New vehicles on the road thanks to DoJ donation and fundraising

New vehicles on the road thanks to DoJ donation and fundraising

16 August 2017

THE Mourne Mountain Rescue Team has been presented with two new vehicles.

The incident command and first response vehicles — which have been specially designed — were officially unveiled last week with the bulk of the funding to secure them provided by the Department for Justice.

The vehicles have been fitted out to meet the specific needs of the rescue team and after testing have now been formally unveiled and are ready for service.

The new incident command vehicle replaces an ageing support unit which has been used in multiple rescue missions in the Mournes Both new additions to the fleet increase the team’s capacity to respond to emergencies, including multiple and large scale incidents.

Two weeks ago, the mountain rescue team played the key role in a multi-agency emergency response to a major incident in the Mournes involving a large group of army cadets from England who had become stranded.

The children were from the Cleveland Army Cadet Force in Middlesborough who had gone into the mountains for a one-night camp, but got into difficulties when the weather closed in.

Martin McMullan, the mountain rescue team’s co-ordinator, said the new vehicles form part of the organisation’s ongoing development and thanked the Department for Justice and the Fundraising for Heroes of The Hills charity which helped secure them. 

The charity was started by young Annalong man, Nat Pierson, after the rescue team went to the assistance of his mum Leza. Nat has so far raised over £21,000 and £10,000 of that money was used to help secure the two new vehicles and fit them out.

Mr McMullan said the rescue team is delighted with the new additions to the rescue fleet which will greatly assist with its emergency responses to help those who get into difficulty in the Mournes. In addition, he said all the volunteers cannot thank enough local people and groups and organisations across the community which continue to support the vital work they do.

“Like any organisation, the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team has a development plan for the team which includes replacing ageing vehicles as well as adding to our fleet when demand requires,” he explained. 

“One of our fleet was going to have to be replaced within a year and we also needed an additional vehicle for transporting team members. We had an opportunity to make a bid for funding of £85,000 to the Department of Justice and fortunately for us it was successful.

“The total cost of both vehicles after they had been fitted out to meet our specific requirements was £95,000. There is quite a lot in both of them and they are quite impressive and tailored to our rescue needs in the Mournes.”

Mr McMullan said the support vehicle is wired with modern communication equipment and the transporter is fitted out as a rapid response vehicle. While it carries team members it also doubles up as an ambulance and is four-wheel drive.

“We now have three rapid response vehicles which will help us deal with multiple incidents at the same time, which is not uncommon, and increase our capacity to deal with large scale incidents,” he continued.

“The additional £10,000 we required on top of the Department for Justice money came from Nat who has raised a significant amount of money for us over recent years. To mark this, we have named one of the new vehicles the ‘Nat Mobile’ and presented his parents with a small token of our appreciation in recognition of all their help and support.

“We chose to name one of the vehicles the Nat Mobile to mark the support Nat has given to the rescue team which he has supported since we rescued his mum in the Mournes. It is thanks to his efforts, along with the Department of Justice and public donations, that we have been able to put these new vehicles on the road. While they have not yet been on a call, I suspect that will not be very long.”

Mr McMullan said the rescue team does not operate in isolation and is very much part of the community and exists because of the tremendous goodwill and support there is for what it does in the area. He said Nat’s fundraising efforts are a prime example of that.

He added: “Nat has an army of people who come out to help him and they all support the team. While we secured £85,000 from the Department of Justice and £10,000 from Nat, the team’s running costs are pretty much paid for out of public donations, raised at events such as those organised by Nat and contributions from running and walking clubs and a host of other groups which support us monthly. We are grateful to not only Nat’s support but that of everyone else who supports us and the work we do.”

Mr McMullan added: “All those who provide financial support are as much a part of the mountain rescue team as the volunteers who help those who get into difficulty and require assistance.”