Meet Karen, who joined the team in November 2022
I’m Karen, and I am a retired Air Traffic Controller and now an aviation safety consultant. I am the Support Team Lead for HANTSAR.
What led you to HANTSAR?
I wanted to be involved with community activities and be part of a team. I’d been looking at the HANTSAR website for a while, waiting for the recruitment window to open. HANTSAR provides so many opportunities to get involved with county activities and at the same time raise funds for their vital work.
How do you fit it into your life with other commitments especially work and family?
Being a support member means that you can forward plan your commitments with HANTSAR. They have a great system where members can see all the events which are planned, the time commitment and location. You can then decide which ones you sign up to, depending on your time available.
How much time does it take up?
There’s an initial period where training (mainly online) takes place to ensure you have the knowledge you need to fulfil the role, eg safeguarding. After that, there’s a minimum requirement of six fundraising events per year. Each of these vary in time to between 2hrs and half a day. Beyond this, there are many other opportunities to be involved and make a difference, and you can choose the amount of time you wish to commit.
What would you say to anyone thinking about joining?
It’s a great opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life and all ages. You can use your current skills to make a difference – you’d be amazed at the different skillsets HANTSAR can make use of. You can also learn new skills and gain new experiences – role playing missing people/injured person; marshalling; participating in emergency services training; running fundraising events and lots of other activities.
It’s an amazing team to be part of!