When asked by firefighter Anthony Layne how the Monmouth Fire Station could help out with his son’s treatment, Craig Jones from Cheltenham didn’t hesitate to ask for help towards the Lighthouse Ward in Bristol’s Royal Hospital for Children, the only pediatric major trauma centre in South West England.

Joined by his auntie Di Jones, gran Pam Jones (who once worked in Boots at the top of town) and great gran Vera, 10-year-old Cameron and his younger brother Oliver visited the station with mum and dad, Craig and Sarah, last Saturday to see the crew of the fire station washing cars in return for a donation towards ‘Wallace and Grommit's Grand Appeal’ for the Bristol Children’s Charity Hospital and the Firefighters charity.

“Anthony and I have been friends for over 40 years,” said Craig “and it was tremendous to hear the Monmouth crew were going to hold a charity car wash to raise some funds for the Bristol unit that takes care of my son.”

It all started last July when Cameron fell poorly and spent three weeks in Bristol where the ward provided a charity ‘house’ for his dad and brother to stay in while Cameron was on the ward and after Cameron was released, the three of them have been back and forth from Cheltenham to Bristol ever since.

Craig has now decided to donate one of his own kidney’s to his son to ensure he has a better chance of survival.

The Lighthouse Ward is one of the few sites in the UK which can offer kidney transplants, catering for children aged 0-17.

The renal condition Cameron has is quite rare with children so this Bristol ward covers Plymouth, Cornwall, Truro, right and the way up to Cheltenham.

Craig explained that Cameron looks perfectly healthy but he has a line coming out of his heart and has dialysis four times a week and has to travel down to the Bristol unit, but as he said, “there is worse there as the hospital has two-year-olds coming up from Plymouth because the condition is so rare in children: There are very few hospitals that can cater for that type of service,” he explained.

“The majority of the money raised goes into the wraparound care for the youngsters such as entertainment or play equipment but it is a phenomenal place and is very homely when you see how some of the children are and what some of the families are going through,” he added.

So it was all hands to the water pumps last Saturday as the crews dealt with a continuous stream of cars, and the odd truck.

Group manager Darren Cleaves said afterwards: “Thank you to everyone who came to today’s car wash at Monmouth Fire Station, together we raised over £1,600 which will be split between the two charities - The Fire Fighters Charity and The Grand Appeal.

“It was amazing to have our guest of honour who inspired us by raising money for the fantastic Grand Appeal and did a fantastic job helping out the crew.”