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Trustees of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Association elected former Team member, John Williams to succeed Tim Jones as Chairman at their AGM.
John’s first involvement with mountain rescue was with the Duddon and Furness Team - then just Furness - back in 1976.
When he moved home, he joined the Patterdale Team in 1980 and was an active member until the start of this year.
John retired from the police force in 1998 and lives in Tirril, on the edge of the Patterdale Team’s area. He is well known for his award-winning photographic skills, which have enabled the Patterdale Team to create and sell stunning cards as fundraisers for about eight years.
PMRA Secretary, Gillian Mininch said: “Tim Jones has done a great job as Chairman over the past six years and has also been an active member of the Team. He will be much missed and we wish him all the best for his new life over in Germany.
“We’re really pleased to have persuaded John to take on this role. He has been a Trustee for several years but retired from active service with the Team earlier this year. He brings a lot of practical experience and local wisdom to the role as Chairman.”
John said: “It is a great team effort in Patterdale and I see my main job as encouraging each of the Trustees to make their contribution to developments.
“Our role as an Association is to protect the long-term future of the Team, through effective fundraising, good relations with our local communities and careful handling of issues like insurance and investments.
“We are currently in good shape, especially with so many younger members involved in all sorts of ways and I am looking forward to my time as Chairman.”
All the Cumbrian Mountain Rescue Teams are made up entirely of volunteers who give up their time for training and call outs and are available 24/7 throughout the year. Last year, Patterdale MRT received more than 70 call outs – details of recent incidents are online at www.mountainrescue.org.uk.
