SEARCH and rescue volunteers will have a brand new van to help them in their work after being supported by the High Sheriff of Wiltshire’s endowment fund.

More than £6,000 has been donated to community groups around Wiltshire from the fund, which is administered by the Wiltshire Community Foundation. The fund has been in existence since 1988 and has given more than £230,000 to Wiltshire charities since then.

Wiltshire Search and Rescue had applied for £3,000 from the fund to replace its ageing van, which it said is no longer fit for purpose. The fund granted it £500 but the remainder of the £3,000 it needed was made up from money left in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Grant Fund, which is also administered by the foundation. Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson is also a member of the High Sheriff’s panel.

WILSAR has more than 50 trained volunteers who are called in to help police and fire rescue service staff in the search for missing people.

WILSAR trustee Sarah Wolf said: “This van will transform our search capability and allow us to work smarter and be more efficient. At the moment we have one van that we keep all our equipment so there is hardly room to turn round in it. Recently we were out on a search for three days and three nights so the van is really a home from home.

“Having another van will allow us to use it as an operations centre and also for team welfare. It will make so much difference and we are very grateful.”

A meeting of the High Sheriff’s fund grants panel, chaired by new High Sheriff Nicky Alberry and including outgoing sheriff Lady Marland, also gave grants to the Wiltshire Magistrates Association, Swindon Youth for Christ, Friends of Gloucester House and Rise 61.

The Wiltshire Magistrates Association was given £550 to organise its annual mock trial competition. Last year eight schools took part, involving 120 students, 24 teachers, 45 magistrates, solicitors and barristers, as well as court, Crown Prosecution Service, probation and youth offending team staff.

The mock trials feature students in the key roles and take place in a real courtroom. They are judged and scored by magistrates and the winners go through to a regional final at Chippenham Magistrates Court on May 19.

Swindon Youth for Christ was given £2,500 to help it run a new project to tour Swindon, encouraging young people to take part in sports activities. Youth workers on the project aim to tackle anti-social behaviour and educate teenagers about healthy relationships and self-esteem issues.

Friends of Gloucester House support the Gloucester House Addictions Rehabilitation Centre in Highworth by providing grants for treatments for residents battling with drink and drug problems.

It has been given £1,500 to provide additional intense treatment for one resident who is identified as needing extra help to reinforce the messages of the standard 12-week programme. The centre, which is run by the Salvation Army, treated 54 people in 2017.

The Wiltshire Community Foundation funds hundreds of groups across the county through direct funding from the funds it administers or via funding from private individuals, trust funds and government agencies.

The next round of grant funding for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Grant Fund is now open. For more details go to wiltshirecf.org.uk.