Crowdfunding launched to support West Mercia Search and Rescue

Residents and businesses across Shropshire are being encouraged to support West Mercia Search and Rescue (WMSAR) crowdfund to help save the lives of missing people.

The project, Help Save a Life is currently seeking backers on Crowdfund Shropshire, a crowdfunding platform from Shropshire Council in partnership with Spacehive.

Help Save a Life aims to fund the costs of the external training West Mercia Search and Rescue (WMSAR) need to undertake in order to stay operational and enhance the skills of current members to deliver internal training to save costs.

WMSAR are a volunteer charity that trains and equips a search and rescue team to support the emergency services in finding and recovering vulnerable missing people. A large portion of its training uses the skills of members.

This funding will help train existing volunteers as well as new members to serve the community. An enhanced team will mean WMSAR can respond more efficiently to callouts and be available to more vulnerable people who may need their services.

Their aim for 2025 is to grow their team from 70 to 100 operational members to enable greater availability of qualified volunteers for search and rescue in our area.

Marcel Le Cocq, Chair of Trustees and Team Leader at West Mercia Search and Rescue said:

“West Mercia Search and Rescue is a 100% volunteer team, made from our community, to help the most vulnerable in our community when they need us. It is very difficult to put in words, what it means to our volunteers to be supported by their community to keep the team operational, so we will use two words, absolutely amazing.”

Crowdfund Shropshire

Crowdfund Shropshire is an opportunity for local community groups to bring forward an impactful project in their neighbourhood and receive financial support from the council and the local community – via crowdfunding – to help make it happen.

The council has funding of £150,000 (non-capital funding) through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to pledge to projects through this programme. Groups or organisations could receive up to 60% of their crowdfunding target, up to a maximum of £10,000, pledged by Shropshire Council directly into the campaign.

Councillor Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for finance, corporate resources, and communities, added:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the community to come together and support initiatives that have a direct, positive impact on our local area.

“By backing projects like Help Save a Life, we can ensure that vital services such as WMSAR continue to thrive and provide essential and often lifesaving support to those in need.

“I strongly urge everyone to help support this vital campaign, all campaigns need to reach their target for any of the funds to be released by the council. If groups do not reach their target, all the of pledges are returned to the backers. So, it’s crucial we help WMSAR to achieve their target.”

Donate

Help to Save a Life is one of many community projects seeking support across the county. People can find out more about them and how they can support them here: Help Save a Life.