Rescue team want share of public cash
Life savers lose out on Holyrood funding
There were calls this week to provide government funding for Balfron-based Trossachs Search and Rescue team.
Members provide back-up to police, the fire service, ambulance service and the Coastguard but there is no public funding for the volunteer group, unlike other rescue teams.
Trossachs SAR is based at Balfron ambulance station and covers an area from Loch Lomond to Strathyre and Stirling to Balloch but it receives no backing from the Scottish Government.
Now in its 20th year, the team has to raise the £40,000 it needs to survive by staging fundraising events and from sponsorships from the public and businesses.
The Scottish Government currently supports Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) with an annual grant of £312,000.
The money is divided between the member teams in line with a detailed funding formula.
Now Trossachs SAR is calling for similar grant funding to be made available to it.
Chairman Stuart Ballantyne said: “Last year alone our members were involved in the successful resuscitation of two people and we often attend incidents where mountain rescue also turn out.
“We have supported police searches as far away as the Outer Hebrides and yet had to cover all costs ourselves. Our last searches there two years ago cost us around £1500.
“During severe weather we provide support to the NHS and local communities, as seen in recent months.
“Whilst we support the Scottish Government’s provision of funding to SMR teams, we now believe such funding has also been made available to the four rescue teams who resigned from SMR a couple of years ago (Glencoe, Lochaber, Cairngorm and Tayside) so the funding formula has already been extended by the Scottish Government.
“Therefore the same funding formula could also be extended to us, as well as the other independent SAR organisations that exist.
“We understand that mountain rescue teams receive a grant of some £2000 annually plus £1000 to cover insurance and running costs of each vehicle, £250 per operational member and £500 for every callout plus £5 per person per hour engaged in an incident.
“That would mean a grant of £12,500 before any cash for specific incidents in included.”
Forth and Endrick councillor Robert Davies wants the team to be given its fair share of funding but has been unable to find anyone to support his request to government ministers.
He said: “Trossachs SAR has done a fantastic job and it only seems right to me that it’s treated in the same way as mountain rescue teams. Why should it not be funded on an equal basis?“
Mr Ballantyne added: “We understand that Councillor Davies sought support for a motion to write to the Scottish Government, asking that they provide funding for us similar to that enjoyed by member teams of SMR and independent Scottish mountain rescue.
“I have to say that our members are very disappointed to hear that no other councillor supported him.
“If we received £12,500 from the Scottish Government annually we could do so much more to support local communities - which is what we are about.”
In March Trossachs SAR helped residents in Carron Valley who were cut off as a result of snowdrifts following the Beast from the East snowstorm.
In January the team helped the Scottish Ambulance Service to transport villagers between Forth Valley Royal Hospital and their homes following heavy rain and snow.
The Scottish Government did not comment as the Observer went to print.
Why should it not be funded on an equal basis?