Photo obtained from Kurt Nyholm at Akwa Surf
To Our Valued Members & Partners,
As the bushfire crisis continues across our country, the sheer scale continues to escalate with limited short term relief in sight. The map below, provides an indication of the affected areas and their proximity to many of the industries retail locations, state sales offices, and cherished coastal destinations for our members and families.
Map Source: 7 News
We’re seeing many businesses large and small band together to raise much needed funds and awareness to assist those in need. From fundraising efforts, donating proceeds of sales, special events to hands-on assistance, it’s heartwarming amidst a purely heart-wrenching situation.
Accompanying the personal cost to many victims, is the financial loss imposed upon local retailers and businesses caught up in this disaster. We’re all aware that December and January is the busiest period of the year accounting for some, around 40% of annual turnover. To have that taken away is not just a short-term effect, but a burden which will sit hard on the shoulders of some business owners for some time-to-come.
We also acknowledge that a lot of brands are connecting with affected retailers on an individual basis during this time to assist where possible. SBIA President Anthony ‘Macka’ Wilson has said “in response to this, we are reminded what a strong community the industry is and encourage the support we have seen in not only raising money for families, wildlife and our environment, but the call to action of many brands to offer commercial support to our independent retailers. Not only for the immediate challenges they face, but through continued marketing and community support we can contribute to rebuilding these towns and livelihoods”.
Here’s what some of our brand members had to say…
“For those accounts affected directly by the fires in the fire zones, we are working with all accounts individually based on their needs. We’re finding that each account is different with their requirements. We recognise that this is a very difficult and trying time for all involved, so Rip Curl will be doing all we can to help”. Adam Sharp, Rip Curl
“In terms of retailer support, our sales team are going to be taking a case by case approach to those affected by the bushfires. Given that each of our retailer’s businesses and situations are unique, the impact felt by each of them will be individual to them also. We want to ensure that we are able to provide a tailored support strategy once we understand their needs and what assistance they would genuinely value”. Tom Wright, Dragon Alliance
On behalf of the SBIA board and broader industry community our heart goes out to those retailers and their communities. The SBIA would like to help as much as we can, please feel free to reach out for assistance. If there is something as little as connecting you to the right person in a brand, we’ll do it. Please let us know if we can assist, contact Lyndall Browning on admin@sbia.com.au
Photo by Ocean and Earth
Below is a snapshot of the efforts that some of our SBIA members have implemented to date, and we know there are many more amazing initiatives in the pipeline to come. As more of this activity comes to light we will keep you informed.
VOLCOM:
Sponsoring Fire Fund | A Fundraising show
Friday 24th January, Windang Bowling Club
Killer entertainment, raffles and Merch with all proceeds going to NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Red Cross Disaster Relief
MCTAVISH:
Fundraising Raffle | Money can’t buy Rob McTavish vintage surfboard
Selling 500 tickets for $100 online and instore for the next week with 100% of the proceeds going directly to WIRES to help rescue our native animals in distress.
LEISURE COLLECTIVE:
Profits from online sales, from all of their brands, for the entire month of January, donated to Red Cross Australia.
SURFSTITCH:
SurfStitch will be donating to a number of appeals as well as sending apparel to affected areas via Thread Together.
FOLKLORE:
Thanks to all accounts that placed orders last week help with Folklore’s bush fire appeal, they have decided to triple their donation from 5% of sales to 15% of sales, and will also be donating $1,000 to the Wild Life Appeal and $1,000 to the Red Cross Bush Fire Appeal.
NIXON:
Nixon Pacific have made a $20,000 donation to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal earlier this week.
They are in the process of implementing more initiatives.
RIP CURL & OZMOSIS:
Rip Curl Sales & Product Team held their Sales Awards and Fires Fundraiser last night (January 7). All funds raised will be donated to RFS.
Over the last week the Ozmosis team took the initiative to donate all sales of the eco Ozmosis tote bag to the Red Cross. An amazing $13,496 was raised by Ozmosis from this effort and donated to the Red Cross bushfire appeal. Given the success of this, the initiative will be extended across both Ozmosis and Rip Curl stores through to Australia Day weekend. All proceeds from sales Ozmosis and Rip Curl eco tote bags in this period will be donated to rural fire services in the states where the sale has been made, in an effort to help support the fire fighting efforts.
DRAGON:
Have orchestrated a Bushfire fundraiser where donors go in the draw to win a Mick Fanning Surfboard & Dragon Baile Sunglasses. Funds will be donated to the Australian Red Cross.
FCS:
Donating 100% of all global sales from FCS website from this weekend to the Australian Red Cross.
They will also be raffling off a Julian Wilson JS Air17 surfboard across their website, with all proceeds going to Australian Red Cross. Tickets are $20 each.
HAVAIANAS:
Donating three days of total online sales to help disaster affected communities.
Weds 8th Jan – 100% of online sales to @redcrossau
Thurs 9th Jan – 100% of online sales to @salvosau
Fri 10th Jan – 100% of online sales to @wwf_australia
Also pledging an ongoing commitment to donate Havaianas to communities and individuals in need, with their first donation going to @thread_together
O’NEILL:
O’Neill have partnered with local artist @goshahh who has donated her talent to create this special tee. The tees are AS Colour and no extra internal prints / trims / tags have been used to cut costs, allowing them to maximise donations. 100% of the proceeds of the t-shirt are going to support Australian bushfire relief and prevention efforts. Donations will be split between Wires, RFS and Red Cross Australia.
Find more info here @oneilloz.
VISSLA:
Donation of online sales for the next four weeks.
More information to come.
OCEAN AND EARTH:
Ocean and Earth have set up a GoFundMe campaign for the world surf community to get together and raise much needed funds to disperse among the different local registered charity groups.
RUSTY:
Rusty have designed a bushfire relief tee which is available for pre-order until Friday 8.00pm EST. T-shirts are $40 each and 100% of the profits will be split evenly between @wireswildliferescue and @redcrossau
BOARDRIDERS:
For the weekend of 11 & 12 Jan, Billabong, along with the rest of the Boardriders family of brands as well as Surf Dive ‘n Ski, donated 100% of the profits from its billabong.com.au sales in Australia to support the Australian bushfire relief and prevention efforts.
SLATER DESIGNS:
Slater Designs and Surfing NSW are auctioning off a signed Kelly Slater surfboard from the 2019 Vissla Sydney Surf Pro at Manly. All proceeds will be donated to those affected by the recent Australian bushfires.
Find more info here.
HURLEY:
For every like on the original post from @hurley, Hurley will be donating $1 USD to WIRES Wildlife Rescue Emergency Fund, which will aid in helping sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. They will be matching likes up until $25,000 USD.
How Can You Help?
If you are looking to make a contribution, consider the below organisations:
· The Salvation Army disaster appeal
· The Red Cross disaster relief and recovery fund
· QLD Rural Fire Brigades Association
· Foodbank
· WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation emergency fund
· Wildlife Victoria bushfire appeal
· Zoos Victoria bushfire emergency wildlife fund 2020
Looking to support local businesses that have been affected by the fires? Visit Spend With Them@spendwiththem a great initiative which highlights businesses affected by the Fires and encourages you to spend local.
While not everyone may be able to donate financially, please consider visiting your local Australian Red Cross Lifeblood centre to donate blood, which is much needed in times of disaster.
The long-term consequences of this crisis will be felt for a considerable amount of time, what can we as an industry to do help? Along with donating to any of the above organisations, think about where you take your next surfing adventure. Rather than heading to Indo or The Maldives consider visiting one of the affected coastal communities. Surf their waves, shop in their stores, buy their food, fill your cars at their petrol stations and invest in their communities. It will make a difference.
