Meet the couple who spend all their free time together on call for Sussex Search and Rescue

THE first years of a romance are usually an all-consuming whirlwind, where every spare moment is devoted to spending time together.

But Hannah Dickens and Nick Rewcastle devote their free time to looking for vulnerable missing people with Sussex Search and Rescue.

The newly engaged Brighton couple, who fell in love after meeting on Tinder just over a year ago, are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Best laid plans for date nights, anniversaries, birthdays, time with friends and family and even Christmas constantly run the risk of being put on hold at the last minute in the event of an emergency call out.

Nick did find time to enlist a flash mob in the summer to help him propose to Hannah in their favourite spot on Brighton seafront and they are busy planning their wedding on August 27.

But generally their work and home life fits in around their volunteer work. When someone goes missing Nick, 23, and Hannah, 22, drop everything. A quick change of clothes, a mouthful of food and they are ready to face anything - from hours spent trekking a steep coastal path battling winds or days on end marching across the South Downs in the dark and cold.

They attend two monthly training sessions and regular fundraising events in their bid to help save lives and find the answers families are so desperately seeking when a loved one disappears.

Hannah, a pharmacy dispenser at Boots in Hove, has volunteered since the age of 13 for the police cadets. After outgrowing the group at 18 she wanted to continue volunteering in her spare time and discovered the search and rescue charity through her contacts with the police.

For two years and three months she has not looked back, clocking up at least 20 hours of training since June alone as well as 20 hours of call outs.

“I’ll finish work, get some food, and then do the whole night. I’m not going to give this up, I will not stop," she said.

"Nick didn’t know anything about it before but he was interested because I did it and now he loves it.

"The police just do not have the resources – we are the primary help. There’s no-one apart from us and if we stopped missing people might not be found. That would be awful."

Hannah has endured torn ligaments, neck and back aches, bumps, bruises, and has spent entire days covered in mud in her quest to help. The person can be found safe and well or it emerges they were never in trouble ion the first place. sometimes they are found dead or cannot be traced. Either way, the team are trained to deal with the consequences.

She said: “We would much rather we find someone rather than a member of the public. Sometimes the result can be hard to deal with and that is why it is so great Nick and I share this. We understand each other and can talk about it. We support each other. The team and the police are so supportive too.”

While she was not called out over Christmas last year or in 2014, she helped search for Brighton friends Dan Nicholls, 23, of Florence Road, and Freddie Reynolds, 24, of Buckingham Place, in the early hours of Saturday, January 10. The pair were swept off Brighton beach near the Palace Pier after a night out.

And they were called out on New Year's Day 2016 to take part in a two day search in Surrey.

Hannah and 16 fellow volunteers spent an entire weekend helping the coastguard, police officers and a helicopter hunt for the pair from the West Pier to the Saltdean Lido. Their bodies were later found washed ashore.

She said: “We were planning on going out for a family lunch but cancelled. It was so cold and wet. The wind was really bad so the sea was constantly spraying us and it was a long search."

The morning after her 21st birthday she was called to help a search in Hampshire.

She said: "All my family were coming over on that day to watch me open all my presents and have some cake. I only just got home in time to get changed before everyone arrived. I couldn't count the amount of times I've had to cancel plans to go to a call out. I've been out until 6am, showered and gone to work and then done the same thing that night too."

The couple invited The Argus to watch a practice search on a drizzly, dark and cold evening on Ditchling Common – a typical location for their work.

The search van stood as a beacon of light in a roadside car park as team members marched around the area preparing stretchers and sourcing search lights before they embark on foot.

Each route is planned and monitored from the van. This was the search for Martin, a middle aged man who had a number of medical conditions.

The team stick to a 300 metre perimeter from the last location the person was seen, focussing on path ways and ten metres either side of the path. They keep in mind search techniques taught in training, like remembering people with Alzheimer’s always walk in a straight line and elderly people stick close to a path and what they know. Young children like to hide somewhere they feel safe.

Torch beams darted silently across the muddy fields until a sudden shout of "Hold the Line!"

This warns the team something distressing could be up ahead before a huddle of team members march forward. They administer first aid, carefully lift Martin onto a stretcher and wrap him in a sleeping bag, reassuring him all the while.

The experience is a fairly new one for Nick, who has recently completed his training and has already spent 22 hours searching for people in his first five months with the team.

Nick, who works at a sports PR agency in Hove, moved to Sussex from Southampton in 2014 to be with Hannah.

He said: “Initially I wasn’t sure. I have never been an outdoor person. I helped Hannah with some fundraising and met the team but never really knew what they did so I thought ‘I’ve got to give this a go.’ It was incredible stuff and I signed up. You need time, money and motivation. We don’t do it for thanks or for money. We all do it to help people.

“Sometimes you don’t find someone. You go on the information you are given and they could be nearby but just not in the area you are searching. It can be disheartening when you can’t find them but we all talk about our experiences.”

Inevitable commitments mean Hannah and Nick cannot always attend the same call out.

Nick said: “Once I was in Derbyshire for work when I got a call out. I text Hannah and she was going. I really wanted to be there. We are the youngest couple in the team. We love it and we constantly talk about it. We missed an anniversary dinner once, we dropped everything for the call out. Sometimes we will meet, shove a subway in our mouths and head to the rendezvous.”

In preparation for long searches he carries a stash of supplies in his pockets - Tic Tacs, tissues, a compass, torch and an all important chocolate bar for an instant energy boost.

VOLUNTEERS CAN BE CRUCIAL IN MISSING PERSON CASES

SUSSEX Search and Rescue is the first port of call for Sussex Police when vulnerable people go missing.

The voluntary team is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The members give their time free of charge and expect nothing in return. 

The £9,000-a-year operation relies entirely on donations and fundraising. 

When a vulnerable person is reported missing to the police, officers carry out their own investigations to decide if they need to call on the team for help. This can be determined by age – young or elderly, medical conditions, mental health or if there is a risk they could commit suicide.

All the group needs is at least four people to carry out a search and a last known location.

Chairman Alistair Hornby, 53, of Horsham, volunteered for the service eight years ago when his three children grew up and he had more spare time.

He said: “When you’re called out your adrenaline starts running. You get yourself dressed, you make a few calls and head to the rendezvous. People will be there setting the gear up and meeting the police to receive information. It is a hive of activity. After a search you may shower and then drive straight to work. You think about it but you try not to worry. 

"You do the best you can and there is nobody else to do it. Searches do not always have a happy ending but it is always better to know what happened. Sometimes it is nice to be able to give closure to the families.”

The group has 51 members but is always open to more who are fit, healthy, over 18 and willing to sign up to a considerable commitment by investing time, money, their own kit and transport. 

The organisation is also looking for a home of its own. The Hickstead Hotel allows the charity to park its vans on site but it often has to rent halls.

Mr Hornby said: “The police are very generous where they can be but their funds are limited.”

Donations can be made at justgiving.com/searchandrescue-sussex or companies can sponsor the charity.

For information email fundraising@sussar.org.