SARA's new station!

We are delighted to announce the arrival of the SARA Upton Rescue Station!
The base at Upton-upon-Severn Marina has been created by a merger with the WEIR (Water Emergency Inshore Response) Team, which is transferring into SARA. This base is now named as SARA Upton Rescue Station from 1st of January 2020.
SARA had a base at Upton-upon-Severn in the 1980s, and this merger completes a cycle of change. Paul Gray, until December a Trustee of WEIR, was a member of the original SARA base at Upton and commented “The WEIR Team have worked very hard over the past two years to develop a small but professional standard rescue team; I am very proud of what we have achieved and now we are delighted to be re-joining the SARA family. We hope that this will enable us to make a valuable contribution to search and rescue operations across the region.”
SARA CEO Mark Carwardine commented “I am delighted to welcome the Upton team as members of SARA and it’s clear that they bring with them significant experience. In 2019 SARA again responded to well over 100 separate operational callouts and we continue to develop the service which SARA is able to provide in support of the emergency services and the community.”
SARA Chair of Trustees Jim Hewitt added "by taking back responsibility at Upton, we will fill a gap in our rescue cover. It improves our flood and general emergency response, especially to the people of the town of Upton-upon-Severn and the low-lying communities and waters between our stations at Tewkesbury and Kidderminster and including Worcester.”
The SARA Upton Rescue Station is currently the base for 3 rescue boats and a nucleus of 7 trained team members, and is now looking to commence a recruitment and intensive training drive for new members in 2020.
To follow the development of the new SARA Upton Rescue Station, please keep an eye on their new Facebook page at
facebook.com/sarauptonrs.