A matter of trust: Jack Harris Trust keeps Torquay SLSC on patrol

TORQUAY SLSC president Tiff Quinlan is blunt. “Without the Jack Harris Trust, we couldn’t operate,” she says.
This week, the Jack Harris Memorial Trust is presented $32,673.64 cheque to Torquay SLSC, bringing the total it has donated to the club since its establishment in 1995 to more than $190,000.
The donation will be used to reimburse the club for its recent purchase of two IRB motors and an All-Terrain Vehicle.
Ms Quinlan said the trust provided about 90 per cent of the funding for the club’s lifesaving activities.
“Without them, we would not be able to patrol the beaches the way we do.
“These guys are our number one supporter and have been for so long that we would be lost without them, without a doubt.
We literally wouldn’t have what we have; we’d be operating on a bicycle!”
Originally established by a contribution from the estate of the late John (Jack) Dudley Harris, a Torquay resident who was friends with members of the club, the Jack Harris Memorial Trust is an entirely separate entity and its capital does not form any part of the assets of the Torquay SLSC.
The capital base of the trust is preserved in perpetuity and income from investments only used to fund core lifesaving activities of the Torquay SLSC.
Most of the donations to the trust have come from deceased estates.
Torquay SLSC constantly needs to have its equipment upgraded and replaced as a result of operating in a punishing beach environment, and trust secretary Richard Greenhough said the trust tries to buy “the big ticket items”.
He said the assistance of the Jack Harris Trust was not widely known, even among Torquay SLSC members themselves, or how people could contribute to it.
“I don’t think the community understands – we’re expected to provide patrols (on the beach), so that includes having an IRB with a functional motor, fuel and something to tow it with,” Ms Quinlan added.
“We get no funding for that. We don’t even get funding for an asthma pump, and we would go through 150 of those a year.
“Because Jack Harris does do that, we can fundraise for oxygen and so on.”
If you wish to donate to the Trust, phone Mr Greenhough on 5261 3367 or email [email protected].