Crime cash helps fund vital vehicle
CASH from the proceeds of crime has been used to support Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team.
West Yorkshire Police has donated £30,000 to help the Marsden-based volunteers buy and equip a new Mobile Incident Control Vehicle, replacing one that has now reached the end of its working life.
The Mountain Rescue Team last year carried out 26 operations across West Yorkshire, including 22 to help locate high risk missing persons.
The donation was made by West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson and the Chief Constable John Robins using the Police Property Act Fund.
The fund consists of money from the sale of property connected with crime. The fund can only be used for charitable purposes.
The Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team (HVMRT) has over 40 members who are on call to assist those in difficulty, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, whatever the weather.
The Mobile Incident Control Vehicle forms the integral hub of any search operation – providing search managers with a facility from which to plan and execute a search or rescue operation, wherever it is needed.
The team needed £60,000 to buy and equip the new vehicle which they have now achieved following the donation for the Police Property Act Fund.
The new vehicle is expected to be operational by next autumn.
Team leader Owen Phillips said: “We are incredibly grateful. The donation will help us to continue vital life-saving work and provide assistance to West Yorkshire Police for years to come.”