Can you help us to keep our rescuers safe?

SARA team members are lifesavers - they are all volunteers who search for and rescue people at any time, any day of the year. On average they are called out 2 or 3 times a week, over 120 times a year. At SARA we need to ensure our volunteer rescuers are properly equipped when they deploy. Giving them the appropriate 'Rescue PPE' is vital but it is also expensive.

Kitting out a lifeboat crew member costs over £1000, with the lifejacket alone costing £450, plus the cost of the drysuit (£300), undersuit (£80), helmet (£150) and gloves (£30).

An inland and flood water rescuer costs slightly less to equip but needs a different kind of drysuit, with tightly-fitting boots instead of integrated wellies (together, £400), and a kitted out rescue buoyancy aid ('PFD') costs £200, plus a helmet (£80) and rope & gloves (£30 each)

A land searcher looking for a missing person needs a set of full waterproofs and clothing layers - light enough for carrying heavy loads uphill, warm enough for waiting with a casualty through a long night in winter (£250, even with the volunteer providing their own boots and gloves).

And that's just to purchase the items. All this kit also needs to be maintained, especially the drysuits which often need to be repaired, and the lifejackets need (legally require) formal annual inspection and servicing - this all costs money too.

PPE for our volunteers is the most vital equipment we have. After a year of Covid and few fund-raising opportunities, our funds are starting to run low. The pace of callouts did not drop much in 2020 and is starting to increase as restrictions are lifted.

Please help us to keep our rescuers safe