Keeping two of our busiest beaches safe

Keeping two of our busiest beaches safe

10 December 2013

As two of New Zealand’s most beautiful beach destinations, Orewa and Wenderholm are favoured all year round by families, young and old.

Keeping them safe is the job of the Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club, with 130 patrolling surf lifesavers and 1200 club members doing their part.

Each year they rescue 30 people from the surf and perform more first aid than any other club in the country.

And helping them to do it is the Harcourts Foundation, with a recent grant of $6,500 for two new surf lifesaving towers to be built at each beach.

Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club captain Mark McCarthny says the beaches are perceived to be safe and family friendly, and this is mostly true, however with tens of thousands of people visiting every year there are near misses and the amount of first aid they are required to perform is unparalleled.

The towers will allow the team to see 500m in each direction along the beaches, keeping more people safe. This is particularly important in the summer months, when both become extremely busy and Wenderholm is visited more than any other beach in the northern region.

“Fundraising is an ongoing struggle, so this grant from the Harcourts Foundation means a great deal to us. The towers will make a big difference to keeping our beaches safe.”

Nick Langdon and Colin Hair, of Harcourts Tandem Realty, own nearby real estate offices and are very aware of how busy the beaches are.

They say it’s an honour to be able to support the Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club and their community in such a vital way.

ENDS

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