New store charity gets off to a flying start
NEARLY £1,000 has been raised for Leicestershire Search and Rescue at Sainsbury’s at The Crescent in Hinckley since the store named it as its chosen charity earlier this summer. The volunteer search and rescue team, known as LeicSAR, was voted by shoppers and staff as the store’s supported cause for 2017-18, following Hinckley-based charity Abbie’s Hideaway. It specialises in seaching for missing, vulnerable people and works closely with the police. More than £950 has been raised so far by team collections in-store, customer donations made in collection buckets by the tills and sales of secondhand books by the customer service desk. Members of the Leicester-based team were among those called out to help search for missing teenager Kayleigh Hayward in November 2015 before officers were forced to declare the incident a murder hunt. They are expert at looking for missing people suffering from dementia, and are called out to help search for people believed to at risk of self harm or without essential medication. The team may also be called on to help with crime scene protection and recovery of significant objects or to give support at major incidents. LeicSAR is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is an accredited member of the Association of Lowland Search & Rescue (ALSAR).