Team to spend another £14,000 of your money!

Thanks to the magnificent response from the public to the team’s appeal for funding to update and improve its rescue equipment the team is now set for the next round of spending.

At a meeting of the charity’s trustees on Monday evening it was 036-new-radio-small-2unanimously agreed to release up to £14,000 for new communications and lighting equipment.   This follows on from the £5,000 already spent this year on new first aid and casualty monitoring equipment.

At the meeting the team’s Honorary Treasurer reported that the public had come up with an amazing variety of ways to raise money and that the appeal had now generated sufficient funds to move forward with the programme of modernisation.  

First on the shopping list is the purchase of thirty additional hand-held radios to enable the issue of a personal set to every Operational Member.   This idea was just a pipe-dream a year or so ago.  However, there are many practical advantages in every member having a radio.  Members will no longer have to wait for the team vehicle to arrive before they can start off to a casualty site.   At £350 each plus the cost of an additional aerial this part of the project will consume nearly £11,000 of the publicly donated money. 

Next on the list is the replacement of the team’s ageing search lamps with modern lightweight torches.  Technology has mnight-lights-small-jpgoved on very quickly and lighting units are now much more reliable, brighter and smaller that they used to be.   The trustees decided that at only £35 per unit every Operational Member should be personally issued with one.   The team has already been field-trialling several types and the results of the tests should be known by the end of the month. When the right model is selected  an order for 85 units costing nearly £3,000. will be placed. 

Finally, before the effects of the full moon totally wore off, the trustees approved the purchase for evaluation purposes two radio microphones fitted with a GPS tracking device.   These transmit the position of the user whilst on the hill and is a system used by other rescue teams in the Lake District.   However, at £165 each, Buxton team cautiously wants to prove the full benefits of GPS tracking before committing any additional funds to the scheme.

The trustees acknowledge that spending this amount of money would not have been possible without the help and support of many generous people who have not just given money but who have also gone out of their way to raise money.   The team wants to send out a big message of “Thank You” and make sure that everyone knows that their donations are being spent on improving the rescue service.   With team members being volunteers there are no wages to pay and no professional administrator’s cost.   99.5 pence in every £1 donated goes into providing the rescue service.  Thank You !

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