The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Michael Bartok
January 4
Brian Robson
January 8
Denise Woodward
January 13
Sally O'Neill
January 13
Chris Switzer
January 16
Sabina Allman
January 19
Anniversaries
John Turner
Penny
January 2
Don Landers
Shush Landers
January 12
Join Date
Bob Edwards
January 22, 1985
37 years
John Turner
January 22, 2002
20 years
Club Meeting News - 11 January 2022
Welcome
President Jon welcomed members and guest speaker, the Mayor of Willoughby, Tanya Taylor, to the first meeting of 2022, and followed with an Acknowledgement to Country.
Toast
Don Landers proposed a toast to the club members with “Here’s to us – good people are scarce’’.
Announcements
Alan Hession updated the members on the outcome of the Christmas Raffle held over 4 weekends at Northbridge Plaza. He thanked the good number of volunteers who made it possible and reported that $6,800 was added to the coffers of the charities account. A very successful outcome.
Sally O'Neill reported that the Bunnings BBQ on 3 Jan netted $700, not as much as usual but not bad given it was a holiday period. Bunnings also offered us 21 Jan but she was unable to get a roster together.
Ranald Stewart spoke about the results of the Tree of Joy. There were five bags of presents left over after distribution of presents to two charities, and these will be taken to an Aboriginal Community out west by John Sexton.
Guest Speaker - Tanya Taylor, newly elected Mayor of Willoughby
President Jon introduced our guest speaker Mayor Tanya Taylor who was elected to that position in December and has kindly agreed to introduce herself to club members.
Tanya was born in Maryborough, Victoria and moved to Zeehan,Tasmania as a small child where she grew up and where she developed a real sense of community. She attended University in Hobart, after which she moved to Cairns, then London where she worked in events and conferences. She moved to Sydney in 1998 with her husband Mark with whom she operates a small family business, and they have lived in the local Willoughby area since that time. They have two daughters, Ava (18) and Bligh (16) and a son Daniel (13) who has a disability and is about to start at St Edmunds School at Wahroonga.
Since arriving in Sydney, Tanya has always been active in the community through her children at pre-schools, schools and has a significant involvement with 1st Sailors Bay Sea Scouts. It was never in her plans to become Mayor but circumstances headed her in that direction.
As regards her plans as Mayor of Willoughby, she will be looking for what's best for the community and to bring councillors together to focus on the environment, community building and sustainability.
After numerous members asked questions of Tanya, Jon thanked her for agreeing to speak to us and for giving us an insight into her plans for Willoughby.
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!
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.”
Thanks to Northbridge Plaza management the Rotary Club of Northbridge annual Christmas Tree of Joy toys collection is being held again in Northbridge Shopping Centre.
Toys and other gifts for children who would otherwise go without this
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 16th January 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.
