SARA crews continued the search from the pervious night before being tasked to four people stranded precariously in a submerged caravan. SARA 8 hurried to the caravan from the opposite end of Lake Bala, once on scene the boat crew recovered two of the casualties onto the boat but with limited space and being too dangerous for the other casualties to move along the roof of the caravan an RAF Rescue Sea King helicopter was called to assist. With the aid of the huge Sea King, the caravan was swiftly abandoned to the floodwater and the SARA crew returned to the holding area before another tasking to assist the RAF Mountain Rescue Team with a bank search for missing people along a swollen river. With all casualties accounted for and volunteer rescue crews tested to their limits over the previous 36 hours, Bala once again returned to a quiet, peaceful Welsh lakeside town. SARA crews made the journey back to base in Kidderminster and prepared their equipment ready for the next real call out.

SARA is crewed entirely by volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day to assist the emergency services, while usually holding down a full time paid job too. As a Charity we are totally reliant on public donations, if you feel that you are able to make a donation you can text SARA73 £2, £5 or £10 to 70070.

Station Treasurer Paul Fearnley is pictured receiving the cheque from Tablers Steve Fabian, Mark Gilchrist, Chairman Steve Ward, Will Parkinson and Gareth Bowen.

A group of 9 Round Table members visited SARA’s home at Gloucestershire Water Rescue Centre to present the funds, tour the facility and meet the crews. Paul Fearnley said ‘these funds are vital to us to enable us to continue to provide a comprehensive and well-equipped rescue service, on permanent stand-by to assist those most in need in our local communities. All SARA staff are unpaid volunteers which mean this money can be used to purchase tangible items, such as a boat engine, that provides immediate and long-lasting benefit.

Steve Ward, Chairman of Tewkesbury Round Table said ‘Once again the generosity of Tewkesbury residents has astounded everyone at Round Table, we do the Christmas collection because it’s such an amazing feeling seeing the children’s faces when Father Christmas meets them and being able to support our very own local charities is very close to our hearts.

Last year’s collection was even more special because we struggled to have enough volunteers to cover the evenings and got very close to cancelling, thankfully a desperate plea on our Facebook page ‘Tewkesbury Roundtable’ saw some very kind people brave the cold and save the day’

Steve continues, ‘thank you so much to everyone that helped us make a difference, more details about us please visit: roundtable.co.uk or email myself at tewkesburyroundtable@yahoo.com’

SARA and Tewkesbury Round Table are hoping to work closer together over the coming months by helping each other staff local event stalls and organise fundraising events. Both groups feel that local volunteers working together can bring greater benefits to all involved.

On Friday 18th January, the snows fell and the volunteer crews based at Wyre Forest station were called out during the early hours to support the ambulance crews by responding to 999 calls in our three specialist mountain rescue 4×4 Land Rovers. The work continued into the night, as many of the crew struggled home from their day job, they were called out to replace daytime crews for the night-shift, with some crew not seeing their bed for over 27 hours. The crews were paired up with a trained ambulance technician or paramedic, and were called to range of emergencies such as sledging injuries, cardiac arrests and falls within the elderly community.

Between the 18th and 20th January the SARA crews provided around 48 hours of volunteer support to West Midlands Ambulance Service. SARA is completely run by volunteers and is entirely funded by public donations.

If you feel that you are able to make a donation you can text SARA73 £2, £5 or £10 to 70070 or make a donation online by clicking here.

Some of the group are also in “The 2 Anchors”, who perform shanties and songs of the sea, both accompanied and unaccompanied, with an eclectic mix of ‘cello, mandolin, concertina, guitar, whistle and flute. The 2 Anchors will be supporting SARA Sharpness fundraisers at selected street collections and other events during 2013, so why not pause for a while and enjoy the music when making your donation?

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Help us to save lives in our region

Win a trip on a SARA lifeboat!

The boat – a 4.9m specialist rescue RIB – has been in service with GFRS for some years, and having been replaced has now been donated on to continue saving lives throughout Gloucestershire and beyond. The boat joins SARA Tewkesbury’s existing asset list as SARA RESCUE 16, and will be put to use immediately for training and operations. The craft has undergone an overhaul and refurbishment since passing to SARA and will enter operational service immediately.

Station Manager at SARA Tewkesbury, Tom Keeling, said:
“this boat increases our capabilities by adding a large, fast and dependable boat that has proven track record in rescue work – capable of dealing with large river work and widespread flooding incidents. Receiving this further strengthens our unique working relationship, and adds to the depth of resources at Gloucestershire Water Rescue Centre, which we are proud to be a part of”

The handover ceremony will take place Weds 20th February at 1900hrs at Gloucestershire Water Rescue Centre, Oldbury Rd, Tewkesbury, and will see Chief Fire Officer John Hall and County Councillor and Cabinet Member for Communities Will Windsor-Clive present the craft formally to SARA Tewkesbury.

In The News:

• Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service (GFRS) – County’s flood response boosted by boat donation
• Gloucestershire County Council – County’s flood response boosted by boat donation
• This is Gloucestershire – Fire service donates boat to water rescue charity
• Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard – SARA has been donated a boat by Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service

Mark Hartell, MD of Recovery Safe Training Services Ltd of Twyning, Tewkesbury, wanted to help the local team and has previously assisted by providing First Aid training to new crew members. Mark’s passion is best practice and he was keen to ensure the team at Tewkesbury have the best possible knowledge as well as up-to-date qualifications. Mark, who’s brother Mike is an operational crew member, has pledged to do ‘as much as possible to help SARA Tewkesbury’.

Tom Keeling, Station Manager at SARA Tewkesbury took part in the training.

“This training really opened my eyes to the dangers involved in winch operation. Thankfully, the course provided by Mark has enabled us to implement his best practice procedures – all the crew who attended thought it was great. I’m looking forward to working again with Recovery Safe in the future, and can’t thank Mark enough for his kind and continued support”.

Recovery Safe can be contacted through their website, www.recoverysafe.co.uk, and offer a range of courses covering vehicle recovery, first aid and 4×4 driving.

SARA Tewkesbury is based at Gloucestershire Water Rescue Centre alongside Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Together the team’s unique partnership has seen a fast, efficient and professional response to flooding across Gloucestershire, evidenced by the numerous incidents attended and the ability to provide continuous response for extended periods.

In August 2012, a joint team from the centre won a national water rescue challenge, being crowned UK No.1. Thanks to shared training standards, equipment and cohabitation, both teams based at Gloucestershire Water Rescue Centre have developed their core skills, and only 14 months on from starting this project have shown the benefits projects like this can bring to the local community and further afield.

Sustained operations of this nature come at a fair cost for SARA, with fuel and damaged kit to replace. SARA relies on public support and is funded entirely by voluntary donations, which can made by texting “SARA73 £5″ to 70070.

The money has been allocated to the overhaul and refurbishment of MRU 3, one of SARA Tewkesbury’s specialist search and rescue land rovers.

SARA’s Tewkesbury Team would like to pass on their thanks to Barchester Health Care and everyone at Ashchurch View for their support.

Philip Surman Tewkesbury Borough Mayor and
Chris Crowley Station Chairman, with crew
member Andy Barley looking on

The core vehicle was acquired from a sister Mountain Rescue Team, Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team (CVSRT) and converted for SARA use by Liveridge 4×4. SARA are grateful to both; CVSRT heavily discounted the vehicle to enable us to purchase but were pleased to see the vehicle being retained for rescue where it will continue to save lives; Liveridge 4×4 provided labour for extensive modification at below cost price. In 2007, SARA rescued MD Chris Howard’s father from floods in Tewkesbury and Chris was eager to express his thanks.

Project lead and Station Manager, Tom Keeling, said:
We are humbled by the support we have been shown both locally and on a wider scale. While the majority of the funding came from Tewkesbury Borough Council, we are equally grateful to the various Parish Councils, local residents and charitable trusts that also realised the importance of this and donated funds despite the current economic climate. This is a real achievement and an amazing result for us; this will enable us to better serve the communities we support.

The vehicle has been put to immediate use and has already been used to assist the Police with searches in both Gloucester and Evesham, as well as providing regular transport for crew during training.

More details are available here.

Funders:

• Tewkesbury Borough Council – Main Sponsor
• Chaceley Parish Council
• Stoke Orchard Parish Council
• Tirley Parish Council
• Wheatpieces Parish Council
• Woodmancote Parish Council
• Churchdown Club
• Hazel and Alan Leach
• C Wilkin
• RPJ Davis
• N Hubbard
• Peter Dickinson
• Anne Price
• Waitrose Alcester
• Coop Community Fund
• Wheels 4 Good
• The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
• The Rowlands Trust
• Team Tewkesbury – GWAS Ambulance Team – Rob Trinder, Mark Curtis, Anita Douglas
• The crews, families and supporters of SARA Tewkesbury

Basic Vehicle Spec

Land Rover 110 Station Wagon, TD5
Primary roles – Boat haulage, launch, crew transport

Full Spec

Blue lights, Roof rack and ladder, Sirens, SOLAS Reflective livery, On-board VHF radio, Wading kit, Winch, Hi-lift suspension, HD wheels, Front and rear tow hitches, Driving lights, Recovery points, Rear compartment cage, 360 degree working lights, Onboard stretcher/casualty carrier

On-board

• 5 x Crew and all personal water rescue kit and land search kit
• Throwbags and belts, searchlights and handheld VHF and UHF radios
• First Aid kits, Medical Oxygen, scoop stretcher, neck braces
• Swiftwater Rescue rope and pulley kit
• Steep access ropes
• Vehicle recovery straps, pulleys
• Maps and guides, SatNav, Handheld GPS
• Mountain Rescue Casualty Care kit