The 'Today Programme' this morning covered a story about the 'Mountain Rescue' teams of Cumbria. Apparently they have witnessed a massive increase in the number of calls on their services over the last couple of years (Up by almost 100% this year).The report centred on both the difficulty this has presented for the teams in terms of recruiting and retaining members, and also on the increasing trend for people to call them when they are merely inconvenienced (there was a story of a couple late for a dinner party calling for a helicopter!)
The chap being interviewed made the comment that team members' employers had begun to say that enough was enough and insist that they took time spent on rescues as annual leave. Naturally this then created problems with members who found it increasingly difficult to balance work life, rescue work and family commitments. Thankfully this is not something that I have heard of in the lifeboat service but it did get me thinking just how much we rely on the generosity and understanding of our employers, co-workers and families to do what we do.
So to you, our unsung and unrecognised supporters, a big thanks for all you do.
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