Last night CVSRT members attended The Rescue Post to say thank you and bid farewell to a long time supporter of the team, Mr Ken Hill who is moving to Wales to be closer to family. Retired solicitor Ken first got involved with the team as a supporter helping out around the base and then moved into an incident control role. For a number of years, Ken also worked fastidiously in the background sharing his business acumen to develop a strong foundation for the team to build and grow.

CVSRT would like to thank Ken for his years of service and commitment to the team and wish him well in the future.

Also at the meeting the team marked the end of an era as husband and wife team, Mick and Hilary Newsome stepped down from active duty after nearly 30years on the callout list. CVSRT President David Whitteron presented Mick and Hilary with the Life Membership Award in recognition of their service to the team.

In 2014 they were both presented with a 25years Long Service certificate and Hilary recounted, “We first became involved with the team one Sunday at the Stubbing Wharf, Hebden Bridge where we bumped into an old friend, Pete Smith - whom Mick had known for forty or so years. I (Hilary) had just completed the Mountain Leadership course and as the chat developed, Pete suggested we should join the Rescue Team. This sounded interesting so we thought we’d give it a go and become “Probies”.

Mick concluded, “Over the years, we have worked alongside many team members. Then, as now, it has been the camaraderie and trust among these people, both past and present, which has given us the support and strength to enabled us to survive hard times, both physical and mental. We are very proud to be part of an incredible group of selfless volunteers – Thank you!”

CVSRT would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Mick & Hilary for being instrumental in the development of the team for nearly three decades. We wish them well with their retirement from active duty.