To honour the memory of Dr Christopher Whitfield, a dearly loved friend, brother, son and colleague, his closest friends and relatives are ‘braving the elements’ in the picturesque Malvern Hills to undertake a ‘gruelling’ (although Chris would not have agreed!!!! J) 7 mile circular walk on the 13 October 2012 to raise money for two charitable organisations

Chris was a very keen mountain climber and spent many of his weekends doing what he loved most in some of the most beautiful and challenging locations. His love for climbing led him to undertake a sabbatical in the Andes during 2009-2010, and upon his return, he liked nothing more than describing the various peaks he had the privilege of climbing.

In a fitting, albeit smaller scale expedition and tribute to commemorate Chris’ life and his love of climbing, we are donning our walking shoes and going through the pain barrier to raise money for the National Search and Rescue Dogs Association (SARDA) and Mountain Rescue, two organisations that play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety of climbers and walkers throughout the UK. So please give as much as you can to support the future work of these worthy charitable organisations. Below is a little information on both organisations:

SARDA Wales is a specialist Search Dog component of Mountain Rescue (England and Wales) and are permanently staffed by unpaid volunteer Dog Handlers and their dogs to provide a search and rescue service to the Police, Mountain Rescue & Coastguard. They train air scenting and trailing dogs to search for missing people in mountain, rural and urban locations. They have 80-90 call outs each year in North Wales alone, including missing children, vulnerable adults, dementia patients and hill walkers & mountaineers, and are on call 365 days a year.

Mountain Rescue services in England and Wales operate under the umbrella association of the MREW - Mountain Rescue (England & Wales) (formerly called Mountain Rescue Council of England & Wales). Although the primary focus of mountain rescue is to locate and evacuate injured and/or lost persons in upland environments, teams also undertake a wide range of roles (which may differ from team to team) including:

1. missing person searches in lowland areas where access or terrain is difficult

2. support to NHS ambulance services for difficult casualty evacuation

3. support to government agencies/emergency services in flood and heavy snowfall

4. support to government agencies/emergency services at major incidents

5. swift water rescue

6. animal rescue