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Jul 16

Hunky firemen from across West Yorkshire have proved to be red hot fundraisers for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Over the last 12 years, firefighters from across the region have featured in the ‘Red Hot Dates’  calendar which has so far raised more than £100,000 for a range of charities.

The sizzling 2016 version has so far pulled in £1,400 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance bringing the total donated to over £17,000.

The Red Hot Calendar was the brainchild of West Yorkshire Fire Service Assistant Commander Dominic Furby.

“I can’t believe how popular the calendar is now,” said Dominic, who is based in Calderdale. “Although most of the interest is in the UK we have sales throughout the world, especially in Australia, Canada, Scandinavia and Europe.

“We have a huge following on social media. One photo we put up on Facebook a couple of weeks ago got 20,000 views. It has just been amazing.

“We support mainly local charities and have donated proceeds several times to Yorkshire Air Ambulance over the years. We work very closely with them, both at incidents and with their fundraisers, and know the brilliant work that they do.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance serves 5million people across Yorkshire and has carried more than 6,600 people in its 15-year history.

The charity has just placed an order for two, brand new state-of-the-art replacements for its current ageing aircraft – G-SASH and G-CEMS – that will take to the skies over Yorkshire later this year and in Spring 2017.

The latest generation Airbus H145 helicopters will give paramedics a much more modern medical fit-out to treat and transport often critically injured patients.

YAA West Yorkshire Regional Fundraising Manager Kerry Garner said: “We have received fantastic support from the Fire Service over the last 12 years.  They have raised a phenomenal amount of money which is vital to the Charity.

“It is so important for the emergency services to work in partnership and this just shows what a fantastic relationship we have, working together to save lives.

“The calendar has gone from strength to strength and we cannot thank the Fire Fighters enough and wish them all the best for the 2017 edition!”

Dominic and his team are just putting the finishing touches to the 2017 version of the Red Hot Dates calendar which will, for the first time, be interactive. Scrolling a free App over each image will generate a fire safety message from each firefighter featured.

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