Members of the Levin-Waitarere Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
Members of the Levin-Waitarere Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
Levin-Waitarere Beach Surf Life Saving Club has made the finals of a video competition that could win them a much-needed new Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) in a prize worth $25,000.
But it needs your help, as the winner is decided by an online vote.
Levin-Waiterere Surf Life Saving Club chairman Andrew Parkin said the club would dearly love to win the prize because it had applied for - but missed out on - a range of community grants and funds this year.
He said a new IRB was badly needed. An existing boat was now more than a decade old and was costing the club money in maintenance.
Some of the gear at the Levin-Waitarere Beach Surf Life Saving Club costs money in ongoing maintenance.
The club's video, put together entirely by some of the clubs' members, is going head-to-head with three other finalists - surf clubs from New Brighton, North Beach and Riversdale.
Every Surf Life Saving Club in New Zealand was invited to participate in "Vote the Boat", where a public vote decides which of four finalist clubs from a large pool of submissions.
The prize is worth $25,000 and includes an IRB hull, Mercury outboard engine, trailer, fuel bladder, rescue tube, two lifejackets (or PFDs), two helmets and a BP gift card.
Parkin said the club patrolled a long stretch of beach of 22km between Ōhau and Manawatū Rivers for which an IRB was essential. With the population of the area increasing the beach was becoming increasingly popular.
But he said the surf club itself was in great heart with a strong core of volunteers and some brilliant junior training programmes ensuring its future.
The club's grants volunteer Jo O'Callaghan moved quickly to ensure the entry was in on time as they had just two weeks to prepare, and media support person Kylie Bensemen co-ordinated the production of the entry.
Waitarere Beach is long stretch of beach that is becoming increasingly popular each summer due to a growing population.
The video involved volunteers of the club providing an overview of what they did and why they were deserving of the prize.
Online voting opened this week and would close on November 22. To vote visit https://votetheboat.co.nz/ and the local entry could be viewed at https://votetheboat.co.nz/levin-waitarere-surf-life-saving-club/
Meanwhile, BP had a long-running partnership with SLSNZ spanning 52 years. An estimated 57,000 lives have been saved by SLSNZ in that time, and of those 23,968 involved the use of an IRB.
Every year as part of that sponsorship BP had donated a new IRB to one of the 74 Surf Life Saving Clubs patrolling New Zealand beaches. BP also provides an annual contribution towards fuel costs for clubs.
Members of the Levin-Waitarere Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
