‘The Final Carry On’

To all who were able to attend ‘The Final Carry On’ celebration party at the Ryde Castle Hotel on Saturday 8^th October thank you so much for attending and contributing to a fantastic and poignant evening.

At any time this would be a remarkable figure but to achieve it amid the current economic climate is testament to the generosity, enthusiasm, support and sheer hard work of so many people. As a fire station team work is our ethic but in the context of this objective we knew that this was one job that we couldn’t achieve as a stand alone service. We needed local business, influential local people, the grafters and doers and the generous support of the island’s public and it all came together and for that our sincere and unfettered gratitude is more than due to you all.

I should send specific thanks to the following for ‘The Final Carry On’; Sam Ade of Ryde Fire Station for arranging the venue, Emma at the Ryde Castle Hotel for allowing us to stage our event and covering the cost of the entertainment, June Ring of the D.R. Memorial Fund  for her work and wit throughout the event and her inspiring words on Saturday night, Chief Fire Officer Paul Street for attending and speaking at the party, Watch Manager Kelvin Wright for sharing with us his emotive tales of ten days unbelievably demanding effort during the Cent Cols Challenge, Aidy Wellock of Ryde Fire Station for organising the IT issues and visual display and finally Lisa Fletcher for her strength, inspiration and humility and her willingness to not only be a part of the team but to literally get hands on and haul that ladder every step of the way.

Our final act of the AWCO/Cent Cols events shall come when we visit the Coronary Care Unit to formally hand over the TOE probe. I shall let you know more when we receive a date.

With the support of our Station Manager we are hopeful that the Big Red Ladder shall finally be rested in permanent display on the wall of Ryde Fire Station’s engine house… and there’s already whispering within the station of it being used again some day in a different kind of challenge, but for now I can’t dwell on that without my back beginning to ache!

Finally as co-ordinator of the event my personal thanks are due to everyone in the AWCO/Cent Cols family, you can’t co-ordinate without willing resources and you have all gone way above and beyond the call of duty and for that I am grateful beyond words.

 Take care

Damon Corr

 It was wonderful to see so many people there, particularly a large contingent from the Friends of St Mary’s to whom we were able to present a cheque for £12,400 as our half of the cost towards the TOE probe. We were also able to announce that with the Friends’ contribution to the probe, plus the extra target we set ourselves to procure two new ECG machines for the Coronary Care Unit; the total as of the 8^th stands at just over £36,000!!!