The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Ranald Stewart
April 8
Joanne Coleman
April 17
Joe Campisi
April 17
Bob Farrar
April 19
Bob Edwards
April 29
Mike Cocks
April 29
Spouse Birthdays
Jan Duggin
April 3
Anniversaries
Peter Grinter
Di Grinter
April 25
Bob Farrar
Christine Altmeier
April 28
Join Date
Peter Russell
April 9, 2019
3 years
Peter Grinter
April 19, 1988
34 years
David Perabo
April 20, 2009
13 years
Jon Gidney
April 26, 2016
6 years
Club Meeting News - 8 February 2022
Welcome
President Jon welcomed members, guest Rotarian Richard McDonald, and guest speaker, Cllr Roy McCullagh.
Toast
Sally O’Neill proposed a toast to the RC of Brookvale. Their major fundraising event is the Beach2Beach Charity Fun Run, to be held this year on 27 March. The money raised for this event over the years has been given to charities on the Northern Beaches including Life Education, Surf Lifesaving & Bear Cottage.
Announcements
Sally O’Neill reported that the Bunnings BBQ held 5 February had been a great success raising just over $1,500 including donations. A big effort by all who volunteered on the day.
Alan Hession reported that the Bucket Appeal raised $600 for Tonga relief. While this was disappointing, he’d heard that many Clubs were experiencing the same lack of interest in the tragedy. There will be a RAWCS Project coming up to assist with reconstruction in Tonga and our Club may look to participate.
Luke Keighery reminded everyone that the Footy Tipping Competition starts on the 10 March and encouraged participation. To join the competition, login & register at https://tinyurl.com/RCNFootyTipping.
President Jon also reminded everyone to complete the Survey he emailed to members on 31 January. The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LFW6MKS . It will take less than 5 min to complete and will assist to see how we are tracking and with planning for the future.
A reminder that the Rotary District Conference is to be held 18/19 March. To register go to https://tinyurl.com/District9685Conference . The many interesting guest speakers include 2022 Young Australian of the Year Dr Daniel Nour, Covid expert Prof Dominic Dwyer, Recycling Engineer & NSW Australian of the Year Professor Veena Sahajwalla, and paralympian Louise Sauvage.
Jon commented the next Book Stall is 20 February. He also mentioned that Kim Wilkins would like to stand down from the role of managing this fundraiser, after over 3 very successful years in the position, so the Fundraising Committee was looking for a replacement.
Peter Grinter updated everyone on the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition, which our Club has supported for many years. The heats are to be held at Ascham on Wednesday 9 March, with Adjudicators only needed. Timekeepers and Chairmen will be provided. Four Adjudicators are needed at 4.30 and 6.00pm. Contact Peter if interested.
Peter Antaw advised he has received a request from Liz de Rome as per below:
“Taldumande Youth Service was hoping Rotary could financially assist in purchasing a fridge for the young people’s kitchen at our Education Hub on High St, Willoughby. Many of our HSC and University students reside at this property and currently the young people are sharing a bar fridge which isn’t big enough to accommodate three growing teenagers. It also makes it challenging for Caretakers/Case Managers to support the young people in their living skills (meal prep and storage/budgeting) when they are unable to freeze food.
Taldumande Youth Services would be extremely grateful if you could support this request as it will make a huge difference to the young people residing at this accommodation.”
The cost of the fridge is $830. If any members would like to support this, a donation to the Rotary Benevolent account (BSB 032-199, A/c no 194514) can be made and a tax deductible receipt will be issued.
Guest Speaker - Roy McCullagh - The Men's Table
Peter Grinter introduced the Speaker, Roy McCullagh, whose topic was The Men’s Table and Mental Health. Roy, originally from Ireland, has lived in Australia for 20 years, residing in Northbridge. His career has been in the hospitality industry, and he was recently elected a Councillor on Willoughby Council.
Roy was instrumental in establishing The Northbridge Men’s Table, a self-organising local group that meets once a month for dinner in a safe friendly environment to share the highs and lows of life with a group of men who they learn to trust and respect. The Men's Tables create a sense of belonging, community, peer support and camaraderie that is lacking for many men, even for some who already have a group of mates.
Usually some 10-12 men attend, with some not talking, just listening, and some lonely, just wanting to be part of a community. The group is all about men serving men.
At each meeting, it is intended to demonstrate that it is OK to show emotions and share feelings. Members are generally aged 35 to 80. Research has shown that the men feel:
It is a safe place to share feelings
There is a sense of belonging to a community
It represents support of mental health and wellbeing
The Northbridge Men’s Table meets at Attimo restaurant on the second Monday of the month. Meeting guidelines are that you learn to listen, and express feelings, not beliefs. The men speak openly and honestly, and are listened to. Roy found it was often the case that it is a woman in a man’s life who encourages him to join. This in part recognises that there is a need to free men from outdated norms, and that it is important that we increasingly ask the question: Are you OK?
There are now 48 Men’s Tables around Australia, with 20 of those in Sydney. While Zoom meetings are not favoured, a Men’s Table can start this way.
Off limits topics are sex, drugs, footy, etc. These are topics for the Pub! There is no cost involved other than the cost of a meal. Contact can be made via www.themenstable.org
Questions followed indicating Roy’s presentation created quite some interest. Peter thanked Roy and wished him well with The Men’s Table, and his new position as a Willoughby Councillor.”
Sally O’Neill
A little bit of humour ....
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin!
Thank you to all shoppers who donated to the Northbridge Rotary Club a bucket appeal on the weekend of 5/6 February, at Northbridge Shopping Plaza, raising funds for those in Tonga who have lost their homes, possessions and in some case family members to the recent volcano and tsunami.
Special thanks to 2 school boys Will Hyde & his friend Alex (pictured) who helped with our appeal. Both Wil and Alex have spent time in Tonga as part of a post school volunteer program, but unfortunately were pulled back early due to COVID, hence their interest. They have been in contact with the school principal in Tonga to let them know what is being done here to support them.
The 2021 annual Christmas ‘Tree of Joy’ appeal, organised by the Northbridge Rotary Club, was a tremendous success - given the restricting circumstances we all faced - the Northbridge Community once again generously showed their support in donating around 300 Toys & Gifts to disadvantaged children & distributed through the Starlight Children’s Foundation of Naremburn & Narang Muru - an Indigenous Community for Youth in the Fairfield area.
We know these toys & gifts brought happiness & joy to hundreds of children at Christmas & this inspires the Northbridge Rotary Club to continue this annual appeal with the support of the Northbridge Plaza & the Community.
Thanks to Northbridge Plaza management, the Northbridge Rotary Club bookstall continues at Northbridge Plaza on the third Sunday of every month from 9am to 5pm.
Our next bookstall is on Sunday 24th April 2022
The Club is selling a range of adult fiction at $4 each plus childrens’ books at $2 each; all in mint condition and sales continue grow each month.
Books can be purchased with cash or via credit card. As always, all of the money raised from these sales goes to a range of worthy causes.
In 2021 the Northbridge Rotary Club donated $3,000 to the Nusa Tenggara Association (NTA), an Australian-based NGO which has been assisting poor farming communities in parts of eastern Indonesia. The money was allocated to women from 6 different weaving groups with the opportunity to earn a better income by producing diverse products with hand woven cloth on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores, one of more than 550 Islands of the Nusa Tenggara Province.
Flores is one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, with an average income of less than a fifth of the national average. Twenty-seven percent of the population earns less than a dollar per day, malnutrition and stunted growth there are common and primary school enrolment remains low in this Covid-affected area.
The NTA, through its peak partner NTA Indonesia, is supported by over 250 people in Australia and other countries and is governed by an elected Board. It draws on small networks of people committed to working voluntarily on fund-raising, monitoring, liaising with project participants and sharing technical expertise. It is accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is a member of the Australian Council for International Development. This ensures it has systems and measures in place which meet Australian standards, including in the areas of fraud control, accountability to donors and child protection
Members of the Flores Island community sewing group pose with their new heavy-duty machines.
Luke Keighery
Director International Service
Rotary Club of Northbridge
The NTA has operated in eastern Indonesia for 30 years and its deep knowledge of local circumstances means project risk is low and outcomes are maximised. It uses a community self-help approach with a high level of participation by the beneficiaries on the planning, implementing and evaluation level; supplying training and tools to increase their income through traditional weaving - applying a tie dye and weaving technique called ‘Tenun Ikat’ - which can add substantially to a family’s income.
Most women in the Sikka regency of Flores are familiar with this extraordinary handicraft, producing textiles to wear on a daily basis, special occasions and for traditional gift-exchanges such as a weddings and funerals. In order to sell these textiles successfully, they either need access to the market outside their local community or have to produce something different to what is already on the market.
According to Stephanie Heighes – the NTA Operations Manager, the Rotary Club of Northbridge’s $3000 donation was used to provide 3-day-training classes for 14 women in product diversification (using their own hand-woven cloth) and 5 heavy duty sewing machines for participating weaving groups, enabling them to apply the learnt techniques and increase their income.
“Covid-19 made it impossible for the Australian Team to join the biannual monitoring visit as it had for the previous 30 years,” said Stephanie.
“We hope some members of the Rotary Club of Northbridge will be able to join us during one of our field visits in the near future, when international travel is possible again. This will enable you to hear and see the direct impact of this generous donation.”
