A team from the Search and Rescue Dog Association has signed up for the 2016 Harbour2Harbour Walk, which takes place on Sunday May 15th.

The sponsored walk, supported by award-winning developer Dandara, already has more than 120 people committed to take part, including five from SARDA IOM.

SARDA IOM is Manx charity and member of the National Search and Rescue Dog Association. It provides two fully-trained search dogs and a team of handlers and navigators to support searches for missing people.

Dog handler Gary Wright explained: ‘One of our regular volunteers, Nigel Smith, mentioned the Harbour2Harbour at one of our training session walks, suggesting it would be a good way for us to raise awareness of SARDA IOM as many people don’t know that there are two qualified search dogs in the Island.

‘Searching for missing persons in large areas of land, often at night, can be a slow and difficult undertaking. Time is of the essence and search teams can be assisted by a dog's ability to cover large areas of land very quickly. All our handlers and navigators are unpaid volunteers and members of the Isle of Man's Emergency Services that make up the IOM Search & Rescue Group.

‘We also decided it would be a good way to help the Southern charities by putting a team together to raise money.’

Gary will be joined on the walk from Castletown to Port Erin by colleagues Marc Marshall, Mal Stewart, Nigel Smith and Christine Lewis. It is also hoped Holly the search dog will take part.

Leaving Castletown harbour at 10am, the walkers will head along the coastal path to Glen Chass and on to The Howe before joining St Mary’s Road and finishing at the Cosy Nook in Port Erin. Organisers would like to see more than 350 take part and help beat the ?3,600 raised in 2015.

The event is organised by Southern Community Initiatives and the money raised supports a number of important local community projects, including Men in Sheds, Southern Befrienders and SPort Erin.

Event Co-ordinator Janet Bridle said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to have members of SARDA IOM committed to the walk. They do important work which more people should know about, so I hope the Harbour2Harbour walk helps raise awareness of the Association. I also hope they raise lots of money for our community projects!

‘It’s not long until the big day, and everything is coming along very well. We already have more than 120 people signed up, and know that many more will turn up in Castletown on May 15th to join in. I’d like to once again thank Dandara for its support, which has been invaluable.’

The Harbour2Harbour walk is a community event and not competitive. It’s open to all, and dogs are welcome as long as they are controlled and on leads. The organisers will be handing out branded buffs to walkers on a first come, first served basis – as well as special branded bandanas for dogs taking part.

Dandara Managing Director Seamus Nugent said: ‘The Harbour2Harbour walk supports a number of impressive community initiatives, and we are delighted to be able to support them. It is wonderful to see so many people have already signed up to take part, and I’m very pleased to see the team from SARDA IOM are getting involved. They do vital work, and deserve recognition.
‘We’re all looking forward to what promises to be a great community event, and are hoping for record-breaking numbers.’

To enter or find out more about the event, please email H2Hreg@hubclubsci.im, call Janet on 838180 or visit www.hubclubsci.im.  You can also stay up-to-date with the latest news via Facebook www.facebook.com/harbour2harbour.