Donegal Mountain Rescue Team

A huge thank you to Tesco and everyone who voted for us in the recent blue token drive. We’re delighted to have received €497.00 from the Tesco Community Fund, raised through the blue-token voting scheme in store.

Every token dropped in our box was a vote of confidence in the work our volunteers do and every euro goes directly towards the equipment, training and call-out readiness that keeps our teams on the hill, day or night.

Sincere thanks to the staff at Tesco Letterkenny for their support, and to every customer who chose to back us. We couldn’t do what we do without communities like ours behind us.

Blue Stack Challenge ⛰️ A huge well done to everyone who took on the Blue Stack Challenge last weekend! Setting off from Fintown, our team walked alongside and found everyone in flying form.

An event like this takes months of organisation, so a sincere thank you to the organisers for all the hard work behind the scenes, and for the invite to take part. With almost 30km underfoot, this was no weekend stroll and every step went towards some great causes.

We’re glad everyone got home safely at the end of a long day on the hills.

Congratulations to four of our team members who passed their Mountaineering Ireland Mountain Skills Assessment this weekend with Bren Whelan of Donegal Climbing.

It's a two-day test of personal mountain proficiency covering map and compass navigation, steep ground movement, contour interpretation, route planning, mountain hazards, and a night navigation exercise that takes candidates from daylight headtorch in one unbroken push.

The assessment also requires a current and valid First Aid Certificate, and a logbook of mountain experience across a variety of upland areas.

It's not a casual tick-box exercise, it has both written and practical evaluation, and this opens them to apply next for the Mountain Leader award.

We're grateful to Bren for his time, expertise, and for taking this photo!