Personal Locator Beacons for Melbourne Girls Outside.

We escape to the outdoors for a myriad of reasons: to get away from the city, to be inspired by nature or simply just to get our heart pumping and endorphins flowing. But that often comes with a degree of risk. And to an extent, fear.

Much has been said about women’s safety in the outdoors and on the streets, but Melbourne Girls Outside exists to make adventure accessible and empower women — whether that’s our leaders hosting an event for our 4800-strong group or a beginner hiker looking to take to the trails solo for the first time.

The number of hiker search and rescues in Victoria this past year has highlighted the importance of PLBs (personal locator beacons) and the need for hikers to carry them on the trails. Help us raise funds to purchase PLBs which our members can hire for free, ensuring an extra level of safety outside of MGO events.

Thanks to Jack Wolfskin Australia and New Zealand and Adventure Co Oatley our leadership team will soon be receiving two of these devices. We are making them available to leaders should they choose to use one on their MGO events, giving them and our members added peace of mind. We would love to also give this option to our members.

We appreciate any donation, regardless of the amount. Thank you so much for supporting us.


How will it work?

We will purchase five waterproof ACR Artex ResQLink™  PLBs at reduced rate thanks to our friends at Adventure Co. Five MGO leaders/members in various Melbourne locations will host a secure lock box each, where the PLB can be picked up/dropped off at the user’s convenience.

PLB users will notify MGO of the hire dates and time period, pay a small deposit fee (TBC — no more than AU$20) and pick up the beacon upon confirmation. The deposit will be returned when the PLB is returned on the agreed-upon date. Delays or failure to return the beacon will be penalised.

In the unlikely event that the distress signal is sent, the ResQLink PLB quickly and accurately relays the user’s position (within 100m) to a worldwide network of search and rescue satellites. A built-in strobe light provides visibility during night rescues.

More information on how beacons work here: http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/about/how-they-work.asp


What is Melbourne Girls Outside?

We’re a volunteer-run group that was born in August 2017 — to date, we’ve held more than 250 events hosted by over 40 volunteer leaders, including hikes, SUP sessions, kayaking, snorkelling, weekend retreats and other outdoor-based activities.


Join us at:

http://melbgirlsoutside.com
https://meetup.com/Melbourne-Girls-Outside/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/melbgirlsoutside
https://www.instagram.com/melbgirlsoutside/