CADETS from Farnworth and Ramsbottom made their mark on the city of Opole in Poland at the 20th International Meeting of Youth Fire Brigades.

The Olympic-style event took place over six days from Sunday, July 19, when cadets from across Europe and as far as Japan joined together to compete in various fire and rescue themed events.

After arriving in Poland, the cadets attended an opening ceremony on the Monday, where the games torch was lit to mark the official opening of the event.

The next two days were spent practising for the competition and on the Thursday, the team took part in an obstacle course and 400m relay.

Their training paid off as the cadets achieved their best ever time in both the obstacle course and relay on the day of the competition.

On the penultimate day the team performed their rendition of S Club 7’s Reach for the Stars at the Performance of Nations alongside groups from all the other FRSs.

In true Olympic style, the event finished with a closing ceremony on the final day.

The team managed to arrive home safely, despite soaring temperatures and some youngsters returning in casts after a couple of hospital trips.

The cadets managed to raise an impressive £10,000 to fund the trip by holding car wash events, bag packing at their local supermarkets, a Santa’s grotto event, sponsored walk up mount Snowden and a BBQ at the Stubbins Lane station.

Crew manager Karl Sorfleet said: “We're so proud of the cadets for their hard work and effort at the games and in the build up to the event with all the fundraising and practising they did.

“It’s a really big event not just for those who are taking part but for the people of the city who have lots of fun enjoying various displays and activities in the surrounding streets.

“The event is taken really seriously by some fire and rescue services but to us it’s more about working together and achieving something as a team and having fun. We had a great time and I want to thank everyone who helped to make it happen.”