Film promotes heroic work

Derry man Nathan Edgar, 21 has made a new documentary highlighting the important work done by Foyle Search and Rescue.

The voluntary based charity has been around for almost 30 years having formed in 1993. For several months Nathan has been documenting their important role in our city.

He has spoken with Alderman Graham Warke and the FSAR volunteers about the support they provide. Nathan has also received tributes from the NI Health Minister Robin Swann and Justice Minister Naomi Long of Alliance Party.

“I run a site online called Derry Hub,” he said.

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“The idea came about around a year ago, where I wanted to run an online documentary series. I wanted the series to focus on local charities and on people who make our cities a better place. So it didn’t take me long to think of Foyle Search and Rescue.

“In Derry suicide is a big issue and it’s an important topic. Any day you go out you’ll see Foyle Search and Rescue about, they play such a vital role in the prevention of suicide. Even on my way to recording some narration for the documentary; there were incidents, and during the day too. It reassured me that this is a problem.”

Foyle Search and Rescue have a dedicated team of 15 volunteers on call, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. They have a direct link to the PSNI for quick response times in order to deal with incidents around the river. Nathan says witnessing Foyle Search And Rescue’s line of work “really put me back”.

“When I first got the idea I was sitting in my house with a notepad, I had no equipment, no experience, no nothing,” said Nathan.

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“I just said to myself that I am going to make this work. So I started saving student loans and began putting things together. I started planning the documentary on paper as much as I could.

“I started off by meeting some of the volunteers. You’ll see from the documentary I meet Jack Dillon and Gerard Burns. I met with them and we talked through the ideas I had. I got the go ahead, so from then onwards for about five or six months, we’ve been working on it off and on. I’d say it took about five months to shoot, and that’s fitting it around student life and working full time in a restaurant as well.

“When we were filming, which you’ll see from the documentary, there was an accident, obviously you cannot film it. As I was interviewing Jack, there was an incident at the otherside of the water. It really put me back that I was talking about this type of stuff and it was happening right in front of my eyes.”

As well as making documentary films, Nathan is currently studying Journalism with the North West Regional College. He hopes to screen the film sometime in December. For the soundtrack, Nathan has included songs from local bands and artists.

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“Some of the music was recorded by my brother actually,” said Nathan.

“He’s a local musician playing at the minute with a band called Lavengro. So it was good to get him involved in it. He wrote one of the tracks on it and we used one of local musician Roe’s songs as well. I shot and edited everything myself, apart from the narration. I did that in Jordan O’Keefe’s Woodridge Studios. He helped me out by doing those recordings in his studio.

“With the Foyle Search and Rescue, obviously I can’t speak for all the volunteers, but what I noticed was some of the people there joined through their personal experiences of their own. To see their passion for the prevention of suicide. One thing I did learn from them is that they do so much more. They do talks, I think they’ve talked to over 10,000 people in schools. So they are actually going out into schools, raising awareness and water safety issues. There’s a lot more to the organisation from what I originally thought.”

Nathan says that the documentary will have a “soft” launch on his page Derry Hub next month. With the poor stigma attached to our river, Nathan believes there are positives of the Foyle.

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“It is a beautiful river. There is a positive side too. It has been used in the past, the likes of the Clipper Festival and stuff, they’ve been great. But there is that other aspect to it as well. With the documentary, my aim is to give this charity that recognition they deserve. That’s what I hope the whole series will be like. I want to move onto other charities too. I want to put a spotlight on the people that make the world a better place.

“The documentary will be on the Derry Hub Facebook page and YouTube channel next month. There’s a few things behind the scenes, about a possible launch, in person, but Covid permitting, it is still to be worked out.”

Anyone in distress in NI can contact Lifeline 24/7 helpline can be contacted for free on 0808 808 8000 in confidence; The Samaritans can be contacted 24/7 on 02871 265511 or Freephone 116 123 in confidence; Children can contact Childline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 0800 1111 for any issue or by visiting www.childline.org.uk in confidence.

Anyone in distress in RoI can contact Pieta House free on 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444; TEXT Crisis Textline Ireland on 50808 - a free 24/7 text service; Ring Samaritans 24/7 on freephone number 116-123,

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