Following a year of no face to face fundraising we have experienced a 40% drop in donations. We still need to raise funds to cover our annual running costs of £26k, plus provide our new intake of trainees with the uniform and equipment they need to carry out their work (£8k per intake). We also need to raise funding to replace our ageing Incident Control Vehicle for which we need circa £75k. We had hoped to achieve this during 2020 but due to the pandemic this didn't happen.

Hence launching our Sponsored Stretcher Carry!

While we cannot currently do face to face fundraising, we are permitted to do essential training so we got our thinking caps on about how to combine the two. Normally, our team members have to prove their fitness once a year with a timed 8km route over rough terrain in full kit, finishing with a 200m stretcher carry.

This year, we are challenging our team members to carry a stretcher with a weighted manikin along the Ridgeway for over 14km. This will be relay-style in small groups, with no contact between teams as they transfer their precious cargo from Barbury Castle to Avebury.