A TEAM of intrepid firefighters are rebooting a challenge they took on two years ago in aid of a disabled boy and his family.

Back in 2016, the Tadley Fire Station team took on a 55-mile trek with a stretcher and a 30kg dummy, visiting fire stations in the north of Hampshire in aid of Oliver’s Dream.

Now, in 2018, the stakes have been raised as the team will again be carrying the stretcher and dummy but from Southsea Fire Station, in Portsmouth, back to Tadley on August 24 and 25.

The challenge will again be in aid of Oliver’s Dream, a campaign to help Oliver Witcomb, from Tadley, who suffers from a rare brain condition called lissencephaly which affects his development and so he needs constant care and supervision.

His parents are hoping to raise enough money to make life more comfortable at home for both Oliver and his family, such as by installing a downstairs toilet and shower, and a hoist to allow him to be more mobile.

Tadley station watch manager Sally Gould said: “They have got little bits of equipment already but it is more the living provision which is now needed. Louise, Oliver’s mum, for example, still carries him upstairs to the toilet and as he is getting bigger, that is not good for her either.

“We want to help them to get the work [on the house] underway. We want to allow them to have that.”

The challenge is not the first the fire station has held this year to help Oliver and his family as firefighters held a fun day last month which raised £500 for the cause, but the stretcher-carrying marathon will be stepping up a notch.

Sally added: “As firefighters, we have a natural level of fitness and with some training we will be prepared for it. But we think the reason why we are doing it will keep us going.”

The team are set to launch its own fundraising page but, in the meantime, donations can be made at uk.gofundme.com/Oliver-s_Dream.