Life Saving Victoria, in partnership with Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club, invites Bass Coast residents to have their say on a project to help prevent drownings at local beaches.

A virtual community consultation session will be held from 6 – 7pm on Thursday, February 24 to gather local insights as part of a trial that will see an interactive, electric drowning prevention sign installed at Woolamai Beach.

The project comes after the Bass Coast was frequently identified as a drowning blackspot location, with a high number of drowning incidents during previous years, according to Life Saving Victoria manager health promotion and research Dr Hannah Calverley.

“In response, we have received funding to trial an interactive, electronic sign in the area, to elevate drowning prevention messaging and enhance water safety along the Bass Coast, and specifically at Woolamai Beach,” Dr Calverley said.

“The local community are the experts of Bass Coast and Woolamai areas, and we want to ensure their insights are captured and inform this project to ensure the best possible outcome.”

The consultation aims to engage stakeholders and communities within the Bass Coast and Woolamai areas to determine local perceptions of water safety risks along Woolamai Beach, as well as who is most at risk, and when they are most at risk.

Dr Calverley said the information will help develop content to be included in the interactive sign at Woolamai Beach.

“We understand people are busy and with the current Covid-19 climate, may be limiting their physical interaction, and so we have decided to host this event virtually,” Dr Calverley said.

“Registration isn’t required, however we encourage participants to RSVP to the virtual session via Facebook, where we have set up a dedicated event page to share the meeting link and related resources closer to the date.

“For those who can’t make it, we’ve also created a survey so that everyone has the opportunity to have their say.”

If you require any further information, or have any questions or concerns, please contact the Life Saving Victoria research team at research@lsv.com.au.

This project is part of the Surf Life Saving Australia Beach Drowning Black Spot Reduction Program funded by the Australian Government.

Join the Facebook session at: bit.ly/3GGCUXy

To complete the survey, go to: surveymonkey.com/r/WoolamaiSLSCsign

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