WOMEN Who Sail Australia (WWSA), presented Marine Rescue Port Stephens (MRPS), with a donation of $4,814 as proceeds from their highly successful annual conference held at Broughton’s on the Bay at Nelson Bay.

Richard Pizzuto, a bravery award recipient from MRPS, addressed the gathering of WWSA, on the dramatic events of January 6-7, 2016 when several racing yachts were rescued in deplorable conditions related to the East Coast low resulting in 21 MRPS members being honoured for bravery and competence with Commissioner’s Awards.

Unit Commander, Lee Uebergang said, “The Unit is so appreciative of what Women Who Sail Australia are able to achieve and greatly values the donation which goes directly to helping provide necessary safety equipment to MRPS as we are constantly upgrading our safety equipment to ensure that MRPS can fulfil its responsibility of saving lives on the water.”

MRPS relies on donations from bodies like WWSA to make up the shortfall of over $150,000 annually which is not provided by Government.

In addition to this welcome donation to MRPS, the organisers, Isla Thomas and Shelley Winters, also announced a further $4,000 would be donated to Sailors with Disabilities.

Plans for the 2018 gathering are already underway, one of the biggest changes will be the inclusion of partners and those left on land, with activities such as navigational radio operations refresher course and other appropriate activities.

Furthermore, MRPS are happy to announce that 25 of their recent volunteer recruits are currently going through their induction and training.

Neil Hansford, Deputy Unit Commander, told News Of The Area, “The calibre of volunteers from the local area is outstanding, we are very fortunate to now have them on board and look forward to supporting them as they progress through their training.”

By Mandy ELLIS