West Cornwall Search & Rescue Team honoured to receive The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

West Cornwall Search & Rescue Team (WCSAR), a group of volunteers based in West Cornwall, has been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2025 – the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK, equivalent to an MBE.

The team’s unpaid volunteers are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, supporting the emergency services in searches for lost, missing or injured people. Ranging from paramedics and teachers to brewers and engineers, they give their time freely to help their community across West Cornwall.

Affiliated with Mountain Rescue England & Wales and the British Cave Rescue Council, the team’s volunteers work alongside the police, ambulance, coastguard and fire & rescue services. Their primary role is to coordinate searches for vulnerable missing individuals across the region, as well as to provide medical treatment and transport casualties to safety.

The team has also been called to assist with large-scale incidents across the South West, including the “Beast from the East” blizzards and the Plymouth WW2 bomb evacuation. WCSAR was founded in 2019, following the work of the Cornwall Rescue Group (founded in 2002), which previously covered the whole county.

Volunteers bring a wide range of specialist skills, including search technicians, remote rescue medics, search controllers, swift-water and rope rescue experts, mine rescuers, search-and-rescue dog handlers, 4x4 drivers, and team members who support fundraising and public relations.

Every member of WCSAR is a volunteer – the team has no paid staff. It costs around £15,000 a year to keep the team operational, and they receive no government or emergency-service funding.

WCSAR is one of 231 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. Their work, along with others from across the UK, reminds us of all the ways fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2025 marks the third year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Recipients are announced annually on 14th November, The King’s Birthday. The award winners this year are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK, including groups ranging from dog walkers cleaning up their local areas in Kincardineshire to volunteers providing flying experiences for people with disabilities in Hampshire.

Representatives of WCSAR will receive the award crystal and certificate from Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho KCVO OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall in the coming months. In addition, two volunteers from WCSAR will attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in May and June 2026, along with other recipients of this year’s award.

WCSAR Chairman, Andy Brelsford, said: “We’re incredibly proud and humbled to receive The King’s Award for Voluntary Service. This honour belongs to every single volunteer who has given their time, energy and compassion to help those in need across Cornwall. Our work is only possible because of the dedication of our team, the support of our families, and the kindness of our community. This award is a wonderful recognition of the spirit of teamwork and service that keeps us going.”

WCSAR Team Leader, Chris Mayer, said: “Our volunteers train year-round and are ready to respond at any hour, often in difficult and unpredictable conditions. Being recognised with this award means so much to us all – it reflects not only the commitment of our team but also the trust that the people of Cornwall place in us when they need help the most. We’re truly honoured.”