King's honour for Edale Mountain Rescue Team volunteer celebrates almost half a century being a lifesaving work

Tony Hood was named in the New Year’s Honours List - the first honours list made by King Charles III - and at the end of September he made his way down to Windsor to collect his award.

A spokesperson for Edale Mountain Rescue said: “In January we were delighted to be able to share the news that our own Tony Hood had been awarded an MBE in the new years honours list.

“Now Tony has been presented with the medal.

“Mountain rescue truly is a family affair for the Hoods - Hazel, Tony’s wife used to be a Callout officer and Matt, Tony’s son, is a current operational team member of over 20 years service and is a duty team leader.”

Tony has been a member of Edale MRT for almost 50 years and during that time has served in many roles including as Team Leader and Team Chairman.

He is currently the base manager ensuring the team are stocked up on tea, coffee and all the other essentials that keep team members happy.

He had also served as an Incident Controller for the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation, coordinating callouts throughout the region.

During this time he worked as a Ranger for the Peak District National Park, much of this spent covering the popular Eastern Edges.

Tony spent many years dealing with and coordinating rescues from the edges before the current system of mountain rescue response was established whilst working as a ranger.

The spokesperson said: “Tony is a great supporter and believer in Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England search dogs and has been a dogsbody assisting in their training for many years.

“He can still be found now on a Wednesday night hiding out in Peak District waiting for the dogs to find him, no matter what the weather.

“Derwent Leader, Derwent Tony, Mike November 4, Body Tony, Peakland Foxtrot – he has gone by many call signs over the years but the man has stayed the same.

“He is a credit to himself, his family and the wider mountain rescue community.”