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

Crew from SARA’s Tewkesbury Station attended the Cheltenham Community Fire and Rescue Station’s open day on Saturday the 16th October. SARA 11, Tewkesbury’s new flood boat, attracted a lot of interest with parents and children. Throughout the afternoon there was a queue of children waiting to be lifted onboard and don pfd and helmet.

The station members attending the event were able to discuss water safety issues with parents and children, distribute the new SARA Water Safety leaflet ‘What to do when someone falls in the water’ launched earlier this year. The crew also discussed the station’s existence and activities with many members of the public, who were pleased to hear SARA had opened a fourth station in Tewkesbury.

Photo used with Parental Permission

In the news
This is Gloucestershire – Celebration of firefighting at open day event
Gloucestershire County Council – Golden day for Cheltenham Fire Station

Following a “wear a T-shirt for SARA day” held on Thursday 15th July 2010, Churchdown Village Junior School have generously donated £158.50 to SARA’s Tewkesbury Station to go towards a new engine which is desperately needed.

This followed a visit by 2 crew members on the 12th July where they talked about water safety in the school’s assembly.

Tewkesbury Station is pleased to announce the arrival of their brand new rescue boat. The Jeanneau Rigiflex Newmatic (SARA 11) was able to be purchased due to the generosity of the general public. SARA is funded totally by donations and fundraising, including street collections, the most recent involving Tewkesbury Crew was at Evesham Morrisons on 26th June where a staggering £1054 was raised!

The new boat is now housed alongside Tewkesbury’s existing boat, SARA 6, at Basepoint in Tewkesbury, who are kindly leasing a unit to SARA as an interim measure until permanent premises are found.

Tewkesbury are now able to provide comprehensive safety boat cover at local events, as well as continuing to work alongside the other 3 stations when called upon to by the emergency services during search and rescue/recovery operations. SARA 11 completed her first operation on Saturday 19^th June at Tewkesbury Regatta, where 8 schools converged on the Severn at Lower Lode for the annual competition.

“Everybody from SARA worked extremely hard. Happily for us, no rowers needed our assistance. The only drama occurred when a pleasure cruiser became grounded as it was navigating the boating channel on the course and got stuck. SARA crew towed this large craft to deeper waters where they were able to continue their journey.”

Sarah Kneath, SARA Tewkesbury Chairman

SARA Tewkesbury would like to thank the public for their overwhelming generosity and making the acquisition of this vital rescue boat possible. 

See this sory in the news:
Gloucestershire Echo – Delight as boat unveiled for rescue missions