In August the Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, spent a morning with Northumbria Local Resilience Forum partner agencies at Thrunton Woods. Other local dignitaries were in attendance too.
The visit marked the launch of the Government’s new National Risk Register, here in Northumberland. The Deputy Prime Minister heard first hand how Northumberland County Council, Northumbria Police, Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service, Northumberland National Park, Forestry England, Mountain Rescue and other resilience partners work together to prepare for everything from wildfires to major storms like Storm Arwen. Thrunton Woods, the venue for the visit, had only recently re-opened to the public after the devastation caused by Arwen in 2021.
Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team was represented by our Team Leader, Iain Nixon, and one of our duty controllers, Andrew Miller. Both have worked closely with Northumbria Local Resilience Forum partners since its inception and have been heavily involved in coordinating Mountain Rescue’s involvement in extreme weather events such as Storm Desmond, Beast from the East and Storm Arwen.
Iain said: “The visit provided a great opportunity to raise awareness of how all the agencies work in partnership to prepare for and respond to resilience incidents and of the role Mountain Rescue, as a volunteer led and delivered emergency service, has to play in such incidents.
