Volunteer group that responded to Telford floods needs your help

Following the storms that swept Shropshire in Thursday, flash floods left AFC Telford United's pitch at the SEAH Stadium underwater.

The club were just an hour away from hosting a match between Wolves Academy and a youth side from the French side Monaco at their Wellington ground when the floods hit.

After the club turned to social media for volunteers to help dry the pitch out, the Joint Civil Aid Corp sprung in to action.

The little-known group is a national organisation of around 600 volunteers that was set up in 2015 and has bases up and down the country.

They assist the emergency services at incidents ranging from road traffic accidents, to storms such Thursday's.

Philip Martin, the Joint Civil Aid Corp Commander for Wales, said that last week they deployed their own tender engine, which is based in Cosford to assist AFC Telford by helping to pump out the water from the ground.

He said: “Normally what happens is we get a call from the emergency services to our central command centre and that gets sent to a regional commander.

“In this case, the regional commander at Cosford saw the incident on the news and knew the tender could pump out the water. He contacted me and I authorised them to assist.”

He said the Joint Civil Aid Corp was there on Thursday evening through to Friday helping AFC Telford.

But he added, that the organisation, which is a registered charity, is in need of volunteers.

He said there were various opportunities for volunteers whether working in operations assisting people on the ground; local experts that can assist communities; and support staff.

“We are open to anybody over the age of 18. People who are disabled can also join our support staff. We are also planning to have a cadet branch in the future.”

Anybody interested in signing up can find more information on the organisation's website: jcac.org.uk/