LOCAL SUPPORT

Thanks to some of our parish councils who have generously given to our cause these include.

Stratton Strawless,

Drayton,

Rackheath,

Taverham,

NEW RECRUITS 

NORLSAR are pleased to announce 6 members of the team have now qulified as Team Leaders after a course held at the Emergency Planning Centre of Broadland District Council on saturday 14th January.

The course was presented by: Michelle Richardson - Search Controller - Equipment Co-ordinator,

assisted by: Stephen Postle - Search Manager - Chairman and Andy Botsford - Team Leader - Training Co-ordinator.

The very long day consisted of a mixture of classroom and field work.

MESSAGE FROM USAR

USAR wish to say "A big thankyou to all the team members of NORLSAR for supporting the recent Norfolk Fire and Rescue Urban Search and Rescue exercise at Leziate lake. We will let you know when the next exercise is!"

NORLSAR IN JOINT EXERCISE

On the 7th November NORLSAR participated in a joint exercise with Norfolk Fire Service, East of England Ambulance service Hazardous area response team, Norfolk Constabulary at Leiziate lakes in rescuing canoeists from the lake and two missing children in the area.

Talk to Bunwell Village Friends

On 13th October Gael Postle gave a talk to Bunwell Village friends about the work of NORLSAR and recent searches and at the end of the talk the members of Bunwell Friends asked lots of questions about the team and the fact that the team receives no statutory funding. The friends then presented Gael with a cheque to support the work of the team.

NORLSAR SEARCH FOR MISSING PATIENT

NORLSAR was called to search for a missing patient from the Norfolk and Norwich university hospital on Thursday 12th late in the afternoon members from all over the county attended, the misper later on reported to a Norfolk Constabulary Police station safe and well in the early evening.

STRADSETT VINTAGE RALLY

NORLSAR attended the Stradsett Park Vintage Rally over the may day bank holiday and gave a demonstration on both days of some of the types of searches we do and two members where rigged up with full water search equipment to give a demonstration of how we carry out water margin searches.
On the Sunday evening members also ran a session for the Kings Lynn Air Cadets who where in attendance on search and then they carried out a search for a 'missing person' (A NORLSAR team member) who was depressed and possible wanting to harm him self, they successfully found him and assisted him back to safety.
As a result of attending we received a cheque from the East Anglia branch of the National Vintage Tractor and Engine club to assist in our work.

EARLY MORNING CALL FOR NORLSAR

An early morning phone call at 2.00am on the 30th March from Stephen Postle, NORLSAR Chairman and a Search Controller marked the beginning of an eight hour search for an elderly gentleman suffering from dementia in Dereham. By 3.00am eight members of NORLSAR had arrived at the towns police station and along with a number of police officers where being briefed by Insp. Garry Crowther, the Police Search Advisor. By 3.30am NORLSAR, with the assistance of Rover Rescue had deployed a number of search teams in and around the centre of Dereham and to the North East of the Town.

As the search progressed, and first light approached additional resources arrived into the search area these included two members of CAMSAR and a rather noisy addition in the form of an RAF Sea King helicopter from the Search and Rescue Flight based at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk.

Search teams continued to make good progress throughout the early hours of the morning, working in conjunction with the police and the RAF to systematically search large areas of open countryside and the town centre it’s self.

The power and assistance of the general public can not be underestimated in searches such as this, as more people entered the search area search teams alerted them to their activities and many hands suddenly made light work as people reported anything suspicious to the search teams on the ground.

Through the vigilance of one such member of the public, the missing gentleman was found safe at 9.20 am.

As always our thanks to the NORLSAR members, who without their continued support our ability to help others would be greatly impaired.

PILGRIM BENEFICE GIVE GENEROUSLY

Thank you to the congregation of the Pilgrim Benefice, South Norfolk for their very generous collection of £100.00 collected at the Lent lunch on the 11th March at Carleton Rode church.

FOUR SEARCH TEAMS 70 SEARCHERS ONE SEARCH

Members of 4 search teams from Norfolk(NORLSAR),Suffolk(SULSAR),Essex(ESSEXSAR) and Cambridgeshire(CAMSAR) Joined together to carry out a search in conjunction with Norfolk Constabulary to find evidence of what happened to Terry McSpadden who disappeared March 2007.

70 members of the search teams searched a 1.5km area around Mr McSpadden's last know address,checking water ways and heavy under growth over two days giving up in the region of 1000 hrs of their own time. The teams where supported by members of Aylaham Civil Protection Volunteers, Rover Rescue and 4X4 Response who provide food and logistical support over the two days.

The search was co-coordinated by Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue's Search Manager,Search Controller and control staff. The weekend went well with all four teams and support staff working well together.
NORLSAR team members where also able to use some of the new equipment funded by a Grassroots grant and proved to be of great use.