Projects
National rescue support
The Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team Base was opened in March 2004 by Malcolm Colquhoun, accompanied by his wife, Katharine. Also present was his father, Sir Ivar Colquhoun of Luss Bt, chairman of the Luss Estates Company whose board had kindly made land available for the base. The team leader, Mark Leyland, an Order member, talked about the team and the Prior spoke of the strong links between St John and mountain rescue.
Before cutting a ribbon across the main door, Malcolm Colquhoun praised the work of the team and said how pleased he was to have this new connection with them through the base.
Photo by Strathview Photographic Since 1997, St John Scotland has provided over £2.3m to fund bases and vehicles for the mountain rescue teams across the country. Much of this has been funded by the sale of the Priory's hospital in Aberdeen in 1995.
Most teams prefer for their operations Land Rover's long wheelbase Defender 110. The four-wheel drive Land Rovers can carry twelve passengers, with equipment on a roof rack; they can also carry a stretcher and be fitted with special items such as a radio, searchlights and a winch. Land Rover generously extended the same discount to St John as for larger customers such as the Forestry Commission and Police.
A base for the Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Team was opened in 1997. Two smaller bases were completed for the Skye Team in 2000, one each side of the Cuillins. Since then, bases have been built for the Arrochar, Dundonnell, Lomond and Moffat teams and an existing building has been bought for the Oban team. Requests for help to build bases have also been received from the Arran, Border, Galloway, Kintail, Lochaber, Ochils, Tayside and Torridon & Kinlochewe teams.
The teams' range of activities is wide. They are called upon to help find missing people in all parts of the countryside, not just mountainous or hilly areas, and they bring their valuable local knowledge and experience of search and rescue techniques to many operations. The object of a search can vary from lost walkers to injured climbers, crashed aircraft or vehicles and to people missing from home who may be suicidal or at risk from mental illness. A team might help rescue people from sea cliffs, working closely with HM Coastguard and the RNLI.
In 2004, a brand new vehicle was presented to the Tayside Police Search and Rescue Unit. The Prior handed over the ignition keys to Mr Andrew Brown, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary. The vehicle, a Vauxhall Movano van, can seat nine and carry bulky equipment.
Its most important role is as a Search Command Base for all mountain rescue and missing person operations in Tayside. It has a seating area for six with a planning table and a side canopy. Equipment provided by the police includes a generator, a heating and drying system, laptop computers and a comprehensive radio and telephone communications suite including a radio mast extending to nine metres.
To date 23 teams have been supplied with vehicles. These are Aberdeen, Arran, Arrochar, Assynt, Border, Braemar, Cairngorm, Dundonnell, Galloway, Glencoe, Glenelg, Glenmore Lodge, Killin, Kintail, Lochaber, Lomond, Moffat, Oban, Ochils, Skye, Torridon & Kinlochewe, Tayside, Tayside Police Search and Rescue (pictured) and Tweed Valley. Arrangements are in hand for the Grampian Police Mountain Rescue Team.
St John was the key sponsor of a new rescue boat for one of Scotland’s most well-known attractions: Loch Lomond. Launched by HRH Princess Anne in November 2006, the specially designed boat is on call all year round. It is manned by a team of volunteers who attend training sessions every week.