Fort Widley

We are fortunate to have access to parts of Fort Widley near Portsmouth for training and exercise purposes.

The site is a Napoleonic fort that is partially used for various purposes but has areas that remain partially derelict and unused.

These areas have been utilised by us to develop USAR training rigs of various kinds. Access to other parts of the Fort also means we can set up extensive exercises and training events in very realistic ways

Hampshire has been using Fort Widley for USAR training for many years and as it has been developed we have invited other teams to join in with exercises that became bigger and bigger each year.

Widley Week

For the last several years it has become the venue for the annual UKFSSART training event for all the UK’s overseas USAR teams. This is usually a week of in-depth training and a major exercise involving over 100 participants. Hampshire’s USAR team organise and deliver this major event every year.

In 2006 the event gained UN accreditation for the UK to be officially classified as one of the first INSARAG Heavy USAR Teams.

The next ‘Widley Week’ is actually scheduled over two weeks in mid June 2008.