in the news
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. On Sunday morning the team provided safety cover for the Edgworth 10k race. Organised by We Run Edgworth, the race follows a scenic route around both the Wayoh and Turton and Entwistle reservoirs. Nearly 200 competitors were involved and, despite the heavy rain and slippy conditions, we only had one casualty to treat for minor head and face injuries after he took a tumble. We wish the runner all the best for a speedy recovery.
In the afternoon, three team members stayed in Edgworth to attend the Edgworth Fun Day organised by the Barlow Edgworth and Scallywags Preschool. Vacuum splints were put on willing volunteers and CPR was practised on our dummy. The team would like to thank all those people that made donations towards the £60,000 it costs to fund our day-to-day running costs each year.
Last Thursday, Bolton MRT provided standby rescue cover for the Leo Pollard Memorial Race.
This annual event, organised by Lostock Athletics Club, sees over 100 runners take on a tough 10km moorland course. Setting off from Rivington, the competitors ascend to Rivington Pike, traverse the tops to Winter Hill summit, then make their way back over Rivington Moor, before finally descending back to the finish line in the village.
Well done to all the competitors, and to the marshals and organisers who contribute to this event.
This afternoon, the team are at Edgworth Fun Day at the Barlow. Why not come down meet the team, and learn about the work that we do?
You're very welcome. Thanks for listening well and asking some great questions!
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. This week is Volunteers’ Week.
Everyone on Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, like all Mountain Rescue Teams in England & Wales, is a volunteer. This means that we can only keep going through public donations and good-will gestures.
Running and maintaining our vehicles is one of our major costs. A fantastic gesture of good-will came from Whitecroft Garage in Bolton earlier this year. In January, they very kindly MOT’d one of our Land Rovers - Bolton Mobile 2 (BM2) - for free. During the MOT, it was found that the vehicle required some essential remedial work. Following that work, Whitecroft Garage again MOT’d BM2 totally free of charge.
Thank you to all at Whitecroft Garage for helping keep us on the road!
This week is Volunteers’ Week and it’s a great opportunity to share with you just how busy Bolton Mountain Rescue Team has been this year. The map illustrates how far afield we have received callouts so far this year. We travelled as far west as Parbold to assist Bowland Pennine MRT, south to Stockport to rescue people impacted by the New Year floods, east to Haslingden for a quarry rescue and to the north of Bolton to help search for a missing person. A total of 23 callouts, with the longest being 67 hours!
Every team member is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It costs over £60,000 to operate as a team, with much of this funding provided by donations from individuals and businesses across the area.
Thank you to everyone for your support, which enables us to continue saving lives.
Map data ©️2025 Google
The chair of our board of trustees is attending the Mountain Rescue England and Wales AGM.Pleased to be joining the Mountain Rescue England and Wales AGM this morning in my role as Chair of Trustees of Bolton Mountain Rescue Team.
It’s been another busy year for MR teams across the country and we’re getting busier. That’s why the education work we do in the community is as important as the rescue work we do in the hills.
Are you #adventuresmart ?
The team wishes to express its condolences to the family and friends of team member Gillian Gregory, who sadly died last week after a long illness.
Gillian joined the team in November 2004 and has been a constant driving force within Bolton MRT for over 20 years. When she joined, she did so as one of the first members of our newly formed Support Group. It didn’t take us long to realise that we had recruited a highly driven workaholic.
Gillian’s time in the team started with her taking on the role of collecting box co-ordinator. In less than 18 months she had organised and expanded the number of collection box sites from around 20 to over 100, and the increased funds raised each year became a significant source of income for the team, meeting around 10% of our annual running costs. In recognition of this achievement, Gillian was the first member of the Support Group to be awarded the Howard Hill memorial tankard in March 2006.
Before long Gillian took on the role of head of the Support Group, and steadily grew the number of members who greatly assisted the team’s fundraising, maintenance, and catering efforts.
In September 2006 she was elected team Secretary and was appointed a Trustee of the charity. Whilst remaining a member of the Support Group and all that it entails, Gillian’s additional responsibilities led her to take minutes of meetings, organise visits and lectures, and distribute correspondence to other team officers. Gillian had a superb eye for detail and the role suited her perfectly. She kept on top of minutes, chasing team members down to complete actions and kept the team running quietly in the background. She held this essential voluntary role for 12 years, and never once dropped the ball.
Those who knew her knew that she had a wicked sense of humour, and was so positive with everything she did. If something wasn’t right she certainly wasn’t afraid to speak up. Personal things often came second, and she had an overwhelming urge to be doing things. In her own words, she “just wanted to be useful”, after her retirement from work. Outside of the team Gillian was involved supporting multiple cancer charities, as well as Scouting, and she also volunteered for roles at Deane Church.
Gillian was awarded her 20 years’ service to Mountain Rescue in November 2024.
It was so typical of Gillian’s personality and commitment to the team that she handed her final report in via email less than two days before she passed away.
She leaves behind her husband Hindle, son Peter, daughter-in-law Karen and grandson Zak.
Gillian’s funeral will be held at 1pm, Tuesday 3rd June, at Overdale Crematorium, Overdale Drive, Bolton BL1 5BU and afterwards at Deane Golf Club, Broadford Road, Bolton BL3 5NS. Gillian requested that everyone wear bright colours (specifically no blacks or purples!).
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. On this splendidly sunny Saturday, we’re set up on the Village Green for the Rivington Spring Festival. Why not come along, meet the team, and learn about the work that we do?
On Monday, we received a request for assistance from the North West Ambulance Service. A man had fallen whilst walking on a woodland trail in the Bradshaw area of Bolton, and he was in a significant amount of pain emanating from a suspected hip injury.
Our team members began to assess and treat the man before handing over treatment to an NWAS paramedic and EMT who arrived not long afterwards. Once the casualty had been made more comfortable and it had been decided he was fine to move, we loaded him onto a mountain rescue stretcher and carried him to the waiting land ambulance. He was then conveyed to hospital for further treatment.
We would like to wish the man a quick & full recovery.
All our operational team members must complete annual water awareness training. This training covers the recognition of water hazards, organisational policies, the further qualifications others may hold, and safety measures to take when working around water.
Making the most of the warm weather this week our Water Team arranged four training stations around High Rid Reservoir to cover the practical side of this water awareness training.
The scenarios included: the rescue of casualties with throw lines and reach poles; the rescue of a casualty who is beyond the reach of a 25m line or reach pole; the backing up of a Swiftwater & Flood Rescue Technician performing a tethered swim; the planning of a water rescue, and the aspects of such a rescue that should be considered.
Thankfully, our Water Team are always raring to get wet, so we had no shortage of exercise casualties or volunteers to help with training.
Thanks, Dave Brown for doing another fundraising event for the team. We really appreciate it.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. As you may have seen, on Wednesday evening, Andy Morgan - Mayor of Bolton - very graciously accepted an invitation to act as an exercise casualty for our weekly training session.
The scenario was, having tripped from a path, he’d suffered a painful leg injury and was unable to move. The informant, his walking companion, had gone for help but could not remember his precise location. With a vague description of the location, and after a brief search of some woodland, team members located the exercise casualty.
Following a thorough assessment, team members determined that the casualty had suffered a suspected break of the right tibia. The limb was immobilised, the casualty loaded on to a mountain rescue stretcher, then conveyed back to our control vehicle.
Our exercise ended with a debrief from our Team Leader and a message of thanks from the Mayor.
Andy, thanks for being a good sport and playing the part very convincingly, and all the best for your final few weeks as Mayor.
More than 12 years on, and Christine Baldwin from Asda’s Astley Bridge store is still supporting our team in her role as Community Champion.
A few weeks ago, she once again donated some much needed groceries and cleaning items to help keep the team going and keep our bases clean.
Thanks, Christine!
The team are at Tesco in Little Lever today. Why not come along, meet the team, and learn about the work that we do?
One of our Assistant Team Leaders, Paul, also serves as the Statistics Officer for Mountain Rescue England & Wales.
Recently he helped in the gathering and compilation of data that was used in a very interesting article in The Guardian about social media and inadequate mapping apps (street maps such as Google Maps and Apple Maps) leading to an increase in Mountain Rescue callouts. You can read the article by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.
It’s fantastic that ever more young people are enjoying the outdoors, and if you’re new to outdoor adventures (whatever your age) it’s important to think ‘What do I need to get the most from my day out and get home unscathed?’
Things to consider are:
. Appropriate footwear and clothing - carry waterproofs and warm clothing in your rucksack, even if the weather looks fine;
. have good mapping software on your fully-charged phone (OS, Outdooractive, etc.), and a fully-charged power-bank for emergencies;
. learn to use, and carry, a paper map and compass;
. take food and water sufficient for your day, and some extra in case of emergency;
. carry a head torch with spare batteries (even in summer) in case you end up out longer than expected.
. learn and build the skills before you go - a grade 3 scramble shouldn’t be your first foray into the hills!
For more information, there is a link to our website. www.boltonmrt.org.uk/advice/
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/16/record-high-british-mountain-rescue-callouts-social-media-m...
Social media and map apps blamed for record rise in mountain rescue callouts
www.theguardian.com
Exclusive: Number of 18- to 24-year-olds needing help in England and Wales doubles in five years as services take calls every day in 2024 We will have a post to follow, but below is a great insight from the point of view of last night’s exercise casualty.
Our exercise casualty for tonight!Dress down mayor tonight! Apparently I am going to be rescued from the moors by our amazing Bolton Mountain Rescue Team, more to follow!!
#TeamBolton
#togetherstronger
Mayor of Bolton
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. Did you catch Mountain Rescue England & Wales’ Chief Executive, Mike Park, on BBC Breakfast this morning? If not, there’s still time to find the programme on iPlayer. It’s around 3h19 from the start.
Mike discussed the importance of preparedness, thoughtfulness, and safety whilst enjoying the beautiful outdoor environments our country has to offer.
He also stressed the toll that call-outs can take on the unpaid volunteers who make up our mountain rescue teams.
The eagle-eyed viewer may even have spotted a photo of some of Bolton MRT’s vehicles!
Like all mountain rescue teams in England and Wales, Bolton MRT is fully voluntary. Our team costs around £52k per year to run, which means we have to raise an average of £1,000 per week to maintain the vital service we provide. Replacing essential kit can bring our annual costs up to a whopping £65k!
If you would like to help our work by donating, you can do so by clicking the donate button.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.