‘ You can’t put a price on the feeling you get from being involved’
THE Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue Team is entirely voluntarily staffed, and provides a professional standard of Mountain Rescue to the North West along with support for other teams around the country whenever requested.
The team are more than happy to do what they can to help the public in need. Last year they responded to more than 15 requests for assistance. The volunteers are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They receive no compensation or allowances for their efforts, time and personal expense. There are currently 22 people on the team while there are 5 members in training.
Alan Sayers has been volunteering with the Mountain Rescue Team for more than 15 years. Alongside that he juggles his fulltime job as a Nurse, a skill that is beneficial to his volunteering efforts. “The camaraderie with friends and colleagues makes it all worthwhile. When you engage and help people you see the results straight away so you have immediate gratification,” said Alan.
“It is very hard to ‘ pinpoint’ the exact number of volunteer hours put in every week by the volunteers, Alan explains,
“A call out could last two hours or two days. Then there is the administration, the meetings, training, maintenance of equipment and inspections. We all train together regardless of your experience because you always learn something new.”
While the Mountain Rescue receives a small Grant from the Coast Guard each year, they rely heavily on fundraising from the public. “Some people are very appreciative of the work we do. But a lot of people assume we are a state run service which isn’t the case and I don’t think they fully appreciate the work. But we do get great support from the wider community and society,” said Alan. Chris Taylor has been with the Mountain rescue for more than five years as the equipment officer and he also works full- time as a soft- ware developer. He became involved with the Rescue Team through his love of the outdoors and mountaineering: “We have an ethos were ‘ it is mountaineers rescuing mountaineers’ so there is a mutual support. Because I love hiking and climbing myself, it is like giving back and you never know when you might need them yourself.” While mountaineering may not appeal to everyone, Alan and Chris encourage those interested to apply as they believe you can’t put a price on the feeling you get from being involved. The Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue Team is entirely voluntarily staffed, and provides a professional standard of Mountain Rescue to the North West along with support for other teams around the country whenever requested.