Hello!  My name’s David Jones and I’m the Mayor of Matlock, and the Derby Mountain Rescue Team is my charity of the year.

The Mountain Rescue Team isn’t all about mountains and climbers.  Anyone who does anything in the countryside and gets hurt or lost could find themselves being helped by the Derby Mountain Rescue Team.  It could be you, or a friend or a relative – we all think it won’t happen, but it might, and for a lot of people it does happen, every year.

The DMRT is entirely a voluntary organisation.  Nobody in it is paid.  They give a lot.  Have a look at the Derby Mountain Rescue Team’s website.  Not everyone can be a rescuer, but we can all help them rescue people by donating. 

 We need to give the team help so that they can keep on doing this.

The Derby Team’s area extends to Matlock and Matlock Bath.  There are probably people in Derby who think “No mountains here – nothing do with me” and there are probably people in Matlock who think “What’s the Derby rescue team got to do with us?”  The answer is ”a lot”.  I want to help the Derby Team raise some funds, and help to make sure people know what they do so.

As we’re raising money for a Rescue Team, it seems right to do something a bit more exciting than sitting in a bath of beans., so I’m going to try to climb up High Tor, in Matlock Bath, with a member of the DMRT.  High Tor’s that big cliff between Matlock and Matlock Bath, that looks over the A6.  I can see it from my house – but it looks a lot bigger when you’re stood at the bottom!.   All the climbs there are classics, but I’m not a young chap anymore, so we’ll have to see whether I get to the top.

It’ll be scary, so please give generously.