Longton Community Thanks Firefighters With Care Package After Weeks of Donations

Longton residents and businesses have come together to thank local firefighters, filling care packages for all five watches at Longton Fire Station after weeks of community donations

Longton has come together to say thank you to its local firefighters, with a community care package delivered to Longton Fire Station this week after a fortnight of donations from residents and businesses across the town.

The appeal was organised by Emma, who runs the Love Longton community page and owns Pearl and Gray, the independent women's boutique in Longton Exchange specialising in Italian and lagenlook fashion. It followed news that Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service had dealt with around 600 fires across the county in July alone, an average of 20 incidents a day. Closer to home, crews spent almost 24 hours tackling multiple fires at Park Hall Country Park, before being called back days later to deal with further deliberate blazes.

The idea was simple: nothing extravagant, just a collection of everyday treats to say "we see what you do, we appreciate you, and Longton is grateful." Coffee, tea, biscuits, chocolate, toiletries and cakes were dropped off at Pearl and Gray throughout August, with donations accepted right up to Wednesday 19th August.

The response went far beyond what was expected. Individuals and families called in throughout the day, and several local businesses got involved too, including Iceland, who arrived with a trolley load of supplies, Elite Fashion in Longton Market, and regular Longton Artisan and Cultural Fair trader Mobile Baa Bar. SDPrimeToys, Longton Vets for Pets, Paterson Brodie Limited, S&J Sister Travel and the office of Dr Allison Gardner MP also donated, alongside cash contributions that will go directly to The Fire Fighters Charity.

Everyone who donated was invited to sign a community thank you card, which was delivered alongside the care package. Parsley and Sage Florist Stoke supplied and decorated crates for each of the station's five watches, coordinating the colours to match, and The Staffordshire Signal helped transport the donations and capture the drop-off.

Emma also used the appeal as a chance to learn more about how the station operates. Longton Fire Station is made up of five watches, Red, Blue, White and Green, each with nine firefighters, plus Orange Watch's 16 on-call firefighters, including two women, currently the only female firefighters at the station. In total, 52 firefighters work across the five watches to keep the local area safe.

The campaign also earned Emma a slot on BBC Radio Stoke, where she spoke about how the appeal came together and the scale of the response from the town, despite admitting radio interviews are "way outside" her comfort zone.

A handwritten card accompanied the donations, thanking the crew for "running towards situations that most of us would run away from" and for "putting yourselves in harm's way to help complete strangers." It closed simply: "This wasn't my care package. It was Longton's."

Any cash donations received as part of the appeal are being donated directly to The Fire Fighters Charity, which provides specialist health and wellbeing support to serving and retired members of the UK fire services community and their families. Anyone who would also like to make a contribution can donate directly through The Fire Fighters Charity at https://www.firefighterscharity.org.uk

For anyone inspired by the work of the crews at Longton Fire Station, Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service will also be recruiting from September. Keep an eye on the service's website and social media channels for further information on how to apply and how you could become part of this fantastic team.

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