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Founded | 1980 |
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Type | Registered charity |
Registration no. | 1046861 |
Area served | Berkshire, England |
Key people | Chairman: Chris Curry Secretary: Treasurer: Adam Waller |
Website | www |
Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue (BLSAR) is a registered charitable lowland search and rescue team based in Berkshire, United Kingdom and provides support functions (primarily search and rescue) to Thames Valley Police and the emergency planning departments of various local authorities in Berkshire. In common with most UK SAR teams, BLSAR members are all volunteers. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
BLSAR was formally called SEBEV, the original meaning of SEBEV was South East Berkshire Emergency Volunteers, however the full title was dropped in 1994 and the team was then known simply as SEBEV Search and Rescue (or sometimes by the media as Berkshire Search and Rescue) in order to better reflect their role. In 2011 SEBEV changed its name again to Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue (BLSAR). [6]
The organisation was originally set up in 1980 by John Cowling as a Civil Defence volunteer team to provide support for the local authorities and the statutory emergency services during civil emergencies as a category one responder, support organisation (CCA 2004). [6] [7] [8] At the time its membership consisted of mainly council employees who met once a month for basic training in such things as message handling, logging and plotting and map reading. [9]
In 1981, BLSAR acquired its own headquarters, an ex-street cleansing depot, in one of the local housing estates which was redesigned and redecorated as a training area with communications facilities. Gradually the council staff left and replacement volunteers came from friends. Over a period of time they became entirely composed of non local authority staff, with the exception of the borough's Emergency Planning Liaison Officer. In 1984 the team moved from their single room premises into Easthampstead Park in Wokingham, taking over the basement area already used by the government as a bomb shelter [9] BLSAR moved out of the premises in 2018 and are now based at the old Arborfield Garrison site.[ citation needed ]
BLSAR members meet once a week to undertake training as well as training weekends, at home and away. [9]
In 1995, its primary function changed to providing lowland search and rescue support for Berkshire. The team, based at Easthampstead Park Conference Centre in Wokingham, Berkshire is available 24 hours a day to search for missing persons. BLSAR also assists other SAR teams in neighbouring counties, when needed. The team has its own fully equipped incident control vehicle and an incident support vehicle plus all equipment necessary for rescue and first aid purposes. [10]
BLSAR meets weekly for training in such subjects as search techniques. communications, navigation, first aid, including use of Automatic External Defibrillators, [11] rescue techniques, team building, navigation amongst other subjects. [12]
BLSAR is a member team of ALSAR the Association of Lowland Search and Rescue [13] and is mentioned in the Search and Rescue Framework for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. [14]
Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue (BLSAR) is funded purely by its own fundraising efforts, local community events and occasional grants or donations. [6]
BLSAR provides first aid, marshals and stewards for local events such as carnivals, music festivals, sports activities and firework displays. [15]
Reading is a town in Berkshire, England. Most of its built-up area lies within the Borough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring unitary authority areas. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, Reading is 40 miles (64 km) east of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) south of Oxford, 40 miles (64 km) west of London and 16 miles (26 km) north of Basingstoke.
The Royal County of Berkshire, commonly known as simply Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town.
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of North Ascot, Binfield, Warfield, and Winkfield. The borough borders Wokingham and the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead in Berkshire, and also parts of Surrey and Hampshire.
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs ; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 37 miles (60 km) west of London, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Reading, 8 miles (13 km) north of Camberley and 4 miles (6 km) west of Bracknell. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham.
Bracknell is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies 11 miles (18 km) to the east of Reading, 9 miles (14 km) south of Maidenhead, 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Windsor and 25 miles (40 km) west of central London. Bracknell is the third largest town in Berkshire.
Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in South East England. It is the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering 2,218 square miles (5,740 km2) and a population of 2.42 million people.
The Borough of Wokingham is a local government district with borough status in Berkshire, England. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Twyford, Wargrave, Three Mile Cross, Winnersh, Spencers Wood and Woodley. The population of Wokingham is 177,500 according to 2021 census.
Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater London. The operating company is owned by Reading Borough Council.
Reading East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party. The seat is one of two Labour seats from a total of eight seats in Berkshire.
A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 104 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, most of the county being parished; Reading is completely unparished; Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire and Wokingham are entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 483,882 people living in the 104 parishes, accounting for 60.5 per cent of the county's population.
Newbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2019 by Laura Farris, a Conservative. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and has been in continual existence since then.
Wokingham is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1987 by John Redwood, a Conservative.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is a statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire in England. The fire service was formerly administered by Berkshire County Council, but when that was abolished the service became the responsibility of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, made up of representatives from the six unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Reading Borough Council, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough Borough Council, West Berkshire Council, and Wokingham Borough Council.
The International Rescue Corps (IRC) is a volunteer organisation involved in disaster rescue, based in Grangemouth, Scotland. Its motto is "United To Save Life".
West Mercia Search and Rescue, commonly abbreviated WMSAR, is a voluntary search and rescue organisation which operates in the counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The organisation responds to calls for assistance from any of the emergency services and operates both by day and night.
East Reading is a main locality of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Its centre is known as Cemetery Junction, after Reading Old Cemetery.
Search and rescue in the United States involves a wide range of organizations that have search and rescue responsibilities.