Julie Ryan

Julie has been a volunteer memebr of International Rescue Corps, a charity search and rescue team for 15 years. During this time she has been mobilised to assist in disasters all over the world, most notably in the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, where she played a key role in the rescue of 2 young boys, buried for several days in the rubble of a collapsed school. She is a prolific fund raiser for the charity, giving talks and presentations across the region, mostly in her own time in evenings or at weekends. She has also had 2 unsuccessful attempts (and hopefully by the time you read this one successful attempt) at swimming the channel, again to raise money for IRC. She is also the Corps Press Officer which again, she handles mostly in her spare time, willingly giving of her own time at all times of night and day. She does all this whilst holding a full time job in the NHS. Julie is an inspiration to many and her sheer commitment to her charity and to the excellent work it does is well known and respected across the local area. She deserves this opportunity for a little bit of public recognition for all of her hard work over the years.I have been a volunteer member of International Rescue Corps charity 20 years (not 15 years). Plus on 26th / 27th June 2011 I was succesful in swimming the English Channel in 13hours 51minutes 23 seconds.