EAST Cornwall’s Search and Rescue Team have begun their 2022 training in earnest during a trip to a local farm.

The crew were called to help at 44 incidents during 2021 – with the last shout late on New Year’s Eve.

Throughout the year the team helped in emergency situations from Penzance to Plymouth, and just over a quarter of the incidents took place on Bodmin Moor.

As well as 26 searches for missing people and 11 rescues of people who’d been injured on the moor and in the countryside, there was also a lighter-hearted moment for volunteer crew when they retrieved a family of ducks from the bottom of a mine shaft near Callington.

“The final call out of the year for our volunteers came at 9.30pm on December 31 to search for a severely autistic missing male in Bude,” said a spokesperson.

“Thankfully he was found early on into our search, however by the time members got back to base in Bodmin to sort the kit, it was the early hours of New Year’s Day.”

The East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team is a local charity that is 100% voluntary and relies on public support to stay operational.

The team took to social media at the end of 2021 to thank local supporters, including St Joseph’s School in Launceston, for their fundraising efforts.

To help ECSR in their work in the coming year, members of the public are encouraged to shop using www.easyfundraising.org.uk/eastcornwallsrt or to donate at Givey.com/eastcornwallsrt .

Training is already well underway for 2022: at the weekend, the dogs and their handlers headed off to a farm near North Petherwin for something slightly different to the usual moorland setting.

With the help of intrepid "dogsbodies" (people who are prepared to climb up trees, float in ponds, and get into other places to discard items for the dogs to scent), the teams were able to practise in realistic scenarios.

“As always, thank you to all of our dogsbodies and landowners,” said an ECSR spokesperson.

“Without their support we wouldn’t be able to have our dogs call out ready.”