FROM THE HELM
I
’VE been watching the surf, and
needed and of a quality that honours the sacrifices made. We know there is a broad
the period seems so long now that maybe the fifth wave isn’t coming – wouldn’t that be nice? You’ll all agree that the past two years have been awkward at best and that it’s way beyond the time for ‘ops normal’. The NSRI has been ‘ops usual’ for some time now, as expressed in our 2021 data, which shows how busy we were despite Covid-19 and the impact of the lockdown. We saved almost 1 000 lives last year, and our lifeguard season delivered 120 saves and more than 2 000 preventative interventions. The Pink Rescue Buoy programme has by now been involved directly in the saving of 109 lives thanks to more than 1 000 deployments of these public rescue devices. A busy year across all activities, once again demonstrating the commitment of our volunteers and thousands of stakeholders. The volunteer community and NSRI management have reflected on the sup-
ownership of the NSRI by all stakeholders, something we value and appreciate. Not only have we maintained our operational response and preventative efforts, we also continue to invest in capital projects and our human capital to guarantee future sustainability. We have invested in the wellbeing of our volunteers and staff by contracting Life Healthcare to provide a comprehensive wellness programme across the country. The programme not only provides immediate medical advice and access to care but also provides assistance across a range of life’s screwballs! With our focus on people in 2022, this initiative is an important step. Our boat-build programme continues unabated (we are currently constructing ORC number five); our base-build programme expands daily; and we have most recently cleared ground at Kei River, and are nearly completed at Oyster Bay. We are very bullish about the year
port services we have had to provide in 2021, and we are sincerely humbled by a community of stakeholders that delivered R170m in direct funding, R15m in gifts-in-kind and immeasurable moral and motivational energy! The loyalty and consistency of our support, particularly during the pandemic, are amazing. I like to think that we’ve repaid and respected that faith by delivering services whenever
ahead and the future, and the morale within the institute is buoyant… floated, really, if you’ll excuse the pun, by you guys out there – thank you. See you at the AGM in Knysna in July!
DR CLEEVE ROBERTSON, CEO
CAPE TOWN: NSRI, 4 Longclaw Drive, Milnerton, Cape Town, 7441; PO Box 154, Green Point 8051 Tel: +27 21 434 4011 Email: info@searescue.org.za Web: www.nsri.org.za www.facebook.com/SeaRescue
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SEA RESCUE AUTUMN 2022
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