On board for challenge

Adventurers from the Advertiser area are among a team of ten volunteers taking part in a 999 Challenge to circumnavigate the coastline of Great Britain.

The paramedic and two police officers are members of the Watersafe UK Search and Rescue Team.

The team was set up in 2009 as a voluntary 999 service on-call for Derbyshire fire and police services and for national deployment in emergencies.

Mr Ian McAleese, 49, of Bullpit Road, Balderton, has been a member of the team for four years.

He is an operational deputy leader and medical official officer responsible for trauma care training and medical equipment maintenance.

He is employed by East Midlands Ambulance Service as a paramedic team leader with its Hazardous Area Response Team. Part of his training involved water rescue.

Pc Luke Todd, 27, of Newark, and Pc John Faulconbridge, of Shelford, are serving officers with Nottinghamshire Police.

They are flood rescue and trauma care technicians with the rescue team.

Pc Todd joined the team 18 months ago when he heard they were looking for more volunteers.

He said he enjoyed the sort of challenges they faced and working with people from all the emergency services.

The service costs about £10,000 a year to run.

The team is tackling the 999 Challenge to raise money towards operating costs and the RNLI.

Founder Nigel Cobb, a firefighter, said: “Our volunteers are from the emergency services so we thought it was an apt name for the challenge.”

They aim to cover 1,999 miles in nine days, nine hours and nine minutes and will set off from Poole Lifeboat Station on September 9.

They will take turns to be in a crew of four in a small rigid inflatable boat and will travel clockwise round the coast, stopping at lifeboat stations along the way.

The challenge will finish back in Poole on September 17.

Mr McAleese will be in the team that starts the challenge.

They will travel for up to ten hours a day before passing on to the next team.

“We would like to complete the challenge within the target time but it could be tough,” said Mr McAleese.

“We are expecting it to be rough at the top end of Scotland.”

Pc Todd will be in the boat on the second day of the challenge. He said they had put in a lot of physical training to ensure they were well prepared.

“Once we are in the boat there will be times when we are 60 miles from the coast and we will be unsupported,” he said.

They are hoping to raise at least £10,000.

Donations can be made through the team’s website at www.wuksart.org