Cambridgeshire Raynet
Cambridgeshire RAYNET provides voluntary communications services to a wide range of organisations.
Originally formed by amateur radio operators to support the emergency services, we now also support a wide range of voluntary organisations and events, from those providing first aid to search and rescue teams, allowing them to provide their services without being distracted by the challenges of establishing communication links in adverse conditions.
Cambridgeshire RAYNET forms part of the 2500-member UK-wide RAYNET organisation, allowing us to work with and draw on the experiences of those around the country while providing a local service to the many events we support.
For event organisers
An important part of our self-training includes practising our organisational ability, skills and equipment by assisting triathlons, fun runs, cycle rides and other athletic events, fundraising walks, music festivals, and horse rides. Our experienced senior controllers can help shed the load from event organisers in the unwelcome event of sudden emergencies arising. If you organise events like this, and you need assistance with communications, please contact us as early as possible so that we can plan.
We can help you by planning and installing temporary setups to cover areas that basic handheld radios cannot - ideal for long distance courses or areas where mobile phone coverage is not a good option. We can also assist with marshalling and liaising between you the organisers and other organisations providing medical or safety cover. We have a substantial number of handheld radios that we can loan to your own volunteers and staff and we can arrange satellite internet access by prior agreement. See our exercises for more examples of the work we do.
As a non-commercial group we don't ask for payment but a voluntary donation towards our costs is a welcome quid-pro-quo. It helps us cover fuel, wear and tear and our own insurance costs.
Please note that for liability reasons we can't close roads or offer a first aid service ourselves.
For prospective members
Cambridgeshire RAYNET is one of the many RAYNET groups in the country, exercising at various events in the year as well as preparing and planning for civil emergencies. As a result, we're always in need of additional help. If you are interested in volunteering and able to help out at at least two events per year, please get in touch. If you are interested, but live outside Cambridgeshire, please see the national pages[1] to find a group more local to you.
To improve the service we provide, we believe that regular training is essential. We meet up on the air every Tuesday at 19:00 local time on the GB3PI repeater[2], and meet for monthly training evenings on the third Wednesday of each month at The Sun Inn pub, Waterbeach, about 5 miles north-east of Cambridge.
You don't have to have prior experience of using radio equipment, we'll show you how and encourage you to obtain your own operating licence so you can work unsupervised. Over time you will become increasingly experienced with the procedures and teamwork that we practise.
For district/parish Emergency Planning Officers
Have you considered what would happen if a catastrophic event were to cut off communications with part of the area? RAYNET was formed as part of the response to the East Anglian coastal flooding of 1953, when large parts of the region were without a means to raise the alarm.
Times have changed, and communication systems have improved, but many systems now rely on infrastructure like cellphone towers or internet connectivity to work. Infrastructure like this may be one of the first casualties of a civil emergency. Well-trained RAYNET members are located throughout the county and operate their own, portable, radio systems that don't depend on infrastructure, meaning that we can assist as a service of last resort if other providers have failed.
If you're putting together or updating your emergency plans, please contact us and we'd be delighted to discuss our capabilities further.
For general information on emergency communications
Read our detailed background briefing note. We can provide assistance, training and advice to groups or organisations needing to design their own resilient communications. Helping others to help themselves is, to our mind, better than being called upon ourselves in an emergency.
