TCE grant helps out Torquay Rescue

THE Torquay Surf Life Saving Club’s popular “Torquay Rescue” initiative has been given a boost thanks to Torquay Community Enterprise (TCE) and Bendigo Bank.

Devised by club captain Grant Matthews and his wife Nikki, the initiative has created a safe and inviting pathway, which runs alongside regular competition training, for the club’s youth.

The couple saw an opportunity to re-engage 13-17 year olds who no longer wished to compete at a high level, or who wanted to keep improving their lifesaving skills.

“The idea of the group is for mates to keep getting together, building on the lifesaving skills they obtained through the Nipper program, and creating confidence as they work towards being fully qualified lifesavers,” Grant said.

“This money meant we were able to purchase two new training boards, which is very generous of TCE and imperative to enable to program to continue.

“It’s always important to have safe equipment for the kids to learn the rescue techniques on, and we can’t be expecting parents to shell out over $2,500 each for their kids to have their own craft to practise on.

“We want these kids to be competent life savers and the only way to do that is to build confidence in the water. ”

He said the TCE grant had enabled Torquay Rescue to run more efficiently by having more children on craft for the whole session.

“Surf clubs need to fund all aspects of their running cost, right down to buying band aids, and with everyone volunteering their time to keep the beaches safe, it is so nice that the Bendigo Bank and members of the enterprise recognised our club as being a worthy recipient of one of the grants.”

Torquay SLSC competitor Jack Patel said the couple ran a fun program and were teaching life skills as well as surf skills.

“I can use what I learn at Torquay Rescue when I patrol the beach, and Í love that my friends still want to patrol with me now that they feel more confident, even if they only want to compete some of the time.

“Hopefully as their skills on these bigger boards improve, they might want to have a go at racing them, too.

“We all want to be better on the craft, so we are stronger and more confident to help with rescues.”

Nikki said she could not believe the improvement in the teenagers both on and off the beach, and was proud of the growth they had achieved individually and as a group.

“This is a great group of young people, who will be leaders in our clubs and our community before long. Receiving this funding has not only helped this program this year, but the board will last and be used for years to come.”

When a person in the 3228 postcode banks with Torquay’s Bendigo Bank branch, they can “tag” their account to TCE at no cost, and Bendigo Bank will then direct part of the interest earned to TCE.

To read criteria for the grants and to apply, head to torquaycommunityenterprise.org.au