Love dogs, nature and the outdoors? Help train our Search and Rescue Dogs.

Essex Search and Rescue is a charity run entirely by volunteers. We assist Essex Police in the search for high risk vulnerable missing people across Essex, and sometimes assist SAR teams in neighbouring counties. We are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

One of the cornerstones of our search and rescue capability is our K9 team.

This is where we are asking for your help. We need volunteers to act as missing people (‘mispers’) for our dogs to find during training sessions. The venues we use are mostly rural, but we do sometimes train in urban environments. You will be placed in position by one of our team members, who are all qualified in search techniques, navigation and first aid.

This is a great opportunity to meet our dogs, learn more about what we do, and spend a bit of time with nature, but the most important thing is that you will be helping us to help vulnerable missing people and their families.

Our training sessions are usually on Tuesday evenings and Sunday daytime, and sometimes on Saturdays.

The areas where we train are normally around Danbury, Brentwood, Ingatestone, Basildon, Billericay, Epping Forest and Grays. You will be able to sign up to whichever sessions are convenient to you; there is no requirement to attend them all.

Skills

You must be over 18 to volunteer as a Misper, and be in reasonable health because the training environment can be challenging. No experience is necessary; training will be provided. 

A love of dogs, and a willingness to spend a few hours outside to help us to help missing people.