Local organisation: Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club

Some of Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club president Bill Kuiper's fondest memories as a patrolling member were simply standing on the water's edge and watching the families enjoy themselves.

Having joined in the '80s with a mate and feeling welcomed immediately, he went on to have his own children involved in the club. One is still involved remotely today.

Here's the story of the Fairy Meadow SLSC, which started in 1950 and has become an integral part of the community.

How important is the club to the local Fairy Meadow community today?

As with all surf clubs, we are a community based group of people. Surf life saving is very family orientated and has members starting from the age of six years. I believe Fairy Meadow SLSC offers the community a safe place to swim where families can come down to the beach and be assured they can relax and enjoy what Fairy Meadow Beach and its surrounding recreational areas have to offer.

When did you decide to join the club and why have you stayed?

I joined back in the early 1980s with a mate. We both were scuba divers and spent a lot of time being in and around the ocean. We were settling down and had moved into the area.

He was in another surf club and never felt part of that club. He asked if I wanted to join and Fairy Meadow was my local beach. When we went down to check out the club, the people at Fairy Meadow made us feel very welcome and got us involved early. First as boat rowers which I did for eight years and he moved on to R&R.

Competitions back then was every weekend - Saturdays local and Sundays in Sydney. As we had children they too joined the club. Both my children stayed for many years in the club until work started taking up their free time.

My son, has held club positions - from the age of 16 he was the youngest club captain. Today he lives out of area, working as a paramedic and is the clubs chief training officer, and social media office. Today’s technology allows him to communicate with us from there.

Some of my fondest memories as a patrolling member is simply standing on the water’s edge and watching the families enjoy themselves.

How has the Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club changed over the years? What sort of developments have you seen?

The club, as with most clubs, struggle with a lack of members. Teenagers today work their weekends, and life in general is so much busier. I remember Christmas would see all the club families come to the beach and spend Christmas afternoons there.

Competition was so much stronger and you could go to one of our 17 patrolled beaches and watch a surf carnival and have crowds of people lining the foreshore, listening to the bagpipes being played, and all the clubs proudly displaying their flags. I think that is something lost in surf lifesaving. Fairy Meadow Beach for many years held the Junior McDonald’s Carnival with the sponsorship of the local McDonald’s restaurant. It was a big local carnival with lots of volunteer work needed and it attracted hundreds of people.

Development in surf lifesaving has seen an ongoing improvement in rescue techniques and equipment. Surf lifesaving is part of emergency services. If an emergency situation occurs out of hours or during patrolling times, the response time today happens within minutes from all services.

How will this season differ from previous seasons? What has the club had to do to adapt to COVID 19?

As a surf club, we are always trying to attract new members. We have new committee members, which means new ideas. Knowing that the past committee is still there to support and offer help to the newer and younger members is great.

Surf clubs today need to understand and use technology to communicate, record information and due to COVID we learnt to hold online meetings and training. Our social media is a big part of keeping members involved in the club when they couldn’t come down to the beach. Now, with COVID 19 being a part of day-to-day living, we have had to adopt safe operating procedures and maintain that documentation.

As far as being in a situation of rescuing a swimmer, it still takes high priority.

As president, what are your plans for the club this season?

As president I would like to see the club make better contact with the community and see growth in membership. We are in the early stages in redeveloping our building to better house our equipment and offer more to our members.

In what ways can people get involved in the club? And why would you encourage others to join?

Surf lifesaving offers many levels of involvement these days. If they believe they have something to offer in administration and want to be part of the club administration, you don’t need to have been a patrolling member.

There are also dry duties for members who just want to be a radio operator or first aider on the beach. As well as a bronze holder and being part of the rescue team on our beach, there are now call out teams being part of a higher level of rescue and emergency support, working with IRBs and jet skis. We have a new IRB coming soon.

What message do you want to give those looking to come to the beach this summer?

People need to only come to the beach to enjoy themselves. Don’t be afraid to ask the life savers questions about the conditions and why the flags are where they are. Most importantly, swim between the flags and follow the directions given by the life savers.

We would also like to thank the sponsorship of the IMB, and the local businesses supporting the club and community.

Fairy Meadow is spoilt with the surrounding beautiful recreational areas.

Learn more about the Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club via their website.

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