MEMBERS of Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team will be using the terrain of a country park in the Bradford district to practise their core skills this weekend.

The team, which has around 50 volunteer members, is carrying out a training day at the St Ives Estate in Bingley, with the help of West Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The rescue team must ensure its members are proficient in ten core capabilities – including to be capable of operating in all weather conditions by day and night, as they are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round.

Howard Barton, CVSRT training officer said: “Our core skills day gives team members an opportunity to validate their skills in line with Mountain Rescue England & Wales core capability guidelines.

“The St Ives Estate has various terrains which match the ones we encounter on rescues and, therefore, is an ideal location.”

CVSRT team leader Ben Carter added: “We work closely with the Police and Ambulance Service to locate, treat and recover lost or injured people from the South Pennine moors around Calderdale, Keighley, Baildon and Ilkley. Bingley is at the heart of our area and a location that we have been called to several times in the past – most recently on Harden Moor on Sunday, February 19, where an injured mountain biker needed to be stretchered from the moor.”

Pete Farnell, CVSRT chairman said: “We are looking forward to training at the St Ives Estate. We have performed several searches in and around the estate, so training there will allow us the perfect opportunity to explore the location.”

Based in Mytholmroyd, the team covers Calderdale, Airedale and North Bradford, Bradford South and North West Leeds police divisions. They attend more than 65 call-outs a year on average, supporting the statutory emergency services.

Staffed by unpaid volunteers, it costs £40,000 to keep the team operational a year, which is raised through donations.

Last week CVSRT was called out on its 1,000th incident since forming in 1966.

They helped to locate and evacuate a 68-year-old woman who had sustained a leg injury while walking on the Pennine Way at Top Withens, Haworth.