Fundraising

Each year we have to raise between £25,000 and £30,000 simply to cover overheads and to be in the position of being ready to respond when the call comes. This figure covers nothing more than maintaining existing equipment, replacing kit that has reached the end of its service life and any breakages or losses. It certainly does not cover the cost of any additional specialist equipment that is required, equipment which by its very nature, tends to be expensive.

Whilst the Welsh Assembly does provides a small  annual grant that is divided between all 17 Mountain Rescue Teams in Wales, the rest of the money required to keep us on an operational footing must be raised by the Team itself.

Ultimately we rely on the incredible and generous support of the public to allow us to maintain our readiness to respond, no matter what time of day or night it is or how appalling the weather might be.

Most people still wrongly believe that Mountain Rescue Teams are centrally funded.

Besides striving to cover our annual running costs we are  fundraising to purchase a new control vehicle.  The anticipated cost of the new vehicle is expected to be in the region of £65,000 spilt between both the purchase of the vehicle itself and its subsequent fitting out.  Currently the incredible efforts of Team members and members of the public who have supported us have raised nearly £35,000. That still leaves us a whooping 30k still to be found from somewhere.

So how can you help?

Money can be donated to the Team through various channels. JustGiving and text donations being the quickest and easiest. Text: WBMR40 and your amount to 70070 (e.g. ‘WBMR40 £5’) or hit the JustGiving link at the bottom of any page of our website.

If you shop online at sites such as Amazon, Argos, Tesco’s, Play.com then using GiveAsYouLive will see the Team earn up to 5% of what you spend. Just register for free and nominate Western Beacons as your favoured charity and you’ll be supporting us without spending a extra penny yourself.

EveryClick works in a similar way with us getting a small donation every time Everyclick is used to make a search of the web and a link followed from the results returned.

Legacies and donations to the Team can also be written into a will. Should you wish to make such a provision please contact the Team for further details.

Time. Would you like to get involved with fundraising for the Team? We would be eager to hear from you if you would, especially if you have any existing experience of fundraising.