Join Us

We are pleased to receive applications for future membership. A reasonable degree of physical fitness is needed to be an active searcher but any regular walker, especially of our county’s beautiful countryside, is probably fit enough. Please bear in mind that we often walk many miles over many hours, over sometimes difficult and often hilly terrain, and stiles and similar might be encountered.

You will be vetted by Sussex Police (Non-Police Personnel Vetting level 1) and receive all the necessary training to achieve and maintain the high standard of competence required. We rely on donations to fund the provision of our specialist equipment, and also allows us to provide some personal kit such as our distinctive hi-vis tabards.

As a searcher, you must attend a minimum of one call-out or training event per year: this is not onerous and many searchers respond to as many call-outs as they can. It is very rewarding to do such valuable work for our community and to work as a team.

There’s no disappointment in a deployed search team that fails to find anything. It can be vital to know, with a high degree of confidence, that the area didn’t contain the person or item when it was searched. This allows the search to be re-focused on other areas, often with an increased probability of success. Equally, there’s no frustration if we’re re-deployed to the same area, for the person might have been sighted there after the search, perhaps the following day.