Alan Hession & David Robertson Reserves: (Barry Anderson & Paul Sullivan)
Speakers & topic:
David Nicholls - What is Freemasonry
Rotary Club Meeting 3rd July 2018
Welcome
President Ranald welcomed all club members, and guest Graham Foxcroft.
Toast
Paul Sullivan gave a toast to the Rotary Clubs of Tamworth. There are six clubs in Tamworth – Tamworth which was chartered in 1932, Tamworth First Light in 1990, Tamworth Sunrise in 2009, Tamworth West in 1956 and Tamworth North and Tamworth on Peel.
Announcements
Paul Sullivan advised about the opening of a new Lifeline office in Naremburn this week.
Eleanor Chevor informed us that the NSW Blood Bank is very short of O Negative blood so please consider making a donation, particularly if you are O Negative.
President Ranald advised that the Bunnings BBQ raised $1650 last Saturday and thanked everyone who contributed to such a successful day.
Committee Meetings
The Visioning Project will be the club’s focus for the next 3-5 years and it is vital that everyone contributes to it. Sally O’Neill and John Turner are driving the Vision Project and John gave a presentation about the main topics resulting from the visioning night held last February. John will help to facilitate in achieving the goals set.
The meeting broke into committee groups to discuss each committee’s plans for the coming year.
Paul Sullivan auctioned a bottle of wine from his wine cellar which raised $60. Paul was also the Sergeant for the evening who extracted loose change from the membership.
A record crowd estimated at more than 4,000 attended Northbridge Rotary's Community Fireworks 30th Anniversary Spectacular on Northbridge Oval on May 13.
The event was a great success, according to the organizer, Rotarian Rob Coote. “We were lucky with near perfect weather and it was a great night for families who attended the evening,” Rob said. “The fireworks were spectacular, there was varied musical entertainment from local school bands plus exciting rides for the many happy children in attendance.
“We had about 120 Rotary Club members, spouses and Friends of Rotary helping on the night,” Rob said.
The spectators included North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman, Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Willoughby Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney. The Mayor welcomed the huge crowd and thanked Rotarians, volunteers and sponsors for making the huge community event so successful.
The event raised a surplus of more than $40,000 (net of expenses), which will be used to support local and overseas charities.
In this regard the Board of the Club at its May meeting resolved to award 100% of the surplus to organizations in greatest need. These included StreetWork (a local youth charity ) to assist in purchasing a new community vehicle ,the Rural Fire Service, children and women’s emergency accommodation, Rotary’s Polio Eradication programme, The Rotary Foundation, medical research into the causes and treatment of dementia and high need overseas charities in East Timor and Nepal (water delivery infrastructure and schools..)
Rotary President Paul Sullivan expressed the Club’s appreciation to Northbridge Plaza (managed by AMP Capital) as the primary sponsor of the event and the new co-sponsor Commonwealth Bank.
The invaluable assistance and support of all our other sponsors and supporters were also much appreciated. These included – Willoughby Council, Westpac Banking Corporation, Anytime Fitness, Ray White Real Estate, Coates Hire, Northbridge Hotel, Borusso’s Pizza and Pasta, Willoughby Leisure Centre, Backvintage Wines, Just Cuts Northbridge, Northbridge Physiotherapy, and Castlecrag Montessori School.
Also, the event would not have been the success that it was without the support of all those other entities who provided prizes for our Raffle, that helped us raise much-needed funds for our charities. These included – Bridge Climb, Simon & Johnson, Taronga Zoo, National Maritime Museum, Luna Park Sydney, HarbourView Restaurant and the Northbridge Golf Club.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge thanks, all sponsors and supporters for their tremendous support.
Northbridge Rotary Club has helped to build a new school in a remote area of Nepal which was devastated by a massive earthquake in 2015. Part of the funding for the project was raised by the club through the generosity of Northbridge residents.
The new school building at Bhakanje village, high in the Himalayas at 2,386 metres, was opened for use in February 2018. At the opening, the villagers of Bhakanje, the school’s teachers and students, and the two managers of Himalayan Project in Nepal expressed their gratitude to the community of Northbridge for their humanitarian support to this devastated community. A brass wall plaque was fixed to the building reading:
The reconstruction of this building in 2016‐17 is funded by Rotary Club of Northbridge, Sydney, Australia and the people of Northbridge in cooperation with Rotary Club of Kathmandu and Himalayan Project Nepal 2017.
The new school building has a total of four classrooms, one being a nursery for small children. The stronger, longer-lasting building replaces the original school building which was mainly destroyed by the 7.7 force earthquake. The new building’s brick walls and truss roof are of earthquake-resistant design. The walls are lined with wooden panels to help insulate school students from the cold.
The new Bhakanje school is said to be one of the most beautiful and functional schools in that region of Nepal.
Rotary Club of Northbridge managed the reconstruction from October 2016 until February 2018 in cooperation with Rotary Club of Kathmandu, Himalayan Project Denmark and Himalayan Project Nepal.
Funds donated by Rotary Club of Northbridge contributed to local lawyer Alison French completing a Masters of Public Policy degree at Oxford University in November 2017. With the support of Northbridge Rotary, Alison travelled to Oxford in August 2016 on a full Rotary Global Grant Scholarship.
Of her year of study, Alison said: “It has been the most fascinating, challenging and inspiring year. I would not be here if it weren’t for the support of Rotary. Thank you once again for all of Rotary’s support and generosity”.
At Oxford, Alison took examinations in several subjects. In the Education course, for her assignment she wrote on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.” That is an area of passion for me and I absolutely loved this course!” Alison told Northbridge Rotarians.
Alison also made presentations to many Rotary clubs in the Oxford area. “It was a lovely way to connect with the Rotary community at many talks throughout the year,” Alison said. She also spoke at the Rotary District Conference in Bournemouth. Alison said that the beach at Bournemouth does not compare to beautiful Sydney beaches but it was very nice to spend a weekend by the sea and mix with Rotarians young and old.
Other highlights of her time in UK were competing in the Oxford College rowing regattas for St Anne’s College and attending the Queen’s Young Leaders Award ceremony at the Australian High Commission (and seeing Prince Harry!).
Alison is currently completing her summer project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, working with World Vision on a child rights project. The aim is to make recommendations to eliminate violence against children in the Asia region. She has seven weeks in Cambodia to complete the project and will then return to the UK to undertake a short internship at the Australian High Commission in London before graduation, after which she will finally return home.
She says her next step is still to be confirmed but is likely to be Canberra-based with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
