Faithful members recognised at 2016 AGM

Last night Royal Life Saving Society WA celebrated its 107th Annual General Meeting, reflecting on the successes of last financial year which saw us continue to make inroads into drowning prevention, through our metro and regional swimming, water safety and education programs.

During 2015-16 we saw 195,615 children take part in our Swim and Survive program across the state, while 20,599 infants and toddlers were involved, along with their parents, in our Infant Aquatics program. Teaching children personal survival skills and water safety is the most important investment the community can make to reducing drowning, and has proven to be effective, with children now the least likely of all age groups to drown.

We also saw 25,029 people participate in lifesaving training programs throughout the year, including first aid and CPR, Pool Lifeguard, Bronze Medallion, Aquatic Rescue and Pool Operations. Having so many qualified lifesavers in communities across WA is an extremely positive result as we strive to ensure there are first responders available at every emergency scene.

During the AGM we were able to pay tribute to several loyal members who've been pivotal in helping us achieve these results during over a number of years, including:

• Brendon Richards who received a Certificate of Thanks for his contribution to the growth and development of Royal Life Saving Society WA's first aid services. Since 2013 Brendon has assisted us in keeping members of the community safe, through his involvement in providing first aid services at events across Perth and WA 
• Farris Tammerijn who received a certificate of Thanks for his work with Royal Life Saving Society WA since 2014. Farris has helped us to monitor and assess aquatic facilities including the Subiaco Primary School Pool and WAIS High Performance Centre. He also works as a lifeguard and pool operator at Subiaco Primary, and has assisted at events across Perth to keep members of the community safe.
• Peter Allbury who received a WA Service Order for his involvement with Royal Life Saving Society WA since 2011. Peter has worked in event first aid at places like Telethon, the WACA, Perth Arena and NIB Stadium, while also assisting with logistics at these events.
• Angela Carey who received a WA Service Order for her work with Royal Life Saving Society WA over more than 5 years. Angela works in Swimming and Water Safety Education with a particular focus on our Swim and Survive programs. She has long been a swimming instructor and brought a wealth of knowledge and experience into her role, which has made her instrumental in our delivery of water safety education.
• Peter Kinsman who received a WA Service Order for his involvement with Royal Life Saving Society WA since 2011. Peter has been instrumental in assisting with event set-up such as the City to Surf, and is currently our key contact at NIB Stadium. He has also worked in our first aid services team at many events including those at Perth Arena and the WACA.
• Melissa Kinsman who received a WA Long Service Order for well over 10 years of service to Royal life Saving Society WA in the first aid sector. Melissa is always ready and willing to step into a shift wherever required and is one of our main contacts in providing first aid services, especially with the City of Belmont.

Royal Life Saving Society WA values the contribution of all its members in assisting us in achieving our key objectives, of empowering our community to be safe, especially when they are in, on or around water, and in leading efforts to reduce the impact of drowning in the WA community.

You can download a copy of the 2016 Royal Life Saving Society WA Annual Report at the link below.