Rescuers search for new home

The rescue team is currently based at RAF Sealand

North East Wales Search and Rescue Team has announced it is launching an appeal to find a new home.

The group currently uses RAF Sealand, on Deeside, but it is due to close next year as part of Ministry of Defence (MoD) cuts.

Run entirely by volunteers, the team is called out every two weeks on average and has helped save dozens of lives.

They cover an area from the Conwy Valley to the M6 and down as far as Welshpool, in Powys.

However, the MoD has been unable to confirm so far whether the rescue team, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, has to find a new base.

The RAF base will close with a loss 130 civilian jobs as part of a cost-cutting MoD review which was announced in April.

If we can't find a base it would be nigh on impossible for us to continue Iain Ashcroft

However, Flintshire Council is keen to utilise the space and encourage industrial companies to take it on.

Dave Fildes, a rescue team member, warned that the long-term future of the group was under threat without a base.

"Our plight is desperate and just this once we need somebody to come to our rescue," he said.

"Everybody in the team is a volunteer - we get no government funding at all."

"We train three Wednesdays a month and one Sunday a month.

"It's quite a commitment because you're on call 24/7, 365 days a year and the call could come at any time."

"I have a pretty good life and I just want to put something back into the community.

"I have certain skills that can assist people and I want to be in a situation that I can do that."

Mr Fildes added: "We average about 25 call-outs a year and many of our searches are for missing children, people who are suicidal or suffering from dementia and have gone wandering off.

"Because of the nature of our patch, we are often called out to conduct searches in urban as well as rural areas," he said.

The group is hoping to find a rent-free base if possible.

Team leader Iain Ashcroft said: "Our base is very low-cost at the moment which is important and we need a new home urgently."

"If we can't find a base it would be nigh on impossible for us to continue. Our very existence is under threat."

Sealand is currently used as an communications support base for RAF operations around the world.

In April, the MoD announced its closure with its units moving to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.