2020 – How we tackled the pandemic funding squeeze!
Well I can’t actually believe I’m writing this almost a year after we were put into lockdown in 2020….what a strange time it was, and still is hey!? The surge in uncertainty caught us all off guard. Not knowing what was happening! How long it would go on for and if we would all survive!
Following the initial shock waves subsiding and having a clearer view of the next few months ahead of us in lockdown, the Kent Search and Rescue team got to work figuring out how to keep the, much needed funding coming in. Our role and purpose is assisting Kent Police when vulnerable missing people needed to be found quickly across Kent, and this remained our priority throughout 2020.
New to the Fundraising Manager post in March 2020 was Brian Tinham. Brian was a new member to the KSAR team, but with the limitations and guidelines enforced during the first lockdown, he found himself temporarily stood down with not a great deal to do. So stepping into the fundraising role, Brian found himself watching what other charities and organisations were doing to bridge the gap in keeping us financially afloat. It was a challenging time for all, and Brian performed beyond all expectations in his new unexpected role. Huge team thank you Brian, you have done a phenomenal job.
For KSAR to remain operational 365 days of the year we need to raise over £35,000.00 a year, and with all fundraising events cancelled, closures of every possible source of support happening all around us it was a daunting task looking ahead.
We followed the masses in applying for funding grants and asked the county for donations by supporting us online through Amazon Smile, TW Lotto and direct social media fundraising links. The team stepped up to make videos for the 2.6 challenge and Bump it challenge. We had team member Daphne Allen making and selling face masks, we had team member Gary’s wife Linda Blumsum making knitted dolls and selling them online. We even had team members walking and running endless miles to raise funds for us to continue our work…..the efforts were amazing and a massive well done to Joe Grantham, Gary Blumsum and John Knight.
We received support for PPE from Folkstone Town Council, Bradfields Academy and Kent Community Foundation… all helping to keep the team safe during the constant stream of call outs in 2020 and beyond. Tonbridge Lions Club provided us with hand sanitiser for the whole team and our control vehicles and then there’s the good old Salvation Army who help keep the team fuelled when we are out on extended searches. The kindness and support very much appreciated always.
Kent Police awarded us £10,000 as a show of appreciation of our support to them, Tesco Bags of help awarded us £500 and Heron Workwear & Graphics and G4H Rescue Ltd supported us with vehicle graphics and Hi-vis wear for the Drone team.
We then have all our social media supporters; you guys are amazing! Those who contribute through social media sites supporting our time out across Kent searching for the vulnerable and missing people. The pounds that come in here all add up and that does not go unnoticed. We would like to say a huge thank you for all the support, kind wishes and thanks so many of you send our way. The messages and support keep us afloat more than you will know!
So you can see from the above, the efforts that goes into KSAR are remarkable, and I haven’t even mentioned the number of callouts we had in 2020! We were called out a lot in 2020 to help find missing people, we supported the delivering of meds for vulnerable people across Kent. Team training went ahead online, so we all kept up to date with our competencies….And then there’s the management team behind it all. Those actively on call all hours of the day and night just in case we are needed, these people hold KSAR together and the team wouldn’t exist without them. We have the TRiM team supporting the welfare of our team members, the social media team, medics, team leaders, drone, boat, flood teams and all our operational team members who do all they can when the call for help is sent out and mobiles of KSAR members across the county give the alarm call to duty.
So we are now in 2021, a year further down the line and we are even more concerned than we were when Covid-19 hit. The team numbers are strong at 97 active and on call, so we are able to keep doing what we do best….searching and rescuing! But we need the counties support.
You might have seen our latest challenge on social media!? KSAR Pie Face Challenge, thought up by team member Linz Wren….and the videos are flooding in and very funny to watch! We’d love for the #ksarpiefacechallenge to become county wide, national if possible. Could you get all your friends involved? I have no doubt Brian our Fundraising manager is hot on the heels of any funding available to us and other members thinking up new ideas.
All you need to know is that what ever you pledge to support our work, it is very much appreciated, and all is used to support our work and team efforts. We would all like to thank you for the support so far.
If you are someone who is able to donate once a month that’s fab, if you are a company who can support us that’s brilliant, if you can donate anything of use to the team that’s invaluable to us. We all give our time volunteering, as do our families….my daughter rolls her eyes when the text alarm goes off, but she’s also proud that her mumma is part of KSAR too!
Thank you for taking the time to read this part of our journey, I’m pretty sure there will be more to report very soon. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, stay safe and well and keep following and supporting us when ever you can.
Thank you from the whole KSAR team.
#notjustmissingpeople #searchandrescue #kenttogether #mutualsupport.