This article originally appeared in the Illawarra Flame, December 1st 2023
In 2022, the club fielded its first all-female patrol. Last season, it was among the first clubs to put a hand up to receive a Pride Surf Rescue Board. Now this Sunday, December 10, in conjunction with Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (MCCI), Scarborough-Wombarra will hold an information session for migrants interested in learning about their nippers’ program.
Peter Rafferty, who manages member services, said surf lifesaving can sometimes be seen as elitist. “But at our club it’s not like that.
“We’ve got members, including me, who are actively interested in promoting inclusion amongst disadvantaged people or disabled people, gay people, refugees, asylum seekers, [people with] English as a second language, to try to include them in the community of surf lifesaving.
“[It’ll] let them realise that the surf lifesavers are all dads, mums and daughters, and sons and grandpas, and they’re there to be talked to, to come up and say hello … so it’s just one way of making the whole surf scene more inclusive, I think.
“Let them enjoy the camaraderie and the community feel of surf lifesaving.”
Read the full article in the Illawarra Flame – Welcome to the club: Scarborough Wombarra SLSC to hold multicultural nippers session