The Government needs to provide further funding to help protect Kiwis out in the water this summer, Surf Life Saving New Zealand says.
Seventy-four surf clubs around the country are vying for donations and sponsorship from businesses to help replace boats and other equipment needed to monitor the beaches, Stuff reports.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand CEO Paul Dalton is vying for a Government funding boost, telling Stuff, "I think the conversation is bigger than just looking at equipment. It has been started and is underway".
Titahi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club chair John Wesley-Smith says their Porirua-based club is "like every other club in the country, short of funding and equipment".
"Every year we we apply for grants funding, which is over-subscribed and slowly disappearing.
"We're effectively running an emergency service with gear that is predominantly older than it should be. It's time we get funding from central government."
Volunteers with the charity have been warned they may have to cut back the hours and weeks spent watching over beachgoers when patrols begin around the country next month, because of a lack of funding.
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