Today at the very kind invitation of Bolton Council, the Bolton MRT attended the fifth annual ‘Get Ready for Winter’ event, which was held on Victoria Square in front of the Town Hall in Bolton.
Organised by The Civil Contingencies Unit at Bolton Council, this event is part of an on going initiative involving Government departments, various agencies and the voluntary sector, giving people information about how to keep safe and warm during the winter months and encouraging people to be resilient in their planning. Its purpose is also to demonstrate how all the partner agencies work together meeting some of the duties of the Civil Contingencies Act including warning and informing the public and co-operation and information sharing between partner agencies.
Once again this was an excellent opportunity to show the population of Bolton what support is available should the weather conditions deteriorate to such a degree as to cause significant disruption to daily life.
The event was officially opened by the Mayor of Bolton at 10.30hrs, with all participants having arrived earlier to set up their displays in the square.
The day was supported by various agencies (both statutory and voluntary) including the British Red Cross, Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (including USAR and Fire Accelerant Investigation Dog Handler Mick Dewar and his dog), Northwest 4X4 Response, North West Ambulance Service, Bolton MBC, the Highways Agency, Environment Agency and United Utilities, RSPCA water rescue team amongst quite few other voluntary groups and organisations.
Today we attended with one of our four Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulances (Radio Call sign Bolton Mobile 3) our Incident Control Vehicle (BM6). Attending from the team were operational team member’s Steve O’Hara, Chris Tennant and Mike Eddleston, along with trainee Christine Greaves and Support Group member Robert Melia.
The day went very well indeed, with lots of people coming over to visit us and to look around our vehicles and to thank us for our stirling work. One little girl in particular impressed us, for when asked what did she know about the work that Mountain Rescue does, was able to give us quite a detailed answer. It transpired that we had visited her school recently to give a presentation and that we had made a lasting impression.
We extend our thanks to all at Bolton MBC Civil Contingencies Unit for organising and co-ordinating yet again this event, especially Cath Nally and Debbie Hinsley. We also wish to thank them for giving all who attended an excellent opportunity to come together to showcase all the many diverse organisations and services which operate to keep all in our local communities safe and healthy.
