Youngsters from the two charities team up with mountain rescuers

A homeless teenager has promised to take part in a sponsored walk for mountain rescuers after she took part in a day of adventure organised by north Wales teams.

The girl was so impressed by the hospitality shown by rescue teams that she told them she would do the walk ‘for you and the dogs’.

Another girl, part of a group from the charity Centrepoint, told rescuers at the end of the day: “I’ll give you my dole money to help out.”

The five teenage girls and one boy were taking part in a day of activities hosted by the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation and organised by the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association.

It follows a successful event last July in the Lake District when Prince William accompanied Centrepoint members and mountain rescuers to the summit of Helvellyn.

Seriously ill children from the WellChild also took part in the adventure day, which was aimed at giving the youngsters a taste of the type of work the volunteer mountain rescue teams undertake.

The six Centrepoint members and their carers travelled from Durham to stay at The Towers outdoor pursuit centre, where mountain rescuers led them along a ‘via ferrata in the dark’.

The following morning, they enjoyed a session of rockclimbing on Tryfan Bach in the Ogwen Valley before walking back to the rescue team’s base at Bryn Poeth. They then joined rescuers on a ‘callout’ in the Cwm Idwal. Chris Lloyd, press officer for the OVMRO, said: “They jumped into the two Land Rovers and sped down the valley. They were then loaded up with the stretcher, casualty bag, oxygen and Entenox cylinders, splints etc and off they went up onto the mountain.

“Fortunately, the casualty was located on time – because he was at the location he had been told to go to!

“The Centrepoint youngsters could watch the whole process of examination, diagnosis and treatment of the casualty, the communication back to base and the planning for evacuation.

“It was felt that in the best interests of the casualty – and the stretcher bearers – that a helicopter might be a good idea. Within minutes the big yellow Sea King from RAF Valley was hovering overhead having been guided in by a smoke flare held by one of the youngsters.

The winchman came down the 5m of wire to the casualty, made his checks and both were winched aboard for a brief flight to Oggi Base. The much windblown and deafened youngsters then walked off the mountain to the Land Rovers.”

Meanwhile, at The Towers, the WellChild children and their families, from Merseyside and Birmingham, were treated to the centre’s facilities, including rope swings, zip wires and abseiling.

They then travelled to the Ogwen base and were driven up to Ffynnon Llugwy to meet North East Wales Search and Rescue members. The children took part in a rescue exercise involving members of the Search and Rescue Dogs Association, culminating in the North Wales Police helicopter landing at the site.

The young visitors are carried by rescuers

The children were able to look around the helicopter before joining the Centrepoint members back down at Bryn Poeth. One of the disabled youngsters volunteered to be the casualty as Centrepoint teenagers carried the stretcher to the base.

The chairman of OVMRO, Tim Radford, then presented all the children and youngsters with certificates of achievement and a goody bag.

Chris Lloyd said after the event: “The selfless caring ethos of mountain rescue excelled that day with all team members giving their best to put smiles on the faces of the disadvantaged. And by achieving that, they were able to smiles on their own faces too.

“It was a really worthwhile day.”

Prince William is patron of both Centrepoint and Mountain Rescue England & Wales and Prince Harry is patron of WellChild.