RETIRED Worcestershire firefighter and charity fundraiser Dave Smith has returned home from an epic trek across the Pyrenees to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity.
The 66-year-old St Johns resident is the HWFRS Fire Fighters Charity (FFC) Living Well Co-ordinator and a retired fire service watch manager with more than 42 years of fire service charity fund-raising under his belt.
In an ambitious bid to raise money for the charity, he has just completed the Second World War Pyrenees Freedom Trail challenge, following the difficult and dangerous escape route from Nazi-occupied France into Spain.
Also known as the ‘Chemin de la Liberté’, the trail traces an infamous path taken by Allied servicemen and refugees on the run from the Axis powers. The six-day arduous trek reaches up to 2,500 metres, starting at Saint-Girons in France and completing at Vielha on the Spanish Border.
Although well off the beaten track, the news still reached them Her Majesty the Queen had died – particularly poignant for Dave as she had been the patron of the Fire Fighters Charity for much of her reign.
Dave said: “I’d always dreamed of taking on Chemin de la Liberte and although it was gruelling I loved every moment of it.
“It was a great opportunity to raise funds for the Fire Fighters Charity and remember the courageous Allied servicemen and other refugees who made the arduous trip during the war,” he added.
Donations can still be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-smith412
