There are some future issues that I would like you as rotarians to engage with so we can consider how we might address them.
In 2023 is our E-Club what we want it to be? How should we change?
The regionalisation pilot project is imagining the future rotary? Have you visited its website and discovered what is happening?
How does our membership model attract the next generation of Rotarians?
Should we be pursing corporate sponsorship to fundraise and attract working professionals to become members?
Rotary Clubs are doing ‘Club Stuff’ the same way it has done for years. When a new member joins a club and challenges this approach the change is challenging and can create division. We all need to be open minded to change.
Not for change sake but to ensure future rotary allows new ideas, new change, new ways.
I encourage you to say “I can” be accepting, adaptive and be an agent of change.
Our speaker this week is Dr Roy Chikwem. Roy is a dedicated Project Management Practitioner and proud Rotarian with over 21 years of experience in the International NGO and Public Service sectors. His expertise spans social development, education, and public health. As a Rotarian, he earned recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow and served in various leadership roles. Roy holds a Ph.D. in Project Management, is a Qualified Accountant, and holds certifications in PMP, PRINCE2, and Agile Project Management. Currently, Roy plays a crucial role in the NSW Department of Education's Transformation Directorate. His commitment to service and professional excellence has left a positive impact on organizations and communities worldwide. Moreover, he is the founder of the Chikwem Foundation, a devoted NGO empowering women and girls. Leveraging his project management background and passion for service, he has established a platform driving positive change, uplifting communities, and championing gender equality. Through the Chikwem Foundation, he strives to create opportunities, provide support, and advocate for the rights and well-being of women and girls, leaving a lasting impact on their lives and society as a whole.
I have had a busy Rotary month as I am sure many others have!
1. I recently attended a Rotary Leadership Institute training course to learn more about Rotary, its aims, impacts, methods and to be upskilled in leadership strategies, communication and team building. The course was very comprehensive, very thought provoking and kept all participants very busy for the entire weekend. I came away from the course satisfied that I now know a lot more about the ins and outs of Rotary and how to further the Rotary cause.
The course facilitators, Kalma McLellan, Mina Howard, Marilyn Kenney and Ian Scott presented good quality power points, lead the discussions, asked very pertinent questions, encouraged us all to think things through and present our ideas to the whole group.
Topics included Rotary basics, Foundation Matters, Insights into Leadership, Vocational Service, Ethics, Attracting and Engaging Members, Creating Service Projects both local and International, Team Building and Communication Pathways between Members and other Clubs. As you can see a very comprehensive, and exhausting, coverage of all things Rotary!
This course set me wondering if our club is active enough – yes I know we have a lot of international RAWCS projects, we have achieved a lot in the environmental area of focus, we have a very active group of district representatives, in fact we should rightly be very proud of all the amazing things our club is doing. But, are 100% of our members involved, could we come up with a local service project, do we have any “RINOS” (Rotarians in Name Only) in our club and if so how can we encourage them to be more interested and active?
We are members of a great club but there is always room for improvement. If you have any fresh ideas on any aspect of club work, involvement, projects please let your committee know.
I have been talking to Melanie Lewis, District Environmental Chair re our club joining the End Plastic Soup initiative which was set up by the Rotary Clubs of Amsterdam in 2018. This is a global project with as yet only one Australian Club involved, The Social Impact Network of which Melanie is president. There are a few administrative changes happening within the project to better reflect the global nature of End Plastic Soup so I will present more details as they come to hand.
I’m Plastic Free is the brainchild of Simona Paganetto and was born from a passion to genuinely make a difference to plastic pollution. Italian-born Simona was living in the Whitsundays in Australia and volunteering for beach clean-ups in 2014 when she witnessed first-hand the huge amount of plastic in our oceans and its impact on marine life. She decided to do something about it. While designing and developing reusable stainless-steel straws, she realised how difficult and time-consuming it was to find ethical, low-waste, low-carbon products that provided viable solutions to plastic use.
Fast-forward to 2018 and I’M PLASTIC FREE was born. Look at the website for a variety of ideas on how to reduce your use of plastic products.
My latest environmentally friendly purchase is shampoo and conditioner bars rather than liquid in plastic bottles! If we all did this how many plastic bottles would we save every year????
Congratulations to Robyn Hutchinson, who has been named a finalist in the ‘over 30 urban’ category of the 2023 Rotary Inspirational Women’s Awards. Our club endorsed her nomination. If you would like to attend the September 10awards luncheon, to be held at Rydges World Square Hotel, 389 Pitt Street, Sydney here is the link to purchase a ticket:| https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1093902. Ticket sales close on 3 September 2023. Feel free to designate seating at the HandUp Congo/Women’s Reconciliation Network table, where you will find member Lucy Hobgood-Brown.
Community Centre construction is underway in Congo
Thanks to Rotary Balwyn in Victoria, in collaboration with HandUp Congo and our club, construction on a community centre in a remote village called Lotumbe is now underway. This village is located in one of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s least resourced provinces, and is only accessible by canoe. The centre will provide space to store equipment that can be shared with the 6000+ villagers as well as an area for training and community meetings.
Learn about environmental challenges facing Africa’s 2nd longest river
If you missed HandUp Congo’s August 16th webinar on the environmental challenges facing the Congo River, here is the link to the recording: https://youtu.be/GKQ7wyWOQMY. HandUp Congo manages two RAWCS projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which include environmental protection initiatives. For information: Lucy Hobgood-Brown on handupcongo@gmail.com.
Congratulations to the Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney
Thank you everyone for helping us to achieve all of our goals. We satisfied more than those required by the RI Goal Centre and received the Presidential Citation for 2022-23 from Immediate Past International President Jennifer Jones
ROTARY VISION: Applying its ideal to build a better world
"Example, good or bad , is contagious....If we set a good example, seeing us, others may do likewise. All of us have more influence than we sometimes suppose"
. - The Appearance of Things. The Rotarian, May 1967
October 24, World Polio Day - RIDE THE SYDNEY TRAIN NETWORK TO END POLIO
For the past 5 years, Mark Anderson and his son Dave plus many Rotarians, have ridden the Sydney trains to raise money to End Polio. They are doing it again this year on World Polio Day - October 24th.
They start on Monday October 2rd, riding the trains in the Illarwarra, then for a full 8 hours to stop at EVERY STATION on the Sydney network. By including the Illawarra in their journey, they are adding 31 stations to the trip making a total to 220 stations.
ACTION PLAN - from Mark
Commit to the END POLIO Goal of US$1,500 and use the certificate provided when your members join at your nearest station.
The timetable available from your Club Secretary tells you when our train passes the station nearest your Club.
Please make your Club contribution by bank transfer in the month of OCTOBER so that we can track the tally. See attached WAYS TO GIVE for bank transfer details.
Please used the Certificate provided when you come to the train for the photo opportunity.
Please get on to the train when you come to present your certificate.
We (Dave and I) are not allowed to get off the train as each station. We are also not allowed to block the train doors.
We will be traveling in the fourth carriage from the front of the train, rear door.
Sydney Trains will not allow us to fundraise on Station property of on the trains. Please respect this ask.
Please advise us via return email that your Club is going to participate so that we can look out for you from the train.
Please encourage your members to join the train for a couple of stations or a couple of hours and really enjoy the fellowship of Rotary. In the past at some points, we have had a whole carriage of END POLIO SHIRT wearing Rotarians on the train. The is a fantastic PUBLIC IMAGE Opportunity for your Club and the Rotary Brand.
Both DG Tonia and DG Christine have given their full support to this project and will be on the trains at some point during the days. Please also demonstrate you shared support to making this a Key Fundraiser and Public Image Event. Who knows you may even pick up a new member as has happened on past train rides.
Look to the Raise for Rotary website https://raise.rotary.org/ and start your own Club fundraising page for this event. Funds raised via the site are credited to your Club tally.
There is also a challenge as to which District (9685 or 9675) will raise the most money related to this event. We count total POLIO fundraising in October , so all contributions to polio during the month of October are easily counted.
Use this Event to encourage members to join the POLIO PLUS SOCIETY. A personal contribution of $100 is all it takes and also goes towards your Club tally. Your District END POLIO Chair can share details on this initiative.
We look forward to seeing you on 23-24 October andTOGETHER WE END POLIO
Our speaker this week is Dr Roy Chikwem. Roy is a dedicated Project Management Practitioner and proud Rotarian with over 21 years of experience in the International NGO and Public Service sectors. His expertise spans social development, education, and public health. As a Rotarian, he earned recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow and served in various leadership roles. Roy holds a Ph.D. in Project Management, is a Qualified Accountant, and holds certifications in PMP, PRINCE2, and Agile Project Management. Currently, Roy plays a crucial role in the NSW Department of Education's Transformation Directorate. His commitment to service and professional excellence has left a positive impact on organizations and communities worldwide. Moreover, he is the founder of the Chikwem Foundation, a devoted NGO empowering women and girls. Leveraging his project management background and passion for service, he has established a platform driving positive change, uplifting communities, and championing gender equality. Through the Chikwem Foundation, he strives to create opportunities, provide support, and advocate for the rights and well-being of women and girls, leaving a lasting impact on their lives and society as a whole.
I have had a busy Rotary month as I am sure many others have!
ic Free is the brainchild of Simona Paganetto and was born from a passion to genuinely make a difference to plastic pollution. Italian-born Simona was living in the Whitsundays in Australia and volunteering for beach clean-ups in 2014 when she witnessed first-hand the huge amount of plastic in our oceans and its impact on marine life. She decided to do something about it. While designing and developing reusable stainless-steel straws, she realised how difficult and time-consuming it was to find ethical, low-waste, low-carbon products that provided viable solutions to plastic use.
We all know the Rotary Foundation is the key to all Rotary charitable activity. 
Congratulations to Robyn Hutchinson, who has been named a finalist in the ‘over 30 urban’ category of the 2023 Rotary Inspirational Women’s Awards. Our club endorsed her nomination. If you would like to attend the September 10 awards luncheon, to be held at Rydges World Square Hotel, 389 Pitt Street, Sydney here is the link to purchase a ticket:|
For the past 5 years, Mark Anderson and his son Dave plus many Rotarians, have ridden the Sydney trains to raise money to End Polio. They are doing it again this year on World Polio Day - October 24th.
