Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Charles will hand over the keys of a former Police Dog vehicle to members of Derbyshire Peak District Mountain Rescue Service – and dogs – on Tuesday 4 June at 11.15am.
The event will take place at Police Headquarters, Butterley Hall, Ripley, DE5 3RS
Commissioner Charles agreed to donate the decommissioned vehicle, worth around £2000, in recognition of the valuable support this voluntary organisation provides to the Police, other emergency and rescue services and the public.
Alan Charles said: “I’m pleased that we are able to show our appreciation of the Mountain Rescue Team in such a practical way. They, with the help of their canine partners, rescue those who have had an accident or been caught out by weather in some of the most hostile conditions and I think many people have reason to be very grateful to them.
“The Mountain Rescue Service has helped the police on numerous occasions in the past and donating this former police dog van is a very appropriate way to say thank you and an apt way to mark National Volunteers Week too.”
Please advise if you plan to attend
Background
Derbyshire Peak District Mountain Rescue Service
The organisation operates a voluntary 24-7 emergency service which attends call-outs in response to the police for missing or injured people and consists of entirely unpaid volunteers. Peak District Mountain Rescue comprises no fewer than seven civilian rescue teams covering the areas of Buxton, Derby, Edale, Glossop, Kinder, Oldham and Woodhead in addition to the Peak District area of the Search and Rescue Dog Association of England and Wales and the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation. In 2012 alone, they were called to assist Derbyshire Constabulary on 180 occasions.
Each team is a self-contained unit with its own vehicles and supplies and members are trained to provide all manner of rescue from cliff or remote moorland. The Search and Rescue Dog Association currently has six qualified dog handlers in the Peak District who are often called upon to provide search dog support across the Peak District and beyond.
Ends
Media Enquiries: Sallie Blair - 01283 821012 / 07702 541401
Posted on Friday 31st May 2013