CHRISTMAS came early at Manchester Central Fire Station as the Burns Camp Christmas Party came to town.
Children who attend the Burns Camp are invited to the festive extravaganza every year and 2017 proved to be the biggest and best party yet.
The camps, which take place each summer, are an opportunity for children who have been injured in fires to make friends with children who have similar injuries.
The annual party is organised by Watch Manager Simon Ryder from Broughton and Crew Manager Peter Fitzpatrick from Gorton, who both been giving up their free time to organise, attend and promote the camps for a number of years.
Firefighters, staff from Manchester Children’s Burns Unit along with other volunteers, including doctors, nurses and clinical psychologists work with the children to build their confidence through physical activities including rock climbing, caving, abseiling and canoeing.
Teamwork challenges and group activities also encourage the children to develop effective coping strategies for dealing with difficult situations such as teasing or bullying.
The camp is still free of charge for the children and has been running for nearly 20 years.
