COMMUNITY patrl
By Joe Novella Photos Yanni
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olunteers are indeed the lifeblood of our Mornington Peninsula community. They power everything from local sport to charity organisations. They come together without expectation of payment or reward, except for the knowledge that they are helping their community to become a better place. And as a result, more often than not, their great work flies under the radar and, consequently, they miss out on the help and resources they desperately need. That's why it's so important to raise awareness of the work these volunteer community groups perform, and one such group is the Safety Beach and Dromana Beach Patrol, or 3936-BeachPatrol as it is officially known. 3936-BeachPatrol is a bunch of fantastic people who care deeply about their local community. Many of them give up their own time to collect litter from the beautiful Safety Beach and Dromana
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16 | PENINSULA
December 2021
foreshore and beach. Having driven down along the highway, after the Melbourne Cup long weekend and seeing litter around every bend, never has the commitment of these volunteers been more welcome. So how did it all start? I asked Gary Robertson, the founder of 3936-BeachPatrol. "Back in 2017 I found that my daily walks were being spoilt by the amount of rubbish I saw lying around and I found I couldn’t just walk past it. I had to stop and pick it all up. "After doing this for a while, I realised I had to do something about it, so I went online to see if there were any groups around that could help me. I found there were beach patrol groups operating in Rye and Tootgarook. So, I contacted Beach Patrol Australia and, after hearing what they do, I decided to start up a Beach Patrol group in Dromana / Safety Beach." continued page 18...