Most of the Club’s Foundation Members were associated with an organisation known as the National Fitness Council. This Council was established early-on in the war years of 1939 to 1945 to help promote physical fitness among young people throughout the nation. It would draw members from church and sporting groups who had some grounding in gymnastic and sporting activities, train them to become leaders and then send them out to other groups to train and teach others. The end of the war in 1945 altered this. The National Fitness Council’s role was changed. It was given the use of the former army rest and recuperation centre on the banks of Tallebudgera Creek, where the Recreation Centre is now established, to run recreation camps for schools and other bodies throughout the year. The first camp to be held there was during Easter of 1946. These same volunteers, led by Ken Voysey, decided that the camp users would benefit greatly from having a surf life-saving Club at their front door. The initial camp users had to rely on a couple of lifesavers from Palm Beach who would come down to Tallebudgera and set up a patrol for an hour or so to allow the camp users to go for a swim. Consequently, swimming times during camps were strictly policed. Also, the idea of having a Club on the beach at the coast to come to at weekends seemed like a pretty good idea to the boys.
