RAPID UK

Istanbul to Paris Bike Ride

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:57:00 GMT

Chris, Bob, Dave, Jay and Alex in front of the Blue Mosque At 5.00 a.m. On Friday 23rd July About To Set Off

The Istanbul to Paris bike ride that is raising funds for RAPID UK and for CLIC Sargent has begun. The riders, Chris, Bob, Dave, Jay and Alex arrived in Istanbul on 21st July. They spent the 22nd making final preparations and adjustments to their bikes. They left their hotel in the historic Sultan Ahmet district of Istanbul early on the 23rd July. By the end of the second day they had completed 140 miles and suffered 4 punctures and one broken pedal! Morale is very high in spite of these very minor set backs.

To follow their progress please visit their blog at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/istanbultoparis/1/tpod.html.

The riders are covering all the expenses for the ride themselves and therefore any money raised by sponsorship will go direct to the charities. To make a donation please click on the button below.

New Director RAPID UK

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:56:00 GMT

At RAPID UK's recent Annual General Meeting, members unanimously elected Nick Spence to succeed Graham Payne as the Director RAPID UK. Graham Payne was one of RAPID's founder members and its Director since it was originally set up. Although he has stepped down he fully intends maintaining close ties with RAPID.

Nick was, until his election, a member of the Operations Committee. He was one of the earliest members of RAPID UK and first deployed overseas to Honduras in 1998, since when he has deployed a number of times including to Columbia and Turkey in1999, , Mozambique in 2000, India in 2001, Algeria in 2003, Iran in 2003 and Pakistan in 2005.

Nick is a very experienced paramedic and has just been appointed the Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust USAR HART Instructor.

Nick Spence (left) pictured on a seach and rescue task with RAPID UK Operations Committee Member John Miller.

Istanbul To Paris Fund Raising Bike Ride

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:29:00 GMT

Chris Hodges, the son of RAPID UK CEO Clive Hodges, and four friends from Exeter University will cycle from Istanbul to Paris in order to raise money for RAPID UK. The journey of 2054 miles will take them through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France and will culminate with them (fingers crossed) cycling down the Champs Elysees on 28th August! The trip is going to be a huge challenge of endurance for the team, covering an average of 65 miles everyday for over 30 days. The team are paying all their own expenses for the journey and will be carrying all their equipment with them on their bikes. Any money that they raise will therefore go directly to their chosen charity.

The team members are (from left to right in the photo): Alex Phillips, James Coates, Jayson Wong, Chris Hodges, Dave Jarman

To sponsor the team please click on the button below. Thank you.

RAPID Provides Water Rescue Training In India

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:57:00 GMT

Working alongside colleagues from FOCUS Humanitarian, two experienced operational members of RAPID UK, Brian Davison and Stuart Heard, travelled to India in May to provide contiunation training to the volunteer rescue teams with which other RAPID members had trained in late 2009.

RAPID UK and FOCUS Humanitarian Instructors and Students

Above: RAPID UK Operational Member Stuart Heard (R) instructs students on how to take a casualty out of the water.

Right: RAPID UK Operational Member, Brian Davison, explains how its done

Gloucestershire College and Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury School Sports Partnership Make A Donation

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:50:00 GMT

RAPID UK is very grateful to Gloucestershire College and the Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury School Sports Partnership for their very generous donation to the Charity's funds. A cheque for £202 was handed over to RAPID UK at a short ceremony in the College grounds on 24th May. The money was raised earlier in the year at a swimming event.

Alan Beard, the Assistant Partnership Development Manager for Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury School Sports Partnership (l) looks on as Clive Hodges (r) CEO RAPID UK receives the cheque from two Gloucestershire College students.

Clive Hodges, whilst giving RAPID's thanks for the very generous donation expressed his hope that there could be further engagement between the Charity, the College and Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury School Sports Partnership.

Ribston Hall High School Raises More Funds For RAPID

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:18:00 GMT

RAPID would like to thank the pupils of Ribston Hall High School's Form 9R for making us their chosen charity. CEO, Clive Hodges, was presented with a cheque for £200 at an Assembly on 14th May. During the Assmebly, students gave a presentation on RAPID and its deployment to Haiti. Thanking the pupils for their fund-raising efforts, he congratulated them on their excellent presentation and invited them to visit RAPID HQ.

Fund Raising In Okehampton

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:24:00 GMT

New Recruit To Attempt To Beat A World Record In The London Marathon

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:32:00 GMT

Nigel Addison-Evans who has recently applied to join RAPID UK as an operational volunteer is to attempt to break the world record for running the London Marathon in a firefighters protective uniform and in so doing raise funds for RAPID UK

The time to beat is 5 hours and 33 minutes while wearing boots, leggings, jacket and helmet, personal protective equipment that is designed to withstand high temperatures, so on the day it will be Nigel who becomes very hot and need lots of water!

The Guinness Book of World Records: The attempt has been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records as within the given guidelines for the record, and on the day it will be confirmed if he has beaten the record, when he reaches the finish!

Why is Nigel doing this? In January this year, a major earthquakes struck Haiti, killing many thousands of people, and making many more homeless. RAPID UK an international search and rescue charity, based in Gloucestershire, spent fourteen days rescuing those affected by the disaster. Not only does RAPID UK respond to national and international requests for rescue teams, they also train indigenous teams in rescue techniques in countries that could be affected by natural disasters.

RAPID UK receives no funding whatsoever from the Government. As a charity, it is entirely reliant on donations. Your support will help RAPID UK to continue its vital work throughout the World!!

To sponsor Nigel and to help RAPID UK continue to perform its vital life-saving work please click on the button below.Thank you very much.

You can follow Nigel's record attempt on the day, online at www.facebook.com/adidasrunning, to download the waptracker, his bib number is 28353

or on your mobile by doing the following: Text the word 'RUN' to 83040, a link to the mobile tracking service will be sent to you. Enter BIB number: 28353 and the system will do the rest!

You will be able to see his progress at each 5K point along the course via the timing chip attached to his shoe, or in his case - boot!!!!

China Declines RAPID-UK Offer Of Assistance

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:16:00 GMT

On 14th April, RAPID-UK Director, Graham Payne, wrote to His Excellency Ambassador Liu Xiaoming the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China formally offering him RAPID-UK's assistance in the search and rescue effort in Qinghai Province.

RAPID-UK was informed today that Beijing had declined its offer of assistance. In thanking RAPID-UK, the spokesman for the Chinese Embassy stated that there were fewer than 100 people unaccounted for and that China already had over 8000 search and rescue personnel in the earthquake region.

Well Timed Talk Prompts Maidenhill Students to Raise Hundreds for RAPID UK

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:38:00 GMT

The Stroud News and Journal described the visit by a group of students and staff from Maidenhill School, Stonehouse to RAPID UK:

AN informed talk by RAPID UK boss Clive Hodges inspired students at Maidenhill School to raise more than £400 for the search and rescue charity.

Clive’s visit at the start of the year coincided by pure coincidence with the devastating Haiti earthquake later the same day, which prompted pupils to organise a host of fundraising events at the school over the course of the following week.

Year 10 students James Russell and Jack Lewis even collected more than £300 for the cause when they undertook a sponsored bike ride to Chepstow.

Recently the pair and fellow Year 10 students Philip White, Jordan Allen and Lucy Halliday visited RAPID UK’s head office in Quedgeley to present a cheque to Clive and take a tour of the HQ and see the charity’s specialist cutting and heat-seeking equipment.

Later this month students will host a talent show at the school and are also hoping to organise a non-uniform day to raise even more cash for the charity.

Maidenhill pupils and head of Year 10 Paula Halliday (centre) with Katie Johnson, on work placement, presenting RAPID UK chief executive Clive Hodges with a cheque for their fundraising efforts at the charity’s HQ in Quedgeley

RAPID UK Provides Training To GEA Turkey In Izmir

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:45:00 GMT

At the request of GEA Turkey, with whom it has had a long-standing relationship, two RAPID-UK operational members – Gillian Dacey and Paul Wooster – went to Izmir, Turkey to provide search and rescue training to the local SAR team. About 60 members of the Izmir team attended the training which ran from 12 – 14 March.

The training camp consisted of an initial needs assessment on Friday night along with team discussions. The classroom session on Saturday was based around a case study of the Pakistan earthquake, and incorporated basic search theory, personal equipment and the deployment process. The afternoon included lectures on building collapse, propping and shoring, and equipment familiarisation.

Practical training followed on Sunday at the local Fire Brigade training site to reinforce the theory sessions. Workshops included base camp set-up, use of the vibraphone, building approach and line search, casualty handling and confined space work. The day finished with an exercise involving all members of the team.

Gillian Dacey acts as a casualty during a training exercise.

Paul Wooster and Gillian Dacey (standing in the centre) with members of the GEA Izmir Search and Rescue Team.

The provision of training to local search and rescue teams in disaster-prone countries is a very important part of RAPID UK's work and goes on throughout the year. RAPID UK's next planned overseas training will be in India in April.

Lions Club of Dursley Present £3000 To RAPID UK

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:21:00 GMT

At their meeting on 4th March 2010 the Lions Club of Dursley presented RAPID UK with a cheque for £3000 to help it meet the costs of its recent deployment of a Search and Rescue team to Haiti in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that struck the capital in January 2010.

RAPID UK CEO, Clive Hodges, accepting the cheque thanked the members of the Lions Club of Dursley for their wonderfully generous donation and gave a brief description of RAPID UK's deployment to Haiti.

In the picture taken at the conclusion of the presentation ceremony, Lion Bill Sweet, the Welfare Chairman, Clive Hodges, CEO RAPID UK, a representative of the British Red Cross and Lion President, Lion Adrian Hutchings are shown holding the Lions Club of Dursley Flag.

RAPID UK Operational Member To Run The Brighton Marathon On 18 April

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:50:00 GMT

Dr Tom Hart is a RAPID UK Operational Team Member who since his recent return from a research trip to the Antartic has been busily training for the forthcoming Brighton Marathon.

Asked why he has decided to take part in the marathon on 18 April, Tom replied:

"As you can see from the website, RAPID UK does a lot of work worldwide both responding to, and preparing for, disasters. The last few months have been very busy for us and to continue our life-saving work, we need money. Therefore, I’m running the Brighton Marathon to raise much-needed funds for RAPID UK on 18th April. So far the training is going well and I'm on course to complete the marathon in a reasonable time."

If you would like to sponsor Tom, please click on this button: . Thank you very much.

Cotswold Bamboo Donates £2000 To RAPID UK

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:04:00 GMT

Cotswold Bamboo, a Cheltenham event management company, organised a very successful fund raising evening on 20th February that raised £2000 for RAPID UK. Guests at the event enjoyed a delicious meal at the Beehive Pub in the Suffolks. They were then driven in Cotswold Bamboo's luxury bus to Imperial Gardens in Montpelier where guests and members of the public bought hundreds of Chinese lanterns that were released into the night sky. The evening concluded with a very successful auction. RAPID UK would like to thank the Cotswold Bamboo team, the Gloucester Volunteers and the many businesses that provided items for the auction for their support for its life saving work.

Chinese Lanterns About To Be Released

Will Coote (l), Owner of Cotswold Bamboo, and Charlotte Russell, who organised the event, present Clive Hodges CEO of RAPID UK with a cheque for £2000. They are standing in front of Cotswold Bamboo's luxury bus which added much to the guests' enjoyment of the fund raising event.

Mayor Of Gloucester's Reception For RAPID UK Personnel

info@rapiduk.org.uk — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:33:00 GMT

The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Gloucester, Councillor Chris Witts and the Sheriff and Deputy Mayor of Gloucester, Councillor David Brown, hosted a reception for six operational members of RAPID UK on 26th February. The representatives of RAPID UK had either been members of the search and rescue team that had deployed to Haiti in January or had worked in RAPID UK's headquarters and operations centre during the deployment. The Mayor, who expressed a strong interest in visiting RAPID UK's headquarters, presented the visitors with a commemorative plate at the conclusion of their very enjoyable visit to the Mayor's Parlour.