A Cornish brewery has teamed up with the UK's largest surf magazine to present a cheque to Cornwall Surf Live Saving Clubs.
Last week, 30 representatives from half a dozen Surf Life Saving Clubs across Cornwall met with the Sharp’s Brewery and Carve magazine teams at Portreath Surf Life Saving Club to receive a £9,000 donation from the Sharp’s Brewery ‘Offshore Heroes’ campaign.
Over the past 18 months, the Surf Life Saving Clubs across Cornwall have selflessly taken some 6,186 recorded preventative actions, bravely saving countless lives on Cornwall’s popular beaches and around the coastline.
In addition, they have a combined recorded 69 interventions which include carrying out vital first aid work on rescue missions across the coast.
This year, the same team from Sharp’s and Carve extended the campaign to further raise awareness of the vital work undertaken tirelessly by volunteers at these 19 Surf Lifesaving Clubs across the region.
Sharp’s Brewery promoted the campaign on ‘font danglers’ at Offshore Pilsner taps at stockists across Cornwall.
As well as promoting the campaign at the bar, Sharp’s and Carve created a new legacy film to promote awareness and say “thanks” to the lifesavers.
The donation will go towards funding essential lifesaving equipment and crucial first aid kit in the 19 Surf Living Saving Clubs across the county.
Cornish Surf Life Saving (Regional body of the Surf Life Saving Association of Great Britain) have 19 affiliated clubs around the Cornish coast from Bude to Sennen around to Whitsands with each having between 50 and 700 members.
The £9,000 cheque handover evening at Portreath Surf Life Saving club saw Carve magazine Editor Steve England kick off with a few words of introduction, explaining the background to the two campaigns, and thanking the attendees for their service and commitment.
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Steve England, Editor, Carve magazine said: "I am so proud to be involved in this campaign.
"It is simply phenomenal the lengths these clubs go to, to keep us safe and out of danger.
"Surfers and surf lifesavers are on the front line on Cornish beaches.
"Every year they help save lives and prevent tragedies – and they just get on and do it.
"After our campaign last year, Sharp’s really wanted to continue putting back into the community and raise the stakes with a donation that will make a huge difference.
"After liaising with local surf clubs and Surf Life Saving Cornwall, it was decided that funding the first aid kits would ensure lifesavers around the busiest beaches in Cornwall would have access to the most up-to-date kit to help treat casualties.
"It is a donation that will provide a legacy and really help the amazing volunteers who invest their time and knowledge in keeping others safe on our beautiful but sometimes treacherous coast. Thank you to all of them.
"They are everyday heroes."
Rachel Williams, Communications Manager at Sharp’s Brewery, sayid: "It was an absolute honour to hand over this cheque to the Cornish Surf Life Saving Clubs.
"The work they do is so vital in terms of education but also actively saving lives on our beaches.
"Our incredible coastline and the communities that serve them are so important to us, and as a North Coast business it gives us great pride to be able to raise awareness of the courageous acts of these volunteers.
"The work they do is truly inspirational and humbling and we know that we will never be able to thank them enough.
"That said, we do hope that our donation and awareness raising will help in their efforts to carry out this life-saving work.”
Nigel Bowden, Chairman of Surf Life Saving Cornwall said: "Surf Life Saving is an integrated part of our coastal communities and works constantly to keep our beaches safe.
"All our Cornish lifesaving clubs and 2,000 Cornish volunteers, of all ages, are self-funding.
"The pressure on finances during the busy summer months, as well as across the year, to keep our first aid kits ready is acute and this generous assistance from Sharp’s with the support of Carve is a lifesaver."
For more information on the campaign please visit www.sharpsbrewery.co.uk/offshorelifesavers.
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