A RESCUE charity based in Oxfordshire has taken the spotlight in a documentary featuring its new patron Jeremy Irons.

Members of the Emergency Response Team – Search and Rescue (ERT-SAR) were at their Henley HQ over the past week with the Academy Award winner as they shot for the new film.

The team, which is recognized by the United Nations as a disaster search and rescue asset, was founded in 2002 under the name Oxfordshire Search and Rescue.

Jeremy Irons, who starred in The French Lieutenant's Woman, said: “ERT SAR is a fantastic charity which started in Oxfordshire's Henley in 2002 and are full of trained volunteers willing and able to answer the call, to provide search, rescue and medical response.

“They need more volunteers and donations and I am pleased to be their Patron and raise awareness and tell their story.”

In the UK, ERT SAR is a DEFRA asset and government recognised flood response water rescue team. It is funded solely through donations and grants and needs more money and volunteers.

Some of the team's deployments include the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean, The earthquake in South East Asia of 2005, The Floods of the UK in 2007 and the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti.

SAR Chief Gary Foo said “We have been honored to find a supportive Patron in Jeremy Irons and we are exciting about this documetary which will feature we great work of the organisation and our members and the work we do in our local communities and around the world."