January - Gloucestershire and Worcestershire 4 x 4 Response

Gloucestershire & Worcestershire 4×4 Response began life in 2006 by a small group of members of a responsible 4 wheel drive association. They recognised the need for a local team, able to respond to incidents in our locality using specialised vehicles with trained drivers.

The first major incident was the flooding of 2007. Gloucestershire 4×4 Response (as it was then) worked with the British Red Cross and other 4×4 response teams delivering bottled water, hygiene packs and food to Care Homes across the county.

Teams responded to freak weather conditions on Crickley Hill the following winter, making checks on drivers and passengers of cars stranded in the traffic and snow.

In 2009 they were involved with Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) and Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust when wintery weather spread through the county. They had teams out for almost a week and covered several hundred miles collecting medical personnel, and transferring them from home to work and vice versa allowing wards and home visits to continue as well as the conditions would allow. During the warmer months of 2009 they became involved in the Worcestershire area and began recruiting members to strengthen the service they could provide. They were elected onto the Worcestershire CVEC (Community Volunteer Emergency Committee) and attended meetings and presentations about how the deployment of voluntary services can be effectively managed. With this involvement came the decision to re-brand the team and they became known as “Gloucestershire & Worcestershire 4×4 Response” or GW4x4R.

Gloucestershire & Worcestershire 4×4 Response (GW4x4R) provide 24 hour 4-wheel drive support to the Emergency Services, Civil Authorities and selected volunteer and utility organisations in Gloucestershire & Worcestershire. GW4x4R is a non-profit making voluntary organisation whose members use their own 4×4 vehicles, at their own expense, to provide this service to the emergency and other services.
If you are ever frustrated by trying to park at Highbury on the third Tuesday evening of the month (which is when they meet) please use it as a reminder to thank God for this service and to ask his blessing and protection on its members.