Isla and Ellery Campbell, Tilly and Charli Richardson, Charli and Ella McInnes, Ava Alexander, Taylah Williams, Jonah Kruse and Harry Strong had the opportunity to attend the 2025 Youth Symposium at Life Saving Victoria (LSV) recently.
After a 3.30am start to the day, they headed down to Life Saving Victoria headquarters in Port Melbourne.
“We were all given our tribal groups in true Survivor style and created our team names and flag,” they reported.
“We created our tribal flags to break the ice and then undertook various team bonding activities. The Survivor challenges included rescue run, suit up shutdown, tribal mind games and hydro havoc.
These activities allowed us to work together as a team, whilst also challenging us.
“We were lucky enough to have Cal and Cooper from Blue Minds present, inspiring us to look after the ocean we love so much. We learnt about the impact of having a healthy ocean, as well as a healthy mind and simple ways to look after our mental health.
“During lunch we had a visit from the Westpac Helicopter and learned about the work they do. After lunch we had some time to reflect on the day and said our goodbyes.
“We all learned so much and have lots of fresh ideas to bring back to the club.
We’ve made lifelong friendships, all while being stretched out of our comfort zones. No matter our age, we can encourage and inspire younger members to get and keep youth involved. We can make a difference.
“A big thank you to the club for your full support in providing us this opportunity.
Thanks also to Lakes Entrance Aboriginal Health Association for providing us a minivan, and to Shrek and Kim Stephenson for taking us.
“We are all so appreciative of this opportunity,” the group said.
