Brecon MRT #fab2020

BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE Kokoda 2024

Fundraising for Brecon Mountain Rescue Team
£1,228
raised of £2,000 target
#fab2020 , 19 June 2020
Brecon Mountain Rescue Team

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 517732
We provide a search and rescue service to support lost or injured people in Wales

Story

In 2019, Brecon Mountain Rescue Team planned to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII by retracing the steps of the brave men and women that used the Escape Lines over the Pyrenees from France into Spain to escape the German occupiers.

During the Second World War, over 33,000 escapees successfully navigated their way to safety along the entire length of the Pyrenean Mountains. Of these, 782 escaped over the mountain peaks of the Ariège, the high point being in June 1943, when there were 113 successful evasions along or close to the route named as Le Chemin de la Liberté. They were helped along these ‘Escape Lines’ by brave members of the French resistance, otherwise known as ‘Helpers’. True unsung heroes  risking their own lives to help smuggle out the escapees into Spain. Those mountains were a dangerous place to be, not only because the enemy patrolled them but also because the terrain and the conditions were extreme. Despite this, the helpers would not leave them until they were safe, guiding them step by step to safety. Volunteers ready to help at a moments notice, it is to these ‘helpers’ that the successful escapees owed their lives.  

The voluntary work of Mountain Rescue Teams across the UK embody the spirit of these helpers. From inured walkers, to fallen climbers and vulnerable missing people, we pride ourselves on being there to help when and wherever it is needed. Brecon Mountain Rescue has a close relationship with the British Armed Forces. Based in a historical Garrison Town, responsible for areas where the British Military train and with many of the Team’s past and present members having served in the military, we felt it was only right to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the conflict by retracing those steps and paying homage to those ‘Helpers’.

Unfortunately,  Covid 19 got in our way and it is only now that we are able to set out on this expedition.  

Huw Rogers, from Brecon Mountain Rescue Team will attempt to retrace Le Chemin de la Liberté route, which is considered to be one of the most dangerous. Professional adventure companies take groups over this route regularly.  Allowing 5 days of trekking, 6-8 hours a day, covering between 13 and 26 km each day. The toughest of which sees the ascent of two Cols of over 1400m each with 650m of descent. 

Huw and his team will be attempting to complete this route twice, there and back, in just 5 days. The team we have assembled are proud to be undertaking this endurance event to help remember all those ‘Helpers’ who sacrificed themselves for others. This event was named The Freedom and Back 2020 (#fab2020)...but now is to be called Freedom and Back 2022.

More information on how to support the #fab2022 see the just giving link below....


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About the charity

Brecon Mountain Rescue Team

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 517732
We are a voluntary search and rescue team that undertakes well over 100 callouts per year. We assist people who are injured or lost in the mountains & rural areas of South & Mid-Wales. Our members are unpaid and we rely solely on fundraising to achieve the £55,000 needed each year to run the team.

Donation summary

Total raised
£1,227.10
+ £248.75 Gift Aid
Online donations
£1,227.10
Offline donations
£0.00

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.