How to sneak a fire engine into China.
From September 2010. The FTFE expedition sneak a fire engine into China. After 6 months of paperwork and two fixers, did it really come down to hiding the word fire from the front of the truck ?
Bird flies in for guest blog appearance
Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean sails a freight ship carrying its usual load of shipping containers heading for Europe, or Valencia in Spain to be exact. Within one is an extra special shipment, a Fire Engine affectionately known as ‘Martha’, who is on her way back to London after an epic nine month global journey which has seen her circumnavigate the globe in the name of charity.
Team Lung Love
In Washington we were very lucky to spend time with the fantastic people at the Lung Cancer Alliance. We wanted to tell you a bit more about them and the amazing work that goes on globally to try and defeat this cruel disease. Not many people know that lung cancer is still the biggest cancer killer in the world, causing more deaths than breast and prostate cancer put together. Yet in terms of research it is the most poorly funded.
The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
Howdy all FTFE supporters!
It’s Clare here all the way from sunny Liverpool. I am a fundraiser at The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation which, as I am sure you know, is one of the charities supported by FTFE. We’re so proud of all the crew who have been part of the challenge and from everyone here I’d like to say a big ‘THANK YOU’ for what you’re doing to help defeat lung cancer.
You’re all stars in our eyes and we can’t wait to welcome you home next month.
Generosity and then some
London, Paris, New York
All amazing cities, all amazingly expensive. We have been over whelmed by people’s generosity in the US, up there with the best of them is the Carlton Arms Hotel who amazingly generously donated free accommodation for the FTFE crew whilst in New York for 10 days. HUGE! We have turned the Carlton Arms into our HQ where we have shot video for the documentary and worked ferociously at the remaining logistics (shipping ahhhh), routes, website, press, etc, etc.
The guys at the Carlton Arms have themselves also been touched by cancer, sadly losing a very good friend to a rare and bizarre form of cancer. When contacted by FTFE John Ogren said “The Macmillan nurses were angles sent by God to care for him in his last days. Also we love all firemen everywhere. So of course we want to offer the rooms at no charge.” Legend. Read more →
In the Movies
Name all 11 movies and win a prize !!
ITV News UK
ITV news film the stage 8 crew in New York City. Driving through Time Square with a camerman on the roof is yet another very surreal experience for FTFE. Wonderful stuff !
Day 235 : Its the little things in life that matter
High Point: Beating Steve in a “MAN OFF” while seeing who handled a saw better!!
Low Point: Being Freezing cold and losing the feeling in every extremity of my body waiting outside at the port in the Bitter New Jersey wind.
No Point : I now carry a pen around with me just in case someone else asks for my signature… Nice!
Day 234: Its got to be New York NEW YORK!
High Point – 1,224 feet at the top of the Empire State Building (the seems to be a theme occurring in terms of stage 8 high points, mountains, sky diving and now tall buildings).
Low Point – The hint of trouble ahead to do with Martha’s height causing problems with getting her safely to port and some potential customs issues due to our tight time schedule.
No Point – Very little brekkie, no time for lunch yet again, being SO hungry by late afternoon but unable to force myself to eat yet more rubbish, which was our only option when we stopped for fuel on the way to the port. Read more →
Day 233: DC to NYC …OMG
Washington, DC to New York, New York
High Point: Seeing the NYC skyline come into view, hotel lobby disco balls
Low Point: Arriving in New York means the end of Stage 8
No Point: Sat nav in New York – no GPS and no knowledge of one way streets
Author’s notes
We had an early start from L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington DC. Thanks to Ed for putting us up (and Andy Peters from The Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham, Alabama for putting us in touch).
After some suspect driving around the capital’s sights (a ’No truck’ sign surely doesn’t mean no Martha right?!) and subsequently a few close calls with local police (“Move away from this area sir”, “Please remove the person from the top of your vehicle mam”, “You do not have permission to film here sir”) we continued, unscathed and without any unscheduled visits to the police department – phew.
So far we have raised GBP £120,000
