Herding Hill Farm in Northumberland supports mountain rescue team after Hadrian's Wall challenge

Herding Hill Farm, near Haltwhistle, has donated more than £1,600 to the North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team over the past three years and to continue showing their support, they welcomed more than 20 team members to their site for the weekend.

Site managers, Sue and Phil Humphreys, provided food and overnight accommodation for the team, which had been taking part in a night-time navigation challenge at nearby Walltown Crags on Hadrian’s Wall.

Sue said: “Many of our guests are keen walkers and enjoy making the most of our location near Hadrian’s Wall so it’s important to us that we support charities which are close to their hearts.

“The North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team does an amazing job and we want to do everything we can to support the essential search and rescue service which they provide for our region.”

The farm holds two annual charity weekends at Easter and on Bonfire Night to raise money for both the North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and the Great North Air Ambulance, and all money raised is matched by their parent company, Brampton-based WCF, which owns and operates the glamping and camping site.

The donations have been used to buy life-saving equipment like a Starlink RV satellite system, which enables the team to quickly establish full internet access even in remote locations and 12 25-metre throw lines for the team’s new swift water rescue operation due to launch in 2024.

Rich Ayre, deputy team leader for the North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team, said: “As a volunteer-run organisation, we depend on money raised by businesses such as Herding Hill Farm and the general public in order to continue providing our search and rescue services.

“We are very grateful for their continued support and it’s been great to be able to mark our long association with Herding Hill Farm by spending the weekend here.”

The team stayed overnight along with the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team, Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team and South Shields Volunteer Light Brigade after testing their skills with the annual night-time navigation challenge.

To donate and find out ways to fundraise for the team visit www.notmrt.org.uk.