London, UK, 29th August 2017 – Lowland Rescue, the UK’s governing committee for Lowland Search & Rescue teams in the UK, representing 35 teams, covering UK’s non Mountainous areas, and all of Northern Ireland, is pleased to welcome onto its leadership team four new, subject matter experts, to its board of trustees.
The new trustees are:
- Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe QPM – is the former head of London’s Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017, and was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to policing.
- DCC Gareth Pritchard QPM – has been the Deputy Chief Constable since April 2013 and has responsibility for Professional Standards, Corporate Services and Operational Support Services which includes Firearms, Roads Policing, Emergency Planning and the Force Control Room, and is also National Policing lead for Search and Rescue across England and Wales.
- Billy D’Arcy – Billy D’Arcy’s career in Telecommunications & ICT spans the past 25 years. He has occupied various senior management roles across organisations such as Cable & Wireless, Eircom and Worldcom and Telefonica O2.In 2017, he joined BAI Communications as CEO for their UK operation. BAI are a global leader in telecommunications Infrastructure and services with a particular focus on the Rail and Transport sector. BAI have operations in Sydney, Hong Kong, New York, Toronto and London.Billy D’Arcy said “I am honoured to be joining the board of Lowland Rescue. The work they deliver and the dedication of their volunteers are invaluable to the UK and to saving lives.”Billy’s role with BAI entails expanding BAI’s capabilities across Europe with particular focus on the UK market. BAI Communications is helping the UK Government, Transport Authorities, Mobile Network Operators and Telecoms Operators develop world class infrastructure to keep up with the insatiable demand that currently exists and to remain competitive.Before joining BAI, Billy worked for Telefonica O2 UK as Managing Director for Telefonica O2 UK’s Enterprise & Public Sector Business. In this role, he was responsible for Telefonica O2 UK’s public sector activities across Central Government, Local Government and the Third Sector.
Billy was also responsible for Telefonica O2’s activities in the Enterprise/Corporate Marketplace. Billy is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology and also University College Dublin (Dr. Michael Smurfitt Business School). - Karen Robinson; Director of Development and Partnerships Missing People
Karen has led the development of key partnerships with police across the UK. Karen’s background in both the police and prison service coupled with her many years’ experience working with children who run away and go missing, children at risk of exclusion and adults with mental health and homelessness problems placed her well to negotiate the charity’s important relationships with both statutory and voluntary sector partners.Most notably, Karen has led the charity’s development of locally commissioned services, helping the Missing People reach an extra 2,000 children a year and many more children, adults and families through our new training programme for professionals. Karen has an interest in Leadership and a passion for nurturing talent within her growing team.
Paul Lewis MBE – Chairman of Lowland Rescue has said, “Lowland Rescue is developing and continuing to grow, and has for the past 26 years been delivering Professional level, volunteer services to our various Blue Light services across the UK. Having these four, exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable individuals, joining the management committee as trustees, we can expect to see further improvements and developments in the field of UK Lowland Search & Rescue”
About Lowland Rescue
Lowland Rescue is the governing Committee for its Affiliated 35 teams across the UK, covering the UK’s Non Mountainous areas and all of Northern Ireland. Lowland Rescue sits alongside Mountain rescue and Cave Rescue, on the UKSAR working group to provide Search & Rescue capabilities on Land. Providing on average 800 Operations per year, and saving multiple lives through its work and medical interventions. It is pioneering many streams or SAR development including, professional standards for all grades, Drone technology, Launching of its Lowland Rescue First Responder qualification to name a few.
