Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Our 21st report


We kicked off the year with a full transfer to the Survive and Save Lifesaving programme. This was embraced immediately with a new team of trainers coming through the ranks to complement Ireland’s best volunteer training team. The Survive & Save programme has many positive elements but the best part by a country mile is that we can process the qualifications without having to pay fees to resellers in Ireland. No more jumping through hoops - good news, good programme.*

The year kick started with our most adventurous pool event ever - TitanicNight commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. The pool was transformed with dry ice, strobe lighting , icebergs,
lifejackets, a real ships life-raft, a giant inflatable ship, light sticks, a giant screen and copious amounts of ice. Any one element of this would be memorable but looking back the visits from coastguard and RNLI were right up there with trainers in dress suits and ball gowns

Other events this year included the famous Sthoee Blood Night and the all new Lifeguard Boot Camp; there is certainly no lack of imagination

Open water & Sea Lifesaving had a great year, never before have we had so many boats and ski on the water. It is fantastic to see the second boat back on the water too.

We had plenty of HQ visitors during the year starting with Ellen Moore who visited a number of RLSS groups and new Survive & Save Instructors. Later in the year we were pleased to welcome back Janet Wilson not once but twice on our ever expanding beach Lifeguard programme. Finally, but by no means
least, we were visited by Damian Hall who ran the RNLI supported Beach Lifeguard Seminar.

Pool Lifeguard and Beach Lifeguard programmes continue to thrive with lots of new trainers. AED and Life-support continue to be popular. Surfing was great, as always. It’s a magical sight to see the yellow rescue ski bobbing around on the west coast

As we reached our 21st it’s hard to tie down what might be our best year ever. An incredible team who have fun together. It’s sometimes hard to appreciate the amount of work that it done silently in the background to make sure everything works from fixing gear, managing courses, doing the paperwork, it’s a very simple case of many hands making light work. From the painters, graffiti removers, fibre glassers, boat builders, designers, promoters, manikin cleaners and haulers, all invaluable. We’ve said it before and will say it again you are either crew or you are not!  There is no crew like it Irish Lifeguard Training or Dublin Lifesaving programme like it.

Plans are well advanced for an incredible 2013 but we finish 2012 as we always do, so many people put this show on, put in quiet hours so that everything works like clockwork, you know who you are ,

go raibh mile maith agaibh

Respectfully submitted.


For information on getting involved contact orla@sthoeelifeguardsdublin.com
or text / ring 086 1595422


* all RLSS programmes are now accessed through River House, do not pay local fees and be especially careful about paying money to IQL always pay direct to river house – don’t get scammed by unscrupulous trainers taking advantage of you