Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team is looking to recruit new search and rescue members this year.

In a typical year the team deals with about 60 call-outs, helping anyone who is injured, taken ill, lost or missing in an area that stretches from the coast between Sandsend and Hartlepool, and includes large parts of the Tees Valley, and goes across to Northallerton and Thirsk.

Most of their work takes place on the northern half of the North York Moors. Team members are all unpaid volunteers, on call 24-hours a day every day of the year.

Their work involves searching for missing or lost people plus rescuing people who have been injured in a variety of circumstances such as when walking, biking, climbing and horse riding. They assist the other emergency services with tricky evacuations and incidents and support them during periods of inclement weather, for example with water and flood rescues or by getting nurses or doctors to their patients.

To join as a search and rescue member people must be aged 18 or over and be fit and healthy enough to undertake physical tasks in all weathers. They must be regular hill-walkers, able to move across open moorland and difficult, sometimes steep, terrain and have the equipment and skills necessary to look after themselves outdoors in all weathers.

A spokesperson for the team said: "The amount of time involved is very significant, not just for call-outs which can come at any time of the day or night, but also for weekly training sessions plus some weekends. The disruption to family and social life should not be underestimated."

Details of the application process and all membership requirements are at www.clevelandmrt.org.uk. The closing date is March 31, but applicants must attend one of two open sessions at the team’s Great Ayton Base before then, to be held on Saturday, February 11 and Wednesday, March 8. If selected at that initial stage, they must attend an assessment day on Sunday, June 25

If successful, they will then be required to attend training sessions as a prospective member for a period of ten to 12 weeks between September and December 2023. Following that, if considered satisfactory, they will then become probationary members for at least 12 months.