Princes’ Charity Forum Day 2015

On Saturday 27th June the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association was pleased to host a day of activities for children and their families who are supported by Child Bereavement, Centrepoint, WellChild and The Place to Be.  All of these charities are members of the Princes’ Charity Forum, together with Mountain Rescue (England and Wales) – MREW.  HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is the patron of MREW.

NEWSAR was one of three teams that supported the day, along with Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO) and Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team.  There were also handlers from The Search And Rescue Dogs Association (Wales).  HQ for the day was at OVMRO base at Bryn Poeth in the Ogwen Valley.

The teams laid on a variety of activities suitable for all abilities.

NEWSAR volunteers hosted a group of severely disabled children and their families from Wellchild up at Ffynnon Llygwy, on the north side of the Ogwen Valley.  Here they got to meet team members, search dogs, see a demonstration of searching with the search dogs and (probably the best bit!) to see the Hawarden based National Police Air Service helicopter. As is so often the case some of the families thought we were so professional that we must be a paid service and didn’t realise all the MR Team members were volunteering their time!

The rough terrain proved no obstacle for the wheelchair users as our volunteer MR team members did what they do best and carried them, chair and all, to the aircraft!

The events at Ffynnon Llygwy were managed by long standing NEWSAR member Huw Birrell who was bursting with enthusiasm for this successful day when he said “It is a highlight for me not just in Mountain Rescue but in life. I am overwhelmed by these amazing children and their parents I hope the day was as good for them as it was for me.”

You can see the full set of pictures on our Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/newsar_uk/sets/72157652853586434 

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