Supercars teams with Surf Life Saving Queensland

Supercars Australia has today announced a partnership with Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ), which has been appointed as the official charity partner of this year’s Watpac Townsville 400 and Gold Coast 600.

SLSQ will be the official charity partner for both events which will run from 7-9 July (Watpac Townsville 400) and 20-22 October (Gold Coast 600).

As part of the partnership, tickets, grid walks and other experiences will be on offer with all funds raised going to SLSQ.

Supercars CEO James Warburton said the sport was delighted to be working alongside one of Queensland’s most iconic community services.

"Surf Life Saving Queensland provides crucial services across the state’s coastline and we’re incredibly proud to be supporting the tireless work they do," said Warburton.

"By working with them we can assist with fund raising activities and awareness, giving back to the community through two of our largest events on the calendar."

Surf Life Saving Queensland’s chief operating officer, George Hill ESM said “We are thrilled to once again be named as the charity partner for the Gold Coast 600 and for the first time, the Watpac Townsville 400.

“Being aligned with these iconic and popular events, provides us with much needed and necessary funds that help keep our highly trained and skilled lifesavers on the beach, to protect the public.

“It also gives us a huge amount of exposure to help spread our safety messages to Supercars vast audience, and for that we are immensely grateful.”    

SLSQ is one of the oldest and largest volunteer based organisations in Queensland. Comprising of six branches and 58 Surf Life Saving Clubs with over 30,000 members.

Last year volunteer surf lifesavers directly saved the lives of 2,124 people via in-water rescues and provided first aid to 4,611 patients. In 2016, collectively SLSQ volunteer surf life savers patrolled Queensland’s beaches for 352,807 hours.

Supercars driver Lee Holdsworth was on hand this morning for the announcement in Townsville and has had a connection to SLSQ through Team 18 for a number of years.

“Very proud to help make this announcement today that shows Supercars support of Surf Life Saving Queensland,” Holdsworth said.

“Our team has worked with SLSQ in the past to help spread the iconic ‘swim between the flags’ message throughout Australia, and we are very proud to promote this year’s charity partnership with Supercars.

“We are very proud to be helping SLSQ achieve their goal of zero preventable deaths in Queensland public waters and promote a very important message.”

The Queensland Government is proud to support the Watpac Townsville 400 and Gold Coast 600 through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of the 'It’s Live! in Queensland' events calendar.

Tickets to both events are now available through Ticketek.