Rotarians around the world are setting up for the new year with new zest, busy dreaming up innovative ideas, club diaries packed with projects, grant options being researched, leadership developments and so on. The energy is contagious, there’s always so much to be done. Our board meeting, was a reflection on the breadth of matters we cover and service we provide.
So, this month, I wanted to encourage everyone to take a moment to set intentions & reset, not to stop our wonderful ongoing volunteer work and contributions but reflect, review and then rise again!
As you’d be aware through the last few communications, we as a club have a plan to grow and do so by investing in a meaningful service in the community. For that, all members have been requested to submit a project proposal, a cause that’s perhaps close to your heart. The idea is not to select one vs another but to initiate and plan better. These don’t need to be in-depth proposal with all the details worked out, they just need to be a passion project that you’d like to lead and that the club can support you progress.
Peter has put together a suggestion as below which may inspire your contribution to help us reset and focus in the spirit of Rotary & key mantras of:
Service before self.
Fellowship through Service
Revitalising our club requires these principles to again be front and centre always.
We need new club projects that gives us a common purpose, where fellowship is through working together. From the much-needed review of the dated Rotary Structure might come the opportunity to work with other clubs and districts on a common project.
What project should we as a club undertake?
Projects need a high payback. Return for effort needs to be at the forefront of the mind.
A project should be aspirational - we as members need to be inspired and we need to be seen as a vehicle that members of the public want to leverage. Rotary is primarily a service club and not a social club.
It should be inclusive of all of our club, ie, Fellowship through service. That requires it having many facets so that each member can find a role that suits them, ie, Service above self
The prime focus of the project should be to meet a core community need, perhaps our seven areas of focus could help shape our choice?
Here is a suggestion as an example to tease-out some of the possible strands of involvement:
An Annual Flem/Ken Garden Competition with several different categories.
We could seek partnership with a nursery to share costs of prizes (e.g. Bunnings). The project could be a net fund raiser.
Involve Councils and schools.
There is the opportunity for associated activities, such as selling plants and seedlings some grown and donated as pots/seedlings by locals (Alan Bruno would often pot-up plants and bring them to our OpShop for sale). Let us coordinate an army of these people.
We could also organise lectures/workshops on establishing and maintaining cottage gardens, identifying and removing noxious plants, growing orchids, etc.
Growing Veggies, this could include the local practices of different ethnic groups (eg those on the Debney Meadows Housing Estate.
Gardening and global warming demonstrations and lectures.
Such a project has many diverse roles and potential bridges to other businesses and organisations. It is a likely source of a diverse group of new members. It requires all of us in the club to participate and offers diverse roles so that we can all enjoy.
I’d encourage everyone to sit with a cuppa and give this a good thought; what ideas do you have? Do they align to one of the 7 areas of focus? If yes, then thinking about it alone may feel daunting, however once put in paper and shared with group, the same idea will take shape into possible action steps for us to make an impact and difference in the community.
We have all been busy in the last month. I have attended a number of events including:
06/07- Breakfast meeting attended by Mary Keating and a team meeting
11/07 Board meeting. See report below.
14/07 – Lesley, Yvonne, Edith, John and Nicole met to clear out the storage garage.
15/07 - Lesley, Edith and Shradd attended a meeting with Moonee Valley L2P program team with a view to support the reinstated learner/driver mentor program.
15/07 – Shradd and Sandy attended an online training program organised by City of Brimbank on the difference between Publicity and Marketing, delivered by Brad Cock a world leading event specialist.
The Key takeaways from this last event was to consider partner outreach upfront in the first steps of planning. Reaching out to potential collaborators like complementary brands, sponsors, vendors, and media partners has a domino effect to promote the event itself.
Other discussion points were:
What Is your event? Seems simple but do you know what your event is about, what its objectives are?
Confirm your audience, who are they? Why are they attending, what do they hope to get form the event?
When we create an event, we want to create a behavioural change and emotional response for our audience. – It’s important to consider what and how you want your audience to feel
Create Ambassadors/ Partner outreach - When we put up an event, we want to be the choice among many. The best way to do this is by recruiting ambassadors your supporters early on, who will speak for your event and be your marketing personnel on foot.
Have an integrated marketing campaign that combines mixture of channels, ensuring maximum coverage and exposure in varied demographic
Dinner at the Doutta Galla Hotel this Wednesday 20 July
Join us for dinner. 6.00 for a 6.30pm start..
Why not bring a friend, neighbour or colleague along to hear about our work and meet members?
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BOARD MEETING REPORT - 12 JULY
Lyn Borghouts has requested Leave of Absence for health reasons.
Lesley will act as Secretary in the interim.
Treasurer - Lesley and Edith will share this role.
Club Service - Josie Magri
Community Service Projects/Vocational - Anne Heyes
Environment - Lesley McCarthy
International - Shraddha
Finance/Investments/Protection - Cody Bettanin
Membership/community membership drive - Melina Caccetta and Karolina Sevcikova
Public Image-events: Sandy Belcher
Strategic vision - Matiu Bush
Youth - Lesley
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - TBA
RICON23 Convention event committee: Shraddha, Sandy, Anne, Lesley Projects Committee: Anne, Edith, Peter, John, Melina
Shraddha also detailed the list of current projects the club is engaged in.
Mentors:
Shraddha has expressed interest in joining Mentor Match, a project of Rotary Central Melbourne. She encouraged us all to consider this.
Mentors were identified for the newer members - Shraddha will follow up.
We have been advised of the end of lease for the garage at rear of 290 Racecourse Road.
A storage space for the BBQ trailer is being sought.
The club was successful in receiving a MVCC $10k grant towards theRICON23 event.
Helpful links to familiarise yourself:
STAY UP TO DATE WITH CLUB UPDATES https://rotaryflemington.org.au/ -
All matters of the club, events, meetings, newsletters are published & maintained in our ClubRunner.
EVENTS CALENDAR ON YOUR PHONE - If you’d like to save the calendar from the clubrunner in your mobile calendar, follow the instruction as per link here.
On step 3 (Screenshot below) where it says, In the popup screen, paste the ClubRunner Calendar Subscription URL into the box labeled URL. PASTE the URL below
GROW MY CLUB website reflects our district 9800 focus purpose on helping clubs grow their impact. Encourage all members to follow the link to learn more - https://growmyclub.org/
Note to members: If you’ve been involved in a Rotary or community activity between now and next fortnight, please send Lesley a note on it so that we can share it in the newsletter. We are interested in YOU and what YOU DO!
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Breakfast 6 July at Mama Bears Cafe
We were delighted to have a large attendance today for the first meeting of the Rotary year.
PP Lesley presented Karolina Sevcikova with the James Hosie Trophy for her participation and involvement with every club activity in the last 12 months. Karolina was unable to attend changeover due to illness.
Mary Keating, editor of Flem-Ken News for 18 years joined us and PP Lesley presented her with a Rotary community Service award for her efforts in connecting the Flem-Ken communities for so many years. Mary was unable to attend changeover due to illness.
All in attendance were given a copy of the club project template and encouraged to consider a community project which they were passionate about us taking on.
On 14th July, Edith, John, Karolina, Lesley, Nicole and Yvonne commenced the final clearance of the club storage garage. Nelson Alexander have advised that the lease will not be renewed as 290 Racecourse Road has now sold.
This work was commenced last year by Anne & John, Edith and Lesley.
Yvonne called her husband and son to come and assist, and thankfully John had room in his car for the filing cabinets. Much of the club regalia and mementos were taken to the Op Shop or by Lesley to sort. A home is being sought for the magnificent BBQ trailer. There is also an older stand alone BBQ free to a good home.
Lesley and Bill will collect the trailer before 30 July.
ROTARY INNER MELBOURNE EMERGENCY RELIEF NETWORK - 28 July
Our club has nominated the 4th Thursday of each month as our scheduled day to volunteer. Edith, Karolina and Lesley will be there between 11am-3.00pm and would love to have you join us and see what great work RIMERN are doing in our local community.
RIMERN are currently short of cutlery, blankets, doonas and bedding. Can you help?
32-34 Lincoln Street East Brunswick - on the corner Moreland Road just East of Nicholson Street.
Our club is partnering with Moonee Valley Council to extend the wildlife habitat and pollination corridor along the Maribyrnong River, this time at the Canning Street Reserve in Avondale Heights.
Starting at 10am, we will gather at 2a Canning street, Avondale Heights.
This is just off Milleara/Military Road and close to Highpoint Shopping Centre and the Calder Fwy.
BYO water bottle and gloves, trowel. Finishes by 1.00pm.
Suitable for children, disabled people, older people, families.
The Zone Regionalisation Pilot is an opportunity for Rotarians and Rotaractors to design Rotary for tomorrow to suit our region. Hopefully it will offer more doable leadership opportunities across the organisation and create an approach that will assist us to be more adaptive to our changing world.
As Past Rotary International President Ian Riseley says: “Australasian Rotarians have always been at the forefront of adopting change. We were co-sponsors of the admission of women to membership, we created RYLA and RYPEN and were amongst the first to take part in Rotary Youth Exchange, amongst many innovations. To paraphrase PRIP Bill Boyd’s theme, we lead the way!
Zone 8 membership is declining despite our valiant recruitment efforts and population increases over the last 10 years. In fact we have declined 24% in this period but it is actually worse than it appears because the 24% is after including over 30,000 new members recruited in the period.
Bronwyn has been appointed as the Australian Rotary Foundation Endowment and Major Gifts Adviser for Zone 8.
She will focus on raising major funds for Rotary’s charity, the Rotary Foundation which is vital for critical programs such as individuals, club and world scale projects, peace projects, End Polio and even responses to disasters.
Bronwyn and her husband Mark are major donors.
She is pictured with TRF Chair and Past RI President Ian Riseley, PDG Dennis Shore and Mark Anderson, RI Regional Office Support & Senior Fund Development Officer
RI President Jennifer Jones imagines a Rotary where members act to make their dreams reality and to get the most out of their club experiences.
This year, she will focus on four presidential initiatives that Imagine Rotary: advancing our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); creating a welcoming club experience; empowering girls; and expanding our reach. You can join her in building a strong future for Rotary by learning more about each of her initiatives.
Imagine DEI In 2021, Rotary strengthened its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to celebrate each person’s contributions, advance equity, and create an inclusive culture where every member and participant knows they are valued. Watch a message from Jones about imagining DEI, find inspiration to ensure that your club or district creates a collaborative, positive, and inclusive environment for everyone, and take action on DEI issues in your club, district, and community.
Imagine Comfort and Care Making people feel included and welcomed is the most powerful way we can engage members. Listen to your members to understand why they joined Rotary and what they expect and want from their experience.
Imagine Empowering Girls Jones will continue the initiative of 2021-22 RI President Shekhar Mehta to encourage members to improve the health, well-being, education, and economic security of girls. Share your club’s projects on Rotary Showcase.
Imagine Expanding Rotary’s Reach Over the coming year, Jones will visit eight service projects, each one representing polio eradication or one of Rotary’s areas of focus. The tour will provide examples of how Rotary can make a measurable difference, while also introducing Rotary to new audiences and to potential partners and influencers.
The Rotary magazine’s annual photo awards recognize and celebrate the best photography produced and shared by Rotary members around the globe. The magazine received more than 600 entries from across the family of Rotary
This year's winning entries represent a wide range of subjects and regions: silhouettes of children playing in Tondo, a poverty-stricken municipal district of Manila, Philippines; a Vietnamese artisan drying magenta-tipped incense sticks near Hue, the country's spiritual capital; a fisherman casting his net into a river in Benin; and the glowing tents of a climbers' base camp in the snowy peaks of Nepal.
Collectively, all these photographs endow us with a rich, varied, and humbling view of our planet and its people.
Winer: People of action
Photographer: Derrick Kabuye
Rotaract Club of Kampala South and Rotary Club of Chicago Citywide Service
A progressive tasting through 4-5 eateries including stories about the history behind the foods and flavours of the shops
A wander through local spice shops, butchers, and grocery stores catering to various cultures to learn about the spices and ingredients from the different region
Visit to cultural shops and a chance to learn about the arts and crafts of the region.
A Neighbourhood Grant program providing small grants for community organisations and individuals to support community connection, social inclusion, access and participation. Up to $2000 is available per project and applications are open all year until the funding is fully allocated. Find out more and apply at Connected Neighbourhoods small grants - City of Melbourne
As part of the construction process for the new Kensington Community Aquatic and Recreation Centre, we’ve been undertaking soil testing of the site. Some asbestos containing materials have recently been found in soil samples. The asbestos poses no risk to the community as it’s non-friable material, meaning it doesn’t release any asbestos fibres into the air.
Rotary Zone 8 Conference Early Bird Tickets Now Available - 28-30 October
Early bird tickets are now available for all Rotaractors and Rotarians in Australia, New Zealand and across the Pacific to attend the Zone 8 Better Together Conference in Canberra from October 28-30.
The conference will be held at the National Convention Centre Canberra and the Saturday night dinner at Old Parliament House.
The conference is set to be the first in-person zone event since the COVID-19 pandemic and is shaping up to be a celebration of all the best our Rotary family has to offer. This includes a range of excellent speakers and sessions across the weekend.
5 nights in an air-conditioned room overlooking the ocean.
Full cooked breakfasts, lunches and two course dinners (drinks not included).
Ground transfers to and from the airport.
Rainbow Reef snorkelling experience.
Tropical garden tour.
The Fijian people will make you feel welcome like no other.
$11 per ticket.
The It's Time Foundation installs solar panels on roofs of schools in Fiji's islands allowing students and teachers to read, prepare homework and do schoolwork.
PS Cherie Osborne from Keilor East Rotary was the first winner!!
PP Lesley presented Karolina Sevcikova with the James Hosie Trophy for her participation and involvement with every club activity in the last 12 months. Karolina was unable to attend changeover due to illness.
Winer: People of action
