Homeless young people from Derwentside ventured into the Pennines to join in the 75^th anniversary celebrations of Mountain Rescue in the UK.

Neil Bellerby, Centrepoint’s Regional Director of Services in the North East said:

“Prince William is Patron to both Centrepoint and Mountain Rescue and actively encourages sharing of experiences amongst his charities. The weekend was a really enjoyable way for us to work together and the young people all thoroughly enjoyed the weekend’s events, which was a completely new experience for them all”.

Five young people receiving support from Centrepoint, the UK’s leading charity for homeless and socially excluded young people aged 16-25, and two staff members joined 12 Lake District teams in the ‘It’s a knock out’ competition at Ambleside rugby ground. The event celebrated the Lake District’s involvement in Mountain Rescue throughout the last 61 years and turned out to be a ‘battle of the teams’ which brought out the competitive streak in everyone involved, as teams fought for the coveted trophies in stretcher carry races, abseiling and an entire ‘team in a sack race’.

The rest of the day’s events gave the young people from Centrepoint hands-on experience of life in the mountains, learning how to deal with weather conditions in the crags, river rescue and search techniques, and ended in a barbeque on the grounds.

The group from Centrepoint also braced challenging weather conditions in a hike up Aira Force Waterfalls on Sunday to enjoy the spectacular Lake District landscapes.

Richard Warren, Chairman of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association and event organiser said:

“The weekend was a great success, marking 75 years of Mountain Rescue and recognising the volunteers that are vital to our work. We were delighted to be able to involve Centrepoint in our celebrations. It was a nice way for the group of homeless young people to learn and experience new things and enjoy time away from their current circumstances. They got stuck in and they put up quite a fight in the team competitions!” Becca who is receiving support from Centrepoint, said:

“It’s been a brilliant weekend. I really enjoyed visiting the Lake District. The weather wasn’t that good but I still had a fantastic time, there were good activities, especially when the teams battled it out to win the trophy!”

ENDS

For more information about Centrepoint, or for pictures and interviews please contact Alex Bolton at Centrepoint on Tel: 020 7423 6887 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Notes to editors:

The ‘It’s a knockout’ event was sponsored by Sellafield Ltd., AMEC Nuclear, CH2M Hill, UKAEA Windscale, Lakeland Radio and celebrated the Lake District’s involvement in Mountain Rescue over the last 61 years, recognising the 450 recue volunteers who are committed to saving lives in the Lake District fells.

About Centrepoint

• Centrepoint is the national charity working to improve the lives of socially excluded homeless young people.  It provides a range of accommodation based services, including emergency night shelters and short stay hostels, specialist projects for care leavers, ex-offenders, young single parents, foyers and supported flats and floating support services. These accommodation services provide the foundations from which young people can start tackling the issues that lead to them becoming homeless, and developing the skills they need for a sustainable future

• Centrepoint is a leading national charity that successfully prevents and tackles youth homelessness

• HRH Prince William became Centrepoint’s patron in 2005

• Since 1969 Centrepoint has helped more than 70,000 young people

• At any one time Centrepoint works with over 800 young people.

• For further information about the work of Centrepoint, see www.centrepoint.org.uk

• The MR Service provides assistance to anyone who becomes lost or injured in the mountains, fells or moorland for whatever reason. The service is provided free of charge, 24 hours per day, 365 days a year and operates in all weather conditions. Mountain Rescue teams are charities and funded solely by voluntary donations from those they rescue and those who wish to support the service – there are 59 teams in England and Wales with over 3,500 unpaid volunteers who provide this professional service to their communities.

• For more information about Mountain Rescue, see www.mountain.rescue.org.uk