APPG
North of Tyne team members © Nadir Khan.
In June 2025, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Land Based Volunteer Rescue Services took shape, a welcome step forward for mountain rescue. The group recognises the operational value of mountain and cave rescue teams, alongside our colleagues in Lowland SAR, land-based water rescue units including NILA, and the volunteer arm of HM Coastguard. All these teams bring distinct, complementary skills to the national response, but we all rely on charitable fundraising, local goodwill and support to sustain our capability. Download the 2025 Manifesto for Search and Rescue here.
Why do we need the APPG?
- To raise the profile of volunteer Search and Rescue
- To facilitate coordination and collaboration
- To cut down bureaucracy and become more efficient
- To better support our communities and those we rescue.
The APPG for Search and Rescue aims to raise the profile of all our volunteer rescue groups through coordination and collaboration with each other, and by demonstrating the value of these volunteer services and the dangers should they no longer exist.
Since 2019, volunteer Search and Rescue services across the UK have seen an exponential rise in the number of call-outs — from the high mountains and moorlands, to the lakes, rivers and reservoirs, and around our shores. As the numbers continue to rise, the impact on our members, their families and employers — both physically and mentally — brings into question the sustainability of our service and how this, in turn, might impact on our wider communities were these valuable volunteer services no longer available.
Team members give their time willingly to help those who venture into the outdoors, on land or water, but those we rescue are not always the high mountaineers and athletes, the proficient sailors and skilled climbers of popular myth. Often, they are people just like you and your constituents, walking their dogs, cycling along tracks, with their families, pottering on the beach, taking in the view.
With YOUR help we hope to gain better recognition for all our volunteers, enabling us to work more efficiently with the statutory emergency services and Government to better support all those who enjoy the outdoors.
Some sample figures:
- In 2024, volunteers in Mountain Rescue England and Wales gave 167,411 hours, over 3,093 deployments
- Scottish Mountain Rescue teams reported 636 call-outs involving 29,986 hours of volunteer commitment
- The RNLI recorded 9,141 lifeboat launches, with 17,068 people helped out of dangerous situations around our coastline
- Plus the many hundreds of hours spent in training in key rescue skills, maintaining equipment and raising funds.
Key reasons for rescue:
- Poor decision making and/or human error
- Inexperience and lack of skills in the activity
- Extreme or unexpected weather conditions
- Being tired, fatigued or unfit for the pursuit.
Key skills:
- Inter-agency collaboration
- Advanced first aid skills
- Response and off-road driving
- Working with aircraft
- Swiftwater rescue skills.
What are our aims and aspirations?
Recognise the status of Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers in the workplace as equivalent to Army Reservists and Special Constables: Under the Armed Forces Covenant, companies can provide up to ten days’ paid leave for employees to attend Army Reserve training. Similarly, local policing bodies can approve payments to a Special Constable who is required for duty during their normal work time, equal to their loss of earnings on a daily basis. SAR volunteers can be called at any time of the day or night and often during their working day (the peak time between noon and 3.00 pm). This impacts their earnings, and can create tension in the workplace.
Appoint a Government Minister to represent and work with the volunteer Search and Rescue organisations: A designated Government Minister would provide a Single Point of Contact in Westminster, able to navigate the legal and procedural complexities of Government, and lobby on behalf of all our member organisations.
Establish Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption for all recognised Search and Rescue vehicles: Alongside insurance, and the technical rescue equipment required to do the job, the greatest financial cost to any SAR team is in their vehicles. Teams deploy a number of vehicles, fulfilling a range of purposes, including team member response, casualty transport and communications ‘control’ centres. VAT exemption would substantially reduce the cost of purchase and commissioning of these vehicles.
Establish exemption from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) exemption for all Search and Rescue vehicles: The DVLA currently exempts ‘Emergency vehicles’ from VED, specifically, Ambulance, Fire and Rescue, Mine Rescue, Lifeboat Haulage, Lighthouse Authority and the Police. Search and Rescue teams act under the auspices of the Police and removal of this tax would substantially reduce the financial burden on teams.
Bring the insurances required for volunteer Search and Rescue teams under Crown Indemnity: Insurance represents a significant cost to our volunteer SAR teams. Bringing teams under Crown indemnity for the purpose of insurance would help reduce costs and provide peace of mind in the operational environment.
Provide support and endorsement for safety messaging in the outdoors, both to the wider public and outdoor organisations: During and since the Covid–19 pandemic, Government bodies such as Natural England have encouraged people to spend more time in the outdoors and to connect with nature. In consequence, we have seen a substantial increase in visitors who might not otherwise have ventured into the outdoor environment — and who do so with less understanding of the risks involved, or knowledge of the skills required. This has contributed to a significant rise in calls to volunteer Search and Rescue teams. We recognise that incident numbers will continue to rise and believe safety messaging is key to mitigating the risks involved, giving people the information they need to keep themselves safe and enjoy the outdoors.
Provide support and endorsement with initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges facing Search and Rescue volunteers: We ask that you recognise the challenges involved and the impact this has on our members’ mental health and wellbeing — and support our desire to continue serving our communities and saving lives in the outdoors.