In the news

They might have been tempting fate, but on Fri 13th October, Aberdyfi
Search and Rescue Team gathered together to celebrate their 50th
birthday.

Originally bearing the somewhat unwieldy name of “Outward Bound Sea
School, Aberdyfi, Search & Rescue Team” the rescue organization was
officially convened in September 1973, though had been operating in
this capacity since the mid 1960’s at least. The links with the
Outward Bound (OB) school, which remain to this day albeit in a
different form, were key to the functioning of  the new Team, and its
initial “volunteers” were the instructors and staff of OB. With staff
living on site, a 24h warden service on duty, and equipment and
vehicles readily available the system worked well from the onset.
Rescues were coordinated from the school, and instructors from other
outdoor education facilities could be brought in as required.

With changing practices within OB, the Team shifted focus and started
to include true volunteers from both within and without the school,
and over the years morphed into a fully independent organization with
its own processes, equipment and vehicles. The name shifted via
“Outward Bound Wales Search & Rescue Team” to settled in 2012 on
“Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team.”

“In particular, the last 10 years or so seem to have witnessed the
greatest changes for the Team” said spokesperson Graham O’Hanlon,
though he concedes that that may be because he was around to witness
them. “Processes, such as the callout system, which had been in place
for perhaps 30 years, were revolutionized by the advent of wider
mobile phone and internet availability. The need for extensive
searches has also been much reduced by a range of smart-phone
processes to help locate missing people. It is interesting to ponder
what the next 10 years will bring.”

To find out more of the Team’s history, visit their website at
www.aberdyfi-sart.org.uk

Team secretary Siân Campion cuts the cake with Team chair and longest
serving member Dave Williams. Dave joined the Team in 1974.