Brief History...

1973 - SARA Founded at Tutshill nr Beachley   (1st Station)
1976 - Became a registered Charity
1985 - Became a Mountain Rescue Team
1986 - Sharpness Station opens.                    (2nd Station)
​2005 - Wyre Forest Station opens                   (3rd Station)
​2007- Tewkesbury Station Opens                    (4th Station)
2016 - Newport Station opens                         (5th Station)
​2019 - Upton Station joined in 2019                (6th Station)

History in more detail ...

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​SARA was founded in 1973, with its then headquarters at Tutshill, which is near the current Beachley station.

In 1976 SARA became a registered charity and purchased its first boat in 1977. (SARA 1) which was the same year as the queens silver jubilee.

​In 1985 SARA became an official Mountain Rescue Post in the role of Cliff rescue for the Wye valley, close to Chepstow.   A year later in 1986 a second station was opened with the use of portacabins at Sharpness. This was primarily in response to a tragic loss of life in the Sharpness area, where it was not possible to get a boat fast enough from Beachley Station.

In early 2000 a station was formed at Upton upon Severn, due to problems with flooding.

In June 2005 a new station was opened at Arley in the Wyre Forest area, due to advice given to us by Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service (HWFRS).   
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Following the 2007 floods, SARA decided to form a new station in Tewkesbury.  The Tewkesbury station is SARA’s 4th station and provides both Water and Land based Search and Rescue services.   The station opened in October 2009 following the donation of a unit for 2 years from local company Basepoint, and then formed the UK’s first joint Water Rescue Centre with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service.

Newport station opened in 2016 due to the amount of call outs from Beachley Station.

Upton Station joined in 2019 to help fill the gap between Tewkesbury and Wyre Forest area
SARA not only do local rescues within their independent areas, but can also respond to any part of the UK through DEFRA  ​(Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs).  This is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment  (More...)