Borders Search and Rescue champions

As finalists in the Agrii Rural Community Champions competition the Kelso based unit will get £500 in prize money towards funding the unit and its activities. Over the summer months Agrii customers who attend the agronomy company’s iFarm event will vote for their favourite from the three finalists, including BSRU, the winning bagging an additional £500.

Agrii are looking for individuals or groups who have made a difference to their community and their head of marketing, Mark Thomas, said: “This competition gave people the chance to show that this hard work isn’t going unnoticed in their local area. Our three shortlisted finalists are all very deserving, with the BSARU team being true champions of the rural community in the north region.”

Borders Search and Rescue unit cover the Eastern Borders, Lammermuir and Cheviot Hills and assist other teams in Scotland and the north of England. Police Scotland rely heavily on the team to help search for missing people in rural areas and in January they were called out on five occasions to help search for missing walkers.

Team leader Stuart Fuller-Shapcott, said: “We’re delighted with this award. We rely heavily on donations to keep our work going, so it’s great to be recognised by our local community.”