It is probably not always appreciated that search and rescue operations in the UK, both on land and at sea, rely to a huge extent on around 14,000 unpaid highly trained operational volunteers, on call 24/7 and who are members of organisations such as Mountain Rescue, Lowland Rescue, RNLI, Cave Rescue, HM Coastguard and this entrant to the Charity Film Awards...the National Search And Rescue Dog Association!
Every call-out for a missing person is of deep concern, but none more so than a call to search for a missing child! If, by education (including by means of our film "Lexi Gets Lost") we can reduce the chance of even just one child getting lost and going missing (or if they do, helping them to be found quicker) then all of the work needed to produce this animated film (Certificate "U") will have been worth it!
Aimed at primary school age children (and their parents), the film aims to prompt conversation between parents and children about what to do if separated or lost outdoors. Created by a retired search and rescue technician, the film draws from real-life search and rescue experiences. The film is supported by a storybook which can be read online ("Lexi Gets Lost" flip book) or as a hardback book which is sold (at events) in aid of search & rescue and blue-light related charities.
Our experiences led us to believe that an animated film should be a really effective way of getting across a message to young children, who will often watch a favourite film over and over again, until they know the story off by heart. The film is designed to be realistic but "non-scary" and we were very pleased when the British Board of Film Certification (BBFC) said (for its "U" certificate) that the film had "reassuring factors throughout"!
The National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSARDA) is an umbrella organisation representing Search Dog Associations in the UK, Isle of Man and Eire. NSARDA holds the standards by which search dogs are trained and qualified. NSARDA currently trains and qualifies search dogs to find persons that:
The Search and Rescue Dog Associations are located in Wales, England, Scotland, Isle of Man and Eire.
Each of the individual Search and Rescue Dog Associations is a voluntary, charitable organisation responsible for the training and deployment of search and rescue dogs to search for and find the thousands of vulnerable missing persons that get lost every year.
People go missing in all types of terrain including the mountains and moorlands as well as lowland rural and urban areas. In fact people go missing almost anywhere you can imagine.
NSARDA Search Dogs are used to search for the many different types of missing people such as hill walkers, climbers, the elderly and confused persons that may be suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia, those that are despondent, children, and sometimes victims of crime.
You will find NSARDA qualified dogs and handlers working with both Mountain Rescue and Lowland Rescue Teams or directly for the Police and other emergency services.
All NSARDA Associations provide their services completely free of charge and are entirely dependent on public donations to be able to continue to provide this service year on year.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
