For just over six years, I’ve served as an on-call firefighter at Aylesbury station. This role has been incredibly rewarding, teaching me a lot about my own strengths, weaknesses, and resilience, and as an Essex lad living in Buckinghamshire, I’ve sometimes felt like an outsider, but being part of the Fire Service has given me a real sense of belonging within the local community.

Outside of the Fire Service, for the last 25-years I have been a self-employed plasterer, and a proud husband, and father to a wonderful 23-year-old daughter. As I became a parent at a young age, I didn't really have the opportunity to travel, but with my daughter having flown the nest and living her own best life, now is the time for me to see a bit of the world and experience different cultures.

On 31st May I will be flying out to Lima, to backpack around Peru and whilst out there I will be fulfilling a life-long dream to visit Machu Picchu one of the seven Wonders of the World.

To reach Peru's Inca mountaintop citadel I will be trekking along the Inca Trail. The trek to the Inca city is a tortuous path, sometimes dusty, sometimes over Inca-laid paving, taking me through dense cloud forest, over scrubby mountain passes with lung-busting elevations of over 4000m and across stretches of grassland with ancient remote Inca fortresses, temples and settlements lining the way.

I’d love to use this opportunity to give back and use the Trek to raise awareness and funds for The Fire Fighters Charity, which supports firefighters and their families in times of need.

Any donation, big or small, would be greatly appreciated and will go a long way in helping those who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and your support

Danny