Foyle Search and Rescue has once again been announced as the official charity partner for the firmus energy City of Derry Triathlon 2014. Last year more than £1,000 was donated to the organisation via people taking part raising money directly for the charity and through an entry fee donation from the event organisers, the North West Triathlon Club.
Having experienced a drop in public funding, the charity hopes to benefit financially from the support of triathletes choosing to raise money on its behalf in the upcoming 2014 event. The money will be spent maintaining the organisation’s services in the area, as part of Foyle Search and Rescue’s ‘One Big Fundraiser’ initiative, whereby a number of events are being held across the City and the money raised will all go into a central fund.
Craig Smyth, from Foyle Search and Rescue, commented: "Last year we were overwhelmed by the levels of support for our work and people were extremely generous, which is greatly appreciated by our teams who work in all weathers to keep everyone safe in and around the water.
"We focus on actively preventing incidents, educating and promoting water safety; intervention when a potential event is about to occur and also assistance and advice should a serious incident takes place. We are not restricted to helping one group of people – we are there for everyone in the community who needs us, regardless of age, gender, religion or background.
"During the last twenty years we have helped to stop more than 2300 potential suicides, rescued more than 280 people directly from the water and sadly recovered more than 110 bodies. Our 89 volunteers selflessly give up their own time every week to help people in need, patrolling the river at peak high-risk times, such as weekend nights. We can be on foot, in boats and in rescue vehicles, helping people in distress, offering help and support and if someone has entered the water, we will rescue them and bring them ashore.
"I would encourage anybody thinking of taking part in the Triathlon who hasn’t already chosen a nominated charity, to support us and we will also be at the event collecting money should anyone wish to help fund our vital work."
Foyle Search and Rescue also operates a 24 hours a day, 365 days a year call-out service and if any incident occurs on the river they are immediately contacted by the PSNI and respond within minutes.
Craig continued: "All of these services cost a lot of money to run and we are kindly supported by the organisations however we have suffered from a fall in funding from public organisations which in the long-term could have a dramatic impact on the services that we can provide. Funding only ever paid for a fraction of our costs and our outgoings include insurance, fuel for boats, jet skis and vehicles, heat, power, maintenance of boats, vehicles, equipment for our two bases, pagers and training costs.
"We rely on grants and support from the general public to top-up our funds and we are very grateful to the firmus energy City of Derry Triathlon organisers for naming us as the charity partner for a second year. In this current economic situation, every penny counts and we hope that this event will raise much needed funds for our charity."
Angeline Sloan, firmus energy commented: "Foyle Search and Rescue is a vital service that is extremely important to the local community. The statistics of how many people have been assisted over the years is phenomenal and demonstrates their worth to the local community. As well as helping others, volunteers in the charity also benefit as they get the chance to learn new skills and build self-esteem while doing something positive for their own community.
"I hope that everyone taking part in the race enjoys the day and they can compete safe in the knowledge that excellent volunteers from Foyle Search and Rescue are close by to help should any assistance be required."
