Join Us

Volunteer as an Operational Search Technician

Before you think abount joining the team, it’s important to realise this is a voluntary, unpaid role. Please bear in mind the TIME and COMMITMENT involved in being a member – not just from you, but also your families – in both time and money.

You must be aged at least 18-years old and be fit and healthy enough to undertake physical tasks in all weathers. You must also be willing to work as part of a team, live in our operational area, have regular access to your own transport and be prepared to commit a very significant amount of your time not just for call-outs but also for training sessions. In addition there is an expectation that you will be available for a wide range of events including assisting with fundraising activities.

You should be available and prepared to attend callouts during the week and at weekends, which can come at anytime, often in the early hours of the morning. We understand that you may not always be able to leave other commitments to attend callouts, however for example; you cannot attend when at work, then we would expect that you attend callouts on an evening and during the night.

Land Team Members

All of our new members must begin as a land-team member. We train every 2nd Wednesday evening for 2-3 hours and then on occasional weekends. You will need a car and be expected to pay for your own fuel to attend training across the region. You don’t need to attend every session but you will be expected to attend at least 70% during your probation period.

All team members will learn new essential skills from

✓ Navigation
✓ VHF Communication
✓ First Aid
✓ Search Skills
✓ Outdoor Skills
✓ Rescue Skills

Water Rescue Team Members

You will be required to attend additional training to become a qualified Swift Water Rescue & Rescue 3 SRT Technician. Only members who fully commit to fundraising and call-outs will progress to water rescue since it requires a lot of team commitment and money.

Support Team 

If you are unable to commit to being on call 24 hours a day, or do not have the required skills and fitness to become an Operational member, or want to begin the process of becoming an Operational member in the future.

​Then becoming a member of WCSAR’s Support team may be an alternative way for you to contribute to the team by donating your time to supporting the team.

In return we can offer you –​

✓ training opportunities,

✓ Access to a discount card giving you discounts at hundreds of shops & websites

✓ Supporters Groups activities,

✓ Opportunity to join a great team,

✓ Access to our Supporters WhatsApp group,

Time Commitment

As an Operational member of the team you will need to factor in time for:

✓ Travel to training and callouts
✓ Training
✓ Callouts (call-outs can come at anytime of the day or night, sometimes lasting for many hours and often interrupting family and             social plans)
✓ Maintenance of personal and team equipment
✓ Fundraising days (minimum 3 per year)

Once a member passes their probation period the member receives a Search and Rescue jacket, polo shirt, helmet, radio and any other personal equipment is provided by the individual. The team trains twice per month at various locations around Cumbria. Training regularly covers the three core areas of search skills, navigation and medical. There are opportunities to get involved in activities such as water-based training, communications, search planning, search control and incident management.