He’s the volunteer fit for a king, and Brian Jackson says his royal recognition for 40 years of selfless work is all down to God.
Brian (pictured above, front centre, with other Leicestershire Search & Rescue volunteers) was awarded the British Empire Medal in the new year honours list for his contribution to many organisations.
The 76-year-old, who lives in Whetstone, Leicestershire, has given thousands of hours to the Boys’ Brigade, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the emergency services and Leicestershire Search & Rescue.
But the Elim Leicester church member is quick to give God the glory for his service. “I wouldn’t have got the award if it wasn’t for God,” he said. “I think it was God’s plan right from the beginning.”
Part of that plan was to help found and run Leicestershire Search & Rescue.
“It’s made up of everyone from serving fire, police and ambulance crews to wedding planners, engineers, drone operators and dog handlers,” he explains.
“The team works closely with Leicestershire Police to undertake lowland searches for vulnerable people.
“If someone is reported missing and the police decide they are high-risk – children or people with Alzheimer’s, who have medical problems or who are suicidal – they will call us.
“We’ll put a search plan together, raise a team and meet to begin searching with the police.
“We’re looking for people who don’t know they’re missing or don’t want to be found.”
MULTITASKER
Brian has various roles on this team. As a dispatcher, he handles those crucial initial calls from the police. As a navigation and team leader he helps direct the search. At 76, he is even “the fitness person” in charge of the group’s annual five-mile tests.
It is hugely rewarding, Brian says, when his team rescues a vulnerable person.
“One summer we conducted a search for an elderly gentleman with dementia. He’d gone missing, so we did a three-day search in the countryside.
“On day three my team were standing with a cornfield in front of us. We heard a groan and found the gentleman. He’d fallen over and been there for three days.
“The farmer was planning to combine-harvest the field that day.”
The man, although hypothermic and dehydrated, was fine.
Other jobs can be much more distressing, and Brian recalls searches for people who were suicidal.
“We’ve had a lot of callouts where we go into wooded areas at night and find people hanging in trees.
“The police will secure the area as a crime scene and search for evidence, but after this we assist with body recoveries.
“When COVID came to an end we saw an awful increase in suicides – where people had been furloughed then lost their jobs and got into money difficulties.”
Brian has dedicated more than 1,500 hours to assisting with around 65 search and rescue missions across Leicestershire and Rutland. He has also given his time to several other organisations.
In his early volunteering days, he was involved with the Boys’ Brigade, organising activities and camping trips. But when his daughter Sharon pointed out the bias towards boys and begged him to start something for girls, he introduced the Duke of Edinburgh Award in his church.
“That’s how I got into search and rescue,” he explains. “I was teaching first aid on the hills to the kids and looking out for them during their DofEs.
“This also led me to become a first responder for the East Midlands Ambulance Service, which I’ve done for a number of years.”
Brian also spent several years working with his local Red Cross fire support team, which is where the nomination for his award originated.
“That was helping people who’d had a major fire. Once the fire brigade had gone they were basically left standing in the street. Quite often they would have run from a blazing fire in their nightwear, so we’d give them somewhere to go, give them clothes and help them begin sorting their insurance out.”
