Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue is a charity which assists the Norfolk Police with their search for missing vulnerable people and use highly trained and committed volunteers as well as land and water based search equipment. Also they have a water and flood rescue team working closely with the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service.

So far this year the teams call outs have increased significantly and since the Covid-19 lock down they have already been asked to support the police. The charity received a grants from the Norfolk Community Response fund to purchase vital PPE in preparation for the potential rise in rescue call outs and helping the police during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition the charity liaises with the emergency services and local authorities and the people that are searched for are usually suffering from mental health issues along with Alzheimers or are potentially in suicidal crisis.

Lately Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue have had a surge in demand as within the first three months of 2020 they have had three times the call outs for missing people compared to the same months in the previous year, prior to lock down there was 12 calls out and during lock down their have been two cases.

Overall the funding has meant the charity can carry out their searches with highly trained volunteers to help rescue individuals and keep the community safe with Deborah Chedgey noting “This funding is key for us to maintain operational readiness as well as deploy to affected areas in Norfolk. It also assisted us highly in our primary role responding to assist Norfolk Police to find missing people.” Moreover the dedicated team working day and night at 365 days a year have stepped up to the growth in calls and the Covid-19 pandemic.