Morgan Foundation Announces Joint Venture Search and Rescue (LANDSAR)

LandSAR New Zealand, the volunteer search and rescue organisation, have agreed a five-year funding arrangement with The Morgan Foundation to assist in training mountain rescue volunteers and the purchase of equipment.

Jo Morgan of the Foundation says she’s keen to support New Zealand’s culture of volunteering and her own experiences in the mountains have heightened her appreciation of the life-threatening situations that LandSAR volunteers put themselves in, for the benefit of others.

LandSAR CEO Harry Maher said he was delighted with the support from the Morgan Foundation.

“LandSAR depends entirely on grants and donations for every dollar,” he said. “This support for essential equipment, and the added focus on training for our highly-skilled alpine cliff rescue (ACR) teams working in the alpine environment is extremely important.”

As well, the Foundation is going to assist LANDSAR with a programme raising the awareness of their activities amongst senior school students who are interested in New Zealand’s mountains and National Parks. The awareness programme is expected to be particularly popular amongst those schools running Outdoor Pursuits programmes.

“The work of LANDSAR hits the headlines from time to time, but the funding and manpower challenges the organisation faces, are perhaps not so widely recognised”, Jo Morgan said.

“I’m looking forward to being involved and if our funding helps save lives and strengthens the volunteers’ capability and lessens their risks, then I’ll be pretty satisfied”, Jo Morgan said.

LandSAR NZ has 63 affiliated groups with about 3500 volunteers from the Far North to Stewart Island, incuding specialist mountain rescue groups in Mt Taranaki, Ruapehu, Christchurch, Aoraki/Mt Cook, and Wanaka/Wakatipu. It works in support of NZ Police and the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ.

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