Julie Tan has vivid memories of her childhood, growing up with a mum who worked as a nurse, and a dad who was a firefighter.
She remembers the anxious waits for updates as incidents he was attending unfolded on the news, as well as family visits to the fire station and the close bond between her father, Bob Attwood, and his colleagues. But, being so young, she was never sure how much of those memories she could trust – until his funeral.
There, Bob’s colleagues shared their own stories from their time in the London Fire Brigade, painting a powerful picture of a career that spanned decades.
Julie and her family chose to collect donations for us at Bob’s funeral, to honour his career in the fire service – but also the support he and his wife received in retirement at each of our centres.
“Dad didn’t grow up wanting to be a firefighter, he was actually on his way to sit an exam for HMRC and on the way back he saw a sign for firefighter recruitment, and he headed straight in,” Julie recalls.
“With mum being a nurse, they were constantly on shifts, so our Christmases and holidays were often spent waiting for one of them to get back!
“Dad was at a lot of the really big events and shouts in London, including the Moorgate tube crash, the Iranian Embassy siege, and the Poll tax riots.
“Having a parent in the fire service, it’s easy to put them on a pedestal, and I was never sure how many of my memories were accurate – but meeting his old firefighter colleagues at the funeral was amazing. They were able to confirm them.”
Julie has memories of watching those riots on TV at home, with her mum waiting anxiously for news that her dad was okay. It was only as she got older, however, that she realised the challenges he’d faced.
“My dad hated hospitals and I remember once my mum telling me that Dad would be more comfortable sticking a pen into someone’s windpipe on a train track so that could breathe, than he would be sitting in a hospital. That’s when I realised the extent of what he’d seen on the job,” she adds.
Bob’s career spanned 30 years, and his colleagues remember how “overwhelmingly kind” he was – alongside the jokes he loved to play on them.
His retirement came slightly earlier than he’d planned, when his wife, Joyce, became ill with cancer. He then chose to work in fire safety, to have time to help care for her, while continuing to earn: “Dad always said he kept working so he’d know that one day, should a drug become available, he’d be able to afford it,” Julie says.
In those later years, the family knew where to turn, having supported Fire Fighters Charity throughout Bob’s career. It was Julie, however, who first suggested her parents reach out to us.
“I remember going to Tesco and seeing people collecting for Fire Fighters Charity outside, and I wouldn’t usually stop but it caught my eye,” she says.
“I actually picked up some of the charity information and saw that there were rehabilitation and recuperation programmes available. Obviously with my Mum being ill at the time, they jumped out at me and I showed Dad.”
They visited all three of our centres in the years that followed, for holidays as a family, while Joyce attended one of our dedicated rehabilitation programmes.
“The staff got to know them, it meant a lot to them,” says Julie.
Sadly, Bob went on to be diagnosed with lung cancer, and passed away in January 2026. For the family, choosing for donations to be made to us at his funeral meant a great deal.
“Dad always loved his stays at all three of the centres, and we always knew he was in safe hands there. He saw exactly where funds like these go,” says Julie. “People were so generous and we were able to donate over £1,200.
“One thing I would say is – a lot of people of his generation are reluctant to ask for help, but they need to.”
If you feel you’d benefit from our health and wellbeing support, you can call our Support Line on 0800 389 8820, make an enquiry online or click below: