The Westmorland Gazette’s Readers to the Rescue campaign aims to raise £40,000 for Kendal Mountain Rescue Team to buy a new state-of-the-art vehicle that will act as a ‘mobile base’. This would allow better communications on rescues and potentially save lives. This week SARA ROYLE talks to members of the community who have made generous donations.

GENEROUS donations from the local community have boosted the Gazette's Readers to the Rescue campaign this week.

Anita Clarke, Kendal, has given £275 to the cause in memory of her late husband Austin Clarke.

Mr Clarke, 78, spent all of his life in Kendal. He worked for 40 years as a fitter for the bus garage and was a keen walker and gardener.

"He had watched a programme on television as to what mountain rescue did," Mrs Clarke explained. "And he was very impressed and he said he would really like to give something to them."

"He had a little dog and he used to walk a lot with her and he was very much a family man.

A collection at Mr Clarke's funeral raised £250 and Mrs Clarke has donated an additional £25 to the campaign.

"When we planned the funeral we certainly did not expect that amount of people that turned up and came," Mrs Clarke said, describing her husband as a quiet man. "And all were very caring about him."

Anything Technical, the winter sports shop located in Sand Aire House, held a charity night in aid of Kendal Mountain Rescue Team last week.

Claire Florentine Taylor, wife of Andy Taylor who runs the shop, explained it was a ticketed evening focused around ski touring.

Ski touring is a form of backcountry skiing where both uphill and downhill travel are possible without needing to remove skis. The evening featured a talk from mountain guide Andy Townsend.

"It was a local cause and really related to what the evening was all about," Mrs Florentine Taylor said, explaining why they chosen Kendal MRT to donate it. "Going into the hills in difficult circumstances and rescuing somebody."

Each guest paid £10 for a ticket, with £500 given to Kendal MRT at the end of the evening.

"I think guests got a nice surprise when they knew that was not for us but that it was going straight to charity," she said.

If you have been helped by Kendal Mountain Rescue Team and would like to share your story, please contact Sara Royle on 01539 790260 or email sara.royle@nqnw.co.uk

You can also donate to the campaign online. Visit https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/fundraiser/kendal-rescue-round