RAYNET

RAYNET (Radio Amateur Emergency Network) is a generic name for groups of licensed Radio Amateurs who provide their time and expertise on a voluntary basis to provide radio communications for community events as well as emergencies and disasters.

RAYNET was formed in 1953 following the severe East coast flooding, to provide a way of organising the valuable resource that Amateur Radio is able to provide to the community.
Since then, it has grown into a very active organisation with around 2000 members, providing communication assistance on many hundreds of events each year.

Amateur Radio operators have access to a wide range of radio bands, operating modes and equipment which allows RAYNET to offer a unique range of emergency communication services to our user services. Coupled with our members endless resourcefulness, RAYNET is regarded as a professional support organisation by both the statutory and volunteer emergency service organisations.

If you want to find out more about the objectives of RAYNET then visit www.raynet-uk.net.

There are approximately 250 independent groups across the UK.  Licensing regulations allow us to assist various organisations (user Services) with communications for emergency or safety reasons. The list of user Services includes the Red Cross, St Johns Ambulance, Scottish Ambulance, HM Coastguard, Salvation Army, The Emergency Planning Officer, the Police, the Armed Forces, and various public utilities.

We use local community events to help us train and keep our operational expertise up to scratch. We also work with other groups within Scotland and throughout the UK. The regular training using these community events puts us in a position to respond rapidly in the event of an emergency.

Lothians RAYNET, operate mainly in the Lothians and Borders Areas of Scotland but also support other local authorities. We are an active group with around 25 members. Lothians RAYNET have agreements in place to provide mutual support with and for other voluntary organisations.

We are a non profit organisation and all our members are volunteers. We rely on donations to support the groups activities.