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The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club is currently applying for a major grant from the State Government "Life Saving into the 21st Century Funding Program".

The program, managed by Sport and Recreation Victoria, aims to assist Victorian Surf Life Saving Clubs and Life Saving Clubs improve club buildings, membership and services and to help make them truly local community facilities. It’s a "dollar for dollar" funding program, and the Club is applying for $250,000 from the program to boost its total funds to $500,000.

The Club intends to deploy the funds on three major projects:

* First, to restore the existing surf rescue base at the Point Lonsdale Surf Beach. Now in a serious state of wear and tear and disrepair, this building needs a major renovation and extension to bring it up to the standard required to meet both current and future demands for patrolling the surf beach. The life saving significance of the base was dramatically underlined by the two rescues recently carried out by Point Lonsdale surf lifesavers at the surf beach.

* The second project is to renovate and extend the existing Clubrooms. This is a long overdue project to improve general facilities for Club members and visitors and to provide the training facilities and services needed to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding junior development program. The improvements are also mandatory if the Clubrooms are to become a suitable facility for wider community usage.

* The third project is to establish a permanent life saving presence in the Queenscliff community (at "Nuns Beach") to enable regular life saving patrols to commence at this beach, and to create a base for local involvement in surf lifesaving activities

Detailed architect drawings are available for inspection at the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club.

Applications for funding close March 31 and while quietly confident, the Club is understandably nervous given the ambitious target it has set. (It’s also the final year of this Government funding program).

The Club is appealing to the community to support these worthy causes. The Point Lonsdale Surf Beach has a beach safety rating of 8, which places it as one of the 4 most dangerous patrolled beaches along the Victorian Coast. The two rescues recently carried out by Point Lonsdale surf lifesavers at the Surf Beach serve as timely reminders of the dangers of swimming at this beach when it’s not patrolled.

Even at Nun’s Beach, widely regarded as a "safe" beach, a number of rescues were performed during the 4 weeks of Professional Lifeguard patrols this summer. When there is a combination of southerly winds and southerly swells the wave height increases and the beach becomes more hazardous, resulting in the need for a life saving service.

Providing an opportunity for the young people of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale to engage in the full spectrum of surf lifesaving activities, and to provide safe patrolled beaches in Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale, is a cause most worthy of community support.

For further information, please contact :

Bruce Smith (Vice President Marketing / Building Committee Chairman) 0412596883

or

David Gordon President

98221038


SECOND SWIMMER ALMOST DROWNS IN AS MANY WEEKS
OFF DUTY SURF LIFE SAVER AGAIN RESCUES SWIMMER FROM UN-PATROLLED BEACH

Released: 17/2/00

A Scottish tourist in his fifties came close to being a drowning statistic on Tuesday 15th February at the Point Lonsdale Surf Beach.

Mr. Matthew Ponsford, Media Liaison Officer for the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club, reports that, "This is the second time in as many weeks that a swimmer has come close to drowning at Point Lonsdale."

"The man was swimming when he got into difficulty around 4:30pm on Tuesday."

"Club member David McNiel was at the beach, preparing to commence a training session with other life savers from a visiting Club when the call for help was made."

"David made his way approximately 100 metres up the beach, to the a permanent rip on the beach known as ‘The Escalator’. From here they could see a man, approximately 50 metres out to sea in difficulty. This happens to be the same location as the rescue two weeks prior."

"Fortunately for the man, a teenager was body boarding in this area and supported him with his body board, until help could arrive."

"David elected to paddle a rescue board out to the man (and would be rescuer) and brought him back to shore. He did not require further medical assistance."

"David calmed the man, who was quite exhausted. It was fortunate that David was there to assist as it would have been very difficult for the teenage body boarder to have brought this man to shore, with equipment that he had, which is designed for recreation, rather than rescue use."

"This is again a timely reminder of the importance of swimming between the flags at a patrolled beach. The Point Lonsdale Surf Beach has the potential to be a hazardous beach. It has a beach safety rating of 8, which places it as one of the 4 most dangerous patrolled beaches along the Victorian Coast. Swimmers who choose to swim outside of patrolled times are doing so at their own risk. Anybody who chooses to swim during these periods should ensure that they are familiar with the beach characteristics, should be physically fit and should swim in the safety of others. Ideally however, swimmers should only swim during times when the beach is patrolled."

"The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club applauds the efforts of David, who should feel very proud of his efforts."


SWIMMER ALMOST DROWNS
OFF DUTY SURF LIFE SAVERS RESCUE SWIMMER FROM UN-PATROLLED BEACH

Released: 10/2/00

A man in his mid twenties came close to being a drowning statistic last Sunday, 6th February at the Point Lonsdale Surf Beach.

Mr. Matthew Ponsford, Media Liaison Officer for the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club, reports that "We were very lucky that a drowning did not occur last Sunday at Point Lonsdale."

Point Lonsdale Surf Life Savers had completed their voluntary patrols for the day around 4:00pm and had just completed their packing up and cleaning duties when the call for help came.

"All of the patrol had left the Club’s Surf Rescue Base on the Surf Beach, leaving only two senior members, Justin Clark and Paul Smith to make the final arrangements for locking up around 5:30pm", Mr. Ponsford remarked.

"Justin and Paul were on their way back to the Clubrooms when they heard calls for help. The distressed person ran up to the now off duty surf life savers and reported that one of their friends was in trouble, caught in a rip and asked if they could assist ?"

"Justin and Paul (who were also both employed as Professional Lifeguards this season) quickly made their way back to the Surf Rescue Base, opened up the facility and grabbed rescue equipment to perform the rescue. Justin grabbed a rescue tube and flippers and Paul a Rescue Board."

"They made their way approximately 100 metres up the beach, to the a permanent rip on the beach known as ‘The Escalator’. From here they could see a man, approximately 75 metres out to sea in difficulty."

"Justin and Paul commented that the choppy seas of 1 – 1.5 metres were causing the swimmer much distress and the fact that he was caught in a rip, being swept further out to sea made the situation even more dangerous, requiring urgent intervention."

"Justin elected to swim out to the man, with tube and flippers, while Paul waited on the beach with the rescue Board, in case further assistance was required."

"Justin reached the man quickly and he was in a great deal of distress, probably unable to support himself for much longer."

"Justin reassured the man, who was on the verge of exhaustion and in a state of panic, while supporting him with a rescue tube and bringing him back to sea, through the rough surf."

"Although the man did not require further medical intervention back on shore, if it was not for the efforts of Justin in particular and Paul, then this man would have most likely drowned", reports Mr. Ponsford.

"This is a timely reminder of the importance of swimming between the flags at a patrolled beach. There were no other people at the beach who would have been able to rescue this man and had it not have been the case that these two members were still in the beach vicinity then the outcome would have been far worse."

"The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club applauds the efforts of these two members, who should feel very proud of their efforts."


SURF LIFE SAVING SERVICE EXPANDED - NEW INITIATIVE
"SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS AT QUEENSCLIFF"

For the first time, a lifesaving service will be offered to the public at Queenscliff, during the 1999 / 2000 Summer.

Released: 19/12/99

The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club, in conjunction with Surf Life Saving – Victoria will commence a life saving service in Queenscliff for the first time this summer. This season will see a ‘trial’ and should the initiative be a success, it will continue into the future.

The Nun’s Beach (Santa Carsa Beach), located at the end of Henry Street will be patrolled by Professional Lifeguards. This will assist with the safety of beach visitors to this increasingly popular beach.

This new initiative is being made possible with the support of both the Borough of Queenscliffe and the State Government, through the Water Safety Initiative.

Mr. Matthew Ponsford – Media Liaison Officer for the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club remarks that, "The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club applauds the support of both the Borough and State Government in their financial contribution to this important service".

Surf Life Saving – Victoria manages the ‘Professional Lifeguard Program’ which involves the employment of Professional Lifeguards, to supplement the work done by the volunteer surf life savers.

Busier beaches (eg. Point Lonsdale, Ocean Grove & Torquay), where Surf Life Saving Patrols already exist on weekends and public holidays are supplemented with Professional Lifeguards to cover ‘other times’ during the week and Saturday mornings in the peak summer holiday period.

As well, some beaches which do not have a Surf Life Saving Club (eg. Torquay Front Beach, Point Roadknight Anglesea, Eastern Beach lakes Entrance and Cowes and Smiths Beach on Phillip Island) are provided with Professional Lifeguards for seven day coverage during the peak summer period only. This is the period when there are increased visitations to many beaches and additional services are required.

The Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club will provide all necessary equipment and a suitable (temporary) storage facility for the equipment in the Henry Street car park area next to the Rip Tide holiday units. "This is placing quite a large strain on our financial and equipment resources for this year. Should this initiative continue into the future, additional sources of revenue for equipment and facilities will be required to ensure the success of the service."


The specific dates and times of the operation of Professional Lifeguards at Queenscliff are:

Sunday 26th December 1999 to Wednesday 26th January 2000, 7 Days a week from 10:00 am to 6:00pm.

Photo opportunities with some of this seasons Professional Lifeguards will be possible around at Queenscliff after the official launch.