Surf Life Saving Cornwall
‘Vigilance and Service’
Annual Report 2014
Surf Life Saving Cornwall – Region Officers
President
Chairman
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Sport Commission
Region Life Saving Officer
Region Commission
Disciplinary Rep.
John Broad
Nigel Bowden
Christina Stewart
Nikki Kendall
Diane Green
David Green
Alex Bowden
Diane Green
Rob Phillips
Affiliated Clubs
Bude
Crantock
Crackington Haven
Falmouth
Gunwalloe
Gyllngvase
Harlyn
Hayle
Holywell Bay
Lusty Glaze
Mullion
Newquay
Perranporth
Polzeath
Porthtowan
Portreath
St Agnes
St Ives
Tintagel
Watergate Bay
Whitsand Bay
Presidents Report 2014- John Broad
Surf Life Saving Cornwall has again been very active in all its aspects in the past year.
This has come about by the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by our
volunteer officers, commissioners, T/As and coaches etc. For these people surf life
saving is a way of life but they could always do with help and support and I would
encourage more volunteers to get involved so that the workload can be shared.
For those involved in organising the regional competitions, finding the best combination
of venue and format is not always easy, so many thanks for their continuing efforts to try
and put on the best events possible for our regional clubs.
With regards the lifesaving aspect within Cornwall, it appears to be ticking along ok. But
training and assessing within the region has all but slipped off the radar in the past few
years, which is a concern to myself and some of my more experienced colleagues. We
have seen significant changes recently with the introduction of MIS and the unitisation of
the awards and qualifications, so in the coming year, through the quality assurance
process and with the appointment of a new RLSO, we need to ensure that standards are
maintained at the high level that we have been renowned for in the past.
Our Nipper movement has been going for many years now and continues to flourish.
Nippers are the future of surf life saving and they deserve all the help and
encouragement they get. In recent years we have run the Max Hocking event as a
curtain raiser to the Nipper season and sadly, as most of you will know, Max passed
away in 2014. Max was a lifelong member of St Agnes club, one of the founder clubs of
SLSGB, and was involved in surf life saving for most of his adult life. He was a lovely
man, passionate about life saving and an inspiration to all who knew him. His legacy will
continue through the Max Hocking event and the Nipper movement.
Finally, on behalf of all the membership, a big thank you to all those who have
contributed to organising and running regional matters and events in the past year. Their
hard work and dedication continues to make Surf Life Saving Cornwall an organisation
we can all be proud of.
Chairman Report 2014
I find it hard to believe that yet another year has gone by, and we are
already looking forward to next summer. 2014 had been a good year with the
weather but maybe not the surf conditions, but I believe another fantastic
year for the Region.
All our events were well attended and the Region came together to help run
these events. There is always a lot of hard work going on throughout the
year, and I would like to thank everyone for their effort and support, which
makes Cornwall the Region it is today. There has been a drop off in clubs
attending the monthly meeting, which is a little concerning as we need the
voice of all our member clubs and not just a few.
The Cornish Frostbites still continue to grow along with the standards. The
Nippers now need to be run over the two weekends and this is now becoming
full to capacity. We must remember to keep this fun and encourage everyone
taking part. It is also nice to see that there are more seniors and masters
taking part in the open event which always turns out to be a good night.
Returning to the beach is always a welcoming feeling and as normal we
started our events with the Max Hocking at Carbis Bay which was fun for all.
In 2014 Max Hocking passed away but he has left a true legacy behind which
I hope will continue for years to come.
The Cornish Nippers took over Portreath beach and had some of the best
weather of the summer. This was so well attended and was a pleasure to
watch. A big thank you goes out to Portreath SLSC for all the hard work
they put in behind the event.
Thank you to Chris Hewitt and Christina Stewart for running the event and
getting everyone involved. Well done to St.Ives SLSC for coming first
followed by Gyllngvase SLSC and Portreath SLSC coming third.
The Cornish Champs were held at Holywell Bay with 315 competitor’s age
from 13-60+ years, from 11 clubs in Cornwall as far apart as St Ives to Bude.
Once again the club put on such a good event and looked after everyone. The
first four places were 1st Portreath, 2nd Holywell Bay, 3rd Newquay and
Crantock 4th. Along with the event we had a quick look at the Regions new
IRB which will be out and about in 2015.
2014 can’t go without a mention of Rescue 2014 Montpellier, La Grande
Motte as the Cornish clubs did us proud on the world stage, along with the
competitor’s I need to mention the two Officials that also did there bit
were Sara Garner and Julia Sharland who were there for the whole event.
The whole of the organisation is moving forward, Flood Rescue is the gossip
of the moment, which the Region is hoping to get involved. The Flood Rescue
is not going to replace our core value, but will work alongside. We will be able
to access the funding and add another string to our bow which will make our
Region even more community based.
Nigel Bowden
Chairman Surf Life Saving Cornwall
Overall Region Club Competition Aggregate for 2014
Taken over 5 events
Portreath SLSC
Holywell Bay SLSC
Gyllngvase SLSC
Newquay SLSC
St Ives SLSC
Crantock SLSC
Hayle SLSC
Polzeath SLSC
Perranporth SLSC
Harlyn SLSC
Bude SLSC
St Agnes SLSC
Watergate Bay SLSC
Lusty SLSC
1046
499
332
331
328
262
238
218
180
89
63
44
30
12
The last three clubs only took part in Nipper events.
Surf Life Saving Cornwall Competition Results for 2014
Nipper Stillwater Championship
1st
St Ives SLSC
512
2nd
Gyllngvase SLSC
351
3rd
Portreath SLSC
300
Nipper Ocean Championship
1st
St Ives SLSC
2nd
Gyllngvase SLSC
3rd
Portreath SLSC
707
696
461
Youth Ocean Championship
Male
1st
Portreath SLSC
2nd
Polzeath SLSC
Newquay SLSC
3rd
Female
1st
2nd
3rd
415
212
200
395
201
178
Total
1st
2nd
3rd
Masters Ocean Championship
Male
Holywell Bay SLSC
1st
327
2nd
Newquay SLSC
176
3rd
Crantock SLSC
175
Total
1st
2nd
3rd
Portreath SLSC
Newquay SLSC
Gyllngvase SLSC
Female
1st
2nd
3rd
Holywell Bay SLSC
Crantock SLSC
Portreath SLSC
Portreath SLSC
Gyllngvase SLSC
Newquay SLSC
810
378
365
Crantock SLSC
218
Holywell Bay SLSC 209
Portreath SLSC
151
536
393
248
Cornwall Ocean Championship
Male
1st
2nd
Portreath SLSC
Holywell Bay SLSC
3rd
Perranporth SLSC
291
116
Female
1st
2nd
Portreath SLSC
Crantock SLSC
78
3rd
Holywell Bay SLSC
Total
1st
2nd
3rd
Portreath SLSC
Holywell Bay SLSC
Crantock SLSC
574
200
133
283
94
84
Secretary Report 2014
2014 was a very busy year again for SLS Cornwall, we ran a new series of events to
take the place of Twilights, and the Surf Series was a great success with the top
juniors and seniors in the region making up 4 teams to compete against each other.
This was a great warm up leading to GB ranking event selecting the National Teams
to compete at Montpelier in France. Many of the Cornwall Clubs travelled to France
to compete, with some of their members also selected for the GB teams. We are
working our way through the wish list that was drawn up, gradually replacing worn
out equipment and providing additional resources as required. We were lucky enough
to be awarded a Sports for All Lottery grant to purchase a new IRB and in the
coming months hope to have a region flood rescue team in training.
In August I was invited to join the Board of Trustees of SLSGB, thank you to those
who supported my nomination at the Association AGM.
Chart showing the region
Membership for SLS GB.
Cornwall region Inshore Rescue Boat report 2014/15
Clubs with IRBs
Hayle x 2
St Ives (one on order)
Perranporth x 1
Newquay x 1
Tolcarne (one on order)
Lusty (one on order)
Polzeath x1
Harlyn x1
Bude x1
Whitsand x2
Falmouth x1
Cornwall region x 3
More and more clubs are now taking advantage of the awards for all grants,
and receiving new IRB's.This is great for the clubs and the region.
We will be holding more IRB taster days, at Hayle and at other locations
throughout the region. These were attended last year by clubs from all
round the country. This will help with the training within clubs, making sure
we are setting the right standard and sharing experience.
We intend to have different themes, with the involvement of kite surfers
for rescues and to explain about their kit, flood rescue driving, using the
event swim cans so crews are happy to lay the course in different conditions,
without the pressure of the event starting.
We are also planning to have race days/evenings, were we can also teach and
share knowledge
We have three regional IRB's now due to the successful Awards for All
lottery grant. Perranporth have taken the old rescue boat under their wing
and now pay from the insurance for it. Surf Life Saving GB has said we can
still use their engines for training purposes.
It would be really good if we could get the Cornwall safety cover up and
running. This would mean clubs could help out with safety cover for private
events and be covered for insurance under the Cornwall umbrella, thus
making money for the clubs but also spreading the word about surf life
saving (Nigel is dealing with this).
As I stated in last year’s report I am still finding it hard to monitor the
IRBs at their present location (Perranporth) as I haven't got a key for the
lock up.
If anyone knows where we can get a cheap 20' container please contact me,
we have a location in Hayle where we can place it. Hayle SLSC is looking into
having a new storage unit purposes built in Hayle, in conjunction with the
local gig club and the RNLI.
With the boats closer to hand it would make it a lot easier and less time
consuming to maintain and keep a eye on.
I am happy to stand again if required
Dave Parker
Cornwall IRB officer
2014 Lifesaving Report – Alex Bowden (RLSO)
Our region has once again stood out above all over as one of the top
producers of qualified lifesavers. For the past 3 years it has been my
pleasure to oversee the development of lifesaving in Cornwall, and as sad as
I am to step down from the position of RLSO, I do so in the knowledge that
I have been a part of a fantastic region.
Last year we saw both our professional and volunteer lifesavers conduct
fantastic rescues in some of the most challenging conditions. To list all the
achievements over the year would just take up a lot more of this report than
my allocated slot, so I will start by thanking all clubs and members for their
hard work this year in regards to the training of lifesavers, and their active
participation on patrol.
With unfortunate fatalities on some of Cornwall’s beaches that were not
lifeguarded, it just goes to show how important the work we are doing really
is.
Last year we saw 214 different lifesaving courses take place in Cornwall
between January 2014 and January 2015
with:
 46 new Surf Lifeguard courses

51 Surf Lifeguard Renewal courses

1 new Beach Lifeguard course

2 new IRB Crew courses

1 new IRB Drivers course

16 new probationary Trainer
Assessors
With this new batch of probationary Trainer Assessors, not only in our clubs
but also our Approved Training Centres, the number of trained candidates
can be seen to be on the rise.
I would once again like to thank all of the Trainers, Assessors and Club
Representatives for their hard work over during my time as RLSO. I look
forward to continuing my work with you all as Area Quality Assurance
Officer, and would like to wish my predecessor the best of luck.
Alex Bowden – Regional Life Saving Officer
Surf Life Saving Cornwall
Income and Expenditure Account for year ending December 2014.
Grant
Club Affiliation Fees
Regional Champs
10000.00
800.00
12029.59
22,829.59
2014 Expenses
IRB Insurance
Meeting
Pool Hire
Medals
Max Hocking re-useable vests
Equipment (inc repair to)
Admin
Cornwall Team
Sundries
163.88
489.73
114.40
1118.16
1276.50
5583.04
13417.99
59.83
223.80
155.01
22,602.34
Profit of Income over Expenditure
Opening Bank Balance at 1st January 2014
Profit of Income over Expenditure
Closing Bank Balance 31st December 2014
Nikki Kendall
Treasurer
January 2015
£227.25
£26,674.37
£227.25
£26,901.62
Surf Life Saving Cornwall Assets
Gear Trailer containing:
2 spinal boards
Buoys and anchors
12 stop watches
Competition flags and stands
Obstacle gates & manikin
Sprint Lane ropes
2 IRB’s + old one at Perran
Tape and stakes for crowd
Laptop and case
control
Bibs and Tags
Laser printer
Banners
Laminator
6 radios and chargers
Projector
New Marquee + old for back up Megaphone
500 vests for Nippers
I pad
Set of hi-vis vests for comps.
6 new feathered flags
Finance: our accounts are looking healthy but we do need to replace some of
the Region Gear and purchase some new items to help run the events and try
and subsidise some courses. Items on the Wish List that are still required:
Competitions
 4 more feathered flags
 New set of flags and competition poles.
 Order a 2nd string of swim cans so that a set is available for clubs to use at
events.
 Order 60 new sprint vests in medium size – 6x10 colours as Nipper vests
 A generator plus a water urn to make us more self sufficient at events.
 Extra megaphone
 Maintenance and service to be done on gear trailer –ramp to be repaired.
Life Saving
 I-gel packs and Manikin for clubs to use in training.
 De-fib trainer
 1st Responders Backpack for events
 The Region would like to run some IRB courses.
 Run Train the Trainer courses – need a minimum of 6 on a course.
 Coaching courses.
 Encourage more Assessors.