Pink Patrol celebrates women’s involvement

FAIRHAVEN Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) celebrated the women of its club on Sunday by holding its annual Pink Patrol.

Fairhaven SLSC is one of a number of clubs that host a Pink Patrol over the summer, which saw an all-female beach patrol take place.

Club vice president of lifesaving services Maddy Green said when she first became a lifeguard, she was the only female doing so at the club, about a decade on and the number of women patrolling on the coastline is booming with about half of the club’s committee and more than half of the patrol leaders being women.

“It’s hard to be what you can’t see,” Ms Green said.

“There’s definitely been a shift and I think that’s just going to continue.”

Vice president of member and leadership development Laura Buckley said it was fantastic to see so many women involved in surf lifesaving and these sorts of days, which started in 2017, helped to nurture that.

“I’ve never seen as many females as we have today, it’s definitely changing… it’s just a day to recognise the females that we do have,” Ms Buckley said.

“It’s amazing. It’s nice to see that we have the numbers… we had plenty of the guys to come and support us on the day.”

While Sunday’s patrol was business as usual, a more official celebration takes place on January 16 as the club holds its Lady’s Luncheon celebrating the history of women in the club.

Fairhaven SLSC has also formed the Fairhaven Beach Belles program which, in a more informal capacity, encourages girls to have a go, with a focus on building social connection through activities, catch-ups and training.

For more information on any of these programs, visit the Club’s Facebook page or fairhavenslsc.org.