Two years ago, following the pandemic and the closure of our old Lifeguard Station, our Club was at its lowest ebb, with us sliding into permanent closure.  Two years on, what a positive place we are in now, having just finished our 64th season.

There are many organisations and people to acknowledge and thanks for this turn-around, so we hope we haven’t missed anyone in our thank-you list, shown below:

  • The Vale of Glamorgan Council
  • The Royal Life Saving Society
  • The Surf Life Saving Association of Wales
  • Sport Wales
  • Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water
  • S.Jones Containers
  • Local residents of the Knap
  • Sally and the team behind the ‘Reef Project’ to restore the old Lifeguard Station
  • Rhondda Rotary

and last and not least, the Committee and members of the Rhondda Lifeguard Club.

Our members, this year, have supported and taken part in:

  • The World Life Saving Championships
  • The Welsh Surf Life Saving Championships
  • The SLSA Wales Youth Camps
  • Local SLSA Wales open water assessments, safety cover and providing candidates
  • Providing participants in the SLSA Wales Board of Trustees, Lifesaving and IRB Commissions, as well as the RLSS East Wales Branch.

Well done to our recent candidates who passed their Level 1 and 2, 6 candidates in total as well as one IRB competence award.  Also a big thank you to Geraint for his time and efforts in training Dylan, Niamh, Isaac, Findlay, Olivia and Tristan.

We started this season with the news that, through a Sport Wales grant, we were awarded money to purchase 2 storage containers for our lifesaving equipment.  This was followed by a grant for a Welfare Container, from the Strong Communities Grant Fund.  All containers are now in place, with the work to convert the third container into a  Welfare Unit, currently ongoing.  We did have a slight bump in the road with the containers, when it emerged we needed planning permission for them, but thanks for excellent support from Andrew and Beth, members from years gone by and the Vale Council, planning was approved.

We finished the season with an Open Day, attended by 25 young people and hopefully more new members for 2025.

We are now waiting to start our winter training sessions at Hebron Hall swimming pool, which unfortunately is currently closed for maintenance.

And finally, to finish; will our Club be entitled to a pension when it turns 65 on the 11th August 2025!!