FINDING new recruits and fundraising were the two aspects of the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team's work in focus at their selection day for prospective trainees recently.

Each year the team invites potential volunteers to partake in a selection process.

The aim is to introduce keen and suitably qualified candidates to the methods and workings of the team and hopefully accept them onto the training course to become full members of the NDSRT.

This year, nine candidates took part on selection day.

As well as a presentation on the team's capabilities and operational deployments by the team leader David Stoneman, they were also given a talk on the comprehensive training they would undergo and introduced to some of the equipment they will need to become familiar with.

Also during the morning, Theresa Edwards from Waitrose visited the centre to present a cheque for £464 to the group to support their work.

The money was raised through the store's Community Matters green token scheme.

The day ended with a practical activity on Dartmoor with an exercise to assess each candidate's navigation skills.

Successful candidates will be invited to undergo rigorous training over the next several months until they are deemed fully competent in the skills necessary to become full callout members.

After this they can undertake more advanced training in specialist rescue areas such as swift water rescue.

Paul Vachon of the team said: 'The team is called out, on average, 25 times each year to rescue injured and missing persons on Dartmoor and surrounding areas.

'Deployments to such incidents can be very demanding for the members of the team and it's important that they are trained to a very high level.

'There are usually about 40 members on the callout list. They are ready to be deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.'

The work does not stop there — the NDSRT is self-supporting. It is a charity and relies on public donation and grants to keep it going.

The members help to raise funds at many events during the year — they also help the local community by marshalling charity events and carnivals each year.

Further information can be found on the team website at http://www.ndsart.org.uk">www.ndsart.org.uk