When you see in the news “extremely concerned over the welfare of a missing person” you never expect it to be someone you know.

But the unexpected did happen and I received a text from a friend saying “Steves gone missing” in April 2025. Steve is still missing. We don't know what happened - we may never know. But what I do know is a team of volunteers from Lowland Rescue Oxfordshire searched for Steve, a stranger to them, but a son, a brother, an uncle and a friend to others.

On 4th July I will be swimming the Dart10k for Lowland Rescue Oxfordshire who carried out multiple searches for Steve. The Lowland Rescue Team are made up of professional volunteers, who are on call 24/7 to search for high risk vulnerable persons, assisting police and fire and rescue services (in flood rescue). They are a charity, entirely funded by donations. The volunteers don't just rock up for searches, they undergo extensive and specialist training to undertake searches on land and water.

On one of the searches they took time to speak with Steve closest friends, hearing about Steve, their friend.

I figured if I was having to train to Swim 10km, I might as well do it for a good cause. The decision to raise money came after the decision to swim, but its a good fit. Steve swam frequently and outdoor swimming/ cold water swimming is reported to be so good for your mental health (although I do debate this when swimming sub10C)

A person goes missing every 90 seconds, so please give generously. These volunteers so generously give their time and commitment.