Fifty years on the rocks, rivers and hills.
We began as two cliff rescue teams in the Avon and Cheddar gorges. Today we are a volunteer Mountain Rescue team searching for and rescuing people across the whole of Avon and Somerset.
We turn out for cliffs, rivers, floods, open hillside, night searches, woodland and steep ground.
What we do
We are on standby every hour of every day, in any weather. We work entirely under the direction of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, who are the lead responder, and we support the other emergency services when they need us.
Land search and rescue
Finding people who are missing or lost across open country, woodland and the edges of towns.
Cliff and steep ground rescue
Rescue, recovery and access on cliffs and steep ground, from the Avon Gorge to Cheddar.
Rescue from height
Technical rope access to people stuck above the ground on any structure.
Water and swiftwater rescue
Bankside search and rescue from rivers, weirs, lakes and floodwater.
Search management advice
Trained search managers who help the Police plan where and how to look.
Scene support and logistics
Helping run busy incident scenes: people, kit, vehicles and communications.
Our history
Cliff rescue in two gorges, then search, then water. Each new skill was added because the Police asked for it.
1976
Avon Rocks Rescue Team
A team forms to rescue people from the cliffs of the Avon Gorge in Bristol.
1977
Cheddar Gorge Cliff Rescue Team
A second cliff team forms at Cheddar after an agreement between local climbers and the Longleat Estate.
1979
Registered as a charity
The Cheddar Gorge Cliff Rescue Team becomes a registered charity.
c.1990
Two gorges, one team
Around 1990 the two teams merge to become the Avon and Somerset Cliff Rescue Team.
1997
Search joins rescue
At the request of the Police, the team adds land search, and Mendip Hills volunteer rangers join.
2000
Search management
The team adds search management, planning and running searches with the Police.
2006
A new name, and water
Water margin search is added and, at the Police’s request, the team becomes Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue.
2007
Working agreements
Agreements are signed with the Police, Ambulance and Fire and Rescue services.
2016
A charitable incorporated organisation
The team re-registers as a CIO, charity number 1168479.
2025
Fifty years of rescue
The team marks its 50th anniversary, still entirely run by volunteers.
Four kinds of member
Search members
Land search and rescue. Everyone starts here, and it is our biggest section.
Cliff members
Rescue and working at height on cliffs, steep ground and structures.
Water members
Search and rescue from still and moving water: lakes, rivers, weirs and floods.
Support members
The people who keep ASSAR running behind the scenes, raising money and running the charity.
Where we work
Across five council areas. Our four response vehicles are based in North Bristol, near Clevedon and at Cheddar, with a kit store at Cheddar Caves.
- Bristol
- Bath and North East Somerset
- North Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- Somerset
Who we work with
- Avon and Somerset Police
- South Western Ambulance Service
- Avon Fire and Rescue
- Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue
- HM Coastguard
- Exmoor Search and Rescue
- Mendip Cave Rescue
- Severn Area Rescue Association
- Mountain Rescue England and Wales
- Avon Local Resilience Forum
We are a member team of Mountain Rescue England and Wales and part of the Avon Local Resilience Forum. When neighbouring teams in Wiltshire, Dorset, Exmoor or South Wales need more people, we can be sent to help.
Why we exist
“The objects of the CIO are to preserve and protect life and in particular to provide and maintain an emergency rescue service for the benefit of the public: a) by provision of a dedicated and trained volunteer service to assist and support the emergency services in the operation of search and rescue in Somerset; b) by provision of a back-up service to other search and rescue groups across the United Kingdom if called upon and able to do so.”