UK360 DAY 9 : Ferry across the Mersey

Louise and Michelle Mahoney : WOW! What an entrance…Michelle and I arrived into Liverpool late Monday night and after a quick call to the local Fire Station, before we knew it the local Firemen swung by to collect us on their way back from a callout. We lucked out!

Meanwhile in Dublin, Steve and the rest of the 360 crew were stranded after missing the ferry by just 2 minutes and wouldn’t be arriving into Liverpool until the early hours. Back in Liverpool, Shell and I were taken back to Liverpool Central Fire Station, where we would be staying for the next couple of nights. Jim, our contact and savior at the fire station gave us a grand tour of the station. We were shown our sleeping quarters, a cute hospitality suite, and he introduced us to the tannoy system, so cool. After getting sorted, Michelle and I settled in for the night, ready for the early wake up call.

At 3.30am we got the call that the guys had finally arrived. On board Martha for this leg were Steve, Ailsa, John and Tony. On letting them into the station Steve was absolutely delighted to see Martha had her very own bay. The guys had been driving for 3 hours and were clearly struggling. Lucky we all had decent beds for the night 😉
Next morning and we had a heavy day ahead of us so, feeling a little sleepy we headed to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Headquarters. After struggling to find the offices, we spotted them and to our surprise all the staff were out waving balloons, banners, cheering and welcoming us. It was amazing! What a great reception, we really weren’t expecting any of that.

After a few photos and some free coffees, thanks to the local coffee man, we met with Terry Kavanagh, a truly inspiring man who was diagnosed with Lung Cancer 21 years ago and told he had just 6 months to live. In his own words he was ‘still alive and kicking’. Since that day Terry has become one of the best supporters of the charity according to Clare Trevorrow, fundraiser for Roy Castle.
After meeting Terry Steve stops for a quick phone interview with Radio Merseyside, unaware that we were all crowded round the radio listening to him ‘lay it on’. He’s getting very good at these radio interviews now! Nice one Steve!
Next stop, we all headed to the Lung Cancer Labs in the city centre, 90% of which is funded directly through Roy Castle. This is the leading lung cancer lab in the UK, with Liverpool having the highest number of lung cancer cases in Europe, with women the worst affected. The work they do here is invaluable. At the labs we are given a tour from research scientists, who explain the latest developments with lung cancer treatments, and how they are working on looking at early cures for lung cancer. Truly inspiring! Fascinating to see where all the money raised goes.
Back on the road, this time heading back to the Liverpool Central Fire Station to meet Peter McAdam. Peter works at the station and organized for us all to stay there. A lifelong supporter of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, after losing his brother to lung cancer, he was keen to help us on our way. Before we knew it the Deputy Chief of Merseyside, Mike Haden, turns up to hear our story and wish us all the best. An innocent ‘what are you doing after this?!’ from Mike and we were being whisked off to the Mersey for a trip out on the Fire and Rescue Boat. After a few checks, we are life jacketed up and ready for the off. Michelle, John and I are lucky enough to get on the first boat, not really sure what we are letting ourselves in for! We return 10 minutes later, a little soaked but with huge smiles on our faces. It was wicked! Now for the others; Ailsa, Clare, Steve and Tony, it was our turn to capture the best moments. A few more photos and then off to the fire station for some tea and biscuits.

After a quick sit down we decided to paint the town red, or more realistically go and find food. Grabbing a quick drink in the pub near the station, on entrance we were greeted by a table of arm wrestling drunks. Just a typical Tuesday night I guess. It was soon time to say a fond farewell to Ailsa and Michelle and I were left with the men. We had a little tour around Liverpool, taking in Walker Street and a car rally around the city centre, and finally we found some food…our first meal of the day and my god it was good. A great end to an absolutely amazing day!
Liverpool has proved to be one of the best places we’d been to on the tour. The reception we had was overwhelming. Everyone was excited about the trip and willing to help anyway they can. Next stop…Wales and the task for tomorrow, the Mahoney’s are in charge of the route with NO SAT NAV’s in sight. It’s going to be interesting…
Keep following!

Lou & Shell

On leaving us Clare had this to say…
‘It was an absolute pleasure to meet the team and have them in Liverpool for the day. It’s been so long in the planning and was wonderful to finally meet everyone and spend the day together – although I wasn’t entirely prepared for a speed boat journey on the Mersey! The Foundation can’t thank the crew enough for all the hard work and effort that is going into Follow That Fire Engine and we’re so proud of them as I am sure Garth would be. Good luck guys you’re all stars for what you’re doing!’

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