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Gavin Hunter is raising money for Surrey Search and Rescue
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Hi. Thanks for visiting my Justgiving page.
On September 20th I will be running the Reigate Half Marathon to raise money for Surrey Search & Rescue (SurSAR). As some of you will know, I joined the team this year and recently qualified as a Search Technician. I’m now able to attend call outs with the team to search for missing and vulnerable people.
And yes, before you ask……….I know there are no mountains in Surrey……….. and yes, it is pretty hard to stay lost if you’re out hiking in Surrey as you are never that far from a road, however, did you know that 78% of Surrey is woodland? So it’s easier to get lost (either by accident or choice) than you think.
SurSAR is a charity, operated by a team of 100% “unpaid professionals” from all walks of life, who volunteer their spare time to search for missing and vulnerable people in Surrey. Typically this includes people with dementia, people who are despondent or suicidal, as well as lost or missing children. The team is on call 7 days a week, 365 days a year and can be mobilised by Surrey Police at a moment's notice.
We are becoming busier and busier - last year alone, the team was called out 77 times and so far this year and it looks as though we will exceed that, with 45 callouts to date.
We have around 50 members and the team includes a specialist search dog unit (I have just started training my dog Ruby as a Search Dog) and a water rescue team. In addition to callouts we spend a large amount of time training, learning and honing skills in subjects as diverse as navigation, radio comms, dog handling, missing person behavior, search techniques, first aid, casualty evacuation, water safety…the list goes on.
It would be wonderful,
even for those of you who don’t live in Surrey, if you
could donate to this very worthwhile cause. The people we are called out
for are vulnerable and need to be found quickly and your donation will ensure
that we can get search teams on the ground rapidly, in the right place and with
the right equipment.
For more information visit http://www.sursar.org.ukor find them on Facebook or Twitter
Thank you for reading.
Gavin