THE Arrochar mountain rescue team received another cash boost from St John Scotland Dunbartonshire on Sunday morning.

A cheque for £700 was presented to team leader Mike Bignall by Dunbartonshire branch chairman Colonel John Kelly at the Arrochar St John Base.

The Dunbartonshire branch has been helping the team for 40 years, and Colonel Kelly said that this latest donation brought the total given in recent years to some £7,000.

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He added: “It was good to see the base and vehicles, and to have a chance to meet the team who were due to train later that day with the Coastguard rescue helicopter.”

Mike Bignall said: “The relationship between the team and the local St John Scotland branch is long-standing, and this latest donation is greatly appreciated by the team to help its vital work.”

St John Scotland supports medical and rescue charities, and is closely associated with mountain safety and rescue, palliative care, patient transport, and the provision of defibrillators and CPR training.

In 2004 St John Scotland paid for the construction of the Arrochar base, in 2013 provided a new rescue ambulance, and last year handed over legal ownership of the base to the team.

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Other beneficiaries receiving cheques for £700 from the 2017-18 fundraising by St John Scotland Dunbartonshire are the St Margaret of Scotland Hospice at Clydebank, the Luss-based Loch Lomond Rescue Boat, and the Vale of Leven Hospital’s Acorn Centre one stop shop for children with multiple health issues.

The Order ranks in precedence immediately after the Order of the British Empire.

The Queen is the sovereign head of the Order and sanctions all admissions to, and promotions within, the organisation.