End of Suakin Road, off Middle Head Road, Georges Heights, Mosman
Time:
6.30 pm to 9.30 pm
Rotary Club Meeting 18 June 2019
Welcome
President Ranald welcomed all those attending and in particular our guest speaker Jacqui Jones and a delegation of four pupils from Willoughby Girls High School and one of their teachers, Ms. Rana Morris.
President Ranald then handed the meeting over to Youth DirectorKevin Tattrie who introduced the girls to the meeting. They were three of the four attendees at the recent RYPEN Winter Camp held last weekend at Blue Gum Lodge, and one of the two attendees at the RAIC weeklong course held in Canberra during May. The girls gave a presentation to the Club in respect of their attendance at these events, which attendance was sponsored by the Club. We first heard from the RYPEN attendees who gave a joint presentation with a Power Point presentation. They covered their activities over the weekend, what they had learnt from those activities and the effect the camp had had on them. It was obvious that they had thoroughly enjoyed their experience and had come away from it with their horizons broadened and a swag of new friends. The girls were copious in their thanks to the Club for enabling them to attend the camp.
Alaa Douadi, who had attended RAIC, also gave a presentation to the Club. Her’s was a weeklong experience, staying with a billeting Rotary family in Canberra during that period. She was in Canberra during Budget week and had the opportunity of attending Parliament House on several occasions, viewing the Houses of Parliament in session, visiting both chambers when unoccupied and learning about the operation of the Houses, conducting a mock Senate Enquiry and meeting various politicians. Together with the other 60 attendees on the program, she also had the experience of visiting some of the main tourist attractions of Canberra, including Old Parliament House, the High Court building and the War Memorial. She also thanked the Club sincerely for having enabled her to attend the program and learn so much about the workings of our parliamentary system.
Toast
Kim Wilkins then proposed a toast to the Rotary Club of Inca Pisco, Cisco, Peru as he had recently travelled in Peru. Whilst he had not been able to glean much information about the Club itself, he was able to detail a number of projects that the Club had been able to undertake in its area, which is very poor, with the assistance of other Rotary Clubs around the world. The toast was duly honoured by the meeting.
Announcements
President Ranald reminded the meeting of the Grolman Challenge and the next group blood donation to be held on 6 July 2019 at Chatswood, and also of the Change Over Dinner to be held next Tuesday.
Ian Burnet reminded the meeting of the ShelterBox appeal now running.
Paul Sullivan then proposed that the Club should toast the late Bob Hawke who had been a supporter of the Club in attending one of our Change Over meetings where he gave an address, and also in attending a number of our Golf Days. The toast was duly honoured.
Sergeant's Session
Sergeant Eleanor, on the occasion of her final appearance as Sergeant, did her best to empty our pockets and the meeting closed with the National Anthem lead by Alan Hession.
Guest Speaker - Jacqui Jones - Youth Mental Health
Kevin Tattrie introduced our guest speaker Jacqui Jones who spoke on Youth Mental Health. Jacqui has a degree in Social Welfare and has worked in that field in the United Kingdom and later in Australia with Bernardo Homes and at U.T.S.
Jacqui then introduced herself and advised that her father is a Rotarian in Wagga Wagga and she is well aware of the work being done by Rotary Clubs in Australia. Following the birth of her second child in 2011, Jacqui suffered a debilitating bout of depression which lasted for quite some time and persisted until one therapist introduced her to meditation which gradually allowed her to regain control of her emotions and to resume a normal life style, much to the relief of her husband who had to cope with her problems and raising two children under the age of two. Her experiences and prior work with children caused her to realise that young people, especially children, do suffer from stress which can often lead to mental health issues, so she trained as a meditation teacher and gradually devised a program which she referred to as a ‘Gratefulness Program’. The program is tailored for children of all ages between kindergarten and Year 6. The program consists of group activities and therapy with meditation and is designed to allow the children to obtain relief from any stress which they may then be suffering. This is particularly prevalent in Year 6 children who have the prospect of transferring the next year out of their comport zone to secondary education. The program is also designed to try to change a ‘Me’ attitude to a “What can I give back’ attitude. She was able to introduce the program into St. Michael’s School at Lane Cove, where her children attend, and later had the program evaluated by the Department of Education which gave it a seal of approval. It has since been introduced into a number of State primary schools. The program is very similar to a number of other ‘Wellness’ programs that are being run in schools at present, particularly in private schools.
She also runs the program for adults at the University of Sydney and has conducted it on a group of ‘at risk’ children at the request of the Police. The program is currently being assessed by the University of Wollongong and if approved, will be run out through a number of PCYCs in the Illawarra area. The program normally runs for an hour a week for 6 weeks with a wrap-up on the seventh week. The cost is $70 per attendee but if the program is being sponsored into a school by a Rotary Club, she reduces the charge to $50 per attendee.
After taking questions, Jacqui was appropriately thanked by Karin Eurell. She then drew the raffle, much to the delight of Paul Sullivan.
Funds raised by Northbridge Rotary via a bucket appeal at Northbridge Plaza have been put to good use as reported below.
During Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017, the Sarina Range in Queensland experienced a massive landslide that effectively cut off 16 families (30 students) from the school campus. Education Queensland quickly established accommodation for the isolated students. However, suddenly and rather traumatically, the 30 students and their families had to adjust to changed life circumstances, grief and loss, separation from their previous school community and increased cost of living to travel extended distances to access shops, doctors, workplaces and other social supports such as scouts, sporting activities and dance.
This project, funded by the Northbridge Rotary Club totalling $3255, provided support for children’s skill development (swimming classes) and social interaction with peers at Inter school athletic activities. These monies paid for bus services to transport children between schools, then on to the swim classes and their athletics carnival. Without this grant the school, P&C and students would have been financially disadvantaged and unable to provide the access and learning opportunities that were offered to the students at the temporary accommodation.
The Rotary Club of Sarina and the Swayneville State School students, parents, teachers and community are thankful to the Northbridge Rotary Club and Townsville District 9550 Disaster Management grants that facilitated the social, and emotional well-being of these school children, alleviated a potentially onerous financial burden on the P&C and parents who were already financially disadvantaged. Your financial and club support has provided joy, growth, opportunities, personal development, pride, skill and water safety in all the children of the Swayneville State School Campus. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Dianne Barnett
Secretary, Rotary Club Sarina, Qld
Outcome measure evaluation: The project success was measured through the implementation of the project plan within the time frame below.
May 2018: 24 children and 8 parents affected attended that inter-school athletics event at Sarina State School. The children participated in all events and several children were successful in securing places in the district events.
December 2018: 30 students from the Range campus attended all school swim classes held at the Sarina Swimming Pool over a seven- week period. These children were transported by bus and participated in classes with other students as well as attending their swim classes through the day. All students passed the required water safety standard requirement for their age.
Full acquittal of funds occurred in January 2019 for the bus services that took students between their accommodation, school and swimming.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is building on their long-standing support of youth with expanding support across 6 different youth specific, leadership and experience focus programs. The outcomes of these programs continue to motivate the club to build on these programs with increased support.
Among these programs are high school leadership, science, engineering and experience programs. One of these programs is RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) aimed at year 9 & 10 who want to build their confidence and self-esteem. RYPEN provides young people the opportunity to build leadership potential, encourages them to explore their ideas in problem solving, team activities, and experiences that will assist them in forming their own values. RYPEN is about building confidence and developing skills to cope in a range of situations. The Rotary club of Northbridge has doubled it’s support of this amazing program from sponsoring 4 awardees each of the last 2 years to 8 awardees this 18/19 year. Follow this link https://rotarydistrict9685.org.au/page/rypen for more information about RYPEN.
Another program worthy of mention is the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). RYLA is a transformational leadership program designed for young adults aged 18-27. This intensive program over 7 days, enabling leadership to grow and develop to its full potential. RYLA combines amazing Australian speakers with activities and challenges in a supportive environment. Unlike other programs, RYLA has a focus on practical hands-on opportunities testing leadership in a controlled environment. The RYLA program is unique in linking outcomes to self-improvement with considered reflection; building a better leader with the necessary skills for improving their leadership as they move forward in life. RYLA is run annually, with close to 90 candidates in Elanora Heights, on Sydney's Northern beaches; the Rotary Club of Northbridge has sponsored 9 RYLA awardees over the last 3 years. Follow this link http://d9685ryla.org.au/ for more information about RYPEN.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is also supporting the initiation of the North Sydney Rotaract Club; a new Rotaract Club which is a driven community of young professionals aged 20-30 who are committed to creating social change in their community whilst developing as leaders. The inaugural meeting is scheduled for February 20th and the following links are available for further information.
The life changing effects of these sponsored Youth programs continues to motivate our club and members support; the Rotary Club of Northbridge will continue a focus on our local Youth and our leaders of tomorrow as one of the most rewarding areas where we support our community.
