A LIFESAVING organisation has launched an urgent appeal for help to ensure its own survival. The North East Wales Search and Rescue Team, which covers a huge area including Rhyl and Prestatyn, badly needs a new home. "Our plight is desperate and just this once we need somebody to come to our rescue," said NEWSAR member Dave Fildes. They are currently based at RAF Sealand, but the camp on Deeside is closing with the loss of 130 jobs as part of a Ministry of Defence cost review. That means the volunteer heroes are facing the prospect of being made homeless - with the group due to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2006. On average the team is called out once a fortnight and has saved dozens of lives over the years. But Dave warned unless they can find a new home quickly, the long-term future of the lifesavers is under threat. The team has made a plea for help in finding a new, preferably rent-free base so it can continue doing what it does best - providing a first class search and rescue service. Of all the search and rescue teams in the UK, Dave believes their area which covers 3,000 square miles is probably the biggest geographically. It stretches from the fringes of the Conwy Valley, taking in the Denbighshire coast and inland areas, across to the M6 and down as far as Welshpool, touching North Shropshire. "Everybody in the team is a volunteer, we get no Government funding at all," added Dave. "We train three Wednesdays a month and one Sunday a month. It's quite a commitment because you're on call 24/7, 365 days a year and the call come at any time. "We average about 25 callouts a year and many of our searches are for missing children, despondants who are suicidal or people suffering from dementia and have gone wandering off. "Because of the nature of our patch, we are often called out to conduct searches in urban as well as rural areas. "When you meet relatives and you have returned the people to their families, the buzz you get from the fact you have done something good is really important. "Most of the time it's not glamorous. Slogging across muddy fields looking for somebody and not knowing whether you're going to find somebody who is dead isn't the best way to spend a Friday or a Saturday night which is invariably when we tend to get called. "Having said that, there's a lot of camaraderie and a great team spirit - and we feel we are providing a worthwhile and important service." Team Leader Iain Ashcroft said: "We know RAF Sealand is going to close by October 2006 but nobody is in a position to actually give us a deadline date. "We just know the camp is going and the buildings are going and that we are going to have to find another base. Our very existence is under threat." Anybody who can help can contact Mr Ashcroft on 01978 860392 or 07050 037478. | 
