UKC

It's a very sad day. I learned through the grapevine on Tuesday that Lochaber, Cairngorm and Glencoe have decided to leave Scottish Mountain Rescue, the representative body for MR in Scotland.

Whilst I am hugely impressed with the work that these Teams do, they have been hugely devisive in MR over the last year and to be frank they won't be missed.

Guys in the Teams: I don't know how much you have been told but SMR has been bending over backwards over the last few months to try and resolve your concerns about funding and to ensure that your opinions are fully taken account of. Teams have offered to provide bodies to take the strain off you during busy periods, dealing with the simple rescues and trying to give you a weekend away from dragging sprains off the Ben. I know that several Teams also proposed that an independent review is carried to best understand what MR in Scotland should look like and how it can be better organised, funded and supported by Police Scotland and the Scottish Government - this was declined by your SMR representatives.

To leave makes no logic, but I wish all individual team members all the best wishes for the future. I just hope that this isn't the ego's of a small number of office bearers in each team providing selective information to members as that would be very wrong indeed.

In reply to Sad Days:

Arguably more 'devisive' to post a statement on UKC having just registered a profile specifically for the purpose. Sad it has come to this if this is true but sure there will be more to it. Perhaps those teams will issue a statement in due course.

In reply to Sad Days:

Have skimmed through - http://www.mountainrescuescotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Options-fo... but I'm still not sure I understand the issue.

In reply to Sad Days:
Lame. Very lame. If you want to say something to those MRTs at least grow a set of balls to say it to them directly rather than posting indirectly on here!

You cast aspersions around freely at MRT office bearers without evidence and don't seem to think that the men and women of these MRTs aren't fools, or bad, and have given this issue very serious consideration. Perhaps it isn't as one sided as you think.....wait a minute.... is your office bearer giving you selective information?

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

It would be enlightening and interesting to hear from team members at Lochaber, Cairngorm and Glencoe what they make of the move. I'm genuinely puzzled.

In reply to Sad Days:
Does anyone know if this is actually happening? I'm aware a lot of the grievences between the lowland teams and the big three are long standing but it's a shame if it's come to an actual division. An organisation like the MRT is much stronger together and consistency is surely important, despite many less call outs people still expect the lowland teams to be able to do the same rescues as the bigger teams and this requires the same training and expensive equipment. It will only take one tradgedy to privatise a divided SMR and from what I gather there are very few in support of that.

I'm not sure who is struggling for funding more, the bigger teams which are more active but get much more donations or the lowland teams which do far fewer rescues but consequently don't get as many donations. I'm sure both sides have their legitimate concerns which suggests some kind of independent analysis would have been helpful. Either way splitting the teams doesn't seem to address the issue of funding at all, it just leaves both sets of teams out in the cold on their own which in the wake of funding difficulties seems counter productive. If things come to a serious lack of funding the SMR will no longer have the collective support of each other to pursue solutions to funding issues and will lose the strength that a collective body has together. If what Mr Anonymous says is true then perhaps this will be the catalyst for larger change in the SMR which has been teetering on the door step for quite some time.

beh: I'm equally bemused by that paper, although paper probably isn't the best word for what reads like an isolated evidence free rant. Perhaps my reading skills aren't up to much but I finished having got this message from it:

We alone have considered the other options and found them "very undersirable", the only solution is to split the SMR into three Management Groups and the one we're in should have 57% of voting powers. Actually it should have 73% but we'll let the other have a little more because that seems unfair. Please let us know if you agree or disagree?

I can only imagine the rattled cages that must have caused and perhaps with those kind of feelings a split was inevitable. The response from the Tweed Vally MRT was a little more intelligent and measured:
http://www.mountainrescuescotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TVMRT-Lett...

In reply to Sharp:
Oh shucks!!Am I too late to get a couple of digs and jibes into some volunteer mountain rescue guys?
Oh wait it seems not, I just found this thread.....