383 14% incidents were attributed to Human error ‘ ’
Ray Griffiths has been involved with mountain rescue for over 50 years, mainly as a member of Patterdale MRT and, for the last three years, as president of MREW. And he reckons that meeting so many of those involved in mountain rescue across England and Wales has given him ‘a wonderful perspective on the work of the charity, the service and everyone involved’.
I’d like to focus on three elements. They’re all someone else’s baby — but I think it’s part of my role as president to encourage and reinforce where I see good things happening. The first is the move to charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) status. This has involved a huge amount of work by MREW trustees, the executive officers and others. I’d particularly like to thank trustee Jake Bharier for giving MREW the benefit of his experience in governance. Both Jake and Mike France, our Senior Executive Officer, have done a sterling job in driving this change and engaging with mountain rescue teams at every stage. I hope that their investment in communications will pay off in the years to come as I think it’s been really good for the organisation. The second element is the work being done with the Mountain Heritage Trust (MHT) to develop a significant Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid. This is all about capturing the history and heritage of mountain rescue in England and Wales and I strongly believe that our heritage is a valuable route into understanding mountain rescue as it is now. By explaining what we’ve done in the past, we can show people today how much we need their support, both financial and practical. Two recent occasions brought this home to me. I was invited by Terry Tasker of MHT (and sister of Joe) to speak at a community forum at Malton in Yorkshire. Ian Hugill of Scarborough and Ryedale MRT also came along with a rescue vehicle and he was able to talk about the team’s work in York during flooding incidents. More recently, I was invited to speak to the Friends of Keswick Museum and had access to MHT archive materials and, via Peter Little and Stuart Holmes, some great Keswick MRT images. The audiences were typical cross-sections of
issues and guidance on how to provide support where needed. Mountain rescue volunteers have always needed to be aware of these things for casualties and their families and friends. There is often a need to come back and meet those who’ve been involved in saving a life as part of dealing with injuries, both physical and mental. To see us beginning to apply this experience to ourselves can only help, keeping people well and building our teams. So, as I say, another busy year in all sorts of ways. Thank you to everyone involved in keeping Mountain Rescue England and Wales moving on — and keep well in 2020.
‘interested general public’ and the history really captured their interest. The bid was postponed during the COVID-19 outbreak but, if successful, it will be the first stage in capturing key people and milestones on video, while also learning how to identify and archive the artefacts that tell our story. Finally, I’ve been impressed by the developments in mental health and wellbeing within MREW. The team behind the Rescue Benevolent Fund are very aware of the varied support that team members may need and, aside from the fund, Elaine Gilliland and others have been raising awareness of mental health. Their work has given team members the tools to identify the early signs of wellbeing
Opposite: Helicopter training © Carney James Turner. Inset: Ray Griffiths © Dave Freeborn. Above: Spot pick-up by Bowland Pennine MRT of a casualty with lower leg and chest injuries © Bowland Pennine MRT.
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