Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team get the financial go-ahead for new base

Credit: ITV Border

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team have reached their fundraising target of £500,000, to build a new base near Gosforth.

The team received the final £200,000 needed from the Copeland Community Fund, bringing them to their half a million pound target.

The new £500,000 base is earmarked for land near Longlands Farm in Gosforth.

The new building will have a triple garage, a boat, a gear-up room, a mulit-purpose room and a control room on the ground floor. Outside, there will be a retractable 18 metre radio mast to allow for better communication between members.

The team can also use the the surrounding fields to land helicopters and park rescue vehicles.

An impression of the new base at Gosforth Credit: Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team

The team was awarded planning permission by Copeland Council earlier this month, having already been given the go-ahead for the headquarters itself in December 2014.

The current base is an old blacksmiths forge and the tight corners and layout means some of the kit doesn't fit in the building, as well as causing a 15 minute struggle to get the rescue boat out of the building.

It can take the team up to 15 minutes to get this boat out of the room it's stored in Credit: ITV Border
The rescue of Jasper the dog, who went missing on Scafell Pike in 2014, sparked donations of £60,000 Credit: Adam Nolan

A large portion of the funding was raised after the story of Jasper, a dog who went missing on Scafell in 2014 but was later found - was spread on social media across the world.

Jasper's owner, Adam Nolan, raised over £60,000 for the team after creating an online fundraising page following the safe return of his beloved dog.

Adam Nolan hands over a cheque to Wasdale Mountain Rescue Credit: ITV Border