Welcome to Bolton Mountain Rescue Team
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team is a voluntary search and rescue charity and a member of Mountain Rescue England and Wales that represents 49 teams. Bolton MRT is made up entirely of volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
We cover an area of over 800 square kilometres extending from Darwen in the West Pennine Moors to the north to beyond Manchester Airport in the south, and from Wigan to the west to the centre of Manchester in the east.
Bolton Mountain Rescue Team
The chances are you will never need our services. However, since 1968, a great many have. Our callouts are diverse. For example, we help walkers, runners, bikers, climbers and even dogs that have found themselves in a precarious position. We also search for members of the public who are missing outside of urban areas, particularly those classed as vulnerable by the police.
It costs around £60,000 per year to run the team. Securing this amount of money each year is a constant challenge. We rely on the generosity of the public and other organisations who provide us with donations. Visit the donations page to learn more about how you can help raise money for the team.
Latest News
On 14th February, a day on which we received four emergency callouts, Bolton Mountain Rescue Team were called to assist a casualty who had slipped on ice on the moors near Holcombe and sustained a serious lower leg and ankle injury.
Initial assessments suggested a potential fracture, and further hospital investigations later revealed the full extent of the injuries: three fractures, torn ligaments on both sides, and the need for surgical intervention including the installation of a screw, a plate, and the removal of some bone fragments.
This incident is a stark reminder that winter conditions can make even familiar terrain extremely hazardous, and that injuries can be far more severe than they first appear.
We wish the casualty a full recovery, and thank all those involved in the rescue and onward medical care.
Photos and injury details shared with permission from the casualty.
When friends Lizzie and Catherine set off from Rivington village on 14th February to walk the Anglezarke amble, they had no hint of what calamity awaited them just five miles round the 24-mile moorland trail. It was a bitterly cold day and, on many parts of the route, ice had formed, sometimes obvious, sometimes not. Lizzie slipped on the ice, and she realised immediately that she had broken her wrist. Her injury was immensely painful, and Catherine did what she could to comfort Lizzie and seek help.
At around this time, Mark and Martin were responding in our Bolton Mobile 5 (BM5) vehicle to an incident in Holcombe, Bury, following reports of another fall on ice. The duty team leader re-tasked BM5 to head towards Belmont while others continued to Holcombe. Meanwhile, Lizzie's location was being determined. Thanks to a What3Words coordinate provided by Catherine, the responders soon knew their location: on a lane by Greenhill Farm off the A675, Belmont.
Lizzie was in a great deal of pain, and so she was provided with strong analgesia by Mark, one of the team's RRMTs (Remote Rescue Medical Technicians). After some time, this eased Lizzie's pain sufficiently for Lizzie to be placed in BM5, with the heating on, to await the arrival of an NWAS crew who transported Lizzie to hospital for treatment and subsequent surgery. We would like to thank Catherine for all she did to help Lizzie, and we wish Lizzie a rapid and complete recovery.
💛 Did you know?
Last year, Bolton MRT members volunteered the equivalent of 470 days of their time?
Our year began on New Year’s Day, supporting the emergency services during flooding in South Manchester. That first call-out lasted 13 hours — and set the tone for a busy year helping people across the region, from Wigan to Darwen, to Stockport.
2025 in numbers:
🚨 51 call-outs
⏱️ 1,932 incident hours
🎓 5,012 training hours
👥 11,288 total volunteer hours — 470 days
Every team member is on call 24/7, 365 days a year, and it costs around £60,000 annually to keep us ready to save lives.
If you can support our work, please consider donating using the button below. Every contribution helps.
On Call 24 Hours
Search & Rescue
Event Safety Cover
In case of an emergency, DIAL 999, ask for ‘Police’ then ‘Mountain Rescue’
Give all your prepared details of the incident and ‘STAY WHERE YOU ARE’ until contacted by the rescue team.
If you have to make a further 999 call, follow this procedure in full again.