Woolamai Newsletter - October Edition
Telephone: 0467 475 263 Postal Address: PO Box 49, San Remo, VIC, 3925 Web: www.woolamaibeach.org.au Email: Secretary@woolamaibeach.asn.au
In this Edition:
President’s Report
Lifesaving Services Update
Training Update
2021 Member Engagement and Wellbeing Survey
Member development opportunities: Internal
Member development opportunities: External
Wooli Wipeouts
What we got up to this past month
Grant Information
How to get a segment in next months Newsletter
President’s Report
Hi Wooli Family,
No doubt we are all very excited to see our lockdown starting to come to an end and we will have the ability to return to our beloved Phillip Island. The renovation efforts on the clubhouse are continuing and the extensions are taking shape, please take a look on the club Facebook page for recent photos. Our new mobility chair has arrived and will be available for use at Smiths Beach by members of the public during the summer season when lifeguards and lifesavers are on duty, further details to follow soon. Thank-you to the WBSLSC board and the Bass Coast Council for making this fabulous service available.
The planning for the COVID impacted season ahead is underway. As the State Government and Life Saving Victoria develop and release their policies we will ensure the club will be compliant in every manner. As many of our members will have read in a recent letter from LSV, any patrolling member, volunteer, event participant or any person that visits a club facility who is 12 years or older must be fully vaccinated. As part of ensuring compliance to these policies all members will be required to upload their vaccination certificate to SurfGuard. Details on when and how this will occur will be released by LSV before the end of October.
COVID aside we are very excited by the season ahead, particularly as it appears increasing likely we will be able to hold social events at the clubhouse. There may be capacity limits to adhere to however plans are underway to run as many events as we can to ensure we bring our members back together. Further announcements will be made as we edge closer to the start of the season.
A small group of volunteers have been hard at work behind the scenes creating a virtual presentation night. A special thanks to those who are involved as putting together such an event requires a very large investment of time and energy. Stay tuned for further details.
See you on the beach
Mark Bain - President Email: president@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Lifesaving Services Update
The weekend of the 27th of November is itching closer and closer, the first day we’ll be hoisting up the red and yellow flags signalling the start of another season on the beach patrolling at Wooli!
The Lifesaving Services team has been locked in over the past month for season 2021/22, our Patrol & Vice Patrol Captains have all been appointed along with our Lifesaving Equipment Officers – we’ve got an incredibly strong team heading into this season who I have every confidence will lead our club beautifully this season.
2021/22 Lifesaving Services team can be seen here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UoMIlOeHz-7IU8PH3e9wYQZKVA0oKXoWJr7eJ9ZsmpI/edit?usp=sharing
The Lifesaving Equipment team are already hard at work with preparations being made for the upcoming gear inspection. See pictures below.
The patrolling season kicks off the weekend of the 27th & 28th of November 2021 and will run right through until Monday 25th April 2022 (Anzac Day), the Patrol Roster is currently being drafted and will be due for release through the weekly club update on Thursday 28th October.
This season the Lifesaving Victoria Lifeguard service will run an extended season in comparison to previous years, with Woolamai and Smiths to have lifeguards present every day from late November through to late February – an excellent result for water safety around Phillip Island given the increased instances of coastal drownings seen in the past twelve months state wide. This will see many of our clubs members employed with the lifeguard service get the opportunity to develop their skillset greatly with the extended time on beach.
Professional Lifeguard Season Dates: Monday 29th November 2021 to 19th February 2022
Woolamai: Monday to Friday: 10am – 6pm. Saturdays: 10am – 1pm.
Smiths: Monday to Sunday: 10am –6pm.
Cowes will be lifeguarded daily Boxing Day to Australia Day 10am – 6pm.
Due to continuing COVID restrictions, the Emergency Response team weren’t able to carry out their first scheduled training/ scenario’s weekend on the Island, plans are in the works to deliver a virtual training session on response operating procedures with a physical scenario based training to occur in the new year.
With the loosening of restrictions coming just in time for summer, I’m incredibly excited to get back down to our club and enjoy a ripping proper Wooli summer!
See you on the beach!
Josh Cottier - Director, Lifesaving Services
Email: lifesavingservices@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Training Update
September Bronze Medallion Course (Local Only)
During the September school holidays WBSLSC were very fortunate to run a 3-weekend Bronze medallion course. The Bronze Medallion course was created for Local Phillip Island members, trained by local Phillip Island Trainers and conducted around the Phillip Island coastline during the September school holidays. This course saw 11 newly qualified BM holders ready to patrol our wonderful beach.
To view pictures from the course, head to the Photo Gallery on the website https://www.woolamaibeach.org.au/photo-gallery
Upcoming Courses
Adult Bronze Course
Registrations are still OPEN for our Adult Bronze course which will be running on 2 consecutive weekends, starting 27th November. For more information on our Adult Bronze Medallion Course, click HERE
December Bronze Course
At this stage the club will be able to run a December Bronze course however spots are very limited. The December Bronze Course registrations will ONLY be available to people who had expressed interest earlier in the year. Due to popular demand, the training team are deliberating on an additional course being run in the January/February months for those who are not on the waitlist. More information will be communicated via the weekly updates.
SRC Course
Due to popular demand, we will be adding an additional SRC course in January. The training team are in its final planning stage, with information to be released in the coming weeks via email and Facebook.
For more information about our course, please contact training@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Terry Aslanidis - Chief Instructor
Email: woolamaichiefinstructor@gmail.com
2021 Member Engagement and Wellbeing Survey
Dear Members,
After reflection of the 2020/2021 season, and with the introduction of the new Member Engagement and Retention Portfolio, Woolamai Beach SLSC is strongly committed to improving member engagement, support, and wellbeing over the coming season.
From 23/9/2021 until 21/10/2021, members can submit invaluable feedback to the club through the 2021 Member Engagement and Wellbeing Survey. The survey is anonymous.
Topics covered in the survey include:
Engagement over the 2020/2021 season
Engagement in events hosted by Woolamai Beach SLSC
SRC and young member engagement
Gender diversity, engagement, and support
Female engagement and support
Discrimination, harassment, and assault
Please consider taking the time to complete the survey, as Woolamai Beach SLSC is seeking to understand where engagement and support is lacking, what we are doing well, and how we can create a rewarding, engaging and supportive experience for all its active members. We want you to feel safe and excited about coming to patrol!
Survey Link:
https://forms.office.com/r/qAQMBYUR40
Any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Hugo Richter
Member Development Opportunities - Internal
Communications
In preparation for the upcoming season, there are a number of opportunities available within the Communications portfolio. These positions will play an important role in helping the club have a strong social media presence, and ultimately all roles will help achieve the primary objective of showing the public and community how amazing this club of ours is.
For any of these roles, if you have any questions, please get in contact with Ryan Box - Director of Communications
Email: communication@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Publications Coordinator:
The publications coordinator is a key position within the communications portfolio that will seek to aid the Director of Communications in updating the Woolamai community on events and what’s been going on.
Key roles within this will be helping to organise both the weekly updates (usually released every thursday but an alternate day could be found to fit in with someone’s schedule) as well as helping to create the Monthly Newsletter released near the start of the month after details from the board meeting has been finalised. The role would also include general website upkeep, new ideas and suggestions as well as helping the director with new ideas, pages etc. Don’t worry if you don’t have any previous experience with this, the layouts are very easy to learn and you will be supported greatly in your role!
Seeking someone who’s keen to learn about managing the publications, help bring new ideas regarding the website. Perfect for anyone interested in media/journalism as a career or just as a hobby and great for the resume.
At a summary:
Compiling and sending out the Weekly Update
Creating and sending out the Monthly Newsletter
General Website upkeep
Application closes Sunday 24th of October
Click HERE to submit an application
Social Media Coordinator
Looking for someone to help manage the WBSLSC social media accounts.
This position would involve helping to manage and cultivate Woolamai’s social media presence. This would include replying and managing comments, helping to promote the club using photos from patrols camps, the use of instagram stories. As well as sharing posts made from LSV and SLSA. At the moment our social media accounts are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, with this role focussing primarily on Facebook and Instagram.
Additionally, this role would also help with the Bass Coast Series and in general promoting events, and courses such as bronze camps for the club
The goal of this role is to create posts and manage the social media accounts with the intention of creating a feed and presence that shows the public all the wonderful things about our surf club that we already know! This role has a lot of flexibility and opportunity to make it your own and bring your own unique ideas and implement them!
At a summary:
Managing Facebook and Instagram accounts
Sharing relevant articles, LSV posts, stories
Interacting and monitoring with comments
Helping to promote the Bass Coast Series
Helping to communicate opportunities for members and followers - (e.g. channel challenge, club camps, courses)
Application closes Sunday 24th of October
Click HERE to submit an application
Design Coordinator
This role is perfect for someone with a knack for design, a mix of photoshop skills, logo creation and more.
This role would be focussed on helping the Merchandise Officer by supplying them with designs for new merchandise. Planning for this will most likely occur this season in preparation for the 2022/2023 season. This includes logos, text, effectively helping to come up with a number of possible designs in which the merchandise officer and team can create merchandise from.
As well as helping to design club merch, the Design Coordinator would also help the other coordinators under the Communications portfolio with designs. An example of this would be helping to create infographics, art, for social media and the Monthly newsletter. For instance a design to go alongside the monthly newsletter or a cool infographic or diagram to be posted on social media.
At a Summary:
Helping to create new merchandise designs
Helping other coordinators with design side of things (newsletter diagrams, infographics, etc)
Application closes Sunday 24th of October
Click HERE to submit an application
Member Development Opportunities - External
2021 U18 Leadership Development Camp – Applications Open
The camp is an opportunity for youth members to develop and enhance their leadership and lifesaving skills, to support their progress through their lifesaving journey.
Participants will have the chance to learn about their leadership style and building effective teams through fun practical activities. They will also have the opportunity to develop lifesaving, mentoring and coaching skills to utilise back at their club through on beach scenario-based training.
The camp will be taking place on the following dates: Friday, 26 November to Sunday, 28 November 2021 at YMCA Camp Manyung, Mt Eliza
To learn more about this program - Click HERE
Applications close Sunday, 24 October 2021
For more information regarding submitting an application, please contact Charles Tuchtan
Email: juniordevelopment@woolamaibeach.asn.au
Other Opportunities
Click HERE for the Weekly Updates.
These updates will be released approximately 5pm every Thursday and include the development opportunities available every week!
Wooli-Wipeout’s
If you are a member of Woolamai Beach SLSC, female and keen to improve your skills and confidence in the surf, then Wooli-Wipeouts is the place for you.
Wooli-Wipeout’s welcoming, and enthusiastic team aims to strengthen the female capacity of WBSLSC by developing lifesaving skills in a non-discriminatory way. Founded through friendships, comradery, and the drive to increase the capabilities of our female members, Wooli-Wipeout’s is a community for all. The program instils confidence in females of the WBSLSC by promoting leadership development and working on skills specific to surfing and board awareness.
To watch for:
Notices on summer calendar
FUN sessions to be held over summer
Sneak peek – Girls on Boards Surf Lessons
Female leadership and skill development workshop with potential guest speakers
To find us on Facebook search, WOOLI WIPEOUTS
Click HERE for Facebook
Instagram: @wooliwipeouts
Click HERE for Instagram
Or contact us via mobile:
Alice Harrison – 0459348947
Alanna Broderick – 0418 258 550
Izzy Clark – 0417 023 135
What we got up to this past month
Pre-Gear Inspection
Our Gear and Equipment team have been working hard since the very last patrol of the 20/21 season, continuously maintaining our equipment. During the off season we have seen motors repaired, boats fixed, boards repaired and general gear maintenance.
As well as this, the club has been successful in additional grant funding which has enabled us to do a full re-vamp of the gear shed, pulling down all fixed structures and moving to a new age of movable storage racks. This makes the set out of the gear shed flexible and allows us to cater to the needs at the time. To accompany the purchase of these racks we purchased a new Side-by-side vehicle to better suit our demands of our ever changing beach.
As the season fast approaches our gear officers recently conducted a pre-gear inspection audit in preparation for the upcoming State Audit in November. This requires going through all of the clubs gear and equipment from things as big as the 4WD down to things as little as a band aid.
The gear and equipme nt team do a phenomenal job and they work so hard all year round to keep our club operational. The club’s gear and equipment is the best it has been for years. The team is excited to work again this year under its new Gear and Equipment Manager Michael Butler (Boo). Bring on the 2021/22 season!
Campbell Smart
Manager Lifesaving Services
Smiths Beach Tower Upgrades
The Club is proud to inform that works are currently being done to install solar panels on the Smiths Beach tower. This will help to ensure that patrollers have the ability to charge radios and other useful items and be more equipped when patrolling at Smiths.
Stay tuned for more updates after the project has been completed.
WBSLSC Receives Grant to improve Local Environment
WBSLSC is proud to announce that a grant of $157,500 has been awarded to implement a package of infrastructure improvements to improve our Clubhouse environment.
The grant is part of a project with a total cost of $315,000. Woolamai SLSC will contribute $88,950, Phillip Island Nature Parks will contribute $68,550 with the Federal Government kicking in $157,500.
The Club with the support of the Phillip Island Nature Park prepared a grant application for a package of infrastructure improvements which seek to:
Enhance the environs of the Woolamai Beach SLSC;
Better protect the sensitive coastal environment;
Revegetate and stabilise the dune system which surrounds the Clubhouse;
Improve and streamline access to the beach, Clubhouse and public toilet facilities;
Assist the operational needs of our surf club;
Improve the overall visitor experience to one of Victoria’s major tourist destinations;
Implement several actions of the Phillip Island Nature Park’s Cape Woolamai Coastal Reserves Master Plan.
It is proposed to undertake a series of related projects to achieve these objectives. The projects include:
dune stabilisation;
revegetation;
beach access improvement;
retaining wall construction;
maintenance to the all abilities access ramp;
repair of public toilet access path;
and construction of a bin enclosure.
The projects will take place over the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.
A huge thanks must go to Jason Close who, in consultation with a working group, put in many hours researching and preparing the grant application.
Want a segment in next Month’s newsletter?
Hi all,
In starting the monthly newsletter my hopes are to be able to inform members of the club and the wider community of what we’ve gotten up to in the past month. The newsletter will seek to inform readers of opportunities within the club and lifesaving, board updates, celebrate members achievements and more!
In order to help celebrate achievements I’d like to make everyone aware of the process in which to submit segments for future newsletters.
The plan going forward will be to have all information ready for compilation by the 8th of each month, with the newsletter being released a few days after.
If anyone would like submit something for next month, the best way to do this is send me an email at communication@woolamaibeach.asn.au with a title for the segment, and text of what you’d like to be included as well as any pictures or images and I’ll be sure to add it in. Additionally, if anyone has any ideas on segments to include please send me an email.
Deadline for November’s Newsletter - 8th of November
Cheers, Ryan Box - Director of Communications