GUNNAMATTA Surf Life Saving Club is celebrating six decades of volunteer lifesaving service this year. The club, established in December 1966, now operates with around 95 active patrolling members, 100 nippers aged under seven to under 14, and approximately 490 total members, including social members and parents.
Club secretary Barry Williams told The News the organisation has five patrolling teams that rotate through the summer season.
“The average patroller does 60 to 70 hours over summer volunteering,” Williams said.
“Some of our patrols will run through to over 150 hours on the beach a year.”
Since its foundation, the club has rescued more than 5,000 people at the beach – an average of 80 per year.
Williams, who has been involved with the club for 12 years and served on the committee for 11 of those, joined when his children took part in the junior program. His daughter continues to patrol actively alongside him.
“Our youngest qualified patrollers are 15, and we’ve got about five or six patrollers who are all in their mid-70s,” Williams said.
“It’s a generational thing. A lot of the patrols have siblings or children involved.”
To mark the 60th anniversary, the club is holding a dinner on 13 June at Mornington Racecourse. The event will include the club’s annual general meeting and will welcome members of the Gunnamatta Surf Life Saving Club plus local, state and federal politicians. The venue has its own link to the surf club’s name, with a horse named Gunnamatta once racing at Mornington, and a function room that still carries the name.
The milestone anniversary lands as the club looks to its next chapter. Williams outlined significant challenges ahead, with the club beginning a 20-year planning process to address their future needs.
The current clubhouse, opened in stages from the 1970s into the 1980s, houses lifesaving equipment, training spaces and member facilities, but the garage is now undersized – a reflection of how rescue methods have changed from the old rope-and-reel era to today’s inflatable rescue boats.
“We’re quite close to the beach, so we’re starting to plan for the next 10 to 20 years on what that looks like, whether we need to relocate or reorientate the clubhouse,” Williams said.
The club is part of Life Saving Victoria’s renewal program with the state government, but Williams noted the cost facing clubs on the peninsula.
“Your average life saving club replacement is around $8m,” he said.
“About 70 per cent of that money has to come from the members and fundraising.”
Gunnamatta fundraises year-round through corporate supporters including Bendigo Bank and the RACV. Its remote location at the end of Truemans Road in Fingal means the club must actively pursue sponsorship rather than relying on proximity to foot traffic.
“We’re not like Sorrento, which is close to the township,” Williams said. “We have to track down supporters. A lot of our sponsors are members as well.”
For all the challenges ahead, Williams said the club’s strength lies in its volunteer spirit and community.
“It’s very close knit. Everyone knows each other, which is nice,” Williams said.
“It’s a good mix here.”
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 29 April 2026
