A retired Newcastle engineer has reached a momentous milestone as he celebrates volunteering for a record-breaking 2,000 hours for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.

John Pate, aged 76 from Dunston in Newcastle, broke a Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service record last weekend as he hit the 2,000-hour mark for his voluntary work.

The great-grandad hit the epic mark whilst volunteering at a RNLI event at Tynemouth where he was representing the fire service by spreading life-saving fire advice.

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The Northern Echo: TWFRS volunteer John Pate in North Shields standing next to the fisherman’s sculpture at

John, who is also a retired engineer, holds the title of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s longest-serving volunteer after the service helped him and his family in the 1990s when his hand became stuck in heavy-duty machinery.

Since then, John has been thanking the service that helped save him by giving up his time and energy to “repay” the kindness he received.

“I will always owe the Fire Service a great deal of gratitude for what they did for me and my family all of those years ago”, he said.

“The skill, expertise and empathy shown by the firefighters on the day of my accident will always be held dear to my heart. 

“And, I’ve always seen my volunteer work as me trying to repay some of that gratefulness.”

John became an IT teacher after his accident meant he had to leave his career as an engineer, before retiring in 2016.

From there, he decided to contact the fire service to see if they had any work for volunteers – and the rest was history.

He said: “It’s amazing to volunteer for the Fire Service but the big thing for me is that I wouldn’t be able to achieve half the things I’ve done without the wonderful staff I’ve worked with. 

“They have all taken an interest in me as a person, and don’t hesitate to put me on the right track whenever necessary.

“Even though I’m a volunteer they always make me feel part of the team.  For me the more I learn, the more I want to learn.”

John now does anything from educating people on fire safety and dropping leaflets whilst also representing the Fire Service at events including Northern Pride.

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The Northern Echo: John and his wife Shirley.

Chief Fire Officer Chris Lowther of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said:

“We are so proud and appreciative of the amazing work that our volunteers do across Tyne and Wear.  It’s people like John who enable us to work so closely with residents and charitable groups in helping to keep the community safe by providing essential fire safety advice and other practical activities.

“It’s an honour to have John as part of the Service, and having two-thousand volunteer hours under his belt is no mean feat.

“What a wonderful achievement. Thank you from everyone at TWFRS and across the local community.”

Now, John has his sights set firmly on reaching that 3,000-hour mark. If you’d like to find out about becoming a volunteer, click here.