Patrick Relay News from the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team Spring 2021
A BUSY SUMMER AHEAD
#BeAdventureSmart is a campaign that’s been running in the Lake District and other national parks for a few years now and it is as valid in 2021 as it was when it launched.
As lockdown eases and staycations seem to be the flavour of the season, the Team is expecting a busy summer. Increased visitor numbers will be tremendous for the businesses in the valley, many of which have suffered during the pandemic, and we’re pleased that it is looking like a better spring and summer for so many who support us in our work.
l Do I know what the weather will be like? l Do I have the right gear? l Do I have the knowledge and skills for the day?
As we ask visitors to take responsibility for their safety, there are three questions to ask:
However, we’re keen to communicate strong safety messages to those visitors, especially any who might be visiting the fells for the first time.
And remember that Covid lockdown has had a detrimental effect on fitness for a lot of us. We might not be as hill fit as we were, so start slowly and build up your fitness and stamina before planning anything too challenging. The mountains are going nowhere so take your time.
BACK TO TRAINING
Face-to-face training has been kept to an absolute minimum in recent months, protecting the safety and health of everyone on the Team. We have kept in touch online with informal pub nights, medical theory training and regular updating of skills, keeping risks to a minimum and ensuring that as many of us as possible have been available for incidents – and for our day jobs!
New leadership team for the Team At our recent AGM, a couple of new Deputy Team Leaders were elected. Neil Barrow and Dan Farley have joined Mike Rippon,
We returned to face-to-face training at the end of March but will still be taking precautions with PPE, additional cleaning of equipment and social distancing. Priorities in the coming months are all about bread and butter skills – steep ground evacuation of lower leg injuries and casualty packaging – as well as putting recent online learning into practice.
Team Leader and Eelco Docter, one of our existing DTLs, to form the leadership team. We wish Dan and Neil well in their new responsibilities and huge thanks go to Matt Cox and Sean Duffy who have stepped down from their Deputy Team Leader roles.
Dan Farley
Neil Barrow
Visit the Patterdale Mountain Rescue web site at www.mountainrescue.org.uk for latest call outs
Man down on Red Screes Saturday 6th February will stay in the memories of Patterdale MRT members for years to come as a tragic day in the Team’s history.
then edited the footage down to a very emotional report that was broadcast nationally on the following Tuesday morning (16th February), coinciding with the launch of the Chris Lewis Support Fund on Just Giving.
In the early hours of that morning, the Team was called out to assist an individual with chest pains. The man was wild camping (despite lockdown restrictions) on Red Screes above Kirkstone Pass with a friend. Whilst the Team was making its way to the casualty, a Team member, Chris Lewis, fell about 150 metres down steep ground, sustaining life-changing injuries.
Mike Blakey of the Team has been the point of contact with Chris and his family. “I was blown away by the support of the public following the news of the incident. The cost of care for Chris over the long term will be significant and every penny raised will be needed to provide for him. I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped raise money or donate.” Finally, as Patrick Relay was coming together, the Team has had some encouraging news of Chris’s condition. “On the 14th April Chris was transferred from Preston Hospital to Southport Hospital, North West England’s regional specialist spinal rehabilitation hospital,” reports Mike Blakey. “Chris had been in intensive care for much of the last two months so this move is a positive step forward. He is currently under assessment so that a treatment plan can be developed. Sadly, Chris is unable to have visitors but he has virtual daily contact with a Team member and his wife.”
Finding a way to fundraise Penrith and Langdale Ambleside MRTs were called in to provide support. They focused on the original casualty, who was stretchered from the hill and taken to hospital by the North West Ambulance Service. Meanwhile, Patterdale Team members concentrated on getting Chris safely into an HM Coastguard helicopter and off to the Major Trauma Centre at the Royal Preston Hospital. “My thanks go all those who responded immediately and without hesitation to assist in the rescue of Chris,” says Team Leader, Mike Rippon. “They ensured he was provided with the best medical care possible before being evacuated as quickly as possible to a critical care hospital.” The following week was full of reporting paperwork, internal reviews, media enquiries and, of course, concern for Chris and his family. On Saturday 13th, the Team gathered at Base to catch up, share their thoughts and feelings about the incident and also to tackle together some of the practical tasks that needed doing following an accident of this severity. They were joined by Graham Satchell, a reporter from BBC Breakfast, who interviewed Team members and recorded their work in Base on that day. His colleagues
The Chris Lewis Support Fund was created under the auspices of LDSAMRA (the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association) as a way of establishing an effective fundraising platform for Chris within Charity Commission guidance. “The charitable purpose of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Association (PMRA), the charity behind the Team, is confined to supporting delivery of an effective rescue service for those in need on the fells and in the outdoors,” says Chris Sanderson, Chairman of PMRA. “We knew that we couldn’t change this to cover fundraising for one of our volunteers. The issue was further complicated by the fact that Chris Lewis also serves as one of our Trustees. There was a great deal of work in the first fortnight, seeking advice from relevant professional advisors on how to manage funds donated for Chris’s benefit and how to establish a suitable fundraising mechanism.” “That it proved possible in such a short time is down to much time and effort, particularly from Jane Newport, our Treasurer, Trevor Price, our legal adviser, Ken Hardcastle, Chair of our Fundraising Committee, and significantly, John Bamforth, Treasurer of LDSAMRA, who quickly established an extremely effective Just Giving campaign. As we go to press, the Fund has reached £850,000 – over a million pounds with Gift Aid included - and it is still open to donations and income from fundraising activities at https:// www.justgiving.com/campaign/Chris-Lewis-Support-FundLDSAMRA-Patterdale-MRT.
Thank you all A headline in the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald of 20 March summed up the support for the Chris Lewis Support Fund: “From photography to pizza – Chris inspires generations of fundraisers”. The Team has been amazed by the commitment and generosity of so many people and organisations. Although we don’t have room to mention everyone, we’d like to include a cross-section of thank yous ere.
Thank you to over 40 landscape photographers Jason Hudson and Paula Mould organised an online auction of prints by some of the best landscape photographers in the UK and raised over £11,000 for the Support Fund. At the stage when 25 photographers were involved, the couple were featured on BBC Radio Cumbria with local photographers, Mark Littlejohn and Amy Bateman and, as a result, another 15 or so photographers contributed work.
Thank you to Lily Bird of Just Around the Corner Lily is nine years old and she set up a pizza enterprise using her Dad’s pizza oven and roping in family and friends to take orders, make pizzas and distribute them around the village. She raised over £250 for the Support Fund.
Thank you to Michael Hughes of Giraffe UK Michael donated 500 Patterdale MRT-branded neckwear/headwear scarves to the Team so that all the proceeds of sales from these could go to the Chris Lewis Support Fund. Sales have been excellent ever since this went online but you can still buy at https://www. mountainrescue.org.uk/product/ giraffe-neck-scarf/.
Thank you to Jacqueline Duffield, cabinet maker Jacqueline, who trades as The Bespoke Home furniture maker from her base in Penrith, raffled one of her exquisite wooden “Fell” boxes in aid of the Fund. These would normally retail for about £500 but Jacqueline raised over £2,500 by raffling one online.
Thank you to Callie Murphy If you thought Lily was young to be fundraising, Callie is only 16 months and she climbed three flights of stairs almost every day in March (with Mum, Lynn) to raise money for Braemar MRT and Chris’s Support Fund. She even made up for missing one day by climbing them twice on 31st March. Her total raised for the two charities currently stands at over £2,500.
Thank you to Crosby Ravensworth community A hamper raffle organised by Michelle Fisher and Kitty Smith, with support from The Butcher’s Arms community pub, raised almost £800 for the Support Fund. It was won by Anne Dixon of Shap and Nigel Harling took one of the Team Land Rovers over to the village for the presentation
Thank you to Penrith Rugby Club Trevor Wilson at the Club organised a “masters” touch rugby sevens event in April with four squads of veteran players competing and aiming to raise significant funds for the appeal.
Capturing the Ullswater Valley on camera With thanks to Mike and Ann Childs, there are plans afoot to create and sell an Ullswater Valley Calendar 2022 but we need your help.
Last year’s Calendar was a first and it raised just over £4,000 for the Team. This year, Ann and Mike would like to invite photographic contributions from readers and supporters. They are looking for a range of images depicting the fells, valleys and the lake through the 12 seasons of the year. These should be colour, landscape in orientation and available in high resolution for quality printing. If you, or someone you know, might like to contribute to the 2022 Ullswater Valley Calendar, please email your image (or a message) to Mike Childs at mike. childs@patterdalemrt.org.uk. All contributors will be credited and we look forward to seeing your pictures.
Mountain medical equipment The Team was selected by the AVIVA Community Fund as one of fifty charities whose fundraising they wished to promote to their customers and staff earlier this year. The Team chose to fundraise to purchase a rugged Vital Signs Monitor (VSM) for use in hostile conditions. Such a device is designed to measure a casualty’s vital signs (heart rhythm, blood pressure, pulse, breathing and core temperature) resulting in more effective treatment, particularly for those suffering from hypothermia, and a better outcome.
“We made our application in 2020,” explains Peter Baker, a Team member and Trustee, “and were delighted to be selected by AVIVA. The AVIVA Community Fund not only provides the opportunity to replace an old piece of equipment , but also a chance to raise awareness of the nature of mountain rescue and the volunteers involved with a new audience.” The online appeal raised about £2,500 towards the £12,000 costs of the new VSM.
The project was launched online at noon on Tuesday 16 February and employees of AVIVA were then able to make their own pledges from Tuesday 23 February. There was an AVIVA employee pot of £250k to be distributed across the 50 charities.
NEW DEFENDER ALMOST READY FOR THE FELLS As many of you will know, a generous donation at the end of 2020 from a family with an Ullswater connection meant that our New Defender Appeal reached its target of £85,000 sooner than any of us could have expected. The vehicle is in the final stages of adaptation for its role in the fells around Ullswater and you should be able to see it out and about in the valley very soon. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Appeal and to Lakeland Land Rover for all their work in recent months.
Articles for Relay We are always looking for interesting articles or letters from supporters. Please write c/o Patrick Relay Editor, Ogilvie House, Patterdale, Cumbria CA11 0PJ The Patterdale Mountain Rescue Association Ltd. is a registered charity No1063329 and is affiliated to Mountain Rescue England and Wales.