South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association is a registered charity (Reg. Charity: CHY17543). The operating costs currently run at approximately €60,000 per annum, which includes equipment, training, insurance, communications and routine running expenses. All of the equipment used by S.E.M.R.A. has a finite ‘shelf life’, and therefore needs to be replaced on an ongoing basis. Add to this the cost of vehicle maintenance, diesel etc. and it is easy to see how costs can mount up.
2020 has brought additional costs with the Covid pandemic, the team has had to purchase huge amounts of PPE and introduce extra measures to ensure the continued safety of the team and those that we assist.
Team members are unpaid volunteers and subsidise the team’s activities by providing, among other things, their own personal equipment, provisions and transport. The Team currently receives an annual grant support from the Department of Transport (approximately €20,000). The remaining running cost (about two-thirds) The remaining two thirds (€40,000) must be met from the general public.
SEMRA received a very welcome Covid support grant in Autumn 2020 as it was not possible to run our annual Long Way Round fund raiser. Hopefully Long Way Round will be back in November 2022.
