SAFA Skysailor Magazine

13 January | February 2021 SKY SAILOR brings the number of female participants to two. This is a further step towards meeting the NSWHPA diversity strategy and we welcome both ladies. The current Committee of two HG and six PG pilots holds scheduled monthly committee meetings which are mostly online based rather than face-to-face. This reduces cost and travelling time for participating committee members. In addition, the CoM has an ‘as required decision taking via emails’ process in place for faster response time to the clubs and members we serve. Typically requests are approved within one to two days. On specific projects, the NSWHPA works through sub-committees for a more focused approach. The NSWHPA assigns each club with a member of the Committee as a Club Liaison Officer. This improves communication, single point of contact responsibility and feedback from the clubs on what concerns them, helps to support club initiatives, and from the NSWHPA/SAFA perspective, allows us to share informa- tion with them on key issues that clubs need to address. Our website nswhpa.org continues to evolve and aims to provide a platform for pilots to access information and updates about our sport in NSW. Due to lack of volunteering resources in 2019, the NSWHPA was not been able to distribute as many eNewsletters as initially planned. This situation will now improve with the appointment of Karen Waller in October 2020. Site Funding for Clubs and Club Project Support The NSWHPA’s funding program is available to all our NSW and SAFA affiliated clubs for ongoing expenses related to access, maintenance and possible redevelopment of NSW flying sites. The clubs are encouraged to apply for such funding via an annual budget submission in advance to support the NSWHPA’s cash flow management. However, clubs can apply separately for additional funding (e.g. one off projects) as required. All funding guidelines are available online at nswhpa.org. Parts of this funding has successfully secured access year after year to flying sites like Blackheath, North Brother, Mt Borah, Heaton State Forest/Watagans, Stanwell Park, Catherine Hill Bay, Crackneck Lookout, Wybung Headland, Moonee, Forresters Beach, Lake St Clair, and towing sites in Deniliquin and the Yarrawa Airstrip. With the support of local clubs, we renewed various consent agreements with National Parks, State Forests NSW and State Water NSW (thanks to CCSS, MNCF and NHGC). Under the leadership of Karl Kindl and two Newcastle Clubs (NHGC and NPC), a major new site development project was undertaken at Heaton State Forest. Two new launch areas (NE and NW Murrels) were developed thanks to funding jointly provided by NHGC, NPC, CCSS and the NSWHPA. We thank the NHGC and NPC for their hard work and extend gratitude to SPHGC and the newly formed Illawarra Gliding Club for their working bee support. FlyStanwell Inc. (previously Stanwell Park Club) received financial support for a new stainless steel storage box, a new pole for the weather station and wind socks. Defibrillator Project With funding received from the NSW Office of Sport, the NSWHPA provided a number of defibrillators to clubs for use at major flying sites and as mobile units for competition and other flying events. NSW Local Competition/Event Support The NSWHPA Competition Funding Guideline is an initiative to encourage more local competitions. The mechanisms in place are geared to cover possible financial losses for competition organisers. The NSWHPA provided financial support for the Corryong Cup 2020 HG competitions and the PICO Club Annual Fly-In event. Linked to Covid-19 restrictions, various competitions and events were cancelled, including the annual State Of Origin paragliding competition held at Manilla and two women’s only fly-ins. Pilot Development Pilot safety and skill development play an important role in the NSWHPA’s mission to continuously improve incident free participation in our sport. The NSWHPA provided subsidies towards First Aid courses, Towing Endorsements, VHF Radio Endorsements, SIV Trainings and other Safety and Skill Development Clinics (e.g. landing clinics, XC clinics, reserve chute repacks). Sydney PHGC, in cooperation with local Surf Live Saving Clubs, developed a water rescue training video with the aim of raising awareness of paragliding-specific challenges when landing in water. Target audiences are the SLSC staff and pilots. NSW clubs are encouraged to use the video actively for training with their local live savings clubs. The video is now accessible online at nswhpa.org for use by all State Associations and Clubs. This project was funded via a grant received from the Office of Sport and professionally led and delivered by John Brassil. Funding NSW Government/ NSW Office of Sport Financial support from the NSW Government plays an important part in the funding of NSWHPA’s flying sites and pilot development projects. These projects are key to maintaining flying sites, improve pilot safety and to increase pilot retention. In the 2019/2020 Financial Year, the NSWHPA secured an unprecedented funding amount totalling $111,200.00 from the NSW Office of Sport. Part of the funding include $18,000.00 Grassroots Sports Fund Program (up to $ 1000 for each of our eligible NSW Clubs) which was distributed by the end of July 2020. In addi- tion the NSWHPA secured a $77,000.00 Sport and Recreation Support Grant, which can be used to support important new projects in the next two years. Such funding is not guaranteed and requires extensive work from the NSWHPA Committee in the application and management of the funding process. We would like to thank the Committee for their continued efforts in securing such funding from the Office of Sport. The NSWHPA expresses their sincere gratitude to the NSW Government and the Office of Sport for including the NSWHPA in their funding programs and for the extraordi- nary financial support provided in the 2019/2020 financial year as part of the Covid-19 recovery.