Rescuers swim 21 miles in hopes of replacing kit

26 August 2025

Bea SwallowBBC News, West of England

News image — A team of volunteers swam widths of the River Avon, weighed down by their boots and suits

Tom Helme Eight volunteers are standing in front of a river, in various states of dress in their red rescue kits. Three are wearing helmets, many are wearing full dry suits, and all are smiling. — A team of volunteers swam widths of the River Avon, weighed down by their boots and suits

A search and rescue team has completed a 21-mile (34km) collective charity swim – kitted out in full, heavy suits.

Ten members of the Severn Area Rescue Association took part in the River Avon challenge on Sunday, reaching the equivalent distance of an English Channel swim.

They hope to raise enough money to replace the suits, which are supposed to protect them but are rapidly ageing.

Volunteer Mark Fox said the vital kit was nearing the end of its five-year lifespan and desperately needed replacing – but that it can cost up to £1,441 to equip each rescuer.

Each volunteer from the team from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, swam in a helmet, dry suit, flotation device, life jacket, carabiners, pulleys, and "very heavy" steel-toe boots.

Tom Helme A man is swimming frontcrawl in a river while wearing red overalls and a red helmet, which has front light attached to it. — The volunteers said some kit was leaking during the swim

During the 13-hour swim, which finished in the dark, two of the volunteers had cold water seeping through the ripped neck seals of their dry suits.

In the event of an emergency, this tiny malfunction could prove fatal.

"Generally speaking, our rescues are in the winter months so the water temperature is significantly colder," Mr Fox said.

"With us being exposed to those temperatures for prolonged periods of time, the risk of hypothermia is quite significant.

"If you're no good as a rescuer, you're putting yourself in danger. If you're no good to your team, then you're putting your whole team in danger."

Tom Helme Seven of the 10 volunteers are standing shoulder to shoulder together in a circle, wearing red overalls. All are wearing helmets - five are red, one is white and the last is yellow. They are standing in the pitch black. — The team finished their challenge in the dark after 13 hours

Mr Fox said the organisation's highest volume of rescue callouts tended to coincide with flood warnings.

"It was July 2007 when we had significant rainfall, to peaks never seen before within 24 hours," he recalled.

"Every single resource around the area was at full alert and at full capacity. We have to be ready for that scenario at a moment's notice."

The organisation, run by around 300 volunteers, relies solely on charitable donations to keep it afloat.

They are aiming to raise £10,000 to cover the costs of tailoring bespoke dry suits and equipment to each crew member.

"We are the largest multi-disciplined search and rescue team in the UK, yet we run on a fraction of the support and donations that some other organisations do," Mr Fox added.

"We really do need to raise as much as we can to keep ourselves safe."

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