Les Henson Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Got this message a little while ago and forgot about it. Text says:- CAVE RESCUE AMBULANCE STOLEN On Sunday night 14th May thieves broke into the headquarters of the West Brecon Cave Rescue Team at Penwyllt in the Swansea Valley by smashing through th door by using a pickaxe. The stores were damaged and various items stolen, along with the teams specialist Land Rover, converted to an Ambulance. The estimated cost of the break-in was £40,000 and disastrously, insurance would not cover this in entirety, leaving a substantial shortfall for the group. However, the vehicle was recovered in very good condition due to the vigilance of someone who needed a pee! Mr Brooke from Ludlow, an ex Mendip caver, was attending the Red Dragon Rally near Banwen, north of Glyn Neath, when he needed to relive himself. Wandering down one of the hundreds of minor forest tracks he spotted the Land Rover, about 30m down a bank in a stand of younf pines.Thinking that it was a strange place to find a cave rescue vehicle, a friend who was with him said he would call the Police. Mr Brooke was unsure if the call had been made and looked up the team on the web, spotted the news flash about the theft and rang me on the morning on 22 May. I rang the Police, they they had not heard of the discovery, but suggested that we start searching. Three of the team looked for some three to four hours with no luck - the area is very heavily forested with huindreds of small tracks connecting the main forest roads and it was difficult to know where we had already been. Then a Police Helicopter turned up and found the vehicle in about ten minutes. A quick inspection showed that it was in remarkably good condition - there was only minor damage to the roof rack signs. It was also locked and alarmed and nearly all of the on-board kit was still there. Missing were the two generators, some diving equipment, two radios, food, fuel, and the sundry tools that had been taken from the rescue stores and the SWCC workshop. Forensics unfortunately yielded no information, so late the vehicle was fitted with new locks and recieved a full mechanical check. It and the team are now back in service and fully operational. We have all been heartened by the response from within the caving and mountain rescue community as as well as from non-caving individuals and groups. After insurance payments have been taken into account the the team - which lost a great deal of time dealing with the incident - will face face a bill of around £5,000 to cover the increased security (which includes new steel garage doors). However, Rhys Williams, the groups treasurer reports that already an extra £600 of donations have been recieved. Thanks to everyone for their support, with special credit to members of lr4x4.com, an online forum for Land Rover enthusiasts. Having picked up news of the theft, they placed an appeal on their website and raised over £400. While encouraging anyone else to make a donation, as Rhys put it "That sort of effort really restores one's faith in human nature". The Dyfed Powys Police response was excellent - even more so considering that some nineteen thefts occurred in the Abercrave/Colbren area during the same night, which the Police believe to be by the same group. The Brecon MRT offered us the loan of a vehicle and other teams their spare kit. Three local pubs are hosting fundraising activities and many locals have expressed their disgust at the theft. Members of the Soth Wales CC have, as always, given their full support - both practically and financially. The West Brecon team is holding a party to celebrate it's sitieth anniversary at Penwyllt over the 28 August Bank Holiday weekend. There will be a surface trainuing and familiarisation event where you can play with the gear and put forward comments, ideas and suggestions with a bash on the Saturday evening. An auction on the Saturday evening at around 6pm should help rasie more funds, and we therefore welcome any donations of goods you think others might buy - either bring your gifts on the day or leave then at the Penwyllt with the duty officer. Please come along and support the event. Standard camping or hut fees apply, but the rescue team wants you to buy the fast food, make a donation towards the cost of the band, buy something at the auction and enjoy yourselves - without being a danger on the roads! Our thanks to all. Also a letter to the forum from the Cave Rescue Team: Text says:- WEST BREACON CAVE RESCUE TEAM Tony Cordell Treasurer www.lr4x4.com 10th August 2006 Tony, Les and forum members. I've finally got round to writing to formally thank you and the forum members for your tremendously generous donation following the theft of our cave rescue Land Rover Ambulance back in May. As I'm sure you can appreciate, we've had quite a bit of work to do to get things back up to scratch, so I'm only just catching up on the thank you letters now. We now have atracker on the vehicle, steel doors on the depot, and an alarm system, not to mention many other enhancements. Your donation has helped us towards the costs incurred in that work. As I'm sure you are aware, we're a registered charity with no formal support from the state, just run on donations and volunteer time. As a team, we really appreciate what you did during the first few days of our vehicles little 'holiday'. You just got together and did your bit for a worthy cause without being asked - that was just fantastic. We have since recieved more donations and offers of help from all over, of course, but yours really grabbed our attention in teh early days. Thanks for that. I attach a copy of an article from the latest edition of Descent magazine, the national caving journal, which mentions our break-in. Many thanks. Yours Rhys Williams Treasurer West Brecon Cave Rescue Team. Well done to all that donated. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Thanks for posting that Les, nice to see that we made a difference when it mattered. Special thanks should go to Tony for looking after the donations. Well done that man! P.S - Do you mind if I copy this over onto the Mud Club Les? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted August 25, 2006 Author Share Posted August 25, 2006 No, I don't mind at all. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Is anyone going to be at the WBCRO training day and auction tomorrow? If so look out for the blue well used Disco and come and say hello! Mark And thanks to everyone who helped when the Landie was stolen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgie Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 No, I don't mind at all.Les. Done, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2drdan Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefcoL Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.