FS&R Charity Gig

This was not the gig.  Just a random photo
of me with a guitar at an open mic.

Well last night I participated in a charity evening to raise funds for the Foyle Search And Rescue at the Rocking Chair Bar.  From my perspective the evening couldn't have gone better.  I was the last guest up to play my short set, and the audience reaction was fantastic.  The crowd was large and I'm sure quite a lot of money was raised on pure numbers alone.  That's not even counting the auction that occurred.  Unfortunately I have no video or photographs of my performance as the low light conditions and the noise of the crowd made any photo or video that was taken unusable.  It was good to be back in a live situation though with an audience who seemed to really enjoy my set.  Next up (if all goes well) will be the festival of colours, and I intend to absolutely rock the square on that one.  Watch this space!

Setting off for the last part of the tour.  The boat ride around
the Foyle river.

I didn't sit at my computer to talk about how great I was last night however.  I just wanted to speak a little bit about the Foyle Search and Rescue.  Think RNIB for the Derry area and you have an idea of what they do.  I did a show to raise funds for them before with the choir I'm involved with.  About a month before the show they were kind enough to take us on a tour around what they did.  It was a fun evening that ended with our being invited on to one of their boats for a tour of the river Foyle.

Volunteers at the River Foyle,

The thing that struck me about these amazing people was that they give up so much to ensure the safety of everyone in the Foyle area.  They're not paid (except for about two people who run the place).  Yet they spend so much time volunteering for this outfit at all kinds of hours.  Fighting strong currents and a very dirty river, dealing with suicides and above all else, recovering bodies.  They actually commented on the fact that nothing can prepare you for the smell in their first few recoveries.

They need and deserve every and any penny they can get their hands on.  The recent bad winters have set them back tremendously, because when the river had frozen over a lot of equipment, including their pontoon was destroyed.  As if they're not up against it enough already.

I hope they catch up and get all of the tools necessary to do the job.

For more information on these amazing heroes, you can go to their website at the URL http://www.foylesearchandrescue.org/