Mawgan Porth’s clubhouse plan for when the lifeguards leave

The flags come down at the end of the season, the lifeguards pack away their kit, and the beach carries on without them. The swimmers stay. So do the rip currents. A group at Mawgan Porth wants to make sure there is still something in place once the summer cover ends.

Rescues up 46 per cent in two years

Rescues at Mawgan Porth have risen by 46 per cent in just two years, according to Mawgan Porth Surf Life Saving Club. Through the lifeguarding season the beach is watched over by RNLI lifeguards, who keep people safe between the flags. The club is quick to say how lucky the village is to have them.

The concern is what happens outside that window.

When the lifeguards go home

The lifeguards do not stay all year. People still swim once they have gone. Families still come down to enjoy the beach. And the rip currents that make this stretch of coast dangerous do not disappear the moment the flags are taken in.

A permanent home for beach safety

That gap is what the club is trying to close. It wants to build a permanent lifesaving clubhouse at Mawgan Porth, a base for training, equipment, education and community, and a way to build a stronger culture of surf life saving and beach safety all year round.

The aim, in the club’s words, is simple. To save lives, to promote beach safety, to provide lifeguard training, and to create a safe, inclusive environment for the local community and the visitors who fill the beach each summer.

How to help

The club has launched a Crowdfunder campaign to pay for the clubhouse, and says it cannot do it alone. Every donation, every share and every word of support brings the building a step closer.

“Help us make Mawgan Porth safer, all year round,” the club says.

📷Credit: Mawgan Porth Surf Life Saving Club