Henley & Peppard Branch, Royal British Legion

ON May 21 the Henley & Peppard branch of the Royal British Legion was given an excellent talk by Alex Bradbury, of Lowland Rescue Oxfordshire.

This is a charity operating with a team of volunteers who are on call 24/7 to search for high risk vulnerable missing people.

They support the emergency services and also Oxfordshire County Council in times of natural disasters.

The charity functions as one element of what we know as the air-sea rescue services, working in conjunction with the RNLI, coastguards, Cave and Mountain Rescue and the RAF.

Alex explained that the charity currently has 11 dogs and five in training. She and her colleagues, team leader Iain Lewis and dog handler Mel Lewis, had brought with them three energetic, very engaging and friendly collies called Sirius, Dream and Drift to the delight of the members.

How many scent sensors, we were asked, do humans have? Suggestions ranged wildly but the number turned out to be between nine and 10 million. Dogs, on the other hand, can not only breathe through one nostril at a time, a neat trick, but can be trained to put their 200 million scent sensors to expert use in helping to bring missing people to safety.

Some of the volunteers’ dogs, mainly collies and spaniels, are more inclined to air-scenting, others to ground-scenting and some even succeed at underwater work.

The charity owns an underwater camera as well as sonar equipment, two vans in their incident control unit and drones operated by five registered pilots. However, the teams, dogs, drones and specialist training of volunteers themselves is all self-funded, even down to their uniform, with no governmental support.

The annual cost of running their service (in 2023 there were 67 call-outs) runs to about £55,000.

Training to become a volunteer takes nine months. There is no age limit but being able to drive is a must, together with a certain level of fitness such as being able to walk five miles in two hours.

For more information, visit www.lowlandrescue
oxfordshireorg.uk

Our next gathering is at the Menza Café at Henley Rugby Club on Tuesday, June 18 at 11.15am.

Keith McInnes will give a talk on “A diplomatic career”. He is a retired diplomat and an eloquent and amusing speaker, who will give an insight into his life in the civil nservice.

All are welcome and it is not necessary to be a member of the Royal British Legion or to have any military background, so do come along. The cost is £18 to include a two-course lunch and tea or coffee and the chance to meet and chat with other local residents.

It is essential to book beforehand by calling 07990 833241 or emailing Karen Grieve at henleyonthames.
secretary@rbl.community by Thursday, June 13.

Mollie Jeffrey