One team member’s story of injury and recovery

Team members walk off the hill after an otherwise successful training weekend

Every day’s a school day! You never think it could happen to you until it does! Having spent thirty years in the mountains and never getting so much as a scratch, the idea that he could injure himself whilst out training with the team never crossed his mind… From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue…

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Looking after our team members

It’s a day most team members say they dread — and would walk over hot coals to avoid — but when the chips are down, who better to treat you and carry you to safety than your own trusted mountain rescue colleagues? From the archive: Mountain Rescue England and Wales Annual Review 2026. May 2025…

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Understanding what we mean by ‘trauma’

Every storm cloud has a silver lining

Trauma is defined as ‘an emotional and psychological response to deeply distressing or life-threatening events that overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope’ (Mind, 2026). As a concept, it feels as if it has fully entered the consciousness of the mainstream and terms like ‘trauma dumping’, ‘generational trauma’ and ‘vicarious trauma’ can be found across social…

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Are we all just kind of lonely?

How to manage feelings of loneliness and isolation… It can feel odd talking about loneliness when it’s easier for us to connect with others now than at any other time in history. However, the means of connecting have changed, and some of the most popular options are designed to encourage comparison to others. From the…

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Heart Rate Variability: what it is and how we can influence it

Alan Littlefield was one of our keynote speakers at the conference in September. He spoke about building trusting teams and introduced the concept of positively affecting our HRV by deploying the BREATHE skill, to improve both our individual and our team performance. The breathing bit, it has to be said, inspired a degree of scepticism…

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Introducing our new application process…

We’ve simplified our application process so it’s easier to ask for help when you need it… From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue 91, January 2025. Chairman Neil Woodhead explains how we’ve responded to feedback from our mountain and cave rescue membership to make it easier to apply for benevolence or to find support to…

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How Togetherall is supporting team members

Every storm cloud has a silver lining

One of our very own trustees talks about how our collaboration with the online mental health resource Togetherall has helped her through a difficult time. From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue 90, Autumn 2024. This year’s biennial MREW Conference, at Lancaster University, was a fantastic opportunity to promote the work of the Rescue Benevolent…

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Setting goals for health and wellbeing

From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue 87, Winter 2024. From Togetherall in association with the Rescue Benevolent Fund. When the new year rolls around, it’s easy for us to feel like we need to accomplish everything we didn’t get the chance to tackle last year. Sometimes we can put so much pressure on ourselves…

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Men’s mental health matters

Celebrating Movember, the annual event that involves the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men’s health issues. From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue 86, Autumn 2023. From Togetherall in association with the Rescue Benevolent Fund. This article delves into the importance of addressing men’s mental health, the barriers…

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What is neurodiversity?

We all experience and interact with the world in a way that makes sense to us. Neurodiversity embraces the idea that there’s no one right way to think, learn, behave or feel and no single definition of what ‘normal’ is, when it comes to the brain. From the archive: Mountain Rescue Magazine Issue 85, Summer…

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