Sponsorship and Fundraising

Sponsorship and public support are critical to maintaining our search and rescue service. We acknowledge the grant funding we receive from the Scottish Government and MRCofS, however this falls considerably short of the financial resources we need to continue our work. Team members commit a considerable amount of their own time annually to carry out street collections, organise raffles, sell team merchandise and provide a presence at a range of local events.

The Order of St. John have made possible the purchase of our new base in Newton Stewart (realised by the remarkable support from Dumfries and Galloway Council). In addition, their ongoing support for mountain rescue in Scotland provided us with our VW Caravelle 4x4 minibus and we are hopeful for their assistance when our Land Rover requires replacement.

Our clothing is mostly manufactured by a Scottish based company, Keela, although other items of clothing are supplied by Berghaus and Slioch. Keela's support for mountain rescue makes possible the purchase of their extreme winter kit at a subsidised price, thus reducing the considerable financial burden of equipping call out members with suitable clothing. Rowan Glen dairy Products, a local company and a member of the Dale Farm family of dairy companies provided the team with summer lightweight waterproof clothing - again this was made possible by the cost being partially subsidised by Keela.

Our radio system was funded by the Scottish Government and provided by MRCofS. We recently added a number of hilltop repeaters at key locations around Galloway to further augment our communications network.

You'll never find a mountain rescuer without a map, and we are grateful to Nicolson Maps from Largs in Ayrshire for providing us with a number of sets of Ordnance Survey Maps at substantially reduced prices.

Other substantial donations are received from Newton Stewart Walking Festival Committee in recognition of the team's assistance in the preparation, planning and running of the annual WalkFest event, each May. We mustn't forget the general public, who in various ways donate so generously to the team.

Our ongoing fundraising activities include an annual raffle with a range of exciting prizes. We also hold Street Collections in Ayr, Newton Stewart and Castle Douglas throughout the year and team souvenirs are available for sale at Stewart R Cunningham Outdoors in Newton Stewart.

Visitors to this site can now make a credit or debit card donation online using our secure system - kindly provided by Charity Choice.

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