Funding Mountain Rescue
Mountain Rescue throughout the UK runs on a completely voluntary basis. Scottish Mountain Rescue comprises 27 teams spread across the country, all of which are staffed entirely by volunteers.
BSARU’s annual running costs average out at around £35,000. We have three off-road vehicles that require continual maintenance, taxing and insuring. The oldest of these, a Landrover Defender, is now 19 years old and will soon need replacing. In addition to the vehicles expenses, we have a large amount of specialist rescue and medical equipment, most of which has a finite lifespan, and routine renewal of this accounts for a large part of the remaining running costs of the team. Our various insurance policies cost us several thousand pounds annually.
About 35-40% of these costs are covered by a grant from the Scottish Government, which is paid to the SMR and divided between the teams according to a complex formula taking into account the number of man-hours each team spends on call-outs each year, among other factors. The remaining two-thirds comes from our constant fund-raising efforts. You’ll have noticed collecting cans in shops and pubs throughout our patch. We also generate funds by providing first-aid and safety cover for events (hill-races, ride-outs etc), and are regular beneficiaries of pub-quizzes, bingo-nights and evening talks by our members.
In June, four of our volunteers are running a non-stop 160-mile race along the Pennine Way (The Spine Northern Challenger), and raising awareness and cash for the team as part of the effort. Duncan, Ian, Gavin and Damon’s progress can be followed via the team's Facebook page. The mascot for their fund-raising is Reiver Roger, a cuddly-toy rabbit who will complete the race, hoping to jump from rucksack to rucksack and stay with whichever of the four runners is highest up the field. He’s already been on some impressive training jaunts, most notably a 55-miler in the Borders with Ian and a 38-mile continuous round of 12 Munros in NW Scotland with Damon. Not bad for a wee bunny with 2” legs!! You can sponsor Roger (and the team!!) directly from this website!
Recruitment
A recent call for fresh members brought a very gratifying response, and we now have eight probationers going through a year’s introductory training, at the end of which they’ll graduate to full membership. Eight is about as many trainees as we need at any time, so for the moment we are not actively looking for fresh applicants. However, we’re always interested in people in our area who have the right attitude, a desire to help and an eagerness to learn, so if you’re interested in joining us, contact us through our website and we’ll keep you on file.
