What a massive two weeks we have had as a club and I sincerely thank members for the dedication they have given to the club over these two weeks.
Wednesday 7th July we had a successful strategic planning meeting. An energetic and thoughtful discussion has resulted in a plan that I will be able to present to members for further input. We will be able to enter our goals into the My Rotary website and also apply for a Presidential Citation for our club next year.
Monday 12th July - we had our Leadership meeting. A major endorsement from that meeting was a sponsorship partner package that our club has developed (another innovative first for a Rotary Club). From the beginnings of our Charter journey last year, we were motivated to look at creative ways to generate funds for our club in order that we can be involved in projects in the community. Seeking organisations to become sponsor partners was one of the suggestions that the leadership team has considered in the last few months. We have attached a copy of the sponsorship package to this newsletter.
Click here>> to view the Sponsorship package
Tuesday 14th July was an unforgettable club meeting where our guest presenter Howard Catton - CEO of the ICN brought us up to speed with the impact of COVID 19 around the world, the work of the ICN and an emerging state of moral distress with decisions being made by governments and companies in relation to COVID vaccine rollout. Howard spoke with great passion and determination to seek answers, challenge decisions and raise the profile of nurses & midwives globally. I was also delighted to be able to present Howard with our clubs first Paul Harris Fellow. There is no doubt that Howard was surprised and delighted with the award. The next day the ICN released a media statement on the award which really brings our club into an international light.
Click here>> to read the ICN media statement.
Wednesday 14th July - Rotarian Tracy Martin from WA gave a presentation to the Rotary Club Nomads on her work as a midwife in PNG, well done and thank you, Tracy.
Saturday 17th July - our club held its first Changeover. It was a night where we demonstrated our flexibility to go with the flow, as it was a night of unplanned surprises. We are currently working on the changeover video and when it is ready it will be posted in the members' area of our website. A big thank you to our special guests from District, IPDG Patrice Robinson, DGN Paul Roger & AG Bryan Payne. Barbara Misford Regional Membership Officer at Rotary International and Darcy Geale - Rotary Solar Case. As well as a night of great announcements we also inducted new members to our club (see below).
Two special announcements that we made at Changeover
Our club has made a pledge to Shelterbox Australia (Disaster Relief) that we will donate $5,000.00 per year for the next three years. Charter Secretary Sue and Rotarian Jason from our club are project leads for the Clubs Disaster Relief Fund - want to be involved with them - get in touch with Sue.
We are the first Rotary Club to make such a pledge. We now have a Gold Champion Pledge Badge that we can proudly display on our website and Shelterbox will also display the pledge on their website. We envisage that by our club Lighting the Way - other Rotary Clubs will follow and make similar pledges to Shelterbox.
Rotarian of the year award. From July 2022 Charter Secretary Sue & I, through our businesses will donate $500.00 each to the Club Rotarian of the year award. The leadership team will determine the criteria for the award, every member will be eligible (with the exception of Sue & myself). The award can be used for furthering knowledge/education either in a professional context or through the many RI learning/training opportunities available (such as District Conferences, RI Conventions).
Three new members were inducted this past week.
What a great delight to be able to induct Merab from Sierra Leone on Tuesday night (13th July) and Christina from Liberia and Shehla from Pakistan on Saturday night (17th July). A great honour and delight to have such wise counsel join our membership as we continue to develop as a club globally.
Seeking members to join two new teams
We have identified two new teams that will be of great assistance to develop and expand our club, a Sponsorship Partnership Team and a Social Events team - both will require a team lead and a number of members to build the capacity of the teams. If you are interested in being the lead or a member of either group please let me know and we can start planning for initial meetings for both teams.
The Sponsorship Partnership team will be responsible for identifying and approaching companies to invite their engagement to be in a sponsorship partnership with our club. Read the attachment about our Sponsorship Partner Package for more info. The team will be responsible for developing relevant paperwork, reporting to the Leadership Team and members, and other roles that the team will identify and develop.
Click here>> to view the Sponsorship Package
Social Events Team one of the activities identified at the strategic planning meeting was to hold 4 social events for the club throughout the year. Events for fellowship, fun and learning. The team can be very creative about how they organise these events - as we are a global club - what about activities where we can learn about each others cultures, cooking classes, dancing, singing, guided video tours around each other's communities. This can be a fun area for our members to indulge and create fun and lasting friendships which as Rotarians we love to do.
Our next meeting is Tuesday 27th July it is a morning meeting at 0700hrs (Qld time). We have no guest speaker (Sally who was going to present has given her apologies), so we will seize the opportunity to get to know each other better and keep discussing our fabulous strategic and fun plans for our club. Secretary Sue has given her apologies for the meeting, I would appreciate it if a member can volunteer to take notes of the meeting which can be sent to Sue to format into our meetings template.
Till then keep safe, stay connected.
Kind regards Wendy McIntosh
