A Cottenham fireman rallied his community to raise more than £2,000 to cover the cost of 700 protective face masks for staff at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge.

Crew commander Roger Pake, who runs his own electrician business alongside being an on-call firefighter, decided to use his contacts in the local community after seeing the hospice charity’s plea on Facebook.

“I know people that have family members looked after by the hospice, plus my wife works there so I am fully aware of the great work they do. This is why I was very keen to do something to help.”

“I knew I could use contacts from my business to source masks for the staff at the hospice, so decided to see if my Facebook friends wanted to get involved and donate some money to fund them.

“I have been truly overwhelmed by the response and the generosity of people. I had no idea that I’d receive this much support.”

Roger delivered the masks to grateful staff at the hospice last week.

Carly Love, hospice matron, said: “We are so grateful to Roger and all those who contributed to the collection and the purchase of 700 masks.

“We were truly touched by this generous donation, it really will make a difference.”

More information about the hospice and how to support it is available here.

Cottenham Fire Station, as well as other stations around the county, are looking for people to join up as on-call firefighters. Anyone interested can find out more by visiting our careers section.