A pair of New South Wales-based motorsport clubs have been given the means to access valuable safety equipment for future use, as part of a State Government grant round recipient announcement.

Westlakes Automobile Club and Wollongong Sporting Car Club (WSCC) have both been approved to receive funding through the New South Wales Government’s Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program for 2024-2025.

Westlakes Automobile Club was successful in attaining $2,450 for a Defibrillator Grant, providing competitors, officials, volunteers and spectators with access to a new defibrillator at competitions moving forward.

Club president Benjamin Semple outlined his members would greatly benefit from adding a new defibrillator to its ranks, stating the closest hospital to the club is approximately 30 minutes away by car.

“We’ll take any additional support we can get at the moment, one of the things we are struggling with at the moment is the rising costs of the First Aid support services,” Semple said.

“We’ve been using St John’s quite a long time for all of our events, but we are trying to start providing our own First Aid equipment so we have that type of stuff directly at our disposal.

“Under these grants, it allows us to take the first step in doing that.”

The Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program is aimed at providing Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and associated equipment to NSW sport and recreation facilities and clubs.

The NSW Government has allocated $2 million to the grants program over five years from 2022-2026.

Each year, the NSW Government provides up to $500,000 in grants to eligible sporting clubs and facility owners each financial year through the program.

WSCC received $1,595 for its Health and Safety at Huntley project.

Club president Greg Jones said funding streams like the Local Sport Defibrillator grant program could potentially save lives.

“It’s a necessity thing these days. We should have one. Basically, that was our theory for applying for this grant,” Jones said.

“We do have a few people in their club who are pretty switched on with these things, and they’ve said defibrillators are pretty self explanatory and easy to use.

“The worst time to need a defibrillator is when you actually need one, so we’re glad to we can get our hands on one as we conduct our events.”

The NSW Government states the key objectives of the Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program are to support local sport and recreational clubs or related incorporated organisations located in the most disadvantaged areas of NSW in purchasing an AED package and to promote wider access to these devices across NSW.

All Motorsport Australia affiliated clubs can discuss potential applications with their Regional Development Executive and grant writing support is also available.