Council scales new heights - to rescue teddy bears!
Council workers rescue stranded cuddly toys.
Two workers from Lancaster City Council went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure a group of children could sleep soundly at night – by rescuing their prized teddy bears.
Happy Mount Park in Morecambe recently held a teddy bears’ picnic to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
As part of the event children were invited to bring along their teddy bears and parachute them from the top of a Lancashire Fire and Rescue ladder.
Unfortunately, some of the teddies were blown off course and landed in the branches of nearby trees. Fire officers tried their best to rescue the stranded cuddly toys, but weren’t able to reach using the tools they had available.
To try and make up for their loss the children were offered a tour around Westgate Fire Station – and then one of the mums had a brainwave.
Caroline McCombie, whose son Beau was one of the children to lose their prized possessions, happens to work for Lancaster City Council so she called colleague Kevin Kilifin to see if he could help.
Kevin, a former member of the tree gang and now assistant operations manager, roped in colleague Neil Morris and after finishing work one day they visited Happy Mount Park. After donning their safety gear they carefully climbed the trees and retrieved the teddies.
A grateful Caroline said: “Beau was devastated that his teddy got caught in the tree. We went to visit it every day, just so he could check that teddy was still ok.
“A big thank you must go to Kevin and Neil for taking the time to rescue the teddies. They’ve made a lot of children very happy!”
* A number of the teddies which were rescued remained unclaimed. To be reunited with your bear visit Morecambe Town Hall reception.
Date Published: 23/06/09