Whanganui Surf Lifesaving Club receives $12k for new equipment

Whanganui was one of 13 lifesaving clubs to receive funding from this round of TSB annual grants. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Whanganui Surf Lifesaving Club has received significant funding for some new equipment from a nationwide grant.

The club has received $12,672 from TSB to upgrade tracking VHF radios and additional technology ahead of the summer season. The equipment will help its callout squad and management staff to more easily connect with lifeguards on the frontline, using their smartphones. This is especially important as incidents around water can escalate quickly and need fast responses.

Whanganui was one of 13 lifesaving clubs to receive funding from this round of TSB annual grants.

TSB chief executive officer Donna Cooper said the TSB team were very proud to have provided $500,000 since 2016 to support regional surf life saving clubs around the country.

"We're so lucky in Aotearoa that 90 per cent of us live within 40 minutes of our local beach, but that's a lot of New Zealanders counting on our volunteer surf lifeguards to keep us safe," Cooper said.

"Yet our volunteer-based clubs are largely reliant on the generosity of the community to literally save lives.

"So as a New Zealand-owned bank that's part of your community, we're proud to put our profit to purpose to support this important work."

Surf Life Saving NZ's chief executive Paul Dalton said the TSB grants provided vital support to clubs.

"We are incredibly grateful to our major partner TSB for providing their annual grants schemes for our surf lifesaving clubs," Dalton said.

"With the constant need to replace frontline equipment, funding is not readily available or accessible to support the more innovative surf lifesaving projects or obtain rescue equipment for training our junior surf members.

"The TSB grants are helping us future-proof surf lifesaving by providing the gear for our next generation of lifeguards and giving our clubs the ability to explore new approaches in keeping Kiwis safer on Aotearoa's beaches."