UKC

£17,000 raised for Mountain Rescue in Cumbria

© sheep
The BBC who created an international news event out of this years Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) could learn a lot from the self-reliance and fund raising efforts of mountain folk.

The two-day OMM endurance race, held last October, was cancelled because of severe flooding and strong winds. A major rescue effort was conducted, involving police, mountain rescue teams and the RAF. All of the nearly 3,000 participants were safe, and there no deaths or major injuries. Thirteen competitors, suffered a range of problems from hypothermia to head injuries, and were treated by Cumbrian hospitals.

Since the race was cancelled individuals, businesses and the OMM have raised more than £17,000 for the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association (LDSAMRA - www.ldsamra.org.uk).

Talking to Ellie Hargreaves at the Kendal based Westmorland Gazette, Richard Warren of the LDSAMRA said,

"£17,000 is a huge sum of money and the organisation is delighted to have been given it. We obviously survive through donations from the general public and our teams cost between £25,000 and £75,000 a year to operate.

This a huge boost and the money will be shared between the 12 teams in the area."

Mike Parsons and the organising commitee of OMM have donated the event prize money, £7,000, to the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association.

See also the UKClimbing.com News report: Nov 5: UKC/OMM/FRA Mountain Rescue Donations approach £10,000 by Rob Stone

Video courtesy of Jeremy Webb.


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16 Dec, 2008
Great film.
16 Dec, 2008
Isee the OMM organisers are still refusing to pay for the £20000 worth of damage to Willie Richardsons barn at Gatesgarth ,caused when they drove their vehicles onto newly set concrete
16 Dec, 2008
I enjoyed that film. Thanks for that. Was good to see what it was like.
16 Dec, 2008
Some brilliant acting from the wee scottish cheeky chappy! For public appereance requests and general raconteuring please contact: j.miller@worc.ac.uk
16 Dec, 2008
my view of the BBC's coverage changed a bit when i saw a follow up a month later on Look North. They had heard something was happening ( probably from Mark Weir :0~) ) and contacted the Police who told them a major rescue operation was going on to secure the safety of nearly 2000 missing runners. Follow up calls to Keswick Mountain Rescue agreed with this that conditions were life threatening and it should never have gone ahead etc etc. and the runners were ' un-accounted for '. Combine that with a lack of understanding about what the event was all about and it was bound to blow up in todays media. Look North, to their credit, did a very balanced follow up. They interviewed 2 experienced competitors who said it shoud have gone ahead, Keswick MR who said it shouldn't and a quote from Cokermouth MR who said it should have gone ahead. Having been with those same 2 competitors a couple of days after this broadcast, and also with the guy who took the first phone calls from the BBC on behalf of OMM, there are lessons to learnt by everyone i think - not just the BBC.
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