About us

Hampshire Search and Rescue (HANTSAR) is a voluntary organisation (charity no. 1098332). We provide round the clock cover to assist the police and various other agencies to search for vulnerable missing person.

Our searches may be carried out in urban areas, including door to door enquiries, searches of car parks or recreation grounds etc., in the countryside, on open land or in the forest. We may be asked to search beaches or riverbanks in conjunction with the Coastguard or Environment Agency. We may be called upon at any time of the day or night, whatever the weather.

Normally we will be searching for a missing person who is vulnerable, usually a child or elderly person or perhaps someone who, it is feared, may be at risk. Recent highly publicised cases of missing people have highlighted an ever growing need for a highly trained, properly equipped unit which can be mobilised at any time of the day or night. We are all becoming familiar with the sight of members of the public combing woods and fields. Experience has shown that, valuable as this help has been, problems can arise through a lack of suitable training in search techniques. Clues may be missed, people could be searching in the wrong places and evidence may be inadvertently destroyed, which could prove crucial should the search result in a criminal investigation. Supervising untrained personnel on an exercise such as this is also very draining on already stretched police resources. Indeed searches may even be complicated by ill equipped members of the public putting themselves at risk.

We may occasionally be called out to search for other items, such as a piece of clothing, a weapon or some other piece of evidence or even a missing vehicle or a downed aircraft. We are also available to help in cases of civil emergency or natural disaster.

HANTSAR is one of many county based Lowland Search and Rescue units which exist countrywide. Like our sister organisations we are affiliated to the Association of Lowland Search and Rescue who are responsible for coordinating the various groups and setting the standards to which we must adhere.

All our operational members are professionally trained to the standard required by the Police and other Search and Rescue agencies. This includes qualifications in search techniques, first aid, map reading, radio operation, search planning and management etc. We are equipped and insured for any operation we take part in. All our members are police checked. This training requires a high level of commitment from our volunteers.

HANTSAR is totally dependent on donations and membership subscriptions for its funding. We have received a great deal of support from Hampshire Police including a venue for our meetings and training sessions. As a unit we have various fundraising events planned for the coming months. However, we are in need of donations of both cash and equipment. Among the items we require are: radio equipment, maps, rucksacks, whistles, first aid kits, compasses, torches, GPS systems, a control vehicle and insurance. We are actively seeking donations of equipment or money and are very happy to talk to any companies who may be interested in sponsoring the unit.

We are always looking for prospective members both as searchers and for a number of important support roles. If you feel that you have something to offer and you are at least 18 years old and are able to spare some time on a regular basis for training and operations why not give us a call.

If you would like to find out more about HANTSAR or would like to make a much needed donation please contact us on: 02380 61 61 61