NEW volunteers are needed to support the York Rescue Boat charity, as it becomes more active.

The charity was founded by Dave Benson over a year ago, to provide support for the emergency services in and around York’s rivers on busy nights, and volunteers with the organisation have already successfully stopped one woman jumping into the Ouse.

But the charity is funded by donations, and although volunteers have been able to raise funds so far, more work is needed as the organisation becomes fully operational.

York Press: Dave Benson, who rescued a woman from the River Ouse

Dave Benson, of York Rescue Boat

Dave said: “We’re sort of growing out of ourselves, so to meet the demands of a growing charity, we need more fundraising volunteers to help us plan events and collections, and that kind of thing.

“At the moment our fundraising team has about ten which has been great up until now but because we’re getting bigger there are different roles assigned to each fundraiser and there’s a lot of work to be done.

“We only need people to do a few hours a week it’s really flexible, but we just need someone who’s enthusiastic and can help us as a team.”

The charity is also considering starting a junior crew member initiative, which will see teenagers sign up for exclusive events and take part in river safety talks, with their suggestions incorporated into potentially lifesaving or fundraising exercises.

Dave said the charity had also been working with other police forces and authorities to improve the way they work and liaise with each other.

He said: “We have quite a few extra training events coming up.

“We’re trying to arrange a multi-agency training exercise for November and we’ve been getting some good feedback on that so far.

“Durham Police came down to have a chat with us and were keen to know what we were doing how we set up and the reasons behind it and how we contribute to the night time economy.

“They seemed to think it was a good idea and were trying to gather ideas from around the area because they had a similar situation around their rivers to York had last year, so officers came to see what they could take away.”

As well as fundraising volunteers, the charity also encourages volunteers to walk along the banks of the Ouse to monitor the night time economy and look out for vulnerable people, with members in action this weekend to deal with the extra visitors to the city during race days.

Can you help?

To find out more about volunteering for the charity, go to yorkrescueboat.com