'I make poppies from recycled fire hoses'

Helena Rooke has been recycling fire hoses into poppies since 2019

A firefighter has raised more than £50,000 for the Royal British Legion through the sale of poppies made from decommissioned fire hoses.

Helena Rooke, 36, has served with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for seven years and started the project in 2019, inspired by reading about a company that recycled hoses and turned them into handbags.

The Forever Fire Hose project has become so popular that the poppies are now sold online in their thousands, and Ms Rooke has also partnered with her local Penistone branch of the charity for the annual Poppy Appeal.

"We use fire hoses for call-outs, but obviously they have a certain lifespan and get worn out, so will end up in landfill," she said.

Helena Rooke estimates that she has converted 25 decommissioned hoses into approximately 15,000 poppies.

So far, 25 hoses have been turned into 15,000 poppies. In the first year, she cut the 70-80 poppies herself.

"It took over my living room!"

They were originally sold around Penistone and her base, Tankersley fire station, but interest has grown and she has invested in a cutting machine to speed up production.

"In year two, I made 800 and they all sold out immediately.

"I started advertising on Facebook and then the Royal British Legion got involved too."

The leaves for the poppies are cut using scrap leather donated by a local sofa company.

Helena Rooke originally hand-cut every fire hose poppy in her front room

Ms Rooke said she had several friends and family members who had served in the armed forces.

The Poppy Appeal is the annual fundraising campaign by the Royal British Legion that runs in the lead-up to Remembrance Day in November. It raises money for the forces community, which includes serving and ex-service personnel, their families, and reservists.

Julian Mayston left the Royal Navy in 2003 and is the Poppy Appeal organiser for Penistone. He admitted that he thought Ms Rooke was "crazy" when he first heard about her work.

"She cut them individually by hand in her lounge. It was pretty antiquated and labour-intensive.

"She's brought into the appeal over £50,000 including this year. It's so humbling what she's done. We're really grateful."

However, Ms Rooke said she was stepping back from her production line in the hope that younger volunteers would take over the project.

"It's time for someone else to take over. We definitely want to keep going but hopefully the fire service cadets will pick it up now."

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