Kendal team members at work during a rescue. Photo: Kendal MRT

A mountain rescue team celebrates its 60th anniversary this weekend.

Kendal Mountain Rescue Team will hold its annual collection in its home town on Saturday and will also join a lifesaving demonstration as part of its celebrations.

The team will have its volunteers, vehicles and equipment at the Birdcage in Kendal town centre, and will also team up the resuscitation team from Westmorland General Hospital who will demonstrate cardio-pulmonary resuscitation lifesaving techniques.

Members of the public will be encouraged to come for a chat and take part in a CPR challenge.

Team leader Eddie Harrison said: “This will be a great day and it will give us an opportunity to show the public how their generous donations are used to save life both on the fells and in the larger community generally.”

The anniversary coincides with this year’s Mountain and Cave Rescue Awareness Weekend in England and Wales.

Teams across the country are planning events, getting out to meet the public on popular walking routes and, new for 2013, working with outdoor retailer GO Outdoors to improve navigation skills.

“Navigation skills are crucial for anyone walking in the hills and mountains,” said Mike France, responsible for MREW fundraising.

“With so many phone apps and devices promising to tell walkers where they are and how to get from A to B, we’ve seen an increase in callouts when the devices can’t get a signal or when the batteries fail.”

“Our advice is always for people to have the back up of a local map and a compass but we’re aware that people also need to know how to use them – and that’s what the tie up with GO Outdoors is all about.”

Across the country, teams will be offering free advice on planning a route, checking features on the ground with your map, pacing, identifying hazards and keeping track of your location.

In Wales, the Western Beacons team will be in the Swansea store; Central Beacons will be in Cardiff and North East Wales Search and Rescue will be across the border in the Chester store.

In England, Derby MRT will be in GO Outdoors in Loughborough; Edale will be in the Sheffield store; Kinder will be in Stockport; Holme Valley in Wakefield and, furthest north, Scarborough and Ryedale SRT will be in the York store.

The awareness weekend will show off the work of teams across England and Wales

David Allan, chair of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, is keen to see the navigation training as an investment for rescuers. He said: “The aim is to provide a focus for local teams to meet and talk to a range of people who are enjoying the outdoors.

“Many families and enthusiasts will be visiting their local stores over the bank holiday weekend and we’re hoping that the navigation advice will be a good way of raising awareness of mountain rescue as well as building people’s confidence on the hills.”

Paul Scrivens from GO Outdoors, who has been involved in organising the advice sessions across the country, said: “We’ve supported MREW for a couple of years now and our stores and customers have raised over £100,000 in 2012 and 2013 so far – a significant amount but each team has running costs of £30,000 to £50,000 per annum.

“The May navigation sessions should build on that relationship, raise awareness of the teams and also help to improve safety in our countryside.”

Journalist and broadcaster John Craven, an ambassador for MREW who is keen to support the awareness weekend, added: “My TV work takes me all over the countryside and during my years on Countryfile I’ve seen the best of British weather – and the worst.

“So it’s comforting to know that if things do go wrong, no matter what the weather, a local mountain rescue team is always on call.”

“I have taken part as the ‘victim’ in several training missions and, even though I was only play-acting, I realised just how relieved real casualties must be to see rescuers heading their way.

“Mountain and Cave Rescue Awareness Weekend will give the public an opportunity to see how a rescue team works. All are volunteers, putting themselves on the line to save lives, and they really do deserve our support.”