FOYLE SEARCH & RESCUE FOUNDED 1993
ANNUAL REPORT 2022 YOU ARE NOT ALONE
"THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE IN AND AROUND THE RIVER FOYLE"
"VOLUNTEERS DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TIME; THEY JUST HAVE THE HEART" - ELIZABETH ANDREWS
NO ONE MAKES IT THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT THE HELP OF OTHERS
LAST YEAR, OUR VOLUNTEERS ATTENDED 319 INCIDENTS
WE RESCUED 46 PEOPLE
FROM THE WATER
259 PEOPLE
WERE STOPPED FROM ENTERING THE WATER
Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, a band of very special men & women give up their time, to begin their work as volunteers of Foyle Search & Rescue, donning their now familiar orange jackets, to patrol the river, it's walkways, and bridges.
Since it's inception back in 1993, 29 years ago, Foyle Search & Rescue has been responsible for saving 540 people from the river and helping an additional 5,320 people who may have entered the water, had we not been there for them.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"I CANNOT DO ALL THE GOOD THAT THE WORLD NEEDS, BUT THE WORLD NEEDS ALL THE GOOD I CAN DO." - JANA STANFIELD
CHARITY STRUCTURE
01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023
COMMITTEE
Chairman Vice-Chairman Treasurer Company Secretary Health & Wellbeing Officer Committee Member Committee Member
Stephen Twells Brian Óg Mullan Cormac O'Hare (Martin O'Neill) Kristina McDaid (Rohan Chada) Sandra O'Doherty Steven Durrent Martin O'Neill
PAST ROLES
Communications Officer Training Officer Committee Member
Danielle Francis Seamus McCloskey John Ferguson
STAFF
Charity Manager Facilities Manager Digital Lead
Christina McKeegan Anthony McMenamin Rossa Smallman
CO-ORDINATORS
Shore Co-ordinator Boat Co-ordinator Pager Co-ordinator Swiftwater Co-ordinator Drone Co-ordinator Sonar Co-ordinator FREC Co-ordinator
Mark Buckley (Ian Connor) Steven Durrent Neal Cooke (John Ferguson) Gerard O'Kane Ryan Murphy Seamus McCloskey Conor Hargan
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"TRYING IS ALWAYS ENOUGH" - PATRICIA BRIGGS
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
This has been our 29th year in operation, providing a valuable service to this city. As you can see from the inside cover of this booklet, since 1993, hundreds of rescues (540) have saved hundreds of lives, with thousands more stopped from entering the water over those 30 years (5,320). Sadly though (128) did die during that time by entering the river.
Each and every one of those lives lost represents someone’s son, daughter, partner, relative, friend or colleague. Every death has been an individual tragedy as well as life-changing for those affected by that loss.
The year just ending in March 2023 has been no exception. 46 rescues were carried out, saving lives, while 259 people were stopped from entering the river, but tragically, we had the sad task of recovering 5 people who lost their lives in the river. We are able to commemorate still being here almost 30 years after Billy Garnon came up with the idea of Foyle Search & Rescue, through his own family tragedy, having had tremendous support and collaboration from some of the most exemplary organisations on this island.
The work that our volunteers carry out is never usually done in isolation. We could not deliver our services, nor make the difference we make, without the help of many others, and we are honoured to be able to work alongside the City Centre CCTV Team, Community Wardens, the PSNI, NIFRS and NIAS, who all provide vital support to us.
We are very grateful to Derry City & Strabane District Council, the Public Health Agency and the Western Health & Social Care Trust for their unwavering funding to us over many years.
You will hear more about our financial situation within our Treasurer Report, but it cannot be highlighted enough how much we are supported by families and friends of those affected by suicide in one way or another, as well as businesses and the general public. Over 80% of all our annual income comes from public donations. That is outstanding, and humbling to us, as we know there are many worthy causes in our city, deserving of peoples’ appreciation, and financial support. To be there, when we are needed most, is the least we can do to repay that kindness and generosity.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"YOU MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT YOU GET, YOU MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT YOU GIVE" - WINSTON CHURCHILL
Financially, we ended the year strongly, given the shocking rise in running costs such as heat, fuel and electricity, not to mention other cost of living increases we have had to absorb. During the last year we saw some much needed and worthwhile investment: some funded externally, some internal such as a new state-of-the-art multibeam system to replace our decade old sonar, as well as upgrading our thermal imaging sights.
Operational highlights included providing safety cover for the Maritime Festival and Halloween celebrations, as well as receiving a Gold Award from Families First NI, for our contribution to the community. We were also very excited, and somewhat relieved, to be able to return to our normal activities of duty nights and training after the pandemic.
When I see it in black and white, It always amazes me how many hours our volunteers give up on average each year doing duty nights, pager cover, fundraising, collections and counting, searches, meetings and training-between 17,000 and 20,000, all unpaid!
I am very proud to say that in June this year we are commemorating 30 years in operation, serving the people of this community, and wider afield.
Since 1993, FSR volunteers have stopped 5,320 people who were in danger of, or considered taking their own life, in the river.
However, statistically, the number dying by suicide in the river has remained almost constant over the last 30 years since the formation of FSR, with an average of 5 fatalities each year. We continue to see an increase in the number of incidents that we have to deal with each year, and unfortunately we do not see that trend slowing down, or reversing, any time soon due to both a non-sitting NI Executive and cuts in government department budgets. This is affecting the ability to fully implement the NI Protect Life Strategy as well as vital services such as early intervention counselling in schools being stopped. This could have longer term impact on our young people in the years to come.
With the right help, people can get through a suicidal crisis and recover. The majority of people that FSR volunteers intervene with do not go on to take their own lives. This is testament to the fact that our prevention does work, yet services where they can make the biggest difference are being affected.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"THE SMALLEST ACT OF KINDNESS IS WORTH MORE THAN THE GRANDEST INTENTION " - OSCAR WILDE
Looking towards our 30th year we have some great milestones and goals ahead. We will be supporting the Danny Quigley Foundation as Danny undertakes a challenging fundraiser in August.
We have a glitzy Gala Ball in September and a Remembrance event for those who have lost their lives in the river, in October.
Operationally, we will be driving ahead with a digital transform programme, aimed at simplifying many of our activities, investing in more technology for our drone, sonar and swift water teams as well as new duty team vehicles, a multi-disciplinary command vehicle and new livery branding throughout our fleet. We will look ahead to re applying for our coveted “Investing in Volunteers” status as we continue to invest in our volunteers with training and personal protective equipment.
These actions will all be crucial in supporting our front-line duty night and pager teams. All of this will be underpinned by investing in a new staffing structure, which will see us increasing our staffing team from 3 to 5 colleagues, under the guidance of our new Chairman, Brian Óg Mullan, who will take over from me in October.
FSR volunteers have been providing support and encouragement to thousands of people since 1993, making someone’s day worthwhile, giving hope, strength and courage to face another day, because they have simply cared enough to give the most precious resource in their lives, and the most treasured commodity in the world: time!
I would like to thank every volunteer, and every family member of every volunteer, that has ever given up their time to volunteer with us in the last 30 years. You have all made a difference to many people’s lives, even in some small way.
I am eagerly looking forward to the next few years as we embed all of the above, confident that we will continue to drive the success of FSR, as it continues to be fit for the future, because our charity as a whole as well as our supporters are a shining example of all that is wonderful about this great city of ours, and is something we can all be very proud of.
STEPHEN TWELLS
CHAIRMAN 2014 - 2023
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"WHEREVER YOU TURN, YOU CAN FIND SOMEONE WHO NEEDS YOU" - ALBERT SCHWEITZER
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Health and Wellbeing within the charity has grown over the years within Foyle Search and Rescue. Whilst continuing to oversee duty night attendance, involvement with open nights and interview process during the last two recruitment drives and the management of volunteer timeouts, also organising the monthly volunteer draw as well as wellbeing events.
Recruitment kicked off last year with two intakes of volunteers. We had 6 new recruits who started in February 2022 with a further 13 who joined us in October 2022, all now have completed training and are doing their duty nights, plus helping with fundraising. Welcome to all of you. Thank you to all who helped with interviews, open nights and training.
Last June, both myself and Christina met with the Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum with the view to partner up with them on some events, especially the Danny Quigley swim, which is coming up shortly. At that meeting we were offered to avail of trauma training and a follow up supervisory training. This was something that we have been trying to do for a number of years for the volunteers and staff alike. The feedback from that was quite positive although some thought the 1-hour follow up wasn’t enough time to really get people to open up. I believe that this was down to some groups larger than we would have liked. We hope that this training will continue and volunteers will benefit from it.
The first of the wellbeing events started off in June of last year after the bucket appeal. To show our appreciation a night was arranged for a Banquet and Bowls, for those that attended it was a good night’s craic.
On the 21 st of August we held our annual Summer Family fun Day. This is a great way to not only say thank our volunteers but also to our volunteers’ families who give up their family time. There were loads of games, bouncy castles, rides and a barbeque plus a boat trip. The Dolphins even came out to play Children and Adults alike had a really good time. I myself enjoyed the Dolphins so much that I had several trips on the boat just to see them.
Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Halloween fun day due to lack of numbers, but for those that did have their kid’s names down a goodie bag was given instead.
On the 10th of September we had a team building day at Jungle N.I. We took part in Laser tag and had bite to eat. A really good fun day.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"YOU CAN STUDY GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN SCHOOL, BUT THE BEST WAY TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS IS TO VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME." - ROB MCKENNA
On the 11th of December we had a visit from the big man himself. All the children met with Santa had a photo taken and received a selection box. The children enjoyed some arts and crafts, had a party and was given a meal.
Last but not least we had our Christmas night out in the Waterfoot Hotel. We went back in time to the 1920s and the theme was casino night, I have to say everyone really made an effort with the costumes. We had a drinks reception a sit-down meal, after which we hit the casino tables and a few prizes were given out to winners and losers alike. The music was good that even the chairman hit the dance floor. A great fun filled night was had by all who attended.
This year we have been focusing on our 30-year celebrations which will take place on Saturday the 30th of September at the Everglades Hotel. Some really good ideas have been put forward for these events leading up to the night. We have decided to do a raffle for holidays vouchers and asked all volunteers to sell at least 2 books each, for each book sold by a volunteer their name will be entered into a draw for a £500 holiday voucher, good luck all.
We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our volunteers who help out with events, and to everyone for their commitment to Foyle Search and Rescue and for the support you give to one another, committee and the charity as a whole.
SANDRA O'DOHERTY
HEALTH & WELLBEING OFFICER
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"THE BEST WAY TO FIND YOURSELF IS TO LOSE YOURSELF IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS." - GANDHI
FINANCIAL REPORT
This time last year, we predicted that 2022-23 would be characterised by rising expenditure and falling income. This has proved to be the case with average monthly income falling by 16% (£37,947 to £32,037) compared to the last year not impacted by covid (2019-20) and the average monthly expenditure rising by 31% compared to the same period (£21,841 to £28,522). (These numbers exclude the Sonar investment from DEARA spent on the Norbit multibeam system.)
EXPENDITURE
Our initial spending budget had been set at £354,450. Actual spend in the period was £532,175.Taking out the extraordinary costs associated with the sonar equipment,(£213,823), as well as boat damage (£6,575), this gives us a year end spend of £311,777 which is 12% below budget.
The majority of these saving versus budget came from the following:
Training down £7k, Business Case/3 Year Plan-£20k, Equipment/PPE/Uniform-£7k, Dry Dock -£19K, Mini-bus -£15k, Digital Transformation -£5k.
Below budget performance was achieved despite costs up, Insurances up by 49%, Fuel up by 26% and Investments made in Telephone services, Pager, Drone/Van Mobile Control Centre, Jet Ski Maintenance, Sonar Equipment and Base CCTV.
Credit must be given to all involved in the charity, to constantly challenge all expenditures to ensure they are justified and aligned with driving the charity forward, for us to come in under budget.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"NO ACT OF KINDNESS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, IS EVER WASTED.." - AESOP
INCOME
For the year from April 2022 to March 2023, our total generated income was £791,045. Taking out extraordinary income associated with the new sonar equipment from Norbit (£191,436) and an insurance pay-out to repair damage to one of our drones(£21,374), this gives us a year end income of £578,235 which is below original forecast and 16% below the actual income received in the year April 2019 to March 2020.
We continued to receive funding from statutory agencies’: The Rank Foundation, Derry & Strabane District Council, the Public Health Agency, Department of Justice and Developing Healthy Communities. These funds were for staff and running costs, some equipment, and volunteer development.
Once again excellent support from the public through our collection boxes, bucket appeal and flag day, raising funds of £40,065, £11,744 and £6,223 respectively with safety cover over the Maritime Festival raising a further £13,400.
Donations from 177 named individuals and local businesses, schools, youth clubs, running clubs, GAA, families, children, and donations in lieu of loved ones who had passed away, remained strong, amounted to £384,581.
Special thanks to Christina for the success in managing relationships with our charity partners as well as organising our collection runs and Flag Day, with special thanks to the volunteers doing these.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"VOLUNTEERS HELP DRIVE OUR COUNTRY’S PROGRESS, AND DAY IN AND DAY OUT, THEY MAKE EXTRAORDINARY SACRIFICES TO EXPAND PROMISE AND POSSIBILITY." - BARACK OBAMA
FINANCIAL STATUS
Our year end bank balance is £1,107,578. This represents an increase of £66,609 (6.4%) on period ending 31st March 2022.
Allocation of Funds Reserve Fund- £250,000, Restricted Funds-£51,000 Designated Funds£12,000, Unrestricted funds- £794,578.
2023/2024 OUTLOOK
We estimate that the coming year will be challenging, similar to the year just passed, with Income potentially falling if we maintain the status quo and expenditure rising. To counter this trend, we plan to transform our fundraising through investing in a new role of Fundraising Manager. Also as the charity grows both in numbers of volunteers and complexity, we plan to add an additional staff role of Volunteer Manager. It is hoped to have both roles staffed by the end of 2023.
The challenge for 2023-2024 will be to develop new income streams, while sustaining our traditional streams of collection boxes, bucket appeal and flag days. However these are only sustainable with continued commitment from volunteers. We have also planned a number of events associated with our 30 year anniversary, culminating in a Gala Ball at the end of September 2023.
We plan to complete ground works at the base, build a dry dock, replace two of the four main boat engines, invest in the very latest drone equipment.
CORMAC O'HARE
TREASURER
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
41 ¥i' //
• FSAR
"ALONE WE CAN DO SO LITTLE; TOGETHER WE CAN DO SO MUCH." - HELEN KELLER
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
Lockdown had a dramatic impact on the number of incidents we dealt with in the previous 2 years, where we seen huge decrease. Unfortunately, our incidents in this reporting period saw these come back on par with 2019.
In 2022/23 period Foyle Search and Rescue attended 319 incidents, 150 of which were attended by our Duty Night Teams and 169 of which were Emergency Response Pager Team incidents.
46 individuals were taken directly from the water alive, 134 distressed individuals were taken away from the railings and bridges surrounding the river, we had 129 causes for concern and we recovered 5 bodies in this financial reporting period. Emergency response team also dealt with 5 misc incidents, broken down boats, flooding etc
A special thank you must go to all our operational volunteers on duty nights and pager for your dedication and persistence in the number of lives you have saved. These statistics are the main tool that we have in gauging how successful our service is and how many people we help. Although we helped 319 people directly in our life preservation crisis response capacity the actual number of people we helped throughout the year is much greater than that. It is there to be seen by all, especially those who serve alongside you.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"START WHERE YOU ARE. USE WHAT YOU HAVE. DO WHAT YOU CAN." - ARTHUR ASHE
BOAT TEAM
Over the past 12 months the boat team has increased in size beyond that of any other year in numbers.
We covered safety for multiple events the biggest being the Clipper festival.
TRAINING
We had the biggest expression of interest ever received for crew, which the training team are working there way through the list. Seamus and Gareth both passed their RYA powerboat instructor course. This now means they can run and assess up to level 2 powerboat within a RYA training centre.
UPCOMING EVENTS/TRAINING
As said previously the team are working through the list to get everyone trained that has put their name in for training. We have once again arranged training with PGM training to provide VHF and Sea survival courses these will be advertised shortly.
BOAT UPDATE
At the moment we have 3 duty/operational boats, 1 sonar cabin boat, 1 steady 400, 4 skis, seapro and all associated trailers. We are now using a new company for the repairs and servicing who have managed to get us a quick turnaround where needed.
We have put in place for 2023 to upgrade the Spirit of John with 2 brand new 150 hp Selva engines.
KIT UPDATE
Under the guidance of Rossa the NFC system has been implemented now giving us a digital record of damages and notified as soon as a damage happens. This will continue to be developed throughout 2023.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"VOLUNTEERS DON’T GET PAID, NOT BECAUSE THEY’RE WORTHLESS, BUT BECAUSE THEY’RE PRICELESS." - SHERRY ANDERSON
PPE SUPPLIER
We have spent alot of time researching and testing other PPE providers. Due to ongoing long turnaround times for drysuit repairs and faults appearing in drysuits we are going to be moving away from our current supplier.
We are now developing a SAR drysuit with Otter to try and get a multidisciplinary suit rather than an off the shelf suit.
WITH THANKS
As you are all aware after 9 years I have decided to step down as Boat Coordinator. I wish to personally thank all of those who have given their time, energy and patience to help me in the role and wish everyone the best in years to come. I also wish the incoming coordinator the best of luck and hope all give the person the support you have given me.
STEVEN DURRENT
BOAT CO-ORDINATOR
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"THERE IS NO BETTER EXERCISE FOR YOUR HEART THAN REACHING DOWN AND HELPING TO LIFT SOMEONE UP." - BERNARD MELTZER
SONAR TEAM
Our Sonar team carry out searches of the river using specialist equipment when someone goes under the surface and does not resurface.
The Sonar team consists of 8 volunteers, who put in a lot of time and effort particularly when a search happens, but throughout the year.
2022 was a significant year for the team for many reasons.
In April 2022, we saw the arrival of the new, DEARA funded, multibeam system from NORBIT, a company that specialises in multibeam sonar equipment. This was a significant milestone for the team and for the charity as this was a major advance in technology and would greatly improve our search capabilities.
The team spent multiple weekends in April learning how the new system operated, working both with NORBIT, who came onsite to conduct the training and working independently, after NORBIT had gone to familiarise themselves with the equipment.
In May 2022, the team travelled to Donegal to assist the Irish Coast Guard offshore with a search for a missing person. Unfortunately, this person was not found and sadly is still missing.
Over the summer, the team spent a great deal of time working on improving the sonar set up, with the charity investing in additional equipment including extra monitors for the boat and battery chargers and inverters. A special thanks to Ryan Murphy who helped install some of this equipment.
The team also designed and configured a system to use the new sonar from the steady so that the system could be used in other smaller waterways where the larger boat could not access. This would shortly prove invaluable. MIM engineering have proudly supported the team creating custom stainless-steel brackets for our boats to mount the sonar system with no charge. Their support is greatly appreciated!
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"AS YOU GROW OLDER, YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT YOU HAVE TWO HANDS — ONE FOR HELPING YOURSELF, THE OTHER FOR HELPING OTHERS." - AUDREY HEPBURN
August 2022 was a busy month for the team with training and 2 searches. The first of the searches was in Dungannon where the team were asked to assist the PSNI with a search where partial remains had been found and a follow up search was requested in an effort to rule out if there was anything else of interest.
Sadly, the second of the searches in August was also in Enagh Lough. All 8 members of the sonar team responded to this incident, and using the newly customised set up for the steady were able to quickly locate the person underwater. Members of the team proceeded to assist the divers with the body recovery. It goes without saying that all help and assistance at any incident is greatly appreciated but the team played a crucial part in assisting other Emergency Services in tragic circumstances and we were extremely grateful that the entire team turned out.
In November 2022, the team were tasked to a search in Lough Erne, County Fermanagh to look for a person believed to have fallen off a boat. Due to work commitments, the logistics and travel, the team had limited availability however, that said, the team spent 3 full days in Lough Erne across 2 weeks and the presence of the team was very much appreciated by the POLSA and the family. The male was found washed up on shore in the second week.
In January 2023, the team had their first search of the River Foyle since upgrading the system, where a person went missing after entering the water from the Craigavon bridge. The team carried out sonar searches throughout the night and members of the team went on to recover the body in the early hours of the first morning of the search.
In recent months, the team has been sharing advice with Waterford Marine who have now followed the FSAR example and invested in multibeam technology. The team have also been liaising with Lancashire fire service who are looking at sonar systems for their operations. As well as this, the team has been working hard to implement robust operating procedures with a full review of their SOPS.
A special thanks to all members of the sonar team; Seamus (Sonar Co-Ordinator), Gareth, Danielle, Frances, Rohan, Marc, Paul and Paddy.
The team put in a great deal of time and effort into Sonar operations and we could not make the advances we are making without their level of commitment.
SEAMUS MCCLOSKEY
SONAR CO-ORDINATOR
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"GOOD ACTIONS GIVE STRENGTH TO OURSELVES AND INSPIRE GOOD ACTIONS IN OTHERS." - PLATO
SWIFTWATER TEAM
Over the past year, the Swiftwater team has made great strides in investing in our continuous operational and professional development and capabilities through training and undertaking and obtaining the relevant qualifications in our field.
We have recently completed the construction and fit-out of our new dedicated Swiftwater trailer which will be used to store all the Swiftwater team equipment that is needed in an emergency response and which will also act as a command centre/RV point at any incident. The new trailer has been completed with fully stand alone electrics, dry wash area for team members to use on a callout and a mobile repeater system to boost communications within ourselves and other emergency services in all areas.
2023/2024 OUTLOOK
We will welcome 8 new members to the team this calendar year to leave us with 16 Swiftwater operatives in total on the team. 4 of the team will be recertifying their Rescue 3 Europe SFR and SRT courses with 8 new team members also undertaking these courses alongside their fellow volunteers.
We hope to have this training completed by end of May. Once complete the team will have 16 fully operational and certified operatives made up of Flood First responders and Swiftwater rescue technicians.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers in the team who selflessly give up their time to help develop, grow and maintain our team andto all the staff, Co-ordinator's and Committee members who continue to assist, help and support our team at every opportunity, none of it would be possible without all of your efforts, thank you!
GERARD O'KANE
SWIFTWATER CO-ORDINATOR
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"HELP ONE ANOTHER. THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT, AND NO PRESENT LIKE THE TIME." - JOHN WALTERS
DRONE TEAM
Throughout the past twelve months, the UAV team have continued to build upon the foundations laid in previous years by consistently supporting the emergency response team during emergency taskings in the river Foyle, as well as supporting partners in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service locally with support during searches for high-risk missing persons and aerial support at major incidents.
We also supported City of Derry Airport with their annual multi-agency emergency response exercise with aerial support and we continue to prove that UAS technology now plays a pivotal role in search and rescue emergency response.
Throughout this year, we have focussed on rebuilding our operational procedures and internal training processes to align with best industry practice and to keep abreast of frequent changes to UAS regulations in the United Kingdom as we diverge from EU UAS regulations following our departure from the European Union.
We’ve continued to train and qualify remote pilots with new and enhanced skills and qualifications, taking the GVC licence count to three within the team, and we’ll continue to build upon this during the year ahead.
We developed and published a technical specification for a dedicated Mobile Incident Command Unit, secured management approval and completed a tender process to appoint a supplier to complete the build which is currently under way with delivery expected in early summer 2023.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; INDEED, IT’S THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS." - MARGARET MEAD
For the year ahead, we intend to re-enforce to team further with an additional emergency response UAV, boasting the combined attributes of the current fleet. We will take delivery of our new Mobile Incident Command Unit which will serve as a command post and surveillance unit during emergency taskings, and we will seek to integrate smart software and connectivity solutions to enable our flight crew to provide and assess as much information as possible at the scene of an incident.
We will continue to enhance and develop and skills and competence of the full flight crew and seek opportunities to maintain a strong and resilient flight crew through recruitment and upskilling. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the flight crew for their continued efforts and commitment throughout the year.
Furthermore, on behalf of the team, thank you to the staff of Foyle Search & Rescue for their hard work and efforts in the background, helping us to maintain operational status throughout the year.
RYAN MURPHY
DRONE CO-ORDINATOR
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"OUR FINGERPRINTS DON’T FADE FROM THE LIVES WE’VE TOUCHED." - WILL FETERS
FUNDRAISING & EDUCATION
With Covid restrictions lifted it wasn’t until the second quarter of the year that we seen a real return to fundraising events.
We would like to begin by saying a massive thank you to all the local businesses who choose our charity as their Charity Partner of the Year 2022.
These partnerships not only bring in amazing funds through all their hard work and dedication but the awareness around our services and other local services that are available. Thank you to Pieta House and Darkness Into Light Derry for choosing to support our charity through the event in 2022, It wa great to get everyone back together and walking into the sunrise. January 2022, saw us launch our partnership with New Look Ltd with them diving into fundraising events across all 26 stores in Northern Ireland, and what a year they had with various events each month in all their stores and with a big finally in Dec with their very own Debbie doing a sky dive. Thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of your events, it takes a lot of hard work and this hard work shows with the donations you all have made and it was a pleasure getting to meet and work alongside you all.
The biggest shout out goes to all our Box Run volunteers, like clockwork they are out each month pounding the streets in rain, hail, snow and with very little sunshine, come out to collect around all the local shops. Their dedication to the monthly box run is reflected in the amount that was brought in to the charity, £40,064. We were happy to see the return of our annual bucket appeal which brought in £11744. Both our winter and summer flag day were carried out within the town and we would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers and staff who came out in force to help and raised £6223. These events are well supported by the amazing people of our city, and each and every penny goes toward training, equipment and PPE for our volunteers.
We could not go without saying a massive thank you to the team of volunteers who come in each month to help count all the coins collected through the monthly box runs, flag days and bucket appeals. Your dedication to this role works hand in hand with the collection team and is key to the charity continuing to carry out these internal fundraisers.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"TOO OFTEN WE UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A TOUCH, A SMILE, A KIND WORD, A LISTENING EAR, AN HONEST COMPLIMENT, OR THE SMALLEST ACT OF CARING" - LEO BUSCAGLIA
As a self-funded charity, we wouldn’t be able to carry out our role of 'The Preservation of Life' without the continued support of the members of the public and their donations, local business choosing us as their charity partner or holding fundraising events, community groups and schools putting their all into raising funds. We would like to thank each and every one of you for donating, supporting, raising awareness for our charity, you are the reason that we continue to operate and we are forever grateful this. It is hard to mention every donation, but we would like to highlight some of the events that happened throughout the year.
As every other year, the support that we received from the schools and higher education institutes in 2022 was above and beyond, we are extremely grateful for your continued support over the years. In 2022/2023 we facilitated 28 talks to schools, community groups and workplaces which has increased from our figures over the last number of years due to covid. The majority of these visit this year were more substantial in which our teams carried out talks over a number of days in same location addressing 600 + students in one session. We found great benefit in attending the Yes project twice this year it involved a range of schools from across all sections of the community and of various age groups. An estimate figure of 3000 + people benefited from our educational service. The success of our education visits is measured by the number of talks we carry out, the number of attendees at these talks. We feel that this prevention area of our work is invaluable in making both young and older people aware of the issues of suicide within our city and how to safely use the different types of waterways.
We would like to mention as many local businesses who have supported us in the last year, it is truly amazing the many businesses within our city and some further afield that support our charity. Thank you to Hugh Keirney from Cooley Jewellers who dawned the Santa Suit again this year and donated £1500.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"THE WORLD IS HUGGED BY THE FAITHFUL ARMS OF VOLUNTEERS." - TERRI GUILLEMETS
The continued support that our charity receives each year from the same business and people is immense. We would like to say a big thank you to Jennifer at Miss Shining Light and all those who were involved in the pageant for 2022, they put their all into their fundraising. We are always proud to be chosen as their charity partner as the hard work and awareness that is raised through this pageant is outstanding, well done to everyone involved. Thank you to Jay Doherty Photography, Fairytale Wedding Cars, Ferry Clever, The O’Donnell Family, Foyle Food Group, The Inner City Trust, Danske Bank, Jake & Co, and BSG Civil Engineering who continue to, each year, raise funds for our charity and raise great awareness around mental health and the services within our city. We are always overwhelmed with the continued support and extremely grateful, and we look forward to continuing to build on our future relationships.
Fundraising for 2022 was a great success, but I couldn’t finish this report without highlighting and congratulating the machines that are Ryan Dillon Stephen Quigley and Seamus McCrossan. Stephen and Seamus completed a half marathon everyday in Sep to raise funds for ourselves and the Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum. Well that was the plan but the last week they increased this to do a marathon each day. The support they received from the city and people taking part was outstanding.
But not to forget that at the same time Ryan Dillion was running 10k a day in Sep in memory of his brother Emmett. The support he also received from the city and the legendary Carl Frampton was unbelievable. But the support that they all showed each other during that month was very humbling. Therefore, we would like to say a final big thank you to everyone who got involved in raising funds, raising awareness and supporting Foyle Search and Rescue, and a final thank you to all our volunteers, staff and their family and friends. Without you all our charity would not be able to carry out the life saving work that we do, giving up your time allows us to meet our aims and objectives of ‘The Preservation of Life in and around the Rover Foyle’. We look forward to building on all these relationships in 2023 as we celebrate our 30th Year.
Thank You
CHRISTINA MCKEEGAN
CHARITY MANAGER
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
"THERE IS NOTHING THAT HARVESTS MORE OF A FEELING OF EMPOWERMENT THAN BEING OF SERVICE TO SOMEONE IN NEED." - GILLIAN ANDERSON
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2022
Volunteers & Staff
Four Star Pizza
General Public - North & South of the Border
Dominos
The Mayor & Staff Public Health Agency Derry City & Strabane District Council Department of Justice Gilliland Family Emergency Services NISAR Rescue Organisations City Centre Initiative Inner City Trust
Anita Delivery
Diamond Corrugated
Pieta House Print Chameleon
CCTV
RYA
Western Health and Social Care Trust
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ANNUAL REPORT 2022
YOU ARE NOT ALONE CCIS 028 7126 2300 LIFELINE 0808 808 8000 SAMARITANS 116 123 HURT 02871 369 696 AWARE 02871 260 602 CHILDLINE 0800 11 11 ME4MENTAL 02871 413 050
FOYLE SEARCH & RESCUE 028 7131 3800 Office@foylesearch.com
Charity No: NIC106685
20 Victoria Rd, Londonderry BT47 2AB
Company No: NI640533