Ready at a Moment’s Notice

Dedicated volunteer crews across the Severn region, on water and land. We stay on call to save lives, 24/7.

River Usk Newport

August 26, 2025

We received a request for assistance during the early hours of this morning to support Gwent Police with an ongoing incident. We immediately launched SARA lifeboat 14 and navigated through shallow waters and darkness, making way to the incident location. As the lifeboat was standing by on scene, a person entered the water from height.The crew rescued the person from the water and provided first aid treatment before handing over to HM Coastguard Chepstow shore based medical teams.  We wish the person involved a speedy recovery.

Stroud

August 14, 2025

Around 10.30pm we were called out to Stroud, to support Gloucestershire Constabulary searching for a high risk missing lady.Land Search teams from our SARA stations at Tewkesbury, Cotswolds and Beachley responded, along with a search dog team from Search and Rescue Dog Association South Wales.  They conducted detailed searches in the Stroud area, in hilly and wooded terrain in the dark of the night.  In the early hours one of the SARA parties located the missing lady safe and well, and she was handed into the care of the relevant agencies.  A great result!Many thanks to all who responded and to Topps Tiles for the use of their facilities.

Coleford

August 12, 2025

The Land Search team was called out again just after lunchtime, to the Coleford area, to support Gloucestershire Police with a search for a missing man.Team members from SARA Stations at Beachley, Tewkesbury and Cotswolds responded, along with colleagues from Gloucestershire Cave Rescue Group and Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service Coleford. They undertook detailed searches of areas to west of Coleford in very testing, hot conditions. Teams were stood down at nightfall with nothing having been found, with the intention of continuing the following (Wednesday) morning. However, the missing man was found safe later in the evening out of our search area. Grateful thanks to Andy & Maureen, owners of Greenacres Campsite for allowing us to use the site as the search base and for generously providing cold drinks for the searchers. Also to Whitecliff Off Road Centre for their help in providing a forward base.

Leckhampton Hill

August 11, 2025

Our land search team was called out this morning, to support Gloucestershire Police with the search for a high risk missing man in the area of Leckhampton Hill, near Cheltenham. Team members from SARA stations at Beachley, Tewkesbury, Cotswolds and Wyre Forest were called out, along with colleagues from Gloucestershire Cave Rescue Group and a search dog & handler from Search and Rescue Dog Association (South Wales).Thankfully, as the first search parties were deploying from the RV, the missing man was located safe elsewhere by a member of the public.

Sedbury

August 6, 2025

At 00:28 this morning, our land search and water rescue teams were called to support Gwent Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary with an incident near Sedbury. Crews from the SARA stations at Beachley, Tewkesbury, Upton and Cotswolds were tasked. Thankfully the missing person was quickly spotted by a SARA team member and safely taken into the care of the police. The teams were stood down and crew could return home.

River Severn - Beachley

August 5, 2025

Just after midnight last night Maritime and Coastguard Agency paged us to support Avon and Somerset Police and South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust with an incident near Aust Rock. SARA Lifeboat 1 was launched and held position under the M48 Severn Bridge ready to assist. The incident was resolved successfully and SARA1 returned to station.

River Severn - Beachley

August 2, 2025

The SARA Beachley lifeboats were called out by the Coastguard this afternoon. Both SARA Lifeboats 1 and 3 were launched around 2pm, to search for a missing man. Initially they were tasked to search along the Severn, upriver from Beachley; subsequently they were re-tasked to search in the lower part of the Wye. Thankfully the man was then located safe and well ashore, and our crew was stood down. Both the lifeboat helms had hot-footed from Brockweir, where they were due to support the Tintern Duck Race. Thus it was left to some our inland boat crew to operate SARA Rescue 5, providing safety cover for both spectators and ducks along with a small fleet of kayaks. With the low river levels and slow current, the duck race was still in progress when the two helms returned to Tintern having been stood down, so they did not miss out entirely.

Get In Touch

Fill out the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Here at Severn Area Rescue Association, we take your privacy seriously and only use your personal information to administer the services you have requested from us. By providing your details above, you agree to be contacted by us via phone or email. We treat your data with respect and will not share your details with any 3rd party.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Contact image