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OxSAR are looking for new volunteers to join our operational team.

Here's a write up on us from the Thame Gazzette

'A VOLUNTEER organisation which helps locate lost and missing vulnerable people is desperately seeking funding and new members.

The Oxfordshire Lowlands Search and Rescue group, which operates out of Thame, assist the emergency services when someone is reported lost.

Chairman Steve Butcher is an electrician in his day job but believes the organisation plays an important role.

“It’s all about helping people and looking out for your community."

Following a very busy July in which OxSAR’s volunteers were called out seven times in eighteen days to assist the Police in the search for vulnerable missing people, OxSAR are looking to increase it’s operational members. OxSAR hopes to recruit 15 new search technicians, to begin training with the unit in September. OxSAR is also looking to recruit non-operational members to assist with fundraising, administration and finances.

Kilimanjaro climb to raise funds for the Oxfordshire Lowland Search and Rescue Control Vehicle Appeal.

Louise Dennis, a nurse at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford is training to become a lowland search technician with Oxfordshire Lowland Search and Rescue (OxSAR), and left for Tanzania on June 17th to do a sponsored climb of Kilimanjaro. Louise is aiming to raise funds for a new Control Vehicle for OxSAR, which is vital for the co-ordination of searches for missing vulnerable people.

OxSAR (Oxfordshire Lowland Search and Rescue) desperately need a new control vehicle. Their current vehicle was declared beyond economical repair in December and the decision has been taken not to repair the van and to scrap it.

BBC Oxford have spent several hours over the past couple of days learning about the role OxSAR play in Police run missing person searches.

Steve and Rachel were interview live on the radio on Thursday, listen to the interview on Louisa Hannan's show on BBC iPlayer (about 1:03hrs in, available until 23rd December 2010).

This morning, Steve, along with Karen, David, Matt and Pete met with the Thames Valley Police Search Co-ordinator and Jeremy from BBC Oxford to put together a short video to be shown on BBC Oxford at 6:30 tonight on BBC 1.

Isis Search and Rescue is now known as Oxfordshire Lowland Search and Rescue (OxSAR). We decided to change the team name to reflect our status as the county's ALSAR team. OxSAR have taken this opportunity to be the first team in the country to take on the recently updated ALSAR logo, supporting the Association of Lowland Search and Rescue in increasing public awareness of the vital work of Lowland SAR teams across the country.

Isis members were attending and teaching on UKLSI courses in Wiltshire when WilSAR received a call out to a young despondent female. An Isis search controller assisted WilSAR in running the 4 hour search and other Isis members lead search teams that included members of ALSAR units from all over the country. The female was located safe and well.

Last night, Isis Search and Rescue was assessed by a panel of ALSAR appointed experts and watched by a Thames Valley Police Search Advisor. During the evening unit members carried out a search and rescue exercise designed to test our abilities and ensure that we meet the new guidelines that ALSAR has for approved units.

Full ALSAR membership is important to us because it enables us to work directly with Thames Valley Police in locating vulnerable missing people in our home county of Oxfordshire and we are pleased to announce that we passed the assessment. Full membership now needs to be ratified by the ALSAR committee at their meeting in September.

A local paper has reported that Oxfordshire's missing person count is the highest in the region, due to the county's population demographics. Thames Valley Police say they are typically having to deal with around 20 missing people at any one time.

Isis Search and Rescue only assist the police with vulnerable missing people so don't get involved in every case, but these numbers demonstrate how vital the work we do is.

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