From underwater search and recovery to missing person searches and marine rescue training, Ruth Lee’s Volunteer Heroes Fund is helping volunteer rescue teams prepare for the moments that matter most.
Across the world, volunteer rescue teams dedicate their time, skills and energy to helping others. But behind every training session is a need for the right equipment – and for many volunteer organisations, securing the resources they need can be a real challenge.
That’s why Ruth Lee established the Volunteer Heroes Fund: to help volunteer rescue teams access the equipment, training resources and financial support they need to continue their vital work.
Over the years, we’ve been proud to support teams in the UK and internationally, providing rescue training manikins and other assistance to help them develop their capabilities and prepare for real-life incidents.
But what difference does that support make once the equipment reaches the team?
We caught up with some of our previous Volunteer Heroes to find out – and their stories show just how far that support can go.
Preparing for the Real Thing: Dorset Search Dogs
For Dorset Search Dogs, realistic casualty simulation is an important part of preparing volunteers for the challenges they may face during an emergency response.
Since receiving support through the Volunteer Heroes Fund in 2024, their manikin has been put to work in a variety of training scenarios, including multi-agency flood response exercises and major emergency simulations.
Matt from Dorset Search Dogs explained:
“The manikin has really helped to support Dorset Search Dogs and our preparedness in response to emergencies.”
The manikin has also been used in exercises involving partner agencies, including a national exercise testing the emergency services’ response to a terrorist incident at sea.
By providing a realistic casualty for teams to locate, assess and extract, the manikin helps volunteers practise the practical challenges of rescue without putting another team member at unnecessary risk.
It’s a great example of how one piece of equipment can support not only an individual team, but also wider multi-agency training.
Making Difficult Training Possible: Beneath the Surface
For underwater search and recovery teams, preparing volunteers for what they might encounter beneath the surface presents some unique challenges.
Beneath the Surface, a volunteer organisation working in underwater search and recovery, told us that funding for training aids is extremely limited, with much of its budget taken up by specialist sonar and diving equipment, as well as travel and accommodation.
Receiving support through Volunteer Heroes has helped change that.
The team has been using its manikins for diver training, sonar exercises and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) training. The equipment also supports the safe and dignified recovery of casualties, helping prepare team members for situations that can be difficult to simulate realistically.
Team leader Phil Jones explained:
“The manikins have played a huge role in training and preparing team members for searches.”
The support has extended beyond casualty recovery. Their dog manikin helps the team practise locating dogs underwater, while both manikins have been used at water safety events to demonstrate CPR, promote the use of buoyancy aids and raise awareness of the risks of drowning.
Reflecting on the impact of the donation, Phil shared:
“Without your generosity we’d still be trying to get plastic manikins to sink that aren’t sonar sensitive or have any realistic resemblance to casualties.”
For a team that would otherwise struggle to fund realistic training aids, the donation has provided a valuable resource that continues to support its work.
Supporting Volunteers Across the World: Port Lincoln State Emergency Service
The impact of Volunteer Heroes isn’t limited to the UK.
In 2018, Port Lincoln State Emergency Service in Australia received Ruth Lee training manikins through the fund. The equipment continues to be used across a range of rescue training activities, particularly marine rescue.
The Man Overboard Manikin has been especially valuable, allowing crews to practise realistic casualty recovery scenarios from their rescue vessels.
Max Coulson, Deputy Unit Manager, explained that the equipment has made a genuine difference to the unit by allowing volunteers to carry out realistic, hands-on training without having to use team members as casualties in situations where doing so would be impractical or introduce unnecessary risk.
He told us:
“The Ruth Lee training manikins provided to our Unit through the Volunteer Heroes Fund have been a fantastic training resource and continue to be used across a range of our rescue training activities.”
It’s particularly rewarding to hear that equipment donated years ago is still supporting the training and development of volunteers today.
Equipment That Keeps Making a Difference: Cheshire Search and Rescue
Cheshire Search and Rescue has received support through Volunteer Heroes on several occasions, including in 2019, 2022 and 2024.
Their manikins remain an active part of the team’s training programme, with the Search and Rescue Manikin used at least once a month during regular Tuesday training sessions.
From missing person search scenarios in thick undergrowth to casualty stabilisation, stretcher transfers and long-distance carries, the team uses the manikins to recreate a wide range of practical rescue challenges.
The weight of the manikins is particularly important, helping volunteers understand the physical demands involved in moving casualties across difficult terrain.
The team’s boat unit also uses the Man Overboard Manikin to practise recovering a weighted casualty from the water.
Reflecting on the difference the equipment has made, Cheshire SAR Volunteer Team Member Sarah Bazley told us:
“The manikins have been a really brilliant addition and when used have elevated our training sessions, helping the team to be more prepared for live call outs.”
For us, this is exactly what Volunteer Heroes is about: providing resources that don’t just make one training session possible, but continue to benefit teams over many years.
More Than a Donation
Every volunteer rescue team has different needs. For some, it might be a manikin that allows them to practise casualty recovery safely. For others, it could be specialist equipment that helps them develop a new training capability or financial support towards an essential project.
What connects these stories is the difference that access to the right resources can make.
Volunteer teams already give so much of their time to keeping others safe. We believe that helping them train effectively is one way we can support the important work they do.
We’re incredibly grateful to every team that has shared its experiences with us. Hearing how the equipment continues to be used, and learning about the real-world scenarios it helps volunteers prepare for, reinforces why we established the fund in the first place.
And we’re not stopping here.
Could Your Team Be Our Next Volunteer Heroes?
The Volunteer Heroes Fund is now open for 2026, and this year we’re welcoming applications from volunteer rescue teams anywhere in the world.
We’re also making the fund more flexible than ever. Rather than offering a fixed list of prizes, we’re inviting teams to tell us what they need and why it would make a difference.
That could be Ruth Lee rescue manikins, specialist training or operational equipment, or financial support towards an important project.
Simply tell us about your team, the work you do and the support that would help you most. We’ll review every application and do our best to support as many teams as possible.
Applications close on 1 December 2026, with successful applicants expected to be contacted towards the end of December.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER HEROES FUND AND APPLY HERE
Your team could be the next to benefit from Volunteer Heroes. We look forward to hearing your story and discovering how we can help you continue your vital work.