[C]oniston Mountain Rescue Team is marking its 70th anniversary this year with an appeal to “Buy the Team a pint” – not literally, but metaphorically.
The idea – accessible via the Team’s Facebook page is asking people to donate the price of a pint – typically about £3.50 to fund the Team’s activities and projects, via the Team’s Virgin Giving page.
Coniston is proud to be the first recognised civilian volunteer Mountain Rescue Team and although records in earlier years aren’t quite so clear, the Team believes it has been involved in over 2000 incidents since April 1947.
Jeff Carroll, the Team’s Deputy Leader said: “We often retire to the pub to wind down after a rescue and sometimes well-wishers or supporters will offer to buy us a pint, and we thought that this was a way of raising awareness of what we do, and allowing people who maybe would like to “buy us a pint”, to do just that – well metaphorically speaking anyway.”
“We will be using the money raised to put towards new digital radios topping up the funding already secured, as well as other projects the Team hopes to progress over the next year or two.”
The scheme has already proved popular with numerous donations already being made, and the Team hopes that people will be happy to spare the price of a pint, or even two, to help the Team into the next 70 years.
