Bolney

BOLNEY WI: Our September Speaker was Brian Barker, who is a member of the Sussex Search and Rescue Team.

Brian gave us a fascinating talk about the work of this team which is self-funded and relies on public donations.

The SSRT is a primary volunteer force used by Sussex Police in their search for vulnerable missing persons. Their Patron is Sally Gunnell.

This organisation was started in 2002 following the disappearance of the young girl - Sarah Payne.

Before members (men or women) are accepted they are police-vetted and after an initial training of 4-6 months training, they continue with two training evenings a month plus continuous internal assessment.

Yearly refresher courses are obligatory and include updating First Aid and the use of defibrillators.

Members can be called upon at any time and work under the direction of a Search Planner who heads up a team of Search Manager, Team Leader, First Aider and Technicians.

The teams may use dogs in their searches but these are the members’ own pets.

The service costs £20,000 - £25,000 per year to run, the majority of which is insurance.

As a group we were impressed and moved by these ‘ordinary’ people who give to the community without financial reward such extraordinary and life changing service.

Our October meeting is the AGM when we shall hopefully also plan for the year ahead.

On November 8th at 2.30pm in the small Rawson Hall we look forward to hearing Jan Thompson tell us ‘What’s in the Basket?’