Club and community members will row on machines for 24 hours straight as part of the events. Photos: Bulli SLSC.
Bulli Surf Life Saving Club is hosting an action-packed family fun weekend to connect with the community, run charity challenges, highlight essential services and hopefully sign up new volunteers, in a celebration leading into another busy summer on our beaches.
A dramatic entrance from a rescue chopper, a 24-hour rowing challenge, a community walk for MND and ice baths to promote positive mental health are just small pieces of the action at this year’s Bulli SLSC Community Impact Weekend.
The annual event attracts hundreds to the seaside to mark the start of Surf Life Saving efforts ramping up, with the flags set to go up at the end of the month.
“We open the club up, we engage with a whole range of community organisations, we’ve got a number of events that are on across the weekend, and it’s just a brilliant way to remind everyone that summer isn’t too far away,” Bulli SLSC president Jamie Caldwell said.
Highlights are set to include a 24-hour non-stop rowing challenge across the weekend, with politicians, lifesavers, members of local gyms and the broader community all preparing to jump on a machine to play their part in meeting the milestone which supports and raises funds for Gotcha4Life, a charity dedicated to building mental fitness and stronger connections in the community.
Droves are also expected to get behind the Walk to Defeat MND on Sunday morning, with the Bulli community and SLSC having supported the cause for more than a decade.
“It’s an event that we have now supported for close to 15 years at Bulli,” Jamie said. It’s raising money for MND and also bringing awareness to MND but also just another way of allowing the community to connect with us in a different way.
“So that will see on Sunday morning close to 600 participants start at Bulli Surf Life Saving Club, walk south about two kilometres and then turn around and head back.”
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter will also be making an appearance to give attendees insight into the resources Surf Life Saving has available, with Rural Fire Service personnel also set to feature to highlight the importance of getting ready for bushfire season.
Mental health organisation Talk2MeBro will host ice baths and Molemap will be performing skin checks.
“We see that all those people and all those organisations that we’re connecting with feed into what we do as a surf life saving club,” Jamie said.
These connections are vital for the club to continue its important operations, with the need for volunteers constantly growing.
“It’s no secret that in this day and age volunteering is difficult – people are busy, there are economic challenges and we’ve obviously got a lot of people that move into our area that don’t have a background in surf or in surf lifesaving so there’s those perceived barriers,” Jamie said.
The open day provides the opportunity for people to sign up and get involved in volunteering, the club’s sporting teams or youth programs such as Nippers.
Jamie hoped that by experiencing the club first-hand, community members could see their potential to be involved, even in unexpected ways.
“Volunteering for a surf club, especially a surf club like Bulli, is something that’s really flexible and really fulfilling but also something that’s not overly time-consuming,” Jamie said.
“In a club like Bulli we have a role for everybody; you don’t have to be the traditional six-foot-four bronzed Aussie that can paddle a board. We actually have a number of roles now from a lifesaving perspective where you don’t even need to get in the water.
“From drone operators through to radio and first aid qualified people, but we’ve also got a lot of work that needs to be done behind the scenes as well from that governance, finance, administration, coordination point of view as well, and we know a lot of members of the community have those skills.”
The Community Impact Day runs Saturday 13 September from 10 am to 2 pm and Sunday 14 September from 8 am to 1 pm.
To find out more or to reach out about being involved, visit the Bulli SLSC Facebook page or website.
