Surf lifesavers among recipients of trust grants

Eastern and Central Community Trust has granted $7000 to the Riversdale Beach Surf Lifesaving Club to help pay for a new inflatable rescue boat and motor.

Surf lifesavers at Riversdale Beach have scored an early win even before the summer season starts.

Eastern and Central Community Trust has granted the club $7000 to help pay for a new inflatable rescue boat and motor.

Lifesavers at the popular Wairarapa beach provide more hours of beach patrols than most lifesaving organisations in the rest of the country.

Riversdale Beach Surf Lifesaving Club runs training programmes and summer programmes for children with up to 120 kids aged from four to 14.

The lifesavers are not the only Wairarapa beneficiaries of the latest trust grants.

Opaki Tennis Club has been granted $4000 for upgrading its pavilion and for new, portable tennis nets to give the club more flexibility for using the all- weather courts for other sports.

Opaki, north of Masterton, has an increasing population due to housing development there and Opaki school, which has a roll of 190 is alongside the court and makes use of the tennis club facilities.

A $4000 donation to the Masterton Bridge Club will help buy 20 new electronic table scorers. This will allow club members to use electronic scoring and see results immediately.

The largest trust grants to Wairarapa this month go to Masterton Motorplex which has been given $50,000 for completion of stage 1 of its international drag strip and $56,000 to Sport Wellington, which supports grass-roots sports coaching and training within Wairarapa.

Other recipients of donations include: Masterton Toy Library, $4000 and YMCA, $8000 for a security system.

Eastern and Central Community Trust is an independent, charitable trust. It distributes donations for the benefit of communities throughout Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Manawatu, Tararua, Wairarapa and Horowhenua.