London Search and Rescue
Our organisation
London Search and Rescue, known as LonSAR, support the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police in searches for vulnerable missing people across London, helping to end preventable loss of life. As a charity, we provide life-saving search and rescue services for the people of London with our professionally trained volunteers who are on call 24/7, all year round, whatever the weather. The people we help are often despondent, suicidal, elderly, or living with severe mental health issues, or dementia.
Our place within the search and rescue community
We are proud to be part of Lowland Rescue and one of the 36 teams that exist nationwide. Lowland Rescue sits alongside Mountain Rescue, Cave Rescue and the RNLI within the UKSAR Framework, which amalgamates various Government Departments, the Emergency Services and search and rescue charities.
Our search capabilities
Within LonSAR, foot search is the core building block of what we do and is where all our Search Technicians start. Once qualified, our operational volunteers may choose to specialise within our dog team, water team, kayak team, bike team, medic team or drone team. We also have individuals who train as Team Leaders, Search Planners, Operations Managers, and Incident Commanders, meeting national standards and allowing them to effectively interact with the emergency services during an incident.
Our impact across London
Over 50,000 missing person reports are filed in London each year. The sooner a vulnerable missing person is found and receives medical care, the better their chances are for survival. Our volunteer search professionals are selfless, dependable, trustworthy, courageous and compassionate. Our team covers the 700 square miles within the M25. Greater London has over 3,000 parks and commons totalling 35,000 acres and including hundreds of rivers, canals, reservoirs and lakes.
Our growth within the team
As the newest team within Lowland Rescue, we have grown substantially over the past five years. With around 60 operational team members covering the 32 London Boroughs, our plan is to continue to bring in approximately 40 individuals each year to provide our life-saving services across the capital.
How we are funded
To carry on saving lives, our fundraising efforts are absolutely critical as we rely on grants and donations; we do not receive any government funding.
Ways That You Can Volunteer
We have a range of volunteering opportunities within the team:
– Search Technicians (on call around their professional and personal lives, with full training provided);
– Response Drivers (on call to drive our Incident Control Units as required);
– Fundraisers (passionate, engaged, proactive people to support with our fundraising);
– Community Ambassadors (people to champion our case and help us raise our profile in the community; and
– Non-Operational Support team (all sorts: training admin, grant-writing, website design; social media; finance; risk… you’d be amazed what skillsets would help us)
Corporate Volunteering
Specialist Volunteering Requirements
Volunteer, Newham
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