Last Friday night, many of us attended the 80th birthday celebration for North Sydney which was a grand affair at Parliament House in Sydney. Congratulations to President Gary and organiser extraordinaire, Jenny Thomas.
It was interesting to note that in 1928, when North Sydney was established, there were only 140,000 Rotary members worldwide. How quickly we grew to 1.2 million in the early 90’s, however the concern is that we have remained stagnant at 1.2 million in the last 15 years and only the addition of new clubs have kept us at that number. Membership in existing clubs has actually dropped worldwide.
District 9680 Membership for 2008/09 however is going quite well so far! We have 75 new members up until the end of September, which is great - but on the negative side these 75 are just from only 34 clubs, that is, about half the clubs in the district have not had any new members in the first three months!
More good membership news is that the first Interest meeting of the Rotary Club of Rouse Hill was a great success last Sunday, with up to 12 new potential members ready to kick off this provisional club. Congratulations to Glenhaven and Norwest Sunrise for your work in developing this new club.
On the subject of membership, after visiting 46 clubs and discussing this matter at length with them, I have been able to come up with some conclusion on what works and what doesn’t. I plan to write this up in a membership paper, which hopefully I will have done in time to attach to next fortnight’s E-News.
Finally please keep in mind this is vocational month and we need more projects involving volunteers from the Westpac, CBA and Macquarie banks. Please contact PP Darryl Leggett if you have any questions on 0418 200 323
Yours in Rotary
Tony Castley
District Governor
DG Club Visits
I have now completed 46 DG’s official club visits . In the past two weeks I have visited Gosford City, Gladesville, St Leonards and Roseville Chase - See the photos. These were all quite different clubs - Gosford City being our newest breakfast club which has a large number of younger members, Roseville Chase which is one of our largest clubs, and Gladesville and St Leonards which are two clubs that while they are struggling with membership, both clubs have excellent programs. Thanks to all these clubs that gave Sandra a great welcome and we congratulate you in the great work that you are doing.
Maternity Kits & Water Filters – Update from Sandra Castley
Partners Project
Hi everyone and a big thank you.
Three months have passed already and I am having an enjoyable time accompanying Tony on his DG visits to your clubs and being made feel so welcome. I do appreciate your time spent “looking after” me.
Thank you for your overwhelming support and enthusiasm for my special projects: - Maternity Kits and Water Filters in East Timor - approximately $7,500 has been raised so far.
The adoption of no flowers for me this year has been so warmly received by the clubs and I know how good we all feel about doing something for someone else instead.
Regards, Sandra
Donate to The Foundation Now and Save $$$$$
As you know the A$ has dropped dramatically. However the US$ to A$ exchange rate for Rotary is governed month by month. A US$1,000 donation to the Foundation in October will cost A$1,190, however in November and thereafter for some time I suspect it will cost more likely $1,550 !!!
Most clubs have set a goal for the Foundation for this year, and therefore if you are sitting on funds in your bank accounts, there is a huge saving to be made by paying this now. Not only will the Foundation be able to use the money earlier but you will save the club a lot of money! Please act now so that funds are received before the end of October.
And while the financial crash has possibly hurt many of us, can you image the effect in the Third World when NGO funds dry up - the pain and suffering will unfortunately increase dramatically!
It is going to be a very tough time of the World’s poor !
November is Rotary Foundation Month. With lots of new information Our Foundation is an interesting and worthwhile read this month.
ShelterBox
Rotarian Tom Henderson, CEO Shelterbox, was selected to appear on the CNN Heroes series of special reports from international television channel CNN. The report was broadcast on CNN International on Friday 5 September 2008. More than 3,000 people worldwide were nominated in response to CNN’s call for stories of ordinary people who have an extraordinary impact on the world. Tom Henderson was chosen as one of the ‘inspirational’ people to feature on the series of special reports.
Tom Henderson, founder and CEO of ShelterBox, said: “I am delighted that ShelterBox has been selected to appear on this year’s CNN Heroes. I would like to thank all of our loyal supporters and volunteers worldwide who have helped us grow to become one of the most effective aid agencies in the world, and that our achievements have been recognised in this way.” The report highlighted the incredible achievements of Tom Henderson and ShelterBox in the eight years since the charity was founded.
Tom Henderson is a keynote speaker at the Rotary international Convention 2009 in Birmingham on Monday, June 22 in the Growth of Rotary session.
View the CNN Heroes video story
Take a look at the two amazing photos from Shelterbox projects in Afghanistan and Nepal! To see these ladies carrying these ShelterBoxes on their back across a stream with the weight supported by the band around the forehead, it’s just amazing. I have seen the ladies in Nepal carry up to 20 bricks at a time this way all day every day, but to see these Rotary ShelterBoxes on their heads is something else! What a fantastic Rotary project!
Can’t Think of Anyone to Invite to Rotary?
Try this idea, but consider how best to go about it. View the suggestions
Kenthurst doing Great Things in PNG
Sue O’Neil and her team has just returned from five weeks in PNG working in the highlands building school classrooms, treating health issues and many other things including distributing 10,000 reading glasses, 1,000 mother & baby packs, 1,500 baby jumpers and 192 desks with chairs. Well done Sue and Kenthurst! Read the full story and see the great photo
Health & Hunger Newsletter
Please read the October Health and Hunger Newsletter now on the website. It is packed with information on the plight of the 854million people in this world who do not have enough food! -160 million of them being children! It also has plenty of information on how we can help - such as the story from a Rotarian in Devonport, Tasmania who has a program which can really make a difference. This newsletter really is essential reading for all Rotarians. Download the newsletter
Birmingham Convention News
Birmingham would like to welcome you with open arms and an open heart for this most prestigious of events: the 100th Rotary International Convention. Go to the news page
Geo Tech Engineer wanted
The Frenchs Forest Rotary Club are assisting the town of Barellan, in Southern NSW, with a project to erect a large tennis racket in recognition of the town’s most famous daughter – Evonne Goolagong. Do you know of a Geo Tech Engineer who might like to help out with this worthy project? If so, please contact President Keith Penfold 0429 338 856 keithpen@bigpond.net.au
Volunteers Grant Closed – but…
While the Australian Governments Volunteer Grant closed last Friday, I notice they will accept late entries, so if you haven’t put in your application to fund some of the equipment you surely need , it may not be too late. It is also very interesting to read the list of items they will supply finding for - such as: Uniforms; Sheds; Trailers; Fuel; Laminators; projectors; photocopiers; printers; outdoor furniture; computers, cameras; BBQ’s and a great number of other items that a club may like to own! Better get your application in quick!! http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/aboutfacs/funding_apply.htm
2009 Calendar features Antarctica
Epping Rotary has launched a 2009 calendar featuring photographs of Antarctica taken by Epping Rotarian John Edwards. John is a freelance photographer with a passion for travel to exotic destinations. He has visited Antarctica by ship on three separate occasions and this calendar represents a collection of some of his photographs. John is donating the entire profits from the sale of this calendar to the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund. Download the order form
Are you willing to Help?
DGE John Cameron is seeking help – a HR person, a minute secretary, and a publisher. Check if you can help
The Magic of Rotary
Districts 3150 (India) and 1220 (England) recently participated in a remarkable and outstanding project to provide safe quality drinking water to more than 20000 people. The project took two years to provide 232 hand wells for 20,000 people in 165 villages in Andhra Pradesh, India. More than 350 Rotarians participated in the project. The magic of Rotary was weaved with a Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation bringing the total funding for the project to USD127,140. This is also another example of how instrumental District 3150 is in assisting Clubs undertake smaller or major projects through identification of the need and location for the project, sourcing what is required, and ceremonious inauguration. Read more about the project and the people and clubs involved.