Fenland firefighter takes on three peaks challenge

24/06/2025

An on-call firefighter is teaming up with a friend to raise money for charity by taking on the Three Peaks Challenge.

Rob Shepherd, based at March Fire Station, is taking up the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours to raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity. He’ll be joined by his friend Eliott James, who’s raising money for mental health charity Mind.

The pair have also added to the challenge. Eliott will be wearing a weighted vest, to represent the added weight mental health can have on someone. Rob will be donning firefighter breathing apparatus, weighing around 20kg, to represent the struggles that come with the role of being a firefighter.

To support Rob and Eliott visit their donation page: https://gvwhl.com/CKANG

Rob is one of more than 200 on-call firefighters across Cambridgeshire who respond when they are needed to emergencies. He balances responding to emergencies around is day job working at a local supermarket.

Rob responds to all kinds of emergencies, from fires and road traffic collisions to animal rescues and people trapped. He carries a pager when he's available to respond and will drop everything to get on a fire engine to help people in their local community.

To be an on-call firefighter you need to be within five minutes of your local fire station, either while at work or at home, and have a good general level of fitness.

If you think you could be an on-call firefighter, find out more in our Careers section.