Seven Hills RSL Group wins Royal Life Saving Society Australia Presidents Award

The Royal Life Saving Society Australia Presidents Award is issued annually to recognise the most significant contribution to water safety by an organisation or entity in Australia. This year’s honour has been awarded to the Seven Hills RSL Group.

Jim Whiteside, President of Royal Life Saving NSW, presenting his Presidents Award to our Club President, Barry Wilson

THE SEVEN HILLS RSL GROUP – MEMBERS & BOARD

This Honour recognises the wonderful contribution that the Members and Board of the Seven Hills RSL Group make to enhancing community resilience and healthy lifestyles. Our children, diverse communities and ageing population are vulnerable to fatal drowning across our diverse waterways.

It is generally accepted that more people drown at the beach. In fact, our rivers, lakes and dams claim more lives than any other waterway. It is therefore critical that we develop the skills and knowledge of local constituents who reside within our broader western Sydney communities.

The best place to start is to educate and train our children so that their future aquatic experiences can be undertaken with an understanding of aquatic risk and dangers that may be encountered. Learning swimming and water safety gives children the best chance to engage with our aquatic environments with confidence and respect. This ensures a lifetime of fun and positive experiences that our abundant waterways provide.

This year the communities in and around Seven Hills continued to benefit from the generosity of the Seven Hills RSL Group, its Members and Board. Over the last 12 months, more than 40 local schools were provided with fully funded water safety programs involving more than 5,500 children. In addition, over the last 5 years more than 500 senior students in local high schools have received free First Aid training. These skills lead to enhanced opportunities to gain employment and also importantly provide a local network of community lifesavers with skills to save a life.

SEVEN HILLS RSL GROUP FUNDS WATER SAFETY PROGRAMS FOR OVER 10,000 LOCAL KIDS

Over the period of our partnership in excess of 10,000 children have participated in a fully funded water safety program provided by the Seven Hills Group. These children have been provided with water safety and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training that enhances community resilience and safety.

“This partnership showcases how we collectively can build skills and knowledge across our communities to ensure safety in and around our waterways” says Jim Whiteside, President of Royal Life Saving NSW. “We are greatly appreciative of the support we receive from the Seven Hills RSL Group and the vast investment they make to their local community. Our children are most at risk of drowning and it is important that we teach them vital swimming and water safety skills. Many children, due to their diverse backgrounds are unfamiliar with our aquatic environments. Local programs ensure that these children have the opportunity to learn about Australian conditions.”

“The Royal Life Saving Society Australia Presidents Award is due recognition for the vast contribution the Seven Hills RSL Group make to community health and safety. To put the Honour in context, the Society issues more than 1 million awards across Australia each year. The Seven Hills RSL Group have been identified as making the most significant contribution which is a wonderful achievement and should be a proud moment for its Members” said Whiteside.

TRANSPORTATION FOR KIDS TO LEARN SWIMMING AND LIFESAVING SKILLS

Royal Life Saving’s Aquatic Safety Training Academy in Seven Hills is now able to provide transportation to even more schools and community groups to access vital swimming and water safety education thanks to the addition of a new bus with the support of the Seven Hills RSL Group.

Royal Life Saving NSW has provided transportation to schools as part of its swimming and water safety for the past 5 years with the support of the Seven Hills RSL Group. The demand for transport was so high that Royal Life Saving needed a second bus to keep up with the requests.

The purchase of a new bus allows the Aquatic Safety Training Academy to double its capabilities to transport two primary school classes at a time to service more local students and schools.

“The Seven Hills RSL Group is extremely proud to continue their longstanding support of the Aquatic Safety Training Academy and sponsor the bus. We believe that together with Royal Life Saving we can have a huge impact on children’s lives. All Australian children should be given the opportunity to learn to Swim and Survive” said Barry Wilson, Seven Hills RSL Group President.