A LIFESAVING organisation has launched an urgent appeal for help to ensure its own survival. The North East Wales Search and Rescue Team (NEWSAR) is currently based at RAF Sealand, but the military camp on Deeside is closing with the loss of around 130 jobs as part of a cost-cutting Ministry of Defence review. That means the volunteers are facing the prospect of being made homeless. On average the team is called out once a fortnight and has saved dozens of lives over the years. But spokesman Dave Fildes warned that unless they can find a new home quickly, the long-term future of the lifesavers is under threat. The team has now made a plea for help in finding a new, preferably rent-free base so it can continue 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, across to the M6 and down as far as Welshpool, taking in North Shropshire. Dave said: "Everybody in the team is a volunteer, we get no Government funding at all. 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 calls come at any time." Before joining NEWSAR, Dave had been a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue team for more than 20 years. He said: "We average about 25 call-outs a year and many of our searches are for missing children, people who are suicidal or who are 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. Saving lives is what we are about. "When you meet the 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. When you get a shout, your adrenalin starts going and you never know what you are going to get into. "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 that RAF Sealand is to close by October 2006 but nobody is in a position to actually give us a deadline date. "We just know like everyone else that the camp is going and the buildings are going and that we are going to have to find another centre. We need a new home urgently. "We need help because it this is a very serious situation and the clock is ticking. If we can't find a base it would be nigh on impossible for us to continue. Our very existence is under threat." Anybody who can help, should contact Iain on 01978 860392 or 07050 037478. | 
