A local business has donated £2,000 to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue after being “touched” by their Elton John Christmas video.
The service re-created the famous John Lewis Christmas advert which sees children unwrapping firefighter toys on the big day.
The story follows them from childhood wanting to become a firefighter to driving a fire engine and coming down the pole.
The music video, with the strapline inspiring future lifesavers as well as popstars, has since been watched more that 375,000 times online.
Cambridge-based Terberg DTS were amongst the thousands touched by the video – they sent the service £2,000 to spend on gifts for children who are less fortunate than others.
Alisdair Couper, managing director at Terberg DTS which specialises in building terminal, yard tractors and other related vehicles, said: “We saw the video on twitter and were so touched by it we wanted to offer a donation.
“It’s fantastic to be able to support families who are in difficult circumstances at Christmas and we’re delighted Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was able to bring our donation to life.”
Presents will be delivered to women’s refuges in Huntingdon, Fenland and Cambridge, a domestic violence advisory service in Peterborough and a food bank in Ely.
Hayley Douglas, head of media and communication at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, who had the initial idea for the video, said: “We’ve been bowled over by the reaction to the video and this has been the icing on the cake.
“We’re extremely grateful to Terberg DTS for their generosity.
“We decided to buy fire service related toys and books as much as we could to tie in with the video. Who knows, the final outcome of all this might be that we inspire a few future firefighters.
“It’s been a manic few days raiding shelves in local toy shops and special mention has to go to Smyths Toys in Peterborough who not only gave us a discount but donated a massive fire engine toy for the communal area of one of the refuges.”
Hayley added: “The video cost nothing to make and was filmed on an iphone. It had no real purpose other than we thought it would be an interesting twist on the John Lewis advert so for all this to happen as a result is just unbelievable and has certainly made our Christmas!”
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