Turn trash into treasure for Louth river rescue service

Boyne Fishermen's Rescue Service has come up with an innovative way to recycle and raise funds for their valuable volunteer service.

Co-ordinator Anthony McNeill explains the very simple concept.

"So essentially, what we're trying to do is to take the inconvenience out of the Re-Turn programme, which is a fantastic scheme but we’ve been listening to feedback from the public and there is a lot of hassle associated with it, especially if they don’t have space to store the bottles or don’t drive,” says Anthony.

“We had a little think about what we might be able to do and maybe capitalise on it as well, so people could make their Re-turn do some good for the community.”

So you can now donate your Re-Turns to their Marsh Road boathouse in their specially fabricated bin, or they will come to you to collect.

All donations will be processed within the Re-Turns programme and funds raised will go towards their life saving, front line services.

"We had a very kind gentleman from the Drogheda area, donate a large farming container to us, and we spent last weekend fabricating it so that it could be a very easy drop off point for members of the public, so instead of having to go to one of these Re-Turn machines, or worse again, putting the products into the rubbish, they could come down with their shopping bag or big black sack and drop it straight into our container and forget about it, and essentially know that they've done something really good and they can walk away knowing that their money is going to be put to work.”

The Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery Service has a reputation as one of the top rescue and recovery services in the country. Based from their boathouse on the Marsh Road, Drogheda, the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery Service provides a 24 hour emergency rescue service along the River Boyne, 365 days a year.

However, their service is fully voluntary and relies heavily on donations and fundraising activities.

“We know there’s roughly 40,000 people in the Drogheda area, and even if we only got 100 people from the town to donate 25 items per month, at 15 cents per small bottle or cans, that would bring in 2,500 individual items or €375, and that would pay for the majority of the fuel for our 4x4 vehicles, for our boats that are constantly on the water, the constant training exercises, community events, and of course the searches that we do throughout the year,” explains Anthony. “It would amazing to know we had a steady income stream for the rescue”.

The machines have the reputation of being tricky to use, and plastic bottles or cans must be in very good condition for it to work.

"We ask that everybody stay within the parameters of the return programme, so the labels of the bottles can't be damaged because the barcode needs to be scanned and also the the items themselves can't be crushed because again, they can't be scanned,” he adds. “We will personally go through each individual item and whatever can be sent back to the Re-turn programme, we will and the rest we will recycle in the Drogheda Recycle Centre.”

The group is also asking any local businesses to come onboard too.

"Any businesses within the Drogheda area, be it a Spar, Centra, Mace or even cafes or restaurants, if they find themselves with a surplus of these items, to make it even more convenient, we will go to them and we will pick it up,” says Anthony. “On our Facebook page, we've created a form where businesses can fill in their details and we will come weekly on a Tuesday or Thursday evening and that offer stands for general members of the public too.”

More details and the form can be found on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boynerescue.

The rescue group will also be holding a big summer fundraising event on Friday July 26th in McHugh’s Venue from 7.30pm. With a raffle, ten virtual races and lots of entertainment, it is bound to be a fun night.