Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team

03/09/2026

Yesterday evening TWSMRT were at Chester-le-Street doing water related training in and around the River Wear 🛟

Team members were deployed into the river edges (in dry suits!) and along the banks to search for two training casualties, who were quickly found and extracted.

Did you know we also have a dedicated canoe team which we would typically deploy for actual river searches 🛶

31/08/2026

Wow! What an amazing feat! A 300KM route through all kinds of weather.
The amount of effort has been absolutely tremendous and we’re very thankful for the money raised in aid of the team.

It has been so fun watching you all and following the adventures of tiny ted!

Have a well earned break!

Durham Fell Runners

00:10- FINISHED!! 🥳🥳🥳
42 hours and 10 minutes. The first EVER continuous completion of the Roof of England route!

We were so excited to be joined at the end by Max and his handler Des, who has been part of mountain rescue for 35 years. Their invaluable work is why we have been out here all weekend in midge hell and literal high water! Without them to call on, we would all be a lot less safe on our beloved fells.

Thank you again to everyone who has sponsored us so far- we finish tonight with 2 fully funded volunteers for TWSMRT when gift aid is included 💜🤍💜

Please keep sharing our sponsorship link so we can make the second half happen and get 4 volunteers fully kitted out!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/dfr-run-the-roof

30/08/2026

Day 2 and they’re still going strong in this 300Km relay.

What an absolutely amazing achievement and as the night is drawing in we are still cheering on those who have the remainder of the journey to finish!

Go Durham Fell Runners 👏

15:02 - Leg(s) 11 complete!
Thank you to Meg, Debs and Skye for being my buddies from Blanchland to Edmundbyers 💜🤍💜
Skye has kept going!! Back to backing two legs like an absolute champ! 👑 And she was still smiling as thunder rolled in!! She's accompanied by Issie from Edmundbyers to Wolsingham!

Follow their journey at: https://eur-share.explore.garmin.com/RoERelay
Sponsor their efforts at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/dfr-run-the-roof

30/08/2026

The relay race continues, the runners have been going through the night and even some through adverse conditions of fog!

If you’ve been following the race and updates Tiny is having an epic adventure too!

Keep going DFR and thank you so much for fundraising for the team and good luck finishing!

Follow our story for more photo updates throughout the day

Help Steph Marshall raise money to support Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team

29/08/2026

Well today is the day, the relay race is starting!
If you wish to see where they are, we have been issued a tracking link https://eur-share.explore.garmin.com/RoERelay 😃

We’d like to extend a huge thank you for fund raising for us and we hope the rain stays away for you all.

We will be sharing some pictures throughout the day

Help Steph Marshall raise money to support Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team

26/08/2026

It’s (Inter)National Dog Day 🐕‍🦺

Let’s celebrate our furry helpers for all the amazing work they do for us in and 🆘

TWSMRT currently has 4 active search dogs (Blythe, Bonnie, Gus and Max) and 1 in training (Eira), all of which are also part of Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England and can be called on to support callouts nationally. Training a search dog is huge task so let’s also not forget their dedicated handlers and supporting personnel 🙏

The dogs are trained as “non-discriminatory air scenting” search dogs, which means they search for any human scent in the air rather than the scent of a particular person. This is why it’s critical for members of the public to not interfere with planned searches, despite good intentions of wanting to help!

We’re always on the lookout for volunteers to help with the dog training by acting as hidden casualties (dogsbody). You don’t need to be a team member of TWSMRT, but you do need to love dogs! Please contact us if you’re interested and want to find out more ✉️

22/08/2026

Next weekend Durham Fell Runners will be doing a relay of the North of England route (300 km) in aid of TWSMRT 🏃‍♀️

The club aim to raise enough money to kit out four new recruits and thereby contribute to TWSMRT's annual running costs of over £55,000. Any donations are very gratefully received and can be made using the link provided 🙏

TWSMRT provide entirely voluntary search and rescue services across the whole of County Durham 24/7 365 days a year, rain or shine 🆘

Thank you to Durham Fell Runners and good luck 🍀

Help Steph Marshall raise money to support Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team

17/08/2026

On Saturday afternoon TWSMRT were called out to Esh Winning to help the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust with a casualty who had sustained a foot injury about 1 km from the nearest road 🦶

Team members were out again on Sunday, but this time just for training. The session involved various scenarios focussing on:

🤕 Casualty care and awkward stretcher extractions
🪢 Steep ground and technical (rope) rescue
🥵 Heat related illnesses
🔍 Line searching

Thank you to Graeme at Deepdale for land access and hosting the team again 🙏

25/07/2026

Anyone can drown, no one should.

Today marks World Drowning Prevention Day 2026, a global advocacy event led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities and offer life-saving solutions to prevent it.

In 2025 in the UK there were 202 confirmed accidental drownings, with 57% of deaths occurring in inland waterways such as rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs, and quarries.

You should always

If you see someone in trouble, stay on land and make the right call, CALL 999 📞

Don’t make a rescue for one a search for two.

https://respectthewater.com/