Founded in the 1930s, our organisation has long provided volunteer support to the Police and, more recently, the Rescue Coordination Centre—helping locate and return lost, missing, or injured people to their families.
As technology evolves, we continually explore new equipment to enhance our operations, seeking funding when necessary. Ensuring our teams have safe, reliable clothing and gear—especially for extreme weather—is also a key funding priority.
We are the volunteer arm of New Zealand’s primary Search and Rescue organisations, supporting the NZ Police and the Rescue Coordination Centre by searching for lost, missing, and injured people, and responding to locator beacon activations.
Since 1955, RBSLSC has been protecting the community, patrolling one of Wairarapa’s most popular beaches.
Training is a key focus for lifeguards, ensuring they are always prepared to respond to emergencies and keep beachgoers safe.
The club has an action-packed calendar of activities throughout the season, supporting safety, skill development, and community engagement.
Wairarapa Rescue Helicopter provides critical emergency air services across the Wairarapa and surrounding regions. Operating 24/7, the team responds to search and rescue missions, ensuring rapid access to care in situations where every minute counts.
The service is supported by a dedicated crew of volunteer pilots, and support staff, who maintain high levels of training and readiness to meet the demands of each mission, our pilots have a lot of local knowledge. Advanced equipment and state-of-the-art helicopters allow them to operate safely in challenging conditions.
Community support is vital to the operation, enabling the helicopter service to continue saving lives and supporting emergency responders. Through fundraising, donations, and local partnerships, Wairarapa Rescue Helicopter remains a lifeline for the region.
Wairarapa Rescue Trust began in 1990 after a tough back-country rescue showed just how important it is to have strong local support. Since then, we’ve been working alongside our community to keep people safe — funding equipment and training for search and rescue volunteers, backing our local helicopter service, and supporting groups like Riversdale Surf Lifesaving.
With Wairarapa’s rugged hills, forests, rivers, and coastline, accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, community trusts, local businesses, and individuals, we’ve been able to make sure help is always close at hand. Together, we’re keeping our region safe.
At least $30,000 is required each year for Wairarapa Rescue Trust to ensure our local rescue helicopter service and Wairarapa Search and Rescue volunteers continue to have the best equipment available for SAR operations, both land and marine.
We offer three types of memberships for businesses.
• Corporate - $5000
• Platinum - $2500
• Gold - $600
• Silver - $250
Planning a trip into the great outdoors? Take a PLB with you!
A personal locator beacon (PLB) is a safety device that quickly alerts SAR services of your location in an emergency (land or sea).
Monitored by the Cospas-Sarsat satellite and relayed to the NZ Rescue Coordination Centre, a PLB can summon help whereever you are on the planet - no matter how remote - and pinpoint your location within 62m.
Cost needn't be a factor in your safety decisions - the Wairarapa Rescue Trust has PLBs for public hire.
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