Three Illawarra surf lifesaving clubs have shared in state funding to help upgrade their facilities.
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Eighteen NSW surf clubs will be able to upgrade their facilities over coming months after being successful in their application for a 2017/18 Surf Club Facility Grant. The Illawarra recipients are Bulli ($348,220), Towradgi ($121,224) and Thirroul ($202,425) surf lifesaving clubs.
Earlier this season the NSW Premier announced that the pool of funds would be doubled from $2 million to $4 million in a move welcomed by the surf lifesaving community struggling to maintain ageing buildings and infrastructure.
Grants range from $25,000 through to $350,000 and will be used to upgrade facilities, including complete refurbishments of clubhouses, improving access to people living with disability, upgrading electrical wiring and storage facilities for vital lifesaving equipment.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast Gareth Ward visited Towradgi SLSC on Sunday to present the grant.
Steven Pearce, Surf Life Saving NSW CEO said the funding was a great investment in the Illawarra.
“The Towradgi club are known for some of their great disability programs, so to be able to put disabled access in for the club… And also to build a deck out here for the community, what it means for us is we’re all about moving forward to be a community inclusive organisation,” he said.
Towradgi SLSC president Paul Lumby said the “funds will be used to the utmost”.
“With the deck, it makes the task of raising funds within the club to maintain our patrols and our community service... That will make things easier.
“The biggest thing is the disabled access – we’ve been seeking to have disabled access here for a long time.”
Surf Life Saving NSW reported that powerful surf conditions on Saturday caused chaos on the coast, with multiple swimmers getting into difficulty at beaches up and down the NSW coast.
A 15-year-old was recovering in hospital after being pulled from the water by lifesavers at Kiama’s Surf Beach about 3pm.