Guernsey Friends of Air Search 

President's Report 2002

 When I gave my last annual report to you a year ago, I said that there had been a dramatic increase in the number of calls on the service.  That increase in demand has been sustained during the last year and all indications are that calls will stay at a similar or even higher level in the future.  In addition to the many calls for missing persons or vessels in trouble, there does seem to have been an increase in calls for assistance from other land emergency services, on both Guernsey and Jersey, to which the organisation is always willing to readily respond.

A number of searches have taken place looking for missing persons both in the coastal areas and on occasions further inland.  The enormous enhancement to our search capability given by the installation of the FLIR night-vision system has meant that many of these searches have been carried out after dark.  A supporter recently asked me how the aircraft could find people in the dark and identify them.  They were rather taken aback when I pointed out that on a recent search the FLIR had picked up rabbits in a field.  I would add that this is not an open invitation for anyone whose pet bunny has burrowed out of their pen to call in Air Search One to look for it!  

Flight sponsorship is a very important source of revenue for us and we are grateful to the companies and individuals that have sponsored the costs of specific individual searches.  However the need for such sponsorship is directly proportional to the number and length of searches and more help in this area is always needed.

At the risk of repeating myself, it is very apparent that the cost of funding these searches does put a great demand on the Friends as fund-raisers and our efforts have we hope you will agree, reflected our desire to continue to do our best to raise the necessary funds to keep the operation running at this level of demand.  We have been yet again this year very busy in both running and attending various events to enable this endeavour.  We held a very successful Open Garden at the home of Jennifer Monachan in St. Martin's who welcomed both us and some other five hundred and fifty people into her lovely garden on what ultimately turned out to be a sunny afternoon in June, following I might add a dreadful morning of heavy rain which left many of the helpers rather soggy.  We were fortunate to have as our guests our patron, His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor and Lady Foley who were most interested in the garden and later joined us for tea.

We were in attendance for three days on our stand at Floral Guernsey and had the opportunity to meet and talk to many people, both local and visitors about the service.  We spent two days in August at the West Show and were also in attendance at both the North Regatta and Harbour Carnival.  One overriding consideration which has a direct relationship to our success in attending events and consequently in fund-raising ,is that, in common with other charities, we suffer from an acute lack of resource of a very precious but nevertheless vital commodity, people.  We could I feel sure do more if we had additional helpers and would also like to reduce the extreme burden placed on a number of individuals who undertake far more than one could reasonably expect people to do, however much they might support the organisation.  To those people in particular, and I think I should probably add here, based on my own personal experiences, a big thank you to them and their partners for both their help and tolerance!!

We have also held a number of Hangar Evenings at which pre-arranged visits have been made by various local groups and organisations.  These have proved to be both very popular and rewarding and have helped us make contact with some people who have subsequently supported us in a number of practical ways.

The Friends have paid over to the Trustees during the last year a total of £25,000, which is a creditable performance in itself.  Whilst this figure is down on last year's one of £32,500, after deducting the one-off contribution of £5,000 from the Diva Opera and £5,000 from the Association of Guernsey Charities, it would appear that we raised through other areas  £2,500 more this year.

We have been notified that the aircraft will require two new engines in about 18 months time at an approximate cost of £75,000 and we are starting a special fund to cover this requirement.  All contributions gratefully received. 

One new feature of Channel Islands Air Search is the advent of its own website and we are grateful to Ivor Bisson for all his hard work in creating this for us.  We are planning an official launch very shortly but in the meantime can confirm that it is now live and awaits your visit if you have not already looked at it. 

We are sorry to be losing Bob Twist from the Committee whose other community commitments clash with our meetings but thank him for his support in the past and hope we can still call on him to help out at events in the future.

If I could leave everyone with one thought, then it is if they could try to recruit some more support from new blood - work colleagues, family, friends, anyone you know, as long as they would like to help!  This help can take many different forms and we should be only too pleased to talk to anyone about what we do and the various ways in which they could assist even if it is only an hour or two a year.

On a personal note, I would like to record my thanks to the Committee for all their support during a very busy and at times very wearing year and for the help received from many friends of Air Search who have, each in their own way, contributed to making the year the success it has been.

The start of the new financial year has been quite promising but without the personal involvement and support of Friends, with and without a capital letter, we will not be able to maintain the work needed to ensure the continuing success of the operation.  Each person who makes some contribution counts in doing this.

At the end of the 2002 Newsletter I included the Air Search motto:

To Fly, To Save 

followed by a suffix which read 

Support the Friends to Support Them

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The Queen's award for Voluntary Service 2005

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