Bellambi Surf Life Saving Club looks to revive membership levels

Bellambi Surf Life Saving Club has been on the brink of closure many times in the past two decades, but every time the community has rallied support to keep the 106-year-old club open.

And despite having a mere 14 active patrolling members, club president Craig Kershaw said 2015 was not going to be the exception.

‘‘The club has had its ups and downs over the years and a lot of clubs go through it, it’s a cycle. You’ve just got to have a plan and keep working to build it up,’’ he said.

‘‘For a while we didn’t have the juniors coming through, but now we have so we’re going to have a lot of young people [ready to] do their bronze in the next couple of years.

‘‘We’ve also managed to get some government grants and build a gym, we’ve got more equipment for the beach and a new all-terrain vehicle.’’

Taking over the reins in 2012, Mr Kershaw has worked with a handful of key members to get the club back on track.

For a non-surfie who practically fell into the role following a series of unexpected resignations, Mr Kershaw has shown a surprising amount of determination and resilience.

In 2014 the club banded together with the Bellambi Neighbourhood Centre, bowling clubs, and Northern Stars Swim School to run a learn-to-swim and beach safety program for children in the area.

It has been a resounding success for the club and community, teaching kids vital beach safety skills while exposing them to the club’s work.

It has also prompted a drop in the number of graffiti attacks on the surf club, which Mr Kershaw said was an unexpected benefit.

‘‘We were having some problems with our surf club being attacked, graffitied and having windows smashed,’’ he said.

‘‘We were doing the program because we were worried about people not being able to swim but out of doing that program people now talk to us more and we’re not being attacked as much.

‘‘We’re trying to be involved in that local community more, which is not necessarily what a surf club normally does but it works for us.’’

At present, Bellambi has to borrow volunteers from neighbouring clubs Woonona or Fairy Meadow or from as far as Sydney to cover patrols on one Sunday each month.

Mr Kershaw hopes efforts to revive membership levels will lead to the club being self sufficient in the near future.

‘‘I’d love it if we didn’t have to rely on other people to help us patrol and we had a lot of new young people and families as members,’’ he said.

‘‘We don’t want to have the club close, so the ultimate goal is to keep it working and eventually build on that.

‘‘Slowly but surely we will rebuild the club.’’