Club Treasurer Toni Charles said, “Having a container on the dunes with safety equipment and also junior sports equipment in will enable both safer and quicker access. Having juniors crossing the roads carrying boards is always a hazard as is having lifeguards rushing across when they are in emergency situations. This will eliminate the need to go on across the road to retrieve this gear.”
“The last four years has seen sustained growth in juniors and lifeguards with a current membership of 56 Nippers (under-14) and 63 trained lifeguards. We need our junior program to continue as these participants lead into our lifeguard programmes.”
“The junior program has led to club growth, with a focus on family involvement. It has a number of objectives, including providing the best possible life saving experience for all juniors with the view to encouraging long-term active participation and opportunities for juniors to actively participate in and enjoy life saving and competition in an aquatic environment. It will also ensure our junior members are safe on New Zealand's beaches through building knowledge and experiences in the Junior Surf Programme, help to develop a team based philosophy encompassing leadership, camaraderie, and teamwork, and promote social, emotional and physical growth and development in a healthy and safe environment.”
“From the age of seven children can join their local Surf Life Saving Club to participate in Junior Surf. We encourage children to have fun and develop their skills, so they can enjoy the beach and one day they might be able to save someone else too. There are seven achievement levels within the Junior Surf programme providing a managed pathway for children to gain confidence in the surf.”
“NSLSC also runs the Nelson Carnival at Tahunanui Beach which attracts over a hundred competitor from across the Top of the South Island, from as far afield as Blenheim, Greymouth, and Canterbury to compete in Beach Sprints, Beach Flags, Surf Swim, Board Paddling, and IRB Racing.
“The growing numbers of 14-60+ (year old) surf lifeguards has seen members training and competing for titles in team and individual life guarding sports. Traveling to these competitions has raised the profile of the Nelson Club across the South Island. As the profile of our club increases we will be able to draw on these contacts to attract other clubs to train and compete in Nelson.”
“Nelson Surf Lifesaving Club provides essential beach patrols during summer weekends and public holidays from the 6/12 to 31/3, as well as a dedicated Search and Rescue team. This team provides a 24/7 search and rescue squad for fast response to emergencies in the inshore areas of Tasman Bay and estuaries. The club operates four rescue vessels and performs over 70% of all the marine search & rescue callouts in the region covering inshore waters. Funding from NZCT in 2019 helped us to purchase a 4.9m Wavebreak Jetboat which has proved to be an amazing asset for the club.”
“The NZCT funding will allow us to store both junior and rescue equipment in a safe location for members to access. The wooden cladding is a requirement by the Nelson City Council and it is fantastic to have support from NZCT to help with these large costs.”
Club Treasurer Toni Charles
