Geoff Duggin & Valda Andrews (Reserves: Rob Coote & Helen Gulson)
Set up & pack up:
Andrew Rennie & Michael Bartok (Reserves: Jon Gidney)
Speakers & topic:
Tony Jones - Job Ready
Rotary Club Meeting 2 July 2019
Welcome
PP Peter Grinter (in President Peter Antaw’s absence) opened the meeting by welcoming members and guests: Jennifer Horrigan (guest speaker) and Leanne McBeath.
Toast
Valda Andrews proposed a toast to the Rotary Club of Boorowas, near Young in NSW. The 24 club members meet every Monday. They raise funds through organising a 4WD rally around the area, conducting barbecues and running a successful Op Shop.
Announcements
Doug Herridge thanked club members sincerely for their good wishes during his time in hospital in June.
Kevin Tattrie reported that Taldumande had thanked the club for the donation of a gas heater at short notice.
Sergeant's Session
Fay Petrou as Sergeant effortlessly extracted cash from members.
PP Peter Grinter closed the meeting at 8.00pm
Guest Speaker - Jen Horrigan - Primary Ethics
Jon Gidney introduced guest speaker Jen Horrigan, Chair of the charity Redkite. She has been on the Board of the charity for seven years and Chair for one year. Jen has 25 years’ experience in investment banking and is now a Board member on several organisation.
Jen showed a short, heartwarming video showing how Redkite supported the family of a child with cancer. She then responded to a number of questions by Jon and other club members.
Redkite is a national cancer charity which provides in-hospital support for children (aged up to 24 years) with cancer and for their families. Support includes supplies, education, social workers and bereavement. The charity is run like a business, accountable for every dollar. It has a strong national structure and governance framework.
The charity, which has operated for 35 years, has a budget of $12 million per year. The majority of funding comes from corporate sponsorship, notably Coles which has provided $30 million over six years, and from trusts and individuals. There is no government funding.
Redkite has 60 employees across Australia. Its administration cost is 10% of budget. The charity currently supports 2500 families, comprising 6000 people.
PP Ranald Stewart thanked Jen for her “amazing” presentation.
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.
