After a six-year hiatus the Peregian Beach Surf Lifesaving Club has been kick-started under the direction of the Peregian Surf Life Saving Working Group.
Surf Life Saving Sunshine Coast (SLSSC) president Gerard O’Brien said the working group was composed of Peregian-based surf lifesavers with a combined 100 years of lifesaving service to the Peregian Beach community.
“The working group have been working hard to plan how the club can build on the success of the two previous seasons of supporting the Noosa Heads SLSC to re-establish the Peregian Nippers program and also to grow local surf lifesaver numbers,” he said.
“The original Peregian Beach SLSC, which was first established in 1962, enjoyed a roller-coaster ride until 2014 when, due to financial difficulties, it was rescued by neighbouring Club, the Noosa Heads SLSC with the intent to provide some breathing room until a new Club could be re-established. This action was fully supported by Surf Lifesaving Queensland.”
The working group has been designed to mimic the management committee of an independent Surf Lifesaving Club (SLSC), featuring all of the traditional positions that one would find at most SLSC’s around the country including president, club captain and finance director.
The newly established working group will work with the “Community Advisory Board”, which was set up following Noosa Council’s decision to award a three-year permit for the Surf Club building to Surf Lifesaving Sunshine Coast.
Working group chair Leigh McCready said they know from the success of the nipper program, which has grown from 0 to 170 children in two seasons, that the demand and support from the Peregian community was there.
“Building on this, we plan to attract new members, retain current members and restore previous Peregian surf lifesaver memberships over the next two seasons to enable the Peregian Beach SLSC to once again, patrol their own beach on weekends and public holidays,” she said.
“We have been working closely with Noosa Heads SLSC, which has continued to support Peregian Beach surf lifesaving through the provision of lifesaving patrols and equipment, as well as administrative and operational support since 2014. At their cost, they also removed all the bar and gaming equipment, renovated the top floor into a training facility, a members and nippers area, reinstated the deck to meet safety regulations and refurbished the change rooms.
“Going forward, we would like to add 50 local lifesavers to our current numbers and revive previous membership activities such as regular events at the clubhouse, Sunday patrols and family BBQs in the park.”
Mr O’Brien said SLSSC were pleased to support the Peregian community, working with both the Community Advisory Board and the new Working Group, to grow the lifesaving numbers to a level where a financially and operationally sustainable SLSC becomes a reality over the next two years.
“Given the history, this is no easy task and will require broad community support. The re-establishment of the Peregian Nipper program, with the support of the Noosa Club, has been very successful and the Surf Lifesaving movement encourages the Peregian community to get behind the dedicated local lifesaving team to make the revival of the club a success,” he said
Noosa Heads SLSC president Ross Fisher said: “as a Surf Life Saving Club our focus has always been to maintain beach safety in the local community while, over time, providing the Peregian community with the opportunity to re-establish their own Life Saving Club. We most certainly look forward to supporting Leigh and the working group in maintaining lifesaving services at Peregian Beach, whilst also supporting them to ultimately achieve their goal of a new SLSC.”
To become a lifesaver at the club message Peregian Surf Life Saving Facebook page and find nippers information at Peregian Nippers on Facebook.
