 24 fire stations in Wiltshire. Now he is planning a ‘say hello, wave goodbye’ tour, taking in all 50 fire stations within Dorset and Wiltshire and raising money for the Fire Fighters Charity.
He said: “When I retire, I will have served for 40 years, so I thought it would be good to visit every station to say goodbye – and, in the case of some in the south, hello as well! I know people who have completed the circuit of stations in either Dorset or Wiltshire, but I don’t think anyone has yet tried both.”
He added: “While it is traditional to have a whip round and buy a card and present for someone retiring, I would really prefer it if people stuck a couple of quid on my Just Giving page rather than in an envelope for a gift. I’d like to raise at least £400 for the Fire Fighters Charity, which would be a tenner for every year of my Service.”
Ade will be setting off at 8am on Wednesday 1 August from the Devizes Training Centre, riding with everything he will need on him, and he’s allowing four to five days for the whole trip.
To support Ade in his fundraising, please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adeh