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About us

Staffed entirely by volunteers and funded solely by public donations, S.A.R.A.I.D is on call 365 days a year, always ready to provide trained Search and Rescue personnel, free of charge to any country in need of assistance. S.A.R.A.I.D members are drawn from all walks of life. However, the one common attribute shared by all our volunteers, is the desire and determination to help the innocent victims of disaster around the world. Our membership includes serving Firefighters, Paramedics, Doctors and Structural Engineers as well as office workers and builders.

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24 hrs a day - 7 days a week - 365 days a year

24 hrs a day - 7 days a week - 365 days a year

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rapid global response

S.A.R.A.I.D has been a significant leader in disaster response and recovery for more than 12 years. We serve all those impacted by disasters and deploy at the request of the UN, Embassies, governments, emergency management agencies and relief organisations.

Over the past year our member-volunteers helped look for missing persons, aid in body recovery searches, carried out disaster preparedness training, acted as a force multiplier to other agencies during peak events, and continue to develop our services. 

We can move swiftly to the scene of the disaster and provide a comprehensive and effective service to those in need.

Our experiences count

Our organisation prides itself as being in a constant state of readiness.  All S.A.R.A.I.D member-volunteers are highly trained to international standards, and the organisation operates under United Nations INSARAG. Our volunteers must complete the many factors of training and search discipline specific classroom and field training before they may deploy.  Team Leaders have extensive field experience and must complete advanced training that goes above and beyond the standard qualifications required to deploy. S.A.R.A.I.D has a depth of experience in its membership. Our members have over the years provided Search and Rescue assistance during many overseas disasters including Turkey, India, Mexico, Palestine, Pakistan, Algeria, Haiti and recently the Kathmandu Earthquake.

Helping develop resilient communities

Helping develop resilient communities

Applying our discipline and knowledge from our international operations and combining it with the senior management experience of the 'blue light' services, we are setting up community resilience teams in the UK. Our main role is to support the Emergency Services and Local Authority in their response to emergencies and major incidents. In a serious situation we could be asked to do just about anything, from helping to open a rest centre and make cups of tea right through to helping search for a missing person. That means our training has to reflect this and be broad ranging. Our team members are trained in First Aid, Communications, Navigation, Water Rescue, Lowland Search, Fire Safety and Crime Prevention to name but a few. Community is a big part of what we do and we can be asked to get involved in other beneficial projects such as clearing hoarders houses, cleaning up after fires and floods, attending community events, etc

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Listen to Josh's story: S.A.R.A.I.D Team Engineer

Please help us continue our work

Support us

The more people who know about us the greater the likelihood of us receiving donations. We'd be delighted if you wanted to become an ambassador for our cause and be an advocate of our work. If you think you can offer your support in other ways, such as equipment supplies or services, then please do let us know.

Nominate us

Employers, supermarkets, schools, chemists and department stores donate regularly to charity and invite nominations for a “Charity of the Year”. Remember us next time your employer is inviting charity nominations. Keep us informed of any nominations by email so we can lavish credit  where it’s due!

Donate today

Sadly, as an organisation we face a continual struggle to raise funds. People rarely consider a charity such as ours until a disaster hits the headlines, even then many people  send donations to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) as they see  their advertisements on national prime time media.