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Status
Received: on time
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Income
£63.5K
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Spending
£124.3K
Public benefits
Provision of a dedicated search and rescue organisation, specialising in acute water rescue and independent lifeboat operations addresses a shortfall in rescue assets for this area. The implementation of LSAR’s operational service will benefit the public by providing an emergency 999 response by both lifeboat and Quayside Response. Previously, no
such service was immediately available with the closest assets being at Bangor. Working under agreement with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Lagan Search & Rescue now provides a lifeboat and crew that will respond to those in distress within 10 minutes from page. This service will work to agreed standards and has already saved lives of individuals who have entered the waters of the River Lagan. We also undertake a prevention strategy that involves engagement and education. This initiative aims to deliver awareness of the dangers of this environment and raise awareness of the service we provide and the call out mechanisms. We believe this approach will promote safety and lead to a decline in the number of both immersions in the River and the number of consequential fatalities.. Working in partnership with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Belfast Harbour Police, we also provide preventative patrolling at key times and safety support during major events within the area. This initiative safeguards members of the public, promotes the wellbeing of users of the facilities within our area of operations and reduces response to those in times of crisis. We will also offer an out of area service, responding to incidents of flooding and to search and rescue operations regionally, and if requested, on a national and international platform. This service will benefit the general public in time of crisis or distress. Working in partnership with the Department of Transport, our development of a Rapid Deployment Team will allow provision of a voluntary rescue service, working to professional standards, to those who have no other means of assistance. The services of Lagan Search & Rescue should be provided free of cost and are therefore available to any water user or local communities in the area of benefit and beyond when called upon. We are also a training provider for many of the technical Disciplines for acute water rescue and flood response. All services work to the same, agreed National Standards and this also proves beneficial for out of area operations where the qualification held by our volunteers, will be recognized. Lagan Search & Rescue will ensure the provision of an effective service by working to agreed standards and within agreed guidance. Provision of education, prevention and rescue services will be constantly evaluated through audit by statutory working partners as well as analysis of statistics of the services we provide. We are a member of the National Water Safety Forum and provide submission of incidents of water rescue to the national Water Incident Database (WAID) that identifies trends in water immersion incidents. The purposes should not lead to any harm. All operational commitment is dynamically assessed. Any training is risk assessed. All volunteers will work under appropriate and up to date guidance that will safeguard them and appropriate equipment will be provided. Whilst any rescue operation will be dynamic and may hold a certain amount of risk, we feel that any risk of harm, however mitigated will be beneficial to the public with swift and successful rescue. The only private benefit flowing from this purpose is the investment in the development of individual volunteers and this is incidental and necessary because short term investment will lead to long term saving in overall training for our service. All outlay of investment, which may be deemed as a ‘private benefit’ will be considered and will be protected. Any volunteer who has financial investment will sign a legal agreement that will protect Lagan Search & Rescue against any financial loss.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Search & Rescue. Provision of a dedicated, independent lifeboat for the Belfast Harbour area, working under the Rescue Boat Code of Practice. Quayside Response Team that will work to the same professional standards as H.M. Coastguard, Rescue Swimmer Corps and Emergency Medical Response Team that will work to approved standards and a Flood Response
Team working to the same standards as required by DEFRA and NIFRS. All will be included in the review process for Search & Rescue in Northern Ireland.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of health or the saving of lives
Who the charity helps
- Adult training
- Community safety/crime prevention
- General public
- Overseas/developing countries
- Volunteers
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Community development
- Cross-border/cross-community
- Education/training
- Gender
- Heritage/historical
- Medical/health/sickness
- Search and rescue
- Youth development
