Last autumn, local voluntary organisation Wiltshire Search and Rescue launched a county-wide search for a name for their newly-donated incident support vehicle and they can now unveil the winning entry! The new van will be called Wilfred.
The winning name was put forward by seven-year old Harry from Melksham, the son of one of the volunteers from the team and it was chosen as the winner on 10th April live on BBC Wiltshire.
The name Wilfred was chosen because it connected the van to Wiltshire – the Wil– and the Fred part stands for ‘forever rescuing, exploring and discovering’.
Harry’s dad, team member Russell Poulsom said, “Harry is really proud of the work that we all do and has come to support us at a number of fundraising events, so was thrilled when his name was chosen out of all the entries. It’s lovely that the next generation can see the importance of the work that the volunteers from Wiltshire Search and Rescue do. Harry is really happy that the name will be displayed on the van for everyone to see forever.”
The vehicle was purchased and kitted out after Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) awarded £10,000 from its Resilient Communities Fund, with a further £7,000 made up of money from Wiltshire Community Foundation, the High Sheriff of Wiltshire’s endowment fund and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Grant Fund. As the vehicle is considered a vital part of the team, Wiltshire Search and Rescue asked the local community to come up with a name that would make the vehicle instantly recognisable as it carried out operations across Wiltshire and surrounding counties.
After much deliberation, the winning name of Wilfred – which will be displayed on the vehicle – was chosen by a panel made up of representatives from Wiltshire Search and Rescue, Wiltshire Police, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, South Western Ambulance Service and members of the local community.
Adrian Sawyer, acting chair at Wiltshire Search and Rescue said, “Every penny we need to conduct our vital work has to be fundraised so grants like this, that allow us to make big purchases are invaluable. Our new vehicle has already been used multiple times in our searches for vulnerable and missing people. Holding the competition to find a name has been great for a bit of community engagement and it’s lovely to see so many people across Wiltshire getting involved. The winning name will be proudly displayed for all to see.”
Gareth Shields, community investment manager for SSEN said,“This is such a great example of how the Resilient Communities Fund can be used to help to boost the vital work that Wiltshire Search and Rescue does and to include the community in that work. We can already see that Wilfred is going to be a valued member of the team and hope that his services will benefit Wiltshire and the surrounding areas for many years to come.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon Angus Macpherson said: “Wiltshire Search and Rescue is an invaluable resource for Wiltshire Police and the residents of this county, so I was really happy to support them with a financial contribution to help them buy this new van. The Wiltshire Search and Rescue team has been called upon numerous times to boost the efforts of our own officers when vulnerable people go missing. This new vehicle will help them continue this vital work.”
Wiltshire Search and Rescue team members are professionally trained volunteers. The team is called out by Wiltshire Police to search for missing and vulnerable people such as people with dementia or people in mental health crisis. In 2018 the team was called out over 70 times, being directly responsible for saving lives. The team’s new Incident Support Unit vehicle is located at Wiltshire Police’s HQ in Devizes, ready to be deployed, along with the volunteers 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Wiltshire Search and Rescue is a charity, relying solely on fundraised income for running costs and major purchases such as this vehicle. The team receives no statutory or government income and all donations of money or equipment are gratefully received.
