A Mountain Rescue team has launched an appeal to replace their rescue boat.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team is hoping to raise £25,000 towards the costs of replacing its boat,which is used to carry out rescues on Ullswater and has been in service for 14 years.

The rescue boat is affectionately named Scottie after the team's former Chairman and founder of their Supporters’ Club, John Scott.

Team member and Trustee, Peter Baker, is leading the fundraising group for the new Appeal.

He said: "The current rescue boat fulfils two essential functions: it is our means of rapid transport for people and equipment to emergencies on the eastern side of Ullswater, and our primary rescue vehicle for incidents on the lake and in floods.

"We’re investigating various options for the replacement, learning from our experiences with the current boat and gathering information from other rescue teams that use different types of craft."

Many of the Patterdale Team’s rescues are on the far shore of Ullswater from the Rescue Centre in Patterdale. On this eastern shore, road vehicles either cannot reach the incident site at all or, especially during the busiest months for visitors, using local roads will not reach casualties quickly enough.

The Team is also seeing a significant number of call-outs related to water sports with the growing popularity of wild swimming, paddle-boarding and canoeing.

Scottie has proved invaluable to the team during periods of severe flooding.

During Storm Desmond and its aftermath, the rescue boat allowed the Team to help members of the Ullswater valley community who needed rescuing and supported the delivery of essential medicines and provisions. 

The Team believes that the total cost of replacing the current boat will be in the order of £45,000 and is hoping that a contribution of £20,000 will come from the sale of Scottie and the associated VAT refund.

In addition, sales of the Ullswater Valley Calendar 2022 are going towards the Appeal and a significant donation from the organisers of the recent Lakeland Trails event has given an initial boost to funds.

You can find out more about the New Rescue Boat Appeal and Patterdale MRT here.