Torquay SLSC to be celebrated at 500th A Day on the Green

CROWDED House’s gig tomorrow at Mt Duneed Estate will be a special night in more ways than one.

The event will not only be the 500th event presented by Roundhouse Entertainment in their A Day on the Green concert series, but also showcase and help raise money for the work of the Torquay Surf Lifesaving Club.

Just before 6pm, between support acts The Waifs and Angus and Julia Stone, about 40 Torquay SLSC volunteers will circulate through the crowd, rattling tins and showing QR donation codes, as the big screens show facts and figures about the club’s work.

“A huge percentage of A Day On The Green attendees would have been visitors to our beach at one stage, or plan to head this way this summer,” Torquay SLSC president Julian Sweeney said.

“This partnership is a great way for us to spread the message about the great work our volunteers do for the community and how much help we need to run our education programs and provide well-equipped patrols – every little bit helps!”

Club fundraising director Jay Muir said Torquay SLSC’s primary objective was the provision of beach patrols for the safety of the public.

“As a not-for-profit, volunteer-run club we, like many other lifesaving clubs, continue to face challenges to generate sufficient funds to maintain this essential public service and to expand and grow.

“We raise money to buy every piece of lifesaving equipment and supplies we need each patrol season, from key rescue equipment to Ventolin puffers and band-aids – this is on top of the circa $70,000 in costs to keep the club open.”

Roundhouse Entertainment founder Michael Newton, who will assume his usual duties as MC at Saturday’s concert, said he welcomed Torquay SLSC’s efforts to expand its fundraising as he lived on the Surf Coast.

“They’re servicing all up and down the coast here, and a lot of people going to the show will know about Torquay SLSC.

“Surf lifesaving is a volunteering organisation, and we’re happy to be involved.”

A Day on the Green’s first show was on Australia Day in 2001 with an all-Australian lineup, but Mr Newton said he felt the concert series hit its stride about six years later after it landed its first international artist, Jackson Browne.

“It was quite a big risk… but it worked! It opened the door for us.

“The only thing I really regret about the 500th show is that Michael [Gudinski] isn’t here to celebrate with us; he’d be so pumped.”