Elia Lodge

London Search and Rescue (LonSAR) has received a generous £10,000 donation from London Freemasons to support the charity’s operational costs and help sustain its 24/7 work searching for high-risk vulnerable missing people across London.

The £10,000 grant will go towards LonSAR’s operational costs – helping to keep the charity operational and ready to respond at any time of day or night. This is essential to enable volunteer teams to train, deploy and support police-led searches safely and effectively, all year round, whatever the weather.

LonSAR is a 100% volunteer-driven search and rescue charity that works alongside the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police and other emergency services to help locate missing people who may be at immediate risk. Every year, over 42,000 people are reported missing in London, with a significant proportion classed as the highest risk and most vulnerable in our communities. Those LonSAR supports are often vulnerable due to their age (being elderly or children), people living with dementia, or those facing mental health challenges, including those who have made plans to act on suicidal thoughts.

While many think of London as an urban landscape, around half of the capital includes parks, commons and waterways – areas where searches can be complex, time-critical, and resource intensive. LonSAR’s professionally trained volunteers provide life-saving search support across land and water, with specialist capabilities deployed as required, including bike, drone, and water search teams  that help cover areas quickly and safely.

Anna Dean, Senior Leadership Team, London Search and Rescue, said:

“On behalf of everyone at LonSAR, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to London Freemasons for this £10,000 donation. Our volunteers are on call 24/7, and sustaining that capability depends on funding for our operational costs. This support means we can bring high-risk missing people home and give families hope during the most difficult time.”

Will Clayton, London Freemasons, said:

“We are pleased to be able to continue our support for LonSAR, helping them to continue the very valuable work that they do in supporting high risk, vulnerable and missing persons within our communities.”