Editorial: $25,000 needed for seaside lifesaver

Summer creates many memories for locals and visitors. Photo / Kevin Wigmore

Earlier this year the Northern Advocate reported on several drownings.

Summer creates many memories for locals and visitors - we spend a lot of time on our coasts, in the water. Some of those memories, sadly, are tragic ones. And as summer drew to a close, the Advocate contemplated what it, and its readers, could do to help prevent drownings in Northland.

We talked to Surf Lifesaving Northern Region representatives, and to Whangarei Lions - a fundraising partner of the Advocate.

Four years ago, the paper was invited to contribute to the Project Promise campaign that raised $3.67million for the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre.

That project we said "yes" to immediately.

The latest Advocate and Lions project took a little longer - we needed to do due diligence on what we were proposing, after consulting Surf Lifesaving Northern Region.

The result is that tomorrow we are launching a fundraising campaign to raise $25,000 for a Northland first - a jet-ski patrol.

The jet ski will be based in Ruakaka, and will patrol Bream Bay. Such patrols have been trialled successfully by lifesavers, and Bream Bay is perfect for one.

Two people drowned in Bream Bay last summer. We are aiming for zero drownings in the latter part of 2015 and hope the jet-ski patrol will aid our goal.

In tomorrow's paper we will provide more detail on the project, including the Lions' generous offer that will provide a major boost for the campaign.

We hope Advocate readers will support the campaign, and Give A Little to save a life.