Kingussie was buzzing today as the whole village had street stalls and Christmas activities. There were art and craft exhibittions, a floral art display - and all the shops were open (they usually all close on Sunday) and visitors were welcomed with mulled wine and seasonal nibbles.
These local firemen were out collecting for their charities. The fire station is manned totally by volunteers and when the bell rings they have to abandon their jobs as plumbers, electricians, gamekeepers and butchers and head off to attend the scene of the fire or road accident.
Our firemen are also volunteers with only the top positions being paid. So we see them doing fund raisers a lot too. I had a good friend who volunteered as a firefighter in college. It wasn't unusual to see him and a few others sprinting through the campus when the fire whistle went off. Nice shot.
We have volunteer fire-fighters here too - ours had the Santa's Grotto on Friday night as part of their fundraising