London Gatwick firefighters climb 110 floors for charity
Firefighters from the London Gatwick Airport Fire and Rescue Service completed a stair climb challenge raising £2,000 for Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) and Fire Fighters Charity.
The firefighters, joined by members of KSS, ascended and descended the central staircase in London Gatwick’s South Terminal departure lounge to simulate climbing 110 floors of a high-rise building. The participants completed the challenge carrying 23kg of full firefighting gear, including breathing apparatus.
Throughout the event, passengers were able to learn more about the causes and how the funds raised would make a difference, with donations still being accepted through the official fundraising page.
Melanie Wrightson, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, London Gatwick said: “We are incredibly proud of our firefighters for completing such a demanding challenge in support of these two remarkable charities.
“Both KSS and the Fire Fighters Charity provide vital, life-saving services to our community, and the funds raised will help ensure they can continue their invaluable work.”
KSS (one of the airport’s official charity partners) operates helicopters that provide rapid, life-saving response to more than 3,300 emergencies annually across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.
Fire Fighters Charity supports both active and retired fire service personnel and their families, and provides face-to-face support at its three centres, most locally in Littlehampton.
This year a total of £250,000 was made available for worthy causes across the region through the Gatwick Airport Community Trust. The London Gatwick Foundation Fund will also be making its third round of grant funding of £100,000 in November bringing the total in 2024 to £300,000.
London Gatwick supported the Surrey Heli Hike on 10 August and will sponsor the upcoming Sussex Heli Hike on 5 October.
With 41 million annual passengers, London Gatwick is the UK’s second largest and one of Europe’s top ten airports. It is a vital piece of national infrastructure that drives both the national and regional economies by generating £5.5 billion GVA and supporting over 76,000 jobs (2023). Almost 60 airlines fly from the airport to over 150 short-haul and more than 50 long-haul destinations. With a declared capacity of 55 movements an hour, London Gatwick is the most efficient single runway airport in the world.
The airport is located 28 miles south of the UK capital and is extremely well-connected, with more than a quarter of England’s population (15 million people) – including all of London – less than one hour away by road or rail. A six-year, £2 billion sustainable growth programme includes an ambitious plan to be a net zero airport by 2030 and to increase capacity by bringing the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use, alongside its Main Runway. Vinci Airports owns a 50.01% stake in the airport, with Global Infrastructure Partners managing the remaining 49.99%.
The world’s leading private airport operator, VINCI Airports operates more than 70 airports in 14 countries. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and manages airports by providing its investment capacity and its know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructure and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to an international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emissions across its entire network by 2050.
For more information:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/vinci-airports/
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is a leading infrastructure investor that specializes in investing in, owning and operating some of the largest and most complex assets across the energy, transport, digital infrastructure and water and waste management sectors. With decarbonization central to our investment thesis, we are well positioned to support the global energy transition. Headquartered in New York, GIP has offices in Brisbane, Dallas, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Mumbai, Singapore, Stamford and Sydney.
GIP has approximately $115 billion in assets under management. Our portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of approximately $71 billion and employ over 116,000 people. We believe that our focus on real infrastructure assets, combined with our deep proprietary origination network and comprehensive operational expertise, enables us to be responsible stewards of our investors' capital and to create positive economic impact for communities. For more information, visit www.global-infra.com.
