Search and rescue volunteer’s passion

Why this piece is here

This feature follows James’s work with London Search and Rescue, where he is a search operations manager and volunteer search technician. He is also a trustee and non-executive director of Missing People, the charity the Sunday Mirror was supporting that Christmas, and sits on its finance committee. It shows the hands-on side of his charity work, away from the boardroom.

Summary

In this Sunday Mirror feature, part of the paper’s Christmas appeal for the charity Missing People, James describes his volunteer work with London Search and Rescue alongside more than 20 years in banking. He trained first as a search technician, then as a medical and mental health first responder, and joined the kayak team that searches London’s riverbanks and reed beds. When a call-out comes, day or night, it takes priority.

The feature follows a July 2024 call-out, when he led a team of eight searching parkland in Greenwich for a missing six-year-old, who was found safe and well. He is candid that not every search ends that way, and says that is what drives him to reach people before they come to harm. A trustee of Missing People, he also explains how banking skills helped the charities he served, and how the work gives him “a lot more perspective”.

Three key points

• The people searched for are often vulnerable through age or dementia, but in London poor mental health is the main reason.
• No one is immune: domestic violence, relationship breakdown, money problems, ill health and bereavement can all lead someone to go missing.
• Experience runs both ways: banking skills helped the charities he served as a trustee, and the work helped him in return.