Ruth Lee is proud to announce the second equipment handover from the Volunteer Heroes 2025 Fund, with Surrey Search & Rescue (Surrey SAR) receiving their new RL360 Mixed Reality Training Package to support their ongoing training and community work.
Supporting Volunteer Heroes Across the UK
Launched in 2017, the Ruth Lee Volunteer Heroes initiative forms a core part of our social commitment, supporting volunteer-led rescue teams who dedicate their time, skills, and energy to keeping their communities safe – often with limited funding and resources.
For 2025, the programme focused exclusively on UK-based volunteer teams, helping them access the very latest rescue training equipment and technology that may otherwise be beyond reach. Following a highly competitive application process, six volunteer organisations were selected to receive support through this year’s fund.
Three teams – Hampshire Search and Rescue, Surrey Search & Rescue, and Nene Valley First Responders – were awarded the RL360 Mixed Reality Training Package, while a further three organisations – Order of Malta Ambulance Corps (Armagh & Coalisland Units), Tees River Rescue, and Central Beacons Mountain Rescue – will each receive a Trauma Rescue Manikin to enhance their casualty care training.
RL360 Handover to Surrey Search & Rescue
This week, Surrey SAR officially received their RL360 system, with Ruth Lee Product Manager Ryan Foley visiting the team at their home base in Woking to deliver and set up the equipment.
Surrey Search & Rescue is a voluntary rescue service covering the county of Surrey, working closely with statutory emergency services to support search and rescue operations in lowland and semi-urban environments. Their operational area presents a uniquely demanding mix of terrain, including large expanses of woodland and open countryside, waterways and flood-prone areas, alongside some of the most densely populated urban environments in the UK. This diversity requires the team to be highly adaptable and prepared for everything from rural missing person searches to complex urban incidents.
Surrey SAR applied for the RL360 Mixed Reality Training Package as part of the Volunteer Heroes programme, recognising its potential to enhance training both in the classroom and out in the environments where the team regularly operates. One of the key advantages of RL360 over traditional classroom-based VR training is its flexibility, allowing realistic, scenario-driven learning wherever teams train.
In addition to operational training, Surrey SAR identified opportunities to use RL360 as part of their community outreach and fundraising activities, helping raise awareness of the team’s work while introducing members of the public to basic first aid principles and casualty care.
What Surrey SAR’s Package Includes
The RL360 package awarded to Surrey SAR includes:
- RL360 Mixed Reality software licence
- HTC VIVE XR Elite headset and wireless tracker system
- 30kg Duty Manikin
Together, this setup allows the team to combine hands-on casualty handling with immersive mixed reality scenarios – supporting skills such as patient assessment, decision-making, and casualty management in realistic training environments.
A Collaborative Partnership
During the visit, Ryan met with Stuart Hamilton and the wider Surrey SAR team to discuss how RL360 will be integrated into their training programme and outreach activities. The team has already provided valuable feedback to Ruth Lee’s development team, helping shape future updates and improvements to the RL360 platform.
Commenting on the handover, Ryan said:
“The team at Surrey SAR have already helped with input for new content and training for our future RL360 updates, some of which we’ll be able to include quickly. It was great to meet Stuart and the wider team and hear how they plan to deploy RL360 – particularly for community outreach and awareness, which is such an important and often overlooked role of search and rescue teams. I’m excited to work with Surrey SAR to help bring their ideas to life and continue improving the RL360 package.”
Looking Ahead
We’re proud to support Surrey Search & Rescue through the Volunteer Heroes 2025 programme and excited to see how RL360 will support their operational training, public engagement, and preparedness for real-world incidents.
Further handovers to the remaining Volunteer Heroes recipients will take place over the coming months, and we look forward to sharing more updates as each organisation receives their equipment and begins putting it to work.
To learn more about the Volunteer Heroes programme, our wider social commitment initiatives, and updates on future funding rounds, visit our Social Commitment pages.
Want to Learn More About RL360?
The RL360 Mixed Reality Training Package is designed to enhance casualty assessment and patient care training by blending physical manikins with immersive mixed reality scenarios – whether training at base or out in the field.
UK-based organisations interested in exploring how RL360 could support their training can request a free demonstration with our team using the form on the page linked below.
👉 Find out more about RL360 and request a free UK demonstration