British architect and television presenter George Clarke has thrown his support behind Whiritoa Lifeguard Service’s clubhouse rebuild – calling on people to chip in with the fundraising efforts while visiting the coastal Hauraki town.
Known for transforming spaces, Clarke helped raise awareness and support for the club’s project – which aims to create a modern facility to better serve the local community and lifesaving efforts – by sharing a video of him bolstering up the rebuild and sharing his “deep” connection.
“This building has been here since the 1970s; it was actually built around the same month and the same year that I was born,” he said. “And my connection with it is actually quite deep because my aunty and uncle just live a few hundred yards up the road – I convinced them to buy a place here, because I wanted them to have this beautiful coastline.
“Unfortunately, the building needs to go,” he explained. “We need to build a brand new structure.”
The project was born out of a need to address the current facilities at Whiritoa as they were no longer fit for purpose.
According to the service, the clubhouse development would address the current and future needs for surf lifesaving at Whiritoa Beach, as well as support wider Whiritoa community groups with “a well-designed, modern, weathertight, and safe facility that caters to all visitors to the beach and club members – ensuring another 50 plus years of useful community use and lifesaving service”.
A fundraising page set up to assist the project said $1,842,709 of its $5m target had been raised as at February 17.
“Clearly, this is a significant sum of money and great care will be exercised in all aspects of expenditure,” the service said. “Our building committee, comprising of industry experts, has been established to ensure value for money and materials are used that will stand the test of time.”
Clarke’s video was posted on the Whiritoa Lifeguard Service’s Facebook page on February 10, and club chairperson Patrina Kerr told The Profile they were “incredibly appreciative” of the TV personality’s support.
“At the moment, the video has just gone out through our social media channels. It hasn’t been posted on George’s social media channels as of yet, so once that happens, I think we’re expecting a greater influx [of donations]. But people were pretty excited to see the video,” she said, “and they’ve shared that amongst their networks, so it has filtered out a little bit wider than what a normal post would do for us.
“We’re very grateful and appreciative of George’s support, and we’re excited to see the results when it does go out through George’s channels as well.”
Clarke, who is known for his television series George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces – which has been running since 2012 – also posted to his 246,000 Instagram followers a framed ‘50 Years’ memorabilia print gifted to him by the Whiritoa Lifeguard Service, boasting the blue and yellow colours of the lifeguard’s skull caps.
In his video he asked viewers to support the cause, stating that donating a “couple of dollars” towards the rebuild could make a “massive difference”.
He also signed off with a promise.
“When we build a new building,” he said, “I’ll come back and have a drink with you.”
DETAILS: To donate, visit chuffed.org and, by using the search bar, search for ‘Whiritoa’. Alternatively, email whiritoa.slsc@gmail.com
BY KELLEY TANTAU
