Are you interested in joining us? Our next intake of new members will be in September 2025. We aim to recruit around 6 people. As a team member, you will be involved with providing assistance and support to people who are in distress in the hills and are in need of our help. In some circumstances, you may be saving someone’s life.
We take membership seriously. Being a team member is a demanding commitment, but it is also very rewarding. You will be a member of a close-knit team of people who have a common aim and a strong social and mutually supportive bond. You will need a strong interest in the outdoors and in helping others, good outdoor and navigation skills, good teamworking skills, commitment and living within a 30-minute drive of Hayfield. We are looking for a diverse range of people with complementary skills and personalities who will integrate into the team. You might be, for example, a walker, fell runner, mountain biker or climber.
Please read the information below carefully before applying. You must have a full understanding of the commitment needed to be a team member,
This page is aimed at those thinking about joining the team to take part in search and mountain rescue callouts. If you are more interested in the fundraising please contact our Fundraising Officer at fundraising@kmrt.org.uk.
About the Team
Mountain Rescue is a 999 service under the control of the Police. It is staffed entirely by volunteers and funded by charitable donations.
Kinder Mountain Rescue Team is based in Hayfield and is one of the 7 Mountain Rescue Teams that form the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation (PDMRO). We are a registered charity set up to assist the Police and Emergency Services in search and rescue operations. We can be called out at any time to incidents in the Peak District and occasionally to other areas in Britain, but we have a particular responsibility for the area around Kinder Scout. We often work with other teams who are part of the PDMRO. There are about 50 people in the team, and all are volunteers.
Callouts
In 2024 we had a record-breaking year of 73 callouts. Most callouts are search and rescue operations on the hills and crags of the Peak District, not only for hill walkers and climbers but also for missing or vulnerable people. Sometimes we are asked to assist the Police in urban and lowland rural searches.
Callouts can be at any time of day or night. We tend to get more callouts in the evenings and over weekends, which is when more people are outdoors. We generally meet at the Team Base in Hayfield, but the meeting point can be anywhere.
When there is a callout, team members are formed into hill parties and deployed to specific locations or routes to perform search and rescue work. Each hill party has an experienced leader. The party leaders report to a senior team member who manages and directs the callout. This senior team member is also supported by drivers and other operational support staff.
About the person we need
You must have sound hill experience, knowledge of our operational area, and good navigation skills. This can come from different outdoor activities e.g. mountaineering, hill walking, fell running or mountain biking.
Applicants must be over 18 years old. Our insurance for members is limited to those who are under 75 years old, so applicants who are approaching that age will not be accepted.
Most members come from the Hayfield/New Mills area, but anyone within a 30 minutes’ drive of our Base in Hayfield will be considered. Applicants living within the operational area of other local mountain rescue teams should not apply but are encouraged to apply to their local team. Our operational area on the below map. Our operational boundary is the blue line on this map.
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Mountain rescue is potentially hazardous. It can be arduous, often in inclement weather and in the dark. It can also be stressful, but it is also very rewarding. The team tries hard to control the risks to all concerned, but you must understand that being part of the team will involve accepting the associated risks.
We require significant commitment from you.
Application process
You must attend an information session so that you fully understand what we do, and the commitment required. Information sessions will be held at our Base, behind The George Hotel in Hayfield on:
19:30 Tuesday 8th April 2025 – FULL
19:30 Monday 12th May 2025
19:30 Monday 16th June 2025
Please email the team secretary to confirm which session you are attending: secretary@kmrt.org.uk.
After you have attended the information session you will be invited to submit a formal application, which you can download from the bottom of this page.
Your application will be considered by the Team’s Management.
You must then attend the Applicant Assessment Day. This will involve a series of activities designed to assess a range of skills: mountain craft (including map and compass navigation), your equipment, fitness, teamworking, communication, initiative and leadership. The Applicant Assessment Day is on:
Saturday 12th July 2025
If you are selected for the team, you will begin training in the September of that year. You will need an appropriate first aid qualification and a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS).
Unfortunately, if you cannot attend both an information session and the Applicant Assessment Day, we are not able to consider your application.
Probationer Training
As a probationary team member, you will join a specific probationer training programme. Once this training is completed, you can then be promoted to become a full team member. You would normally be a probationary team member for around a year.
Probationer training sessions normally take place on one evening each month. Probationers also attend the general team training sessions – normally on two evenings and one Sunday each month. There is also a monthly team meeting. The monthly schedule is usually:
- One Monday evening: full team casualty care training
- One Wednesday evening: full team mountain skills training
- One Sunday: full team all day exercise
- One Friday evening: full team meeting
- One Monday evening: bespoke probationer training
Training is a mixture of indoor and outdoor sessions. This keeps our skills current and ensures we work confidently with each other, with other Mountain Rescue Teams, and other agencies such as the Police, Coastguard, Ambulance and Fire Service. You will be expected to attend a high proportion of all training.
After successful completion of your probationer training, you will be added to the emergency callout list as a probationary member and expected to attend our search and rescue activities from then onwards. Once you complete your probationer period on call successfully you will be promoted to full team member. This is usually around a year after you start your probationer training.
If you do not already have a suitable first aid certificate you will need to gain one before being added to the callout list. Suitable first aid qualifications are a First Aid at Work Course or a Wilderness First Aid Course.
The team is a charity, and fundraising is essential. You will be expected to contribute to fundraising activities in your probationary period, and as a full team member.
The probationary period fulfils three functions. Firstly, it gives you time to understand the commitment, level of fitness and knowledge of hill craft required to be a full team member. Secondly, it gives the team leaders time to assess your character and capabilities. During a rescue, particularly in adverse conditions, members need to rely on each other. The team leaders need to be sure that each individual can not only make a useful contribution but also work effectively and safely as part of the team. Thirdly, your probationary period allows you to get to know your teammates and form the bonds which will hopefully stay with you for many years.
Promotion to membership
When you achieve full team membership, you will be supplied with a range of clothing and equipment that includes the familiar red Mountain Rescue jacket and a team radio. This will be yours for the duration of your membership, and we expect you to use the equipment during team activities. We also expect you to take good care of it.
Your training does not end when you become a team member. You will be encouraged to enhance your first aid skills by gaining the Mountain Rescue Remote Rescue Medical Technician Certificate and encouraged to develop additional skills and interests such as driving, rope rescue, water rescue and management of search and rescue activities.
Conclusion
If you join the team, we will make a heavy investment in you – in terms of both training and equipment. Having made this investment, we would be most unhappy if your commitment faded, or if you were joining for inappropriate reasons. Before you start the process of joining, we want you to be sure that you want to join to help others in need of assistance in the hills, and that you see your membership as a long-term commitment.
Most of the members of Kinder Mountain Rescue Team would tell you that joining was one of the best things they have done. If you think carefully about your prospective membership and all that it entails, we are confident that you will one day feel the same.
If you would like to discuss anything related to joining the team, feel free to drop an email to secretary@kmrt.org.uk.
Once you have attended an information session, please download our applications form here. Fill it in and return it to secretary@kmrt.org.uk
