Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery: Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Awards shine a spotlight on local heroes

Winners of the overall Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Awards 2022, Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSAR), have told this year’s nominees to “keep doing what you love”.

Secretary of CCMPSAR, David Varian, told The Echo that even being nominated for the award was a privilege, saying the group was “over the moon” following the news.

CCMPSAR is a charity service that was founded in 2001 and works with the community of Cork to locate missing persons through organised land- and water-based searches.

Volunteers 

The group currently has 20 volunteers working with the service, growing by four since winning the Lord Mayor’s award in 2022.

“We don’t advertise our services, because of what they are, so when we got this nomination, it was great,” said Mr Varian.

“We all got to go to City Hall and meet the other volunteers, and in that sense it was brilliant.

“When we heard overall winners, we walked down the end of the hall, and walked up the middle where everybody stood up and clapped, and I mean, the hair was standing up on the back of our necks. We were in awe.”

Mr Varian said that the award hangs proudly in the CCMPSAR base on Horgan’s Quay, in clear view for everyone to see.

“Every time we sit there, we see it,” he said.

“It’s something that we are all proud of, and as much as we won the award, it’s also dedicated to the people of Cork that support us. We couldn’t do it without them.”

Prior to their overall win at the Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Awards, the CCMPSAR group was previously nominated and subsequently awarded The Cork International Hotel Community Spirit Award in 2021.

Importance

Speaking on the importance of the work that they do, Mr Varian said that many volunteers at CCMPSAR have personal ties to the service, and contribute to the group to serve the wider community of Cork.

“We don’t do it to get awards,” he said. “We do it because a lot of us have family members or friends who have suffered, like my own brother, who was taken out of the river in 2006. We do it to help people.”

The CCMPSAR group is active in many communities across the county, and is committed to giving aid to those in need, in whatever capacity they can.

Mr Varian detailed that during the covid lockdowns, members of the CCMPSAR service delivered food hampers to families across Cork, in addition to their search and recovery services.

The group has also delivered wider charity services to those in need outside of Ireland, including two organised trips to the Ukrainian border to deliver essential supplies following the invasion by Russian forces.

“It’s about giving back,” he said.

“We organised two trips to Ukraine last year, to deliver humanitarian aid, where five vans were driven over with packages all given from the people of Cork. It’s really amazing, from the length and breadth of the country, the volunteering that’s done, it’s phenomenal.”

Giving advice to this year’s nominees for the Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Awards, Mr Varian said: “Keep driving forward with whatever organisation you’re volunteering with and helping the community. You’re all winners at the end of the day.”

The deadline for applications is March 15. Nominations can be made at  https://bit.ly/LMAWARDS24.