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                                    231could run into thousands of pounds and fraud was not unknown. But small unit funds were tiny. Our team fund was voluntary but most paid into it. One of the main expenses was to buy a stock of plaques and badges that could be bought but were more often given away. If we worked with a civilian team they would often be given one, or if we had been treated particularly hospitably by a group or pub they would receive one. I expect they can often be seen on pub walls in the Lake District and elsewhere. Anyway, this Non Public Fund had to be audited. In fact it was audited every 6 months and could take quite a while before the books came back. Consequently, I had 2 sets of books changing over every 3 months. This was a real pain and as very little money was involved I pointed out to the Station Commander that the sum involved was much less than a day%u2019s pay and that within the RAF rules the auditing didn%u2019t need to occur, but unfortunately he did not take up my suggestion. The main problem was how to account for the plaques and badges given away. I discovered that I could write off stock if I wished and so I told the team leader who organised things on a day to day basis, that I had written off all the stock and so we no longer needed to account for it. He was happy with that and it made life much simpler. I can%u2019t remember how we accounted for anyone buying something but that didn%u2019t happen very often. As an aside I remember the Officer I/C rough shooting being told once that he had to do a stock check of the hundreds of pheasants that he had bought for the shoot that year. He was not amused.Calls were initiated by the Rescue and Co-ordination Centre which was at Petreivie Castle near Edinburgh in those days. When we got a call, the whole team went immediately to the accommodation and usually got changed into the outdoor kit. We all had a rucksack packed and ready with a sleeping bag, camping mat, climbing equipment and so forth. The team leader would get out suitable maps and brief the team 
                                
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