About The Team

Who are NEWSAR?

NEWSAR is a volunteer Search and Rescue (Mountain Rescue) Organisation Operating in North East Wales and mainly cover the counties of Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Powys, and parts of Wirral and Cheshire.

We are a group of volunteers who help the Police by looking for vulnerable people who are missing from home or those in need of rescue. We are available 24 hours / 365 days a year.

We are a Registered Charity and affiliated to the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association and Mountain Rescue, England and Wales.

What area does NEWSAR cover?

We provide cover to the police and ambulance service in an area that stretches from the Conwy valley across to the M6 and from the North Wales Coast down to the Newtown / Welshpool area.

We operate both in mountainous terrain and in more suburban areas – wherever people are in need of assistance and cover the Counties of Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Powys, and parts of Wirral and Cheshire.

How is NEWSAR called out?

We operate using a pager system and only the police or ambulance service can call us out, normally following a 999 call from a member of the public. They will send a pager message asking us to contact them and one of our First Responders will ring to find out further details. If the Team is needed, a pager message will be sent to all Operational Members with a place and time to meet. They will let the First Responder know whether they will be attending.

We can also be called to assist other Teams if needed.

Does NEWSAR charge for its services?

Absolutely not! The work of the Team is carried out free of charge to those who are in need of assistance.

How is NEWSAR Financed?

All team members are volunteers and we do not receive any payment for providing this service to the Police.

It costs approximately £15,000 a year to run the Team – this covers fuel and repairs for our vehicles, pagers and protective equipment for team members, training courses, team equipment such as ropes, stretchers etc.

As NEWSAR is a Registered Charity and is entirely self-funding, the majority of this money is raised through street collections but we do have a number of current initiatives.

For further details of our fundraising activities, please see our Fundraising Page

How many callouts does NEWSAR receive a year?

We usually average around 25 callouts a year. These can range from a couple of hours to a number of days. They can also happen at any time of the day!

We take great pride in the service that we offer to the local communities and make a real contribution to saving life.

What types of incidents does NEWSAR deal with?

We deal with many different types of incident. The traditional ‘mountain rescue’ of walkers and climbers forms only a small part of the work that we do. We are more likely to be called out to search for missing persons who are vulnerable, could be suffering from an illness or may even be despondent.