Brecon Mountain Rescue Team

Each year a handful of team members leave us, some because of work commitments, some due to family commitments and some because they are unable to maintain their training requirements. This means that we continually have a need to recruit "fresh blood" to maintain our team numbers at the ideal 45 or so.

Joining a mountain rescue team is a commitment not to be taken lightly. We expect, the police expect and most importantly the casualty expects a team of sufficient numbers and appropriate experience to attend every incident. As the team is merely the sum of the individuals there is a very real obligation to attend incidents, which always seem to occur at the most inconvenient times.

An untrained or poorly experienced team member on a call-out is, at best, of little use so all team members are expected to commit to team training. There is a minimum training requirement and all training is recorded. Each team member has to demonstrate competence annually to the team leadership so that training standards can be verified.

In summary, if you are prepared to put in the time and effort, we would be pleased to hear from you!

The team has several operational and support roles and we would be pleased to hear from anyone able to make a commitment to carry out any of these roles. For the team to function properly we need the team on the ground to be supported by members who are responsible for the base, organising logistics, planning, maintaining communications and organising the muster site.

For the team to be efficient we need to maintain our headquarters and vehicles, and this too requires time and effort. Without finance we cannot provide our service free of charge to those in need, so we also need fundraising volunteers. In short we are looking for a diverse mix of volunteers, many of whom do not need to be athletic or have refined mountaineering skills.

For those who wish to volunteer for an operational role on the hill we ask that you present yourselves initially for a pre-assessment. When we are satisfied that you are capable on the hill you will carry out basic training under the watchful eye of Graham Bailey. Graham will submit you for final assessment when the training log has been completed.

On passing the final assessment you will become a probationary member for 12 months. This might best be described as a settling in period, during which time you will be guided by the party leaders until you integrate fully into the team. After a year you will become a team member and from then on you just have to do the same as everyone else! Read more about joining Brecon Mountain Rescue Team by following the links on the left: