Rescue chief highlights volunteer wellbeing after a busy year for mountain rescue teams

In the Mountain Rescue England and Wales Annual Review 2024, I reflect on my first three years in post as Chief Executive Officer. I spent the first two years getting to know team members across England and Wales, as well as our wider network of search and rescue colleagues and partner organisations. The last 12 months have brought into sharp focus the issues and challenges facing mountain rescue teams — particularly those in the ‘honey pots’ of North Wales, the Lake District and Peak District.

The biggest concern I have is the increase in demand for mountain rescue assistance, especially in those popular locations. Last year, Llanberis team members (operating around the tourist magnet that is Yr Wydffa/Snowdon) responded to over 300 calls. Wasdale team (based in the western Lake District) recorded over 160. And the Edale team (in the Peak) picked up 157.

Since the early days of mountain rescue, incidents have tended to rise year on year, as more people discovered the joy of the outdoors — and the outdoors became more accessible — but the last three years have seen the numbers shift exponentially and there’s been a marked change in the demographic.

It’s not sustainable. There’s a very real concern for team member wellbeing and the impact on their families and their working lives. Mountain rescuers have always been a resilient and resourceful bunch, but they are still volunteers.

How, for example, does an individual decide which call-outs they can afford to miss, if any? How does that impact a team’s ability to respond to incidents? And what impact will this have on any future casualties? We’re no longer looking at the same customers. We’re seeing fewer people with outdoor skills, and a growing lack of awareness of the risks involved in the hill and mountain environment, of the need for appropriate skills, clothing and kit while they’re out there.

Essentially, they’re not the archetypal outdoors enthusiasts, perhaps unfamiliar with the outdoor press and our own media channels — so how do we influence and educate them?

We’re thinking about how we can relieve the pressure on the busier teams, and looking at how they can do things differently. Neighbouring teams already support each other on call-outs, but perhaps there are ways to collaborate more to spread the load.

Another area of concern is the ability for individual teams and, indeed, the national body, to raise funds. Again, those teams in the honey pots attract more donations because more people go there as tourists, so awareness is greater — and they attract more of the traditional climbing and walking demographic.

I’m pleased to see that the media profile of mountain rescue has benefited significantly from not just one, but two, television series (focusing on mountain rescue in North Wales and the Lakes), and a well-observed piece in The Sunday Times magazine. It’s good to see the recent level of mainstream media interest in what we do — not just when a high-profile story hits the headlines, but looking at the nuts and bolts of mountain rescue and the people who make it happen.

The Sunday Times article profiled the Llanberis team, following their busiest year yet. The journalist and photographer shadowed team members during training sessions and a couple of call-outs in mid-February, capturing a lot of human interest and interviewing team members and some of the casualties involved.

The BBC Wales SOS Extreme Rescues series included other rescue services, working alongside the teams, and aired over a number of weeks. The crews worked very closely with all those involved, and what came across was very mature, not only in terms of its high production values, but in getting our key safety messages across. We’re hoping there will be another series.

Read Sally Seed’s review of the series for Emergency Services Times.

Beyond the organisation, we continue to be involved at a national level within UK Search and Rescue and I am lobbying hard for proper recognition at government level. It’s not happening fast enough, but we’re making progress.

And finally, returning to the topic of sustainability and the need to support our team members, I’m happy to report that we continue to develop several initiatives looking at shared values and wellbeing in general. Our team members are our greatest asset — our most important piece of kit. If they fall over (be that actually or metaphorically), through exhaustion or dwindling enthusiasm, or sheer lack of time, because of the ever-increasing demands on their energy and resources, then our whole mountain rescue service falls over.

Sustainability is such a key issue for us that we’ve focused our annual conference on that very topic, drawing in speakers who are expert in building cohesive teams and enabling the individual to optimise their own health and wellbeing. The conference takes place 6-8 September at Lancaster University.

Find out more about our work by reading the Mountain Rescue England and Wales Annual Review 2024.