• Dare you take the 720m ZipWire challenge?
• Challenge friends, colleagues or your boss!
• Make it a team building event!
• Help us to save lives in our region
• Be the first to ride the UK’s Longest Zip Wire
• Win a trip on a SARA lifeboat

The National Diving & Activity Centre is promoting a Sponsored ZipWire fundraising event for SARA on Saturday/Sunday 14/15th April 2012 at the National Diving & Activity Centre, Chepstow.

Be the First to ride the ZipWire – The highest fundraiser on www.JustGiving.com (online & Mobile donations only) 2 weeks before the event will win the Golden Ticket!

Win a Trip on SARA1 – Every participant collecting £100 or more in sponsorship will be entered in a draw for a thrilling trip aboard a high speed rescue boat with the individual collecting the highest amount of sponsorship guaranteed a place.

This event is being promoted by The National Diving & Activity Centre for the purpose of raising funds for SARA. Registration Fee of £20 is required and a pledge to raise a minimum of £50 sponsorship for SARA is required (registration Fee can be recovered from sponsorship)

Entry forms and further information below:

• ZipWire 2012 Information Sheet
• ZipWire 2012 Team Challenge
• ZipWire 2012 Poster A3
• ZipWire 2012 Entry Form
• ZipWire 2012 Parental Consent

Severn Area Rescue Association is passing through its 38th year of operation. All of this would not be possible without the continued support of you and others in raising funds.

A few years ago we launched the SARA Charity Ball to help recognise the work we do for the local community, this was so successful we have continued it every year since.

We would like to invite you to the 2011 “SARA Annual Charity Ball” to enjoy the festivities and allow SARA to thank you for all your efforts in keeping us going and helping us save lives in our region.

This year’s SARA Annual Ball is being held on Friday 18th November at the exclusive St. Pierre Golf and Country Club, Chepstow.

Tickets are £39 and include:

• 3 course meal
• Disco
• Charity “funny money” casino
• Raffle
• Auction

Tickets are now available and can be purchased individually, for couples, for groups or tables of 10. Tickets are limited and offered on a first come first served basis. So if you want a ticket, tickets or a table – please confirm ASAP

The dress code is Black Tie and Ball Gowns (a chance to get dressed up).

The evening is going to be one to remember and definitely one you won’t forget – We do hope you can join us and indeed bring a friend or two!

For further information, questions and tickets, please contact:
David Thompson
07725744636
d.thompson@sara-rescue.org.uk

This was the start of a long day, and a longer journey, as Ben (a crew member of Tewkesbury Station) and his friend, Dan Edwards, prepared to start the sponsored cycle ride from SARA’s most northerly rescue station – Wyre Forest – right down to the most southerly – Beachley. The eighty-mile journey would take the intrepid cyclists past the other two stations, Tewkesbury and Sharpness, and would prove be a test of both fitness and determination.

We set off on our way up the M5, and just over an hour later we arrived at Wyre Forest, just north-east of Kidderminster – where we were welcomed by the station manager and promptly offered a cup of tea. Whilst I was sat in the warmth, sipping my tea, the madmen donned their Lycra and hopped on their trusty steeds – raring to set off. As the clock struck eight, they went on their way and this was when the journey had really begun.

I waited around twenty minutes, then set off in my car, thinking I’d catch them up a couple of miles down the road. As the miles went on, corner after corner, I had not seen a glimpse of them and started to wonder whether they had been blown off course (or maybe had stopped for a stealthy bacon roll at a roadside cafe, which I must have driven right past). Slightly bewildered, I pressed on, and after about eighteen miles I spotted two white and blue specks in the distance, just on the outskirts of Worcester on the A38 – under an hour after setting off.

After a quick glucose fix, they were back on the saddles and off again. Following the road through the centre of Worcester, and then out the other side, the weather took a turn for the worse, with the drizzle and squalls setting in. They cyclists were heading straight into a strong headwind and, judging by how the car was blowing around, I realised how challenging the conditions had become. Pushing on, the village of Kempsey had came and quickly went, and as the hedgerows become shorter and the wind got stronger, but onwards they battled.

I drove ahead and then stopped in a lay-by not far from Severn Stoke, and before long they appeared in the distance again, on good form, and waved as they cycled past – clearly comfortable and enjoying the ride. The M50 bridge soon was above us, and on we went towards Tewkesbury. Just after the town centre, Ben and Dan stopped at a car park for a short break and were warmly greeted by the Tewkesbury Station Chairman (Chris Crowley) and Ben’s family. As usual, they didn’t hang around and set off towards Gloucester, still on the A38.

They went through several villages, exposed to the elements, and approached the outskirts of Gloucester. The blustery weather made an already challenging cycle ride into a gruelling slog, and I started to wonder how they would cope from the comfort of my car. It didn’t take long for Ben and Dan to get through Gloucester, and out the other side. Then disaster struck – Ben called to say he had a flat tyre and the replacement inner tube’s valve was not a standard size.

We met up in a car park, and it soon became apparent that no matter how much Dan tried, the valve was not going to fit in the wheel and we had a problem on our hands. After some head scratching, the deflated inner tube was pumped up and we listened for a puncture. Strangely, none of us could hear the leak and we decided to try again – putting it down to a disturbed valve. Suddenly things picked up, the tyre seemed to hold its pressure, and off they set towards Hardwicke.

We met up again back on the A38, near Frampton upon Severn, and I really started to feel guilty being sheltered from the relentless headwind in a car. As the cyclists stopped for a drink, I could see fatigue had set in, and this – compounded with news that the tyre had deflated again – wasn’t good news, with nearly thirty miles to go.

The next ten miles looked like a real grind, but on they went – making steady progress and taking the tarmac in their stride nonetheless. We stopped at Stone, and pumped up the tyre again, and I could see the change in morale as exhaustion had now unmistakably set in. Back on the saddles they went, and they pushed on to Thornbury, where we turned off the seemingly endless A38 and took a smaller road towards Elberton. After a short while on some winding roads, the Severn Bridge appeared over the top of the trees. This was a massive psychological boost and the new lease of life gave a prolonged burst of speed as they flew down the lanes towards the estuary.

The next problem was the power of the wind over the two-mile bridge – forcing them to temporarily have to hop off and push. Once well over the Severn and above the Wye, Ben and Dan clambered back on and fought the wind, making their way to solid ground where they could almost taste the tea that was brewing at Beachley station. The final leg of the journey was punishing, and the last five miles, running on fumes, just seemed endless.

They cycled through Chepstow, with a half flat tyre on Ben’s bike, back over the Wye again, and into Sedbury they trekked. The finish eventually came into site and the two exhausted cyclists met a warm welcome from cheering crew members from Beachley and Wyre Forest.

A fantastic effort all round, and a huge thanks to Ben and Dan for such a feat of determination – all for SARA.

Want to sponsor Ben? Click here to give online via Just Giving!

In The News:
This is Gloucestershire – Ben’s aiming to raise bundle for SARA fund

Mrs Suzi De la Billere naming the boat

The launch of the new SARA 3 ‘Swift and Bold’ was a great success, thanks to everyone who turned up to support the SARA Beachley crew. The boat was named by Mrs Suzi De la Billere, wife of the Commanding Officer of 1 Battalion the rifles.

The new SARA 3 is now operational, the old boat has been de-commisioned and is no longer operational at Beachley station.

SARA 3 out training on the River Severn 13/03/11

For all of those who missed the opportunity to have a look at the new boat and around the station don’t panic, the annex building will be completed and officially opened in June.

So far in 2010 SARA has been called into action on over 75 occasions to situations (4 times on one day!) ranging from “capsized & sinking cabin cruiser near Lydney” to “collecting Paramedic cut off in snow near Pontypool”, from “man trapped on roof of car by rising floodwater” to “cow stuck in the tidal mud of the Usk Estuary”.  Every single call for assistance has been answered by the volunteer crew often at risk to their own lives.

30th October 2010

7pm for 7.30pm Start till Midnight

3 course meal plus live Entertainment by

ANGHARAD

& Her Backing Band

£30.00 Per Person

Orders and Payment by 1st October 2010

Dress Code Black Tie & Ball Gowns

Tickets from Virginia Lyall – 07966962914 (h.lyall@sara-rescue.org.uk)

Beachley Lifeboat & Rescue Station Open Day will be held between 11:00 and 16:00. You will be able to see Lifeboats, Rescue Equipment and Vehicles including Sideshows, Rescue Displays and Competitions.

You can find the station by looking for NP16 7HH, located near Chepstow, right under the M48 Severn Bridge.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The winners will be contacted direct by the organisers to arrange prize collection.

Over £800.00 was raised by the event and our thanks go to the organisers and the crew members who turned out to assist in this annual event.

Well done everyone.

SARA 3

The desperate need to raise the funds required to replace SARA 3 was highlighted in the first week of June as she was tasked to three shouts in 24 hours.

SARA was tasked to assist in the rescue of a stranded cow in the River Severn and to two separate incidents on the River Usk. This emphasises the need for an inflatable like SARA 3 on our waters. The public effort to raise money for the SARA 3 replacement has been amazing, but we still have lots left to raise.

If you would like to donate please send cheques to, “SARA 3 Replacement”, The Lifeboat Station, Beachley, NP16 7HH. Made payable to ‘Severn Area Rescue Association’.

Alternatively why not take part in the 200ft SARA abseil at the National Dive and Activity Centre on September 5th? For more information about the abseil visit the National Diving & Activity Centre website, read our news story or contact David Thompson.

SARA volunteers Dave Thompson and Victoria McKenzie with Jessica Gibbs from the Free Press and pupils at Pembroke primary school

SARA volunteers strongly believe that teaching local people about sea safety is one of the more important aspects of what we do. As the summer starts and the weather warms up there is a massive temptation to take a dip in either the River Severn or Wye, but SARA want to remind people that these waters are very dangerous. Throughout June SARA have been visiting local schools to speak to children about how to stay safe this summer.

On 11th June Dave Thompson and Vicky McKenzie went to Pembroke Primary School in Bulwark to present children with certificates of thanks for raising money to replace SARA 3. They also took SARA 3 and Mobile 1 with them and spoke to several classes about the dangers of the water.

The next day, on 12th June Mark Carwardine and Vicky McKenzie went to Offa’s Mead Primary School’s Summer fete in Sedbury with SARA 3 and Mobile 1. The children were given informal discussions about how to keep themselves safe while enjoying the summer weather.