This week's Councillor Column is written by Richard Trail, SNP councillor for Helensburgh and Lomond South

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The beauty of the Argyll landscape is beguiling. Many enjoy the scenery from the comfort of a coach.

The more adventurous like to get up close and personal for the sense of achievement of climbing the hills and the reward of a glorious view on a fine day.

The hills can be inviting and they can also be treacherous. When mishaps occur the remote location can turn a minor injury into a potentially serious situation. The mobile phone now extends the range of a cry for help from an injured climber.

The practical response comes from the Arrochar Mountain Rescue team who are on call at a moment’s notice to head for the hills.

The emergency calls follow Murphy’s Law and will arrive at most inconvenient times. Knife and fork are dropped, evening engagements cancelled, or an early night forsaken and the kit gathered up and the team drawn from across the Helensburgh district are on the road to the rendezvous point.

On the weekend after Easter the mountain rescue were called out to attend to three separate incidents in the Arrochar area.

The team was short handed because it was in the middle of the school holidays. The upper slopes of the hills were icy and three climbers had slipped and fallen in separate incidents.

The rescuers are well prepared, yet they face the same dangers as the casualties, often working in the dark. There are no Sherpas to do the heavy lifting.

One of the team has to carry the oxygen cylinder on his back, and that is not for the faint hearted. It is hard gruelling work and the team push themselves to the limit.

The team give freely of their time to keep this service alive and ready to save lives. They give up days, nights and weekends in a continuing programme of training.

What they do is what makes a community, they care for others, whether they be friend or stranger.

The contribution of those who put themselves out for the care of others cannot be overestimated and we should never take them for granted.

You can make a difference for community groups this month by allocating grants to them.

The council has a pilot project running in April giving you the opportunity of selecting which groups you judge worthy of support.

It has the unwieldy title of participatory budgeting but don’t let that put you off. This pilot project is a small step, it is intended to extend the scheme in future years.