Rescue team on a mission in 2013 (From Crewe Guardian)

Rescue team on a mission in 2013

10:09am Friday 4th January 2013 in News By Gina Bebbington

A SEARCH and rescue team is on a mission in 2013 to make sure Cheshire people discover its vital work.

Cheshire Search and Rescue (SAR), a registered charity, was set up to cover the Warrington area with 24 volunteers in 2004.

Now it is made up of 50 members and covers the whole of the county, but wants to do more to raise its profile.

In 2012, the team flew to Greece to help to locate the body of missing Alsager marathon runner, John Lawton.

Mark Susca, from Cheshire SAR, said: “Very few people know of us but what we do is vital.

“We are a search and rescue team but we’re also very keen on community engagement.

“We’re a charity for Cheshire, a team for Cheshire, here purely for the community, and we want to try to get the community involved.

“We want to let people know we’re here for them.

“There are 50 members of the team covering 906 square miles, from north Warrington to south Crewe and anywhere in between.

“We have a variety of call outs – it can be anything – but while we do that we are also actively trying to promote being a part of the community.”

Team members are on call 24 hours a day, every day.

They assist police in searches and also help other search teams, mountain rescue teams, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and the North West Ambulance Service.

Cheshire SAR receives no Government funding and all its equipment is bought thanks to donations from the public.

Conor Slevin, manager of Northwich Music Centre, said: “They are seriously under funded.

“We do collect for them here but it’s about raising the profile too.

“It’s time for them to be more seriously supported by the Government.”

For more information about Cheshire SAR visit cheshire-sarteam.org.