MEMBERS of the Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team have taken delivery of a new state-of-the-art incident control unit – which could help save lives.

The group has managed to acquire the £67,000 van, which is filled with high-tech equipment, thanks to funding from generous donors.

And the 40-strong team is now being trained on how to use the gadgets which are designed to improve the response to calls.

Dave Wright, vehicle working group lead and project manager, said: “This has been the largest project the team has undertaken involving a sustained fundraising effort and a complex design process to ensure that the vehicle which was built was not only fit for purpose now, but would still meet the team’s requirements in 15 years, which is the estimated life of the vehicle. 

“During the design phase, the working group haven’t always agreed with each other but have been able to quickly reach a consensus to allow the design process to move on.

"What the team have achieved as volunteers is incredible and I think I’m justified in saying that this vehicle is one of the most advanced incident control units in operation by a UK voluntary search and rescue team.”

The group set up a funding page which raised more than £5,000 for the vehicle and the team was also selected as the Sainsbury’s Peebles Charity of the Year – adding more than £6,000 to the project.

In total, almost £25,000 was raised through different grants; from EDF Energy, Peebles Roundtable, The Robertson Trust, Selkirk Inner Wheel, Selkirk Rotary and SSE Energy.

And money was also raised by Tom Nash (£1,500), who completed the Rat Race Crossing, an off-road mountain bike coast-to-coast from Whitehaven to Scarborough over three days; and Lauderdale Scout Dylan Theedam-Parry (£500), who ran at least a mile every day for 50 days.

Team leader Pete Matthews said: “The delivery of the vehicle is the culmination of over two years of hard work for the team, firstly in fundraising and then the design and build phases of the project.

“We would like to thank our major sponsors the Robertson Trust, SSE, EDF Energy, Selkirk Rotary and the Round Table of Peebles without whom the new vehicle would not have been possible.

“We would also like to thank the hundreds of people who gave us smaller donations which came in through our crowdfunding initiatives and which together also make up a significant part of the overall sum – it is great to know we have the support and goodwill of so many in our community.”