PENRITH mountain rescue team has just taken delivery of three new vehicles to replace its ageing ambulance fleet.

Fund-raising, led by a task group of five team members, with a target to raise £120,000, was launched 18 months ago with a “stretcher lower” from the top of Carlisle Civic Centre.

The two new Land Rover 110 Defenders have been professionally adapted to carry a full compliment of specialist rescue equipment, plus five team members and their personal kit and, when required, can carry a casualty on a stretcher.

Both vehicles are fitted with GPS tracking which allows their location to be monitored remotely and a state-of-the-art radio communications system which allows an unmanned vehicle to relay messages between the team’s Penrith base and search or rescue teams on the fells in locations where communications are compromised by the topography of the land.

The new command vehicle is based on a Renault Load Master 150. Professional coachbuilders adapted the van to the team’s specification, which was for the vehicle to double as transport for team personnel plus rescue equipment and as forward planning base (or “office”).

In this latter role, thanks to a donation from the Cumbria County Council’s neighbourhood forum which paid for a portable generator, a search or incident management team is able to operate independently, for long periods in remote locations, when the need arises.

RADIO

This vehicle has a powerful radio communications capability which allows communication with search teams on the fells, the team’s Penrith base and search and rescue helicopters.

The purchase of these three vehicles, at a cost of £121,500, has been made possible through the generosity of Samworth Brothers, a Leicester-based food producer, whose donation funded the purchase of one Land Rover and a bequest from Miss Muriel Masson, late of Norfolk Road, Castletown, and Winters Park nursing home, Penrith, whose legacy financed the purchase of the second Land Rover.

Fund-raising for the Renault is ongoing, with donations to date from AmeyMouchel, Atkinsons Builders, British Gypsum, Eddie Stobart Ltd., Russell Armer Ltd., Terex, a producer of earth-moving equipment, Thomas Armstrong Construction, a collection made by team members at the launch of the fund-raising campaign, and a well-known London-based international business which donated £10,000 but requested anonymity. The livery for the three vehicles was generously provided by astsigns of Penrith.

These are now on station and one Land Rover, shortly after being delivered to the team, has been used already in the rescue of a casualty from Penrith Beacon.

The team is a registered charity and in common with all mountain rescue teams in England and Wales is reliant on donations from businesses and the public for funding its base, equipment and operations.

COST

The annual cost of keeping the Penrith team operational is £18,000 and a further £14,000 is required to cover the shortfall in funding of the new command vehicle.

Any local businesses or individuals wanting to make a donation shold contact the team at Isobella Carlton House, Tynefield Drive, Penrith, CA11 8JA, or visit www.penrithmrt.org.uk.

The work of the team covers a diverse area of 2,500sq km, which stretches from the Scottish Borders to Shap and covers the Northern Pennines, Eastern fells of the Lake District and much of the central and lower Eden.

On Thursday, at 11-15pm, team members can be seen training with “A” Flight, RAF Boulmer, on Border Television’s new series RAF Rescue.

LEFT: Members of the Penrith mountain rescue team’s vehicles fund-raising and replacement group receiving the keys to their new vehicles from the management of astsigns.

Front: Steve Ullyart, team communications officer; Gareth Livingstone, astsigns manager; Phil Kershaw, rescue team member; Peter Baker, team chairman; Mark Aston, astsigns managing director; and Ian Soulsby, team quartermaster (vehicles). Back: John Whittle, team finance officer.