Neighbours of world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe will be seeing more of the local hero than ever before in a new campaign launching this week by Abercarn Fire Station.

The campaign launches just days before the 36 year old will be fighting in New York on Saturday in what is reported to be the last fight of his career. Joe visited Abercarn Fire Station in September to show his personal support for the recruitment campaign by trying out Firefighter skills and trying on fire kit.

This week and next, Joe will be the face of a new advertising campaign promoting the Retained Firefighter opportunities at Abercarn Fire Station. The campaign will be launched with a billboard of Joe in fire kit with the slogan ‘Fight for your community… be part of our team’ and will be supported by hundreds of posters all over Abercarn and Newbridge.

The recruitment team will also be at Newbridge Train Station on Saturday morning to catch any travelling rugby and boxing fans on their way to watch Wales face South Africa and Joe take on Roy Jones Jr.

Abercarn Station Manager John Davies said,

We hope the new poster campaign with Joe attracts attention to the fact that we need Firefighters at Abercarn. Joe has been really supportive of our quest for new firefighters and we’d welcome enquiries and applications from people in all walks of life who live in Abercarn or Newbridge.

All the firefighters at the station along with the whole community will be backing Joe on Saturday, just as he’s backed our campaign to recruit local firefighters.

In Abercarn Fire Station, there are currently around 14 firefighters working a day crewed system, which means the firefighters are based at the station from 9am – 6pm and then on call from nearby homes at night.

However, following a thorough review of the risks in the Abercarn area, South Wales Fire Authority agreed that the crewing system should change and become a retained duty system station.

This change in crewing system requires a brand new team of Firefighters to run the station for their community.

Abercarn also offers a pertinent backdrop for Calzaghe to promote the role of Retained Firefighters in Wales who respond to emergencies from their home or work place within five minutes of their pager alerting.

Anyone interested can call 01443 232200 for an application pack or more information.