Stories from the Edge - Volunteer Now

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Gordon's volunteers are the unsung heroes of every sporting event, including the annual push bike event organised byCo-operation Ireland. This event went from Belfast to Dublin but now it goes along the border. RAYNET provided theorganisers with regular updates on who, what, when and whatever. Their task is to provide communication coverage at firstaid check points so that everyone who leaves comes back. Sometimes there are dark sides to the task. Gordon explainshow in recent years they had to tell organisers about a fatal motor bike crash. His mood becomes sombre. Recent motorbike deaths still weigh heavy on him. There was an incident when a relative of one biker pleaded for up-to-dateinformation.Word had already come over the airwaves and Gordon suspected the worst, “It wasn't my task to tell,” he saidsomewhat relieved.It is a highly skilled role. The communicators“huddle in cracksand crannies on top ofthe Mournes lashedby 100mph windsand horizontal rain”must almost learn a new language. “It’s theability to get across necessary informationusing as few words and yet be crystal clear,” heexplains. It's never as easy as some would think.Gordon explains that an operator has to knowhis transceiver (or radio) and the area he is in.For example there are peculiar goings on akin tothe 'X files' particularly in the MourneMountains where RAYNET have provided backup communications for the local MourneRescue team during some sporting events. Likethe famous optical illusions at Spelga there areaudio illusions, radio waves do not alwaysbehave as they should. At Spelga, cars are seento roll up hill. In areas where there should be lots of signal for the transmitters strange things do happen. On someoccasions the volunteers can't receive someone nearby but will pick up someone a lot further away. Foreign stations fromacross Europe have been heard. Sunspots can play havoc with communications, disrupting signals in all directions. Theweather is a real baddie with rain sometimes blocking signals and lightening sometimes making it a bit hazardous.By now Gordon Bannister had warmed to the interview. He was more relaxed and talked of those times when his trustyband of radio operators have had to huddle in cracks and crannies on top of the Mournes lashed by 100 mph winds andhorizontal rain.The Mournes provide many challenges for the more hardy. There is the Mourne Seven Sevens, where amateur walkers pitthemselves against the seven mountains that are over 700 metres high. It is a task that takes the toughest around fivehours to complete. It's a mean feat for anyone but RAYNET is on hand to provide radio cover and there have been manyemergency situations when local walkers have gone AWOL, according to Gordon. In one particular case the individualconcerned was caught in a patch of bad weather. The weather can change very quickly in the Mournes. The lost walker hadthe good sense to find himself a sheltered place where he bedded for the night. In the morning communication was
established and the walker was guided down by the Mourne Rescue. Then there are those days when RAYNET teams upwith the professionals in simulated rescue operations. These can be as exciting as the real thing. They involve simulatedbodies floating in the water, wrecked vessels and all the other paraphernalia of a disaster. The radio operators show theCoast Guard and others how they can be relied on to do a good job. According to Gordon this was proven at Lockerbiewhen, a decade ago, a Jumbo jet plane carrying hundreds of passengers exploded in mid air. The local RAYNET groupprovided the badly needed communications back up aiding the police and other emergency services. At Lockerbie, Gordonexplains, the amateur communicators were on the ground long after the main rescue services had left.After 21 years of volunteering, Gordon nowadmits the ubiquitous mobile phone ismaking him and his trusty team increasinglyobsolete. But why does he insist on doing thistype of volunteering? Once again and like somany other volunteers he is stuck.There is theenjoyment factor; the little boy with the tincan and string are to be perceived. It is thesame little boy that began building electronic“the unsung heroesof every sporting event”gizmos at school before going onto university where he majored in the grown up subjects. There is also the chance topractice a very difficult skill of communicating with sufficient brevity and still disclose maximum information necessary.This involves what is known as net discipline. But that still doesn't answer the question. Perhaps it is Gordon's interestin motor bike racing that brings him to every major racing event across the north and into the south with theMonaghan road racing? No, he insists. He never knew what motor bike road racing was about until he began to coverthe communications.Perhaps the answer can be found at various levels. There is a social side, because after two decades Gordon Bannister andhis radio enthusiasts have discovered a wide range of friends. Not turning up for an event would let them down. Whateverthe answer, the reality is he volunteers to help out at sporting and other events because that's what he does best.
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Tel: 028 9023 6100 Fax: 028 9023 75
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Stories from the Edge - Volunteer Now

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