The Aberavon Surf Lifesaving Club has had their canoes returned thanks to Neath Port Talbot Council and the Caswell Group.
The club used the Afan Lido as their base and stored all their club kit and life saving equipment in the leisure complex.
Following the fire in December, the equipment became contaminated by asbestos and heavy smoke.
The Caswell Group, who are specialists in the field of asbestos removal, were employed by the Council to seal the building.
Area Manager, Steve Hughes, said, “It would have been awful to see the club lose everything. We are decontamination specialists and we have an excellent working relationship with Neath Port Talbot Council, so when we heard about the fire, it made sense for us to step in and help.
“With support from group owner Carl Caswell, we then cleaned and decontaminated the items. They were tested and certified by another local company REC Ltd before returning the 26 canoes, life saving dummies and swimming certificates to the club.”
Leader of Council, Ali Thomas, added, “This equipment is vital for the club to be able to carry out their important lifesaving duties at the beach and that it needed to be recovered at the earliest opportunity.
“I’m delighted that I was able to facilitate a successful solution and special thanks must go to the Caswell Group who stepped in to help voluntarily.
“Because of them the club can now carry on their valuable contribution to the community.”
Chairman of the Aberavon Surf Lifesaving Club, Harry Worth, added, “On behalf of all the club members I would like to thank both the Council and Caswell Group for recovering the equipment. All the young people are delighted to have the canoes returned.
“They can now continue to perform their lifesaving and water safety activities on Aberavon Beach.”
