Mobile 4
Today, we welcome the arrival of our new vehicle, Mobile 4. A Ford Ranger purchased from Derby Mountain Rescue Team will help modernise the fleet at Penrith MRT and enable us to carry more team members to callouts and training. Mobile 4 will be the third vehicle to leave base, behind our landrovers, Mobile 1 and 2, and will carry life saving equipment around our patch when we need it most.
September 3, 2024
Grand Tour of Skiddaw
Saturday, saw two teams from Penrith mrt taking on the annual Mountain Rescue ultra marathon race, the The Grand Tour of Skiddaw. It's a highly anticipated event which we look forward to and both of our teams completed the course, getting round the 46 mile loop and were still smiling at the end! The Grand Tour of Skiddaw puts this event on to help raise money and awareness of all MR teams and make a very welcome donation to us following the event. We are very grateful for this and to the organisers, volunteers, photographers and competitors for making the event one to look forward to!
August 9, 2024
Penrith MRT Power By Contentful
As a volunteer organisation, Contentful kindly signed us up to their probono package giving us some of the industry level functionality to use on our site. Following this, we have made Contentful our CMS for this site and we own them a huge thank you for letting us do so! You can find out more about Contentful and how you could us it to to improve your websites here contentful.com
June 19, 2024
Kings Coronation Medals
The Team are delighted that 20 current, and 2 former, team members have been awarded the Coronation Medal, in recognition of their service in Mountain Rescue. The medals were presented at our June monthly meeting. Emergency Services personnel with 5 or more years active duty on the date of the King's coronation in May 2023 have each received the medal. The Team are proud of our contribution to the hill-going and local communities as a volunteer search and rescue organisation. We rely on donations and fundraising to operate, and are grateful to the public for their generous support.
June 5, 2024
A Sad outcome to the search for a missing runner in the North Pennines
Penrith Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) was contacted by Cumbria Police at 17:43 on Sunday, 31st December following a call to them by the concerned friends of a fell runner who had not met up with them at the agreed time in Dufton village. A full Team call-out was initiated, and support was requested from the neighbouring Kirkby Stephen and Kendal MRTs as well as the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs. The missing runner had planned a long route along part of the Pennine Way over Cross Fell, so search teams were deployed from various access points to the fell. These groups covered the mainly snow-covered route and surrounding areas in deteriorating weather conditions. After midnight, the rain and snow from early afternoon returned to the fells where the teams were searching. The search was paused at 03:00, with a plan being made to resume at first light and to call on further resources from across the Lake District Search and Rescue region and other agencies. Almost 50 rescue volunteers resumed the search at 08:00 on Monday, 1st January and deployed onto the fells, now covering large areas away from the paths and tracks with the benefits of daylight and improving weather. Unfortunately, the Team received a call from North West Ambulance Service later in the morning, confirming that a body had been found by members of the public as well as notification by the Police Helicopter. The Great North Air Ambulance immediately flew to the scene. Members of Penrith MRT, assisted by a Cockermouth MRT colleague, attended the scene and recovered the body from the Fell. “Everyone involved in this search wishes to pass our condolences to the family and friends of the runner Edward Catmur,” said Peter King, Penrith MRT Team Leader. “Our thoughts are with them all at this difficult time. As well as the 26 members of Penrith MRT who spent their New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s Day on the high fells, I would like to thank MR volunteers in the Kirkby Stephen, Kendal, Patterdale, Wasdale, Cockermouth, Duddon & Furness, Keswick and Langdale Ambleside teams for their help as well as nine search dogs and their handlers from across the Lake District and elsewhere in northern England. I would also like to acknowledge the work done by Cumbria Police, Police Helicopter, North West Ambulance Service, HM Coastguard Rescue 199 helicopter and the Great North Air Ambulance.”
May 2, 2024
Reaching the parts that other Mountain Rescue communications cannot reach
A substantial grant awarded by Cumbria Community Foundation and funded by Electricity North West Ltd has enabled Penrith Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) to invest in more effective communications for key parts of its extensive North East Cumbria region. The Primetech mobile satellite communication system will now be used in searches, rescues and major incidents whenever standard communication networks are not available. The satellite equipment will come into its own in several parts of the extensive area covered by Penrith MRT where a mobile phone signal is weak or absent and where radio communication is difficult. “We have significant comms challenges in a couple of key areas for call-outs,” says Penrith MRT Comms Officer, Dale Longson. “For instance, around Mardale Head has poor signals but we are frequently called out to the Coast to Coast path above Haweswater. Similarly, the back, or eastern, side of Cross Fell and the North Pennines is notoriously bad for communication signals but is another regular incident location for the team. This new equipment will improve the comms amongst the team members on the ground and also back to our Penrith Base or mobile incident control.” It is hoped that Primetech’s mobile VSAT system will also fill the breach during major incidents, such as flooding and severe storms, when mobile phone masts are damaged and the normal signal goes down, as happened during Storm Arwen in November 2021. By ensuring a continued signal, the new system will enable the Team to continue to operate effectively. Team member Gerry Rusbridge put together the grant application: “Everyone involved in the Team would like to thank Electricity North West and Cumbria Community Foundation for the generosity that has funded this step up in our operational communications capability. It will help us work more safely, be a huge benefit for our casualties too, and in major incidents improve critical wider community communications” ENDS Photo Caption: Penrith Mountain Rescue Team’s Comms Officer, Dale Longson with the Primetech mobile satellite communication system set up at Mardale Head near Haweswater. Note to Editors: The grant to Penrith MRT is Award Ref 24323 from the Cumbria Community Foundation. Penrith Mountain Rescue Team has 40 members, all of whom are volunteers. They are available 24/7 for 365 days in the year. In 2022 the Team responded to 39 call outs; the total for 2021 was 45. Its ability to operate relies on donations. The area covered extends from the Far Eastern Fells of the Lake District around Haweswater, across to the North Pennines and Cross Fell, and all the way up to the Scottish border, accounting for about 1600sq miles. Further information about Penrith MRT is online at https://www.penrithmrt.org.uk/. For further media information and additional images please go to https://www.penrithmrt.org.uk/contact
July 24, 2023
Penrith Train Station’s Charity Bookshelf Fundraiser
Penrith railway station’s charity bookshelf has recently passed the £8000 milestone in funds raised for Penrith Mountain Rescue Team (MRT). Located in the booking hall, the bookshelf was established in 2015 and offers rail customers looking for a read on their journey a selection of used books in exchange for a small donation. As a token of their appreciation for hosting this valuable fundraiser, the Team presented to staff at the station with a carved wooden plaque. Mark Green, Avanti West Coast Station Manager at Penrith, said: “We’re proud to support Penrith Mountain Rescue Team, who are an integral part of the local community – looking out for the thousands of visitors that explore this beautiful part of the world. The charity bookshelf has helped to raise vital funds and just goes to show that a small donation can make a big difference. We would like to thank our customers and the community for joining us to show our appreciation for the great work the Mountain Rescue Team do every day of the year.” Laura Nightingale of the Team’s Friends Group initiated the bookshelf. She said: “There are so many people involved in making this happen – everyone who donates books, the staff who ensure that it is well-stocked and keep an eye on the donations box and, of course, everyone who goes through the station and uses it.” Peter King, Leader of Penrith MRT, commented “Penrith MRT is incredibly grateful for the support of the staff at the station in making this such a successful, long-running fundraiser for us. It’s a win-win: passengers choose a good read, and their donations help us to continue to serve whoever gets into difficulty in our patch - whatever the time of day, and whatever the conditions”. Donations of paperback fiction for the bookshelf are always welcome and can be handed to station staff at the information desk in the booking hall.
March 24, 2023
Penrith Mountain Rescue Doctor speaks at Royal College event
Local GP Dr Tim Sanders is speaking at a Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) event on Tuesday, January 31st about his role as a volunteer, and a medical professional, with Penrith Mountain Rescue Team (MRT). The event, which is online, is the first in a series being organised by the Royal College which will look at the extended roles undertaken by GPs in their communities. Tim’s talk focuses on his experiences working as a GP in the Eden valley of Cumbria and of taking on two extended roles. One of these is volunteering with Penrith MRT, where Tim is currently the only doctor in the Team. On call-outs, he works with other Team members who hold Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s (MREW) Casualty Care qualification. The other is leading the University of Central Lancashire’s MSc course in Mountain Medicine. This unique course combines postgraduate academic study and the development of clinical knowledge, with teaching in the practical skills required to ensure the safety of team, casualty and clinician in challenging mountain environments. “My talk has the title ‘Extended Roles: Want to know more about mountain rescue? Get lost!’, which is a bit tongue in cheek,” says Tim. “I’ll be talking about both roles but I am anticipating a lot of interest from those at the event in the mountain rescue side of things.” “These are challenging times to be working in the health service,” he comments, “but through my work with Penrith Mountain Rescue Team, I find energy by volunteering my time with other like-minded people. As a university lecturer, I feel so lucky to be supporting my students to learn about a topic they are passionate about whilst developing the transferrable academic skills necessary for them to become NHS leaders of the future.”
February 8, 2023
Penrith MRT Years of Service Awards
On Saturday (11th September), the Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensman visited Penrith to present volunteer members of Penrith Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) with Long Service Awards. The cumulative total of years represented by the ten Awards was over 200 years and six of ten were presented personally at the ceremony. Other members of the Team and their families were there to celebrate the occasion too. Peter King, current Team Leader and a Team member since he was 18, was one of those receiving an Award: “The ten members have accumulated over 200 years of service to Penrith MRT,” he said, “and a few of them also have years of service with COMRU (Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit). Their Long Service is made up of hundreds of incidents, many, many hours of training and practice, meetings, gear packing and unpacking, and the all-important fundraising needed to support the Team. It was good that the commitment was recognised in this way with Award certificates from the national body, Mountain Rescue England and Wales and it was excellent that Mrs Hensman, in her role as Lord Lieutenant, was able to visit our Base and make these presentations.” The ten members are: Paul Witheridge 31 years Peter King (current Team Leader) 25 years Harry Harrison 25 years Trevor Milton 23 years Rob Holden (former Team Leader) 22 years Alasdair Brock 20 years Matt Nightingale 18 years Ian Soulsby 16 years Vic Seed 11 years Gerry Rusbridge 11 years In addition, flowers were presented to the partners of those receiving Awards in recognition of the support that they and their families have given to allow them to provide this voluntary service. David Houldridge, Chair of Penrith MRT, said, “This level of commitment is fantastic in any organisation, and even more so as everyone is a volunteer. The rest of the Team are hugely proud and grateful for the efforts by these people. The huge experience over 100’s of call outs and months of training in all conditions ensures the Team are able to rescue the public safely and efficiently time and time again. It is also important to recognise the support and sacrifices of their partners and families over these years, coping with the disruption and commitment needed to be a successful member of a mountain rescue team.”
November 11, 2022
Team Land Rover Defenders' Refurbishment
Penrith Mountain Rescue Team’s two 13-year-old, specially-adapted Land Rover Defenders have had their life considerably extended by a major rebuild and refurbishment. The work involved was undertaken locally in north Cumbria which means that these workhorses of rough, upland terrain should now serve the Team well into the 2030s. The Team purchased a pair of Land Rover Defenders in 2008, specially converted for mountain rescue use. Despite being still at relatively low mileage and in mechanically good condition, their age was starting to show, with corrosion to bodywork and chassis. The Team considered replacing the vehicles but, with the end of production of the classic Defender model six years ago, there are currently few - if any - alternative vehicles that would make suitable replacements in terms of their off-road capability, capacity to carry a casualty on a stretcher, and general toughness. The Team, therefore, decided to have its two ageing Defenders fully rebuilt, refurbished and resprayed. The sums involved were substantially less than the cost of purchasing any new vehicles and meant that the Team retained the classic Land Rover capabilities. After some research, Land Rover specialists, Simon Huntington Limited of Wigton, were asked to carry out the work. This included the replacement of the chassis for both vehicles with a new, galvanised version. The rebuilds were undertaken late in 2021 for the first vehicle and early this year for the second and Simon was kind enough to lend the team a Freelander whilst each Defender was being rebuilt. This meant that a good level of operational capability was maintained throughout the refurbishment. On completion of the major rebuild work, both vehicles were then taken to Ast Ltd in Penrith for replacement of all the bodywork graphics, to the national specification provided by Mountain Rescue England and Wales. Penrith Mountain Rescue is grateful to both companies for their excellent work. Simon, of Simon Huntington Ltd, said: “We were delighted to be approached by Penrith Mountain Rescue Team to carry out the re-builds on both their Land Rover Defenders. These vehicles will now enjoy the longevity and reliability needed for many years to come. We are grateful to have had the team's trust to complete the standard of work that we strive to achieve on every vehicle at Simon Huntington Ltd.” Nathan Aston, Key Account Manager for Ast said: "It was great to work alongside Penrith Mountain Rescue Team and create a bespoke design for their two emergency service vehicles. We are very proud to have been involved in the project as we are grateful for all the essential hard work the Team does." The Team is also grateful to the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association (LDSAMRA) for a generous grant from its funds that largely covered the cost of the refurbishment project. The Team now looks forward to its two trusty Defenders giving continued great service for another decade and beyond.
August 10, 2022
