Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Noosa

The Noosa branch of the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard will have a team of fully trained volunteers this summer, courtesy of a $5,000 donation from the Tewantin-Noosa Community Bank branch of Bendigo Bank.

Noosa Coast Guard QF-05 Flotilla Commander Ian Hutchings, recently hosted the Tewantin-Noosa Community Bank Manager Mark Gielis, and Sunshine Coast Community Financial Services Ltd Board member Elizabeth Reynolds to a tour of the Coast Guard premises in Noosaville. They were both astounded to discover that the Coast Guard relies almost exclusively on volunteer support and financial sponsorship, and did not have a suitable training raft for their "Survival at Sea" techniques.

"The Coast Guard provides a vital service to our community that needs to be supported" Mr Gielis said. "The guard will be training new recruits in November and they required an inflatable raft that could be reused. We were happy to support this by purchasing a training raft, knowing the Noosa waterways would be even safer for the community with the trainees being able to become fully qualified crew members".

Commander Ian Hutchings described how important this donation will be for the service: "As part of our boat crew's basic training they must participate in a drill where they inflate a life raft in the water, right it and climb aboard. They must also safely enter the water from a height whilst wearing a life jacket, and then swim a distance to the raft. This is a mandatory requirement that all trainees must undergo to become qualified crew members. Without having a life raft to practice on, our trainees would not be able to progress and very shortly Coast Guard Noosa would run out of qualified crew' he said.

After each training session the life raft also has to be sent away and repacked, which comes at a cost to the Noosa Coast Guard. Upon learning this, the Bendigo Bank Branch Manager offered to cover the transport and repacking costs, in addition to the purchase of the training life raft. This will enable the Guard to enhance their numbers of qualified crew as the busy Summer season approaches and we see a massive increase on our local water ways.

This donation to our local Coast Guard is another reminder of why who you bank with matters. Up to 80% of company profits are invested back into our local area when you bank with your local Community Bank. This allows the bank to continue to support great causes like this one and extend a helping hand to services and groups who are working to make our community a better place for us all.