WILTSHIRE Search and Rescue volunteers put their skills to the test over the weekend by carrying a stretcher and weighted mannequin over 14km of rough terrain in a bid to raise vital funds.
The pandemic has hit the charity’s fundraising hard, with many events cancelled as a result. The charity helps the emergency services to find vulnerable and missing people across the county.
On Saturday (April 17) teams of volunteers carried a stretcher from Barbury Castle to Avebury and beyond.
All team members are tested on their ability to walk 8km/5miles, carrying their search kit, in under two hours.
Volunteers are expected to be fit enough to support carrying a stretcher for the last 200m of their fitness assessment, which is vital if their missing person needs to be evacuated.
They therefore decided to combine these two crucial elements while also raising funds.
New recruit Kelly Macklin, from Laverstock, took part in the challenge.
“It went really well,” she said. But she admits it was difficult wearing the full kit, especially in the heat.
Kelly was inspired to join WILSAR after coming across volunteers looking for a missing person about a year ago while out at Old Sarum. This, she says, was just the sort of thing she was looking to do and prompted her apply.
Saturday was not only a way to put her skills to the test but also a chance to give something back to the charity, which has an annual running cost of £26,000. Kelly has raised £1,000 herself.
“We had to do it as our fitness test. It just meant it was a great opportunity to raise funds and raise awareness as well,” said Kelly.
“Making sure everyone was Covid safe was one of the biggest challenges. In the weather carrying a stretcher with face masks on it adds another element to it. Everyone was saying it was a lovely day for it. It would have been nice if it was a little cooler. The heat was a bit of a challenge and there were quite a few obstacles as well.”
The teams had to negotiate stiles with the stretcher and steep terrain but Kelly says “it’s all part of the fun” and will help hone her skills for future operations.
“Doing this fundraising it is a hard task and there are times you’re getting hot and tired but everyone pulls each other through it with a bit of humour and encouragement.”
In 2020, Wiltshire Search and Rescue had its busiest year and was called out 165 times – an increase of more than 100 compared to 2019.
On average volunteers gave 16,172 of hours to their community. There were nine callouts to Salisbury areas and 21 throughout the south Wiltshire area.
The chair of Wiltshire Search and Rescue (WILSAR) Adrian Sawyer said: “As a charity which receives no statutory funding, the pandemic has hit our bank balance hard.
"Every day we have money to spend but with no opportunity to replace it as we usually fundraise outside supermarkets, at events and through team challenges at workplaces.
"We’ve lost over 40 per cent of our donations and with no date in sight to allow us to do face-to-face fundraising, we needed to be inventive.”
More than £12,000 has been raised on the Justgiving page.
For more about WILSAR go to the charity’s website.
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