SARA Tewkesbury recently took delivery of an equipment donation from Ferno UK Ltd. We had been in discussions with Ferno and had been promised some assistance, but never in our wildest dreams did we think the donation would be so generous.

The team unpacked the delivery to find it included a Rescue Pathway, Scoop Stretchers, Spine Boards, Head Immobilisers, 46 Meters of New England Rope, Medical Boxes, a Basket Stretcher and various other rescue equipment.

If we had to purchase this equipment, we estimate it would have cost in excess of £4000. SARA Tewkesbury would like to thank Ferno UK Ltd for their hugely generous rescue equipment donation and the crew have already started to use the equipment in training.

Donations like this make all the difference to voluntary rescue teams, and this donation will make a real difference to the service we can provide to local people. If you can help support the Rescue Station, please contact Sarah Kneath, Chairman, Tewkesbury Rescue Station (sarah.kneath@sara-rescue.org.uk)

Ferno UK Ltd – http://www.ferno.co.uk

Approximately 200 Pupils at Carrant Brook Junior School met crew from their local rescue station in Tewkesbury on 22nd October. SARA crew gave a Water Safety talk in the school assembly and then each class came out in turn to look at MRU 3 & SARA 11. They learnt about the rescue boat and other equipment then asked the crew questions.

SARA 11 is currently the newest boat in the fleet, and was purchased as part of establishing the rescue service in the town. It was funded by donations from the local community.

The school ran a non uniform day for all the pupils and they raised £111.05 for SARA which was presented by the schools Head Teacher, Mr David Forster.

We invited the SARA team into school as we felt that not only were they an invaluable resource to our community of which the children should be aware, but also in order to raise the awareness of the children of the importance of water safety, particularly in the Tewkesbury area with its history of flooding.

The children were thrilled to meet the team and ask questions of them about the water safety equipment and procedures for life saving that were demonstrated. They particularly enjoyed seeing the 4 x 4 and safety boat and also myself wearing the dry suit provided by the team, which created much hilarity!

A big thank you to SARA and keep up the good work.

Mr David Forster, Head Teacher
Carrant Brook Junior School

SARA volunteers strongly believe that teaching local children about water safety is an important aspect of our work and we would like to thank the school, parents and pupils for their support.

The ladies of Tewkesbury Cross Stitch Club have raised an amassing £742 through the raffle of a hand embroidered quilt. Members of the Tewkesbury Cross Stitch Club choose SARA’s Tewkesbury Rescue Station as their charity of the year for 2010. They wanted to make a difference in the town in which they live, and know how important flood rescue support is to the town.

“Mobile 3, a Land Rover unit based at Tewkesbury, is in need of electrical rewire / modernisation of all the axillaries and charging system. This donation enables this work to be completed without delay.”
Sarah Kneath, SARA Tewkesbury Chairman

The crew of Tewkesbury would like to say a big thank you to the Tewkesbury Cross Stitch Club for their support.

In The News:
This is Gloucestershire – Rescue group’s on the lookout for new home

Bob Eaton single sculled from Stourport on Severn to Worcester, a distance of just over 19 kilometers, on 23 July 2010. The river had risen dramatically overnight but on inspection was found to be safe to make the trip. There were three river locks to negotiate and manouvering a scull in and out of the locks was a bit of an experience.

The trip was accomplished in just over 3 hours and without major incident, only a couple of close calls with overhanging trees.

72 year old Bob has now completed the last fundraising spectacular in his ‘Four Elements’ challenge. He has driven from Oman to Bewdley (Land), done a parachute jump (Air), a barefoot fire walk (Fire) and now the scull (Water). All done in aid of the Acorns Children’s Hospice in memory of his own son David.

To date Bob has raised over £1,000 and the firgure is still rising. Bob has written a letter of thanks and made a personal donation to SARA for providing his safety cover.

Read more:
SARA – Supporting Bob Eaton & Acorns!
Stourport Boat Club – Challenged

This month sees the migration of SARA from the old to the new UK SAR (United Kingdom Search and Rescue) radio frequancies. 

This shake up effects all major UK Search and Rescue Teams.  As part of the migration SARA have needed to replace or reprogram all the raidos across the association.  No small task!

We would like to thank PMR Products for sponsoring our radio re-programming and supporting us with both expertise and radio equipment donations.

Visit PMR Products