If you’re keen to see Surf Life Saving innovate and continue to save lives on and off the coastline long into the future, you can donate to one of the iconic movement’s current projects.
Surf Life Saving Innovation Fund
As a public purpose service, Surf Life Saving has a critical responsibility to contribute to the community through research, education and operational practice. At Surf Life Saving Australia, the concept of peak policy and decision making for the Surf Life Saving movement is key to our core purpose – we are committed to reducing coastal drowning deaths.
Our innovation focus means that we are continuously trying and testing new promising ideas across environments in response to the emerging needs of the community, sharing findings with the right people at the right time, while we remain committed to our lifesaving best practices. In order to remain agile and innovative as an organisation, Surf Life Saving needs funding that is flexible and can be used to support our evolving work as we try and test, learn and pivot.
With a long-term presence in Australia, seeing the first volunteer surf life saving club emerge more than 115 years ago, Surf Life Saving is able to build long-term relationships with key decision-makers, whose questions and needs drive its research. Since its founding in 1907, Surf Life Saving’s research has led to better programs and policies that have impacted hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Our established programs all started as pilots, and we invite donors to join us in developing the reach, scope, and resources of our work by making a gift towards the Surf Life Saving Innovation Fund.
Surf Life Saving WA conducts its own fundraising separately in support of Western Australian Surf Life Saving Clubs. The Surf Life Saving Foundation raises funds for distribution to all other surf lifesaving entities.
You can contact Surf Life Saving WA via: https://www.mybeach.com.au/support-us
Innovation Fund Projects
You will see the three projects outlined below for the first year of the Innovation Fund. We are seeking innovative ideas that will address challenges within projects one and two from those who know surf lifesaving best: our members. With these ideas and support from donors and corporate partners, we will work towards tangible outcomes to improve these aspects of surf lifesaving.
At the same time as project one is underway, we will be commencing a pilot program to address project three, with the aim to eventually roll this out nationally. The Surf Life Saving Foundation seeks your support to fund these challenge outcomes.
An outline of each challenge has been detailed below.
Project 1 – December 2022:
Enhance lifesaving capability through diversity and inclusive practice.
Surf Life Saving Australia appreciates that to build a strong, skilled and community-connected organisation, ‘diversity’ is broader than the labels of gender, age, language, ethnicity, cultural background, disability, sexual orientation and religious beliefs; it’s a way of thinking and an approach to delivering the best results. How might Surf Life Saving attract and retain more diverse volunteer members and supporters and be more inclusive to expand and grow our knowledge base to sustain our iconic volunteer community service?Project 2 – February 2023:
Improving volunteer training outcomes for Surf Life Saving members.
Surf Life Saving’s volunteers are essential to keeping Australia’s coastline safe. As society changes, it means that Surf Life Saving needs to deliver its training programs (multi-mode, face-to-face and virtual) in a way that offers fully integrated and immersive learning environments to enhance their training outcomes. How do we develop integrated training modules that cater to a growing number of volunteers who are familiar and comfortable with digital and immersive technology learning programs?Project 3 – 2023:
To develop a program to measure our SCOPE 2 energy consumption, educate our staff, volunteers and stakeholders in carbon literacy and reduce, certify, and offset our carbon emissions.Surf Life Saving Australia will appoint nine (9) Surf Life Saving Clubs to take part in a six-month trial of the Zero+ for Schools (Zero Positive) program, aiming to reduce energy consumption and decrease their carbon emissions. This will involve measuring and tracking each club’s energy and fuel usage (water also optional), as well as a range of reporting and education to support the pilot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does my money go? Can even a small donation help? Your questions answered.
You can contact Surf Life Saving WA via: https://www.mybeach.com.au/support-us
PO Box 700
Balcatta WA 6914
Tel: 08 9207 6666
When we raise money for the Surf Life Saving Innovation Fund, this allows us to explore new initiatives, test new programs, and learn what works to accelerate lifesaving practices. Donors who give to our Fund understand that true innovation takes time and resources, that networks and connections are key levers for change, and that dollars invested in strengthening the sector and building capacity among all stakeholders will pay dividends down the road in the form of more effective lifesaving practices, more efficient funding streams, and amplified social impact.
The Surf Life Saving Innovation Fund enables you to target your donations to directly fund a specific project. The SLSF will provide progress updates to show how your donations are making a real difference to Innovation Fund projects.
The Surf Life Saving Innovation Fund is designed to invite members of the surf lifesaving community to contribute to the movement via innovative ideas to solve real problems associated with keeping the Australian coastline safe and achieving Surf Life Saving’s overarching vision of “zero preventable deaths.”
With their collective 115 years of water and surf safety experience, no one knows and understands the needs and challenges of saving lives on the Australian coastline better than Surf Life Saving’s volunteers. The power of the Innovation Fund will be engaging and harnessing the knowledge of almost 190,000 surf lifesaving volunteers across Surf Life Saving Australia and forming a connection with generous supporters.
Surf Life Saving supporters and donors will have the opportunity to learn about challenges that Surf Life Saving is posing to its volunteer surf lifesavers. It will then be up to supporters to decide which Surf Life Saving project resonates for their charitable donations.
Through providing this connection, Surf Life Saving is aiming to attract new donors and corporate community partnerships to help sustain our vital community-funded Surf Life Saving services well into the future.
Could you give regularly?
As well as training new volunteer surf lifesaver, your monthly donation helps repair and replace the equipment that constant exposure to the sun and sea can damage. As a Guardian of the Surf your monthly donation ensures that we are rescue-ready at a moment’s notice. You would be the silent hero behind every life saved.