The 12 mountain rescue teams in Cumbria were jointly nominated for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) by Superintendent Matthew Kennerley in 2019. QAVS is the MBE equivalent for an organisation rather than an individual. It was in April 2020 when the teams were notified that they had been successful and began using the coveted QAVS Logo on all communications. However, due to the pandemic it was only in September 2021 that the opportunity arose for the Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensman to formally present the signed certificate and crystal to representatives at Police Headquarters, Penrith. Following the presentation the Chair of LDSAMRA, the umbrella and representative body for the teams, handed the items to Chief Constable Michelle Skeer for permanent display at Carlton Hall Police Headquarters. This is very appropriate as LDSAMRA is a member of Cumbria’s Local Resilience Form and Cumbria Police is the Teams’ main calling authority for both the ‘999’ mountain rescue callouts and support to major incidents in the county. All of LDSAMRA’s volunteer team members , around 400 in total, have received a personal QAVS pin badge and each of the 12 teams received a replica crystal and framed certificate for display within their own rescue base. In the photo, front to back, Ms Claire Hensman Lord Lieutenant; Richard Warren LDSAMRA Chair; Search Dog Jess LDMRSDA; Penny Kirby Team Leader Wasdale MRT and Search Dog Handler; Michelle Skeer QPM Chief Constable Cumbria; Acting Chief Superintendent Matthew Kennerley; John Bamforth LDSAMRA Treasurer; Dr. Jim Cox OBE Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria; John Carlin Secretary LDSAMRA. Congratulations to all our teams.
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