Woolamai Newsletter - September Edition
Telephone: 0467 475 263 Postal Address: PO Box 49, San Remo, VIC, 3925 Web: www.woolamaibach.org.au Email: Secretary@woolamaibeach.asn.au
In this Edition:
President’s Report
Lifesaving Services Update
Training Update
Board Update
What we got up to this past month
Strategic plan update - Feedback wanted!
Board of Directors Contact List
Letter from the editor
President’s Report
Hello Wooli family,
I hope you and your families are all well and healthy.
In good news, during the winter season the assets team led by Darrell Clark has been incredibly busy completing the redevelopment work on both the clubhouse and the residence. The Emergency Services Rebuilding Fund has been wisely spent and we thank the State Government and LSV for their support in delivering these works. When we are able to head down again to beloved Phillip Island, please drop by both locations and take a look at the amazing work that has been completed. As we move towards the summer, preparations are beginning for another COVID impacted season. I would like to thank all those involved who are getting our club operationally ready as COVID results in a large workload. However, just as we did last year the club will stand proud and be COVID ready and compliant in everything we do.
Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions we have to move the combined 2020/2021 presentation and upcoming 2021/2022 season launch night online. It is simply not possible for us to get together at Silverwater in late October as planned. However, a group of dedicated volunteers have put their hands up to work an an alternative to help celebrate the successes of last season. More information regarding what this will look like will be released once finalised. On behalf of the WBSLSC board we sincerely thank this group for stepping up and bringing the club together in this manner.
Lets keep our fingers crossed that everyone will get vaccinated and we can return our normal lives. Looking forward to seeing you all down at Wooli over a warm summer full of sunny days and endless waves.
Mark Bain - President Email: president@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Lifesaving Services Update
Whilst we’re in the middle of the off season, the lifesaving services team are already busy preparing for the upcoming season.
This season will see Campbell Smart step into the role of Manager, Lifesaving Services who will work closely with our Patrols Coordinator Annie Coleman and Lifesaving Equipment Coordinator Michael Butler to deliver high standards in our lifesaving operations.
The club has recently been delivered its brand new ATV – a Polaris Ranger XP1000 from Marriott’s Machinery Leongatha.
The new ATV includes a full sealed cabin to keep our members out of the harsh Wooli elements.
Applications and appointments for vacant Patrol Captain and Vice Patrol Captain positions are well underway, along with our Lifesaving Equipment officer positions.
Patrol Captain and Lifesaving Equipment Officer positions are being finalised, vacant Vice Patrol Captain position applications are currently open – see the weekly club updates for more information. A complete list of Patrols, Captains and Equipment officers for 21/22 will be released in next months newsletter.
The Emergency Response team has now been finalised, with Matt Hall (Manager, Emergency Response) making preparations to deliver the first of our annual team training to ensure our members are prepared for any challenging response scenario.
Club Icon Alan “Aquamole” “The Moleman” Hailes will be joining the Lifesaving Services team this season as Manager – IRB Standards. Aquamole is renowned for his skill and finesse in a duck, and will have a strong focus on improving our members IRB skills – IRB drivers and crew, keep your eye out for announcements on “IRB Masterclass” training sessions in the coming months.
See you on the beach!
Josh Cottier - Director Lifesaving Services
Email:lifesavingservices@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Training Update
The month of August was highly successful in terms of planning for the season with many awards being planned in the upcoming months
September Bronze Camp
Due to not being able to run a Bronze Camp last year, we received over 80 members that were interested in participating in this camp. With the current restrictions and policies in place, set by LSV, we are only able to deliver the course to 16 people per course. The training team recognised the need to get members through their Bronze and so we have opened 2 new camps in September:
- Camp #1: 18th – 23rd September
- Camp #2: 26th – 2nd October
All positions have been filled however we encourage members to fill out the expression of interest form for the December Camp, located on the website. https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/bronze-medallion-camp
SRC Course
This year’s SRC course will be delivered during the Nippers Program as usual, however cut from an 8 day (half day) program, to a 4 day (full day) program. The training team have also recognised the backlog of participants wanting to do the SRC course and so have created 2 courses running simultaneously, which will allow 32 people to register. Registrations for the SRC course opened on Sunday 8th August however due to popularity, demand exceeded supply, and priority positions were given to Dark Green Nippers who completed the program last year. I encourage any members wishing to partake in this program, to fill out the waitlist form located on the website. We are hoping to add an additional course throughout the season to accompany those on the waitlist. https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/src-course
Adult Bronze Medallion Course
The Adult Bronze Course is designed to be flexible for adults with commitments. We strongly encourage members over the age of 18 to apply for this course. Adult Bronze Medallion Course registrations are now open and details on times and dates can be located on the website. https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/adult-bronze-course
For more information regarding training please contact - training@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Terry Aslanidis - Chief Instructor
Email: woolamaichiefinstructor@gmail.com
Board Update
For this meeting, the Board invited Mark Donaldson (Life Member) along to discuss the long term direction and Strategic Plan for Woolamai Beach SLSC. This revolved around looking into the feedback generated from our last meeting and member suggestions, and further planning our direction for the next 10 years. The plan is still being formed and will hope to be completed and available to our members prior to the start of the 2021/2022 season.
We were also fortunate enough to be joined by Louise Smith and James Henderson, two of the co-captains of the Sustainability Committee. Louise and James talked about their plans for the season ahead, giving the board an indication of some of the wonderful initiatives planned as they prepare to help Woolamai become more sustainable! As well as this, they also discussed their recent beach clean up for Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2021 (see pictures below).
What we got up to this past month
Wear it Purple Day 2021
On Friday the 29th of August we celebrated Wear it Purple Day!
Wear it Purple day was founded in 2010 with the aim to support young members of the LGBTQIA+ community through creating awareness and support, providing meaningful opportunities, ensuring safe and supportive environments, and working in collaboration with rainbow young people through partnerships.
We encourage our members to check in on rainbow young people, and hope to foster a supportive environment for all people at our club!
Here’s some photos of some of our members, Annie Coleman and Ryan Box getting involved!
Follow the link below to learn more.
Sustainability Committee
Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2021 was between the 16th and 22nd of August.
Led by our wonderful members of the Sustainability Committee, on Friday August the 27th a group of our regional members cleaned up our lovely beach while metro members cleaned up their local communities.
The sustainability committee is an example of one of the many great initiatives available at our club.
Note: All government restrictions were followed for the event
Here’s an image of what we created!
Gear Shed Revamp!
At the End of July we underwent the process of cleaning up our gear shed and getting it in ready condition for the upcoming season. This includes a lot of new racks and trailers.
Thanks to Scott at TTG Trailers and a small team of our fantastic members we are looking better than ever!
Strategic Plan - Feedback Wanted!
WBSLSC strategy update - your chance to participate…
As the Board looks to develop a revised strategy for the club, opportunities for members to comment remain open. At this point in the process, the Board is addressing a number of questions that have emerged. These questions are listed on a document at this link. You can add comments to these questions to provide your feedback. Alternatively, you can email these to Mark Donaldson (mgdonaldson@me.com).
This feedback should be provided by 20th September as the Board is looking to resolve the strategy by the start of the season.
Board of Directors Contact List
Following the election of the Board of Directors for season 2021/2022 some updates have been made to Board member contact emails. Please see the full list of emails below:
Note From the Editor
This is the first of hopefully a monthly newsletter that will be sent out to members, and published on our website in the News section.
While this is still in its early stages of creation, there may be some changes coming up as we fine tune the publication. For the time being the newsletter will seek to summarise the events of the past month, inform members or upcoming events to get involved in, and celebrate members achievements. This will be an additional resource on top of communications updated Thursday every week through Facebook and communicated by email.
If you want to get involved, whether that be helping to interview members for a member profile, or you fancy yourself a bit of an artist and would be keen to see your designs featured on the official newsletter. Perhaps you simply have an idea or segment that you’d love to see implemented, whatever it is, I’d love to hear from you.
Additionally, I would also love to give this newsletter a name of some sort and what better way to do this then to ask the community! Any suggestions please click this form here and add your suggestions!
Please email communication@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Cheers, Ryan Box - Director of Communications