With strong ties to New Zealand’s rural communities, PGG Wrightson wanted to support a charity that assists New Zealanders based both rurally and in urban areas. In response, the company has committed to sponsoring New Zealand Land Search & Rescue Incorporated (LandSAR) for the next three years.

LandSAR, as explained by Jon McQueen, National Development and Fundraising Manager for the organisation, assists with helping the lost, the missing and the injured. “We are the volunteer force for the New Zealand Police when a search and rescue callout is received. With 3,500 volunteers nationwide, teams are organised into 62 local groups and 10 specialist teams.”

“There is massive volunteer engagement in search and rescue in this country. Of the 15,000 people working in the search and rescue sector, including LandSAR, Coastguard New Zealand, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand and Amateur Radio Emergency Communications, over 90 percent are volunteers,” says Jon.

Acknowledging the important work undertaken by those who volunteer for LandSAR, Co-Chair of PGG Wrightson’s Sponsorship Committee, Brendan McQuade, says “as a large rural company, our customers and staff operate in the outdoors, whether it be working on the farm or enjoying recreational pursuits. Sponsoring LandSAR gives us the opportunity to give back to the community and the volunteers who give up their time to save other’s lives.”

With the unique and often specialised nature of the skills involved in being a LandSAR volunteer, training is essential. For this reason, PGG Wrightson’s fiscal contribution is directed into training and resources for volunteers.

“To become operational, every LandSAR member needs to complete at least three months of training, with specialist team training taking up to six months. From there, members must continue to maintain their competencies, fitness and training to ensure they remain competent and operationally safe,” says Jon.  

Having been a volunteer for over 13 years, PGG Wrightson Functional Analyst, Kathleen Cosgrove, is a LandSAR field team member, team leader, visual tracker and assessor based in Dunedin. Discussing the commitment to training, Kathleen says she trains every week with the type of training varied. “One week we might do rope training, and another river crossings. Training covers a range of skills from stretcher carrying, learning how to behave around a helicopter to being aware of how to protect clue sights which may assist with finding a missing person.”

With both urban and rural rescues conducted by LandSAR, the types of searches conducted differ greatly. Jon says urban searches, “can vary from searching for a lost child to searching for someone who is cognitively impaired. In rural areas, LandSAR volunteers may search for trampers or hunters lost in the bush. As well, specialist teams will look for people missing in more difficult terrain.”

With the government contributing some funding to LandSAR, Jon says the organisation mainly relies on sponsorships, grants and donations. For this reason, he is incredibly grateful for the support shown by PGG Wrightson and says the additional exposure provided by attending Mystery Creek Fieldays, and other agricultural shows throughout the country at PGG Wrightson sites, allows the organisation to raise its profile, fundraise and recruit for volunteers. 

For more information about LandSAR click here