The Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, based in Ashburton, have once again asked people to donate to their cause after a “busy weekend” of rescues at Haytor rocks on Dartmoor.

The team were called out on Saturday night to search for a man who had gotten lost and potentially injured on a late dog walk with his family. As night fell and conditions became foggy, he was separated from the group. The man was found at around 10:30pm, thankfully uninjured, after 20 volunteers from the rescue team and the National Police Air Service helicopter were deployed to search for him.

The Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton Search Manager said of the incident: “We were concerned that the individual may have been injured and were very relieved to find him safe and well. As ever, we are indebted to our volunteers who gave up their Saturday evening with friends and family to take part in the search.”

The team were then once again called out on Sunday to help a woman stuck on the top of Haytor rocks. On social media, the search team wrote: “Two team members, who were returning from search dog training, were nearby and diverted to help the lady down.”

“The relieved young woman told team members ‘This is brilliant, it was so quick. I don’t know what we would do without this emergency service’”.

The volunteers are a vital resource to the local community, ensuring that people who experience incidents like this get home safely. However, they rely on funding to continue to assist the general public.

The search team said, “The Dartmoor rescuers based at Ashburton rely on public support for over 92% of their income. Without your donation, the team would cease to be operational and the emergency services would not have enough resources to search for those in need.” Thus, the team implore people to donate in order to make sure they can keep up this important work and continue to help people who get stuck or injured on Dartmoor as quickly as possible.

With emergency services under stress, any donations would be greatly appreciated.