The City of Sydney is partnering with one of Australia’s largest volunteer-based community organisations to promote water safety in New South Wales.  

The partnership with Surf Life Saving New South Wales (SLSNSW) will form a part of the City of Sydney’s Lunar Festival celebrations next month, which coincides with peak season for beachgoers.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the Sydney Lunar Festival is the biggest of its kind outside of Asia. 

“More than 1.3 million people attended the event in 2018 and more than two billion people were reached through Australian and international media about the festival, so this is a perfect opportunity to promote Surf Life Saving NSW’s significant contribution to Sydney – saving lives,” Ms Moore said.   

Various activities, including a pop-up beach in the city, will be held to raise awareness and fund for the charity’s safety mission. 

With a network of 129 clubs and more than 75,000 volunteer members, SLSNSW aims to reach zero avoidable deaths and injuries on NSW beaches. It offers services including beach patrols, community education, and first aid training.

During the 2017/18 patrol season, Surf Life Saving members volunteered more than 663,000 hours patrolling the NSW coastline. In total, they saved 4,377 lives, performed 142,766 preventative actions and administered 11,957 first aid treatments. 

“Surf Life Saving protects all beachgoers during the patrol season and being the official charity partner of the festival will help reinforce our safety messages to always swim between the flags,” SLSNSW CEO Steve Pearce said.