Please send apologies to Peter Hodgson before 10:30am each Monday at: peterhodgson@optusnet.com.au
Next Meeting – 31st January 2017
Attendance desk:
Karin Eurell & Angie Fernandes - Reserves (John Bolton & Valda Andrews)
Set up & pack up:
Garth Carter & Peter McNair - Reserves (David Clancy & Geoff Duggin)
Speakers & topic:
Kiki Paul Topic: Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Womens Shelter
Also a presentation by club's two recent RYLA attendees
Rotary Club Meeting January 24th 2016
Welcome
President Paul welcomed all members, Susan Kelly, a guest of Sueki Owens, and our recently inducted life member, Ross Pickard.
Toast
Peter Antaw gave a toast to the Island of St Helena. He gave all present a brief history of the island, which does not have a Rotary Club.
Announcements
Bob Edwards advised that Wednesday 26 April 2017 has been booked for the Spirit of Anzac Exhibition at the International Convention Centre and dinner afterwards. Please contact Peter if you wish to attend.
Derek Matz reported that the weekend book sale at the Plaza raised $370. He thanked all the volunteers who gave their time to help.
President Paul reminded members of the upcoming District Conference and encouraged members to consider attending. Also that next weeks meeting on the 31st would be a partners meeting.
Kevin Tattrie confirmed that the club two local sponsored RYLA attendees (Lora Chen and Niamh Lennon) will present on their RYLA experience at the club meeting on January 31st.
Club Forum
There was much discussion on various topics at this Club Forum. President Paul asked members’ opinions as to whether the frequency of our meetings should change. The majority of members were happy with the weekly meetings, but John Garrett suggested that members’ attendance at meetings should not be measured and recorded, and that more people might be encouraged to join if there wasn’t a commitment to attending a set number of meetings in a year. It was concluded that participation was just as important as attending meetings, and it was then agreed that attendance at meetings will no longer to be measured.
Other suggestions included the advance notice of upcoming guest speakers so members could invite along other people who might be interested in an upcoming topic/speaker.
It was also suggested, and agreed, that other club banners need not be displayed at weekly meetings.
President Paul reminded us that Rotary is a fantastic charity organisation and asked members to consider making Rotary their main charity to allocate their donation funds, especially in disaster situations. We all know that 99% of Rotary donations go to where they are allocated.
There was also discussion on what charities we should support this year, and it was suggested that we could do joint fundraising ventures with other entities; focus on one major project.
There was discussion about ways to encourage new members. We should all talk to people about what rotary does, tell people that Rotary International is responsible for contributing to the near eradication of polio worldwide; the establishment of Shelter Boxes, etc. A suggestion was made that perhaps interacting with Rotaract a little more could encourage their members to move into Rotary in due course.
Another point brought up in the Forum was whether or not we should continue to sing the National Anthem at the end of every meeting. A poll was taken and the majority of members voted to continue with the tradition.
Upcoming events & speakers include:
Seniors’ Lunch will be held in April at St Marks Hall.
Kevin Fitzpatrick – Travels in Antarctica
Jan Latta – True to Life books – educating children about endangered animals
On Friday 11th November a special afternoon tea was held at Neutral Bay, one of a number of Taldumandi Youth Refuges, to thank community leaders and the many supporters of the charity, in particular local Rotary Clubs for their ongoing practical support, e.g. painting, gardening, construction of outdoor pergola and other repairs and maintenance.
The NSW Government provides the physical assets (i.e. houses) and salaries of related staff however the organisation must rely on the community to provide essential maintenance.
Virginia Howard (Chairman of the Taldumande Board) was the guest speaker.
She thanked supporters in particular representatives of the Rotary club of Northbridge, Mosman, and North Sydney Sunrise for their invaluable assistance.
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to:
Noel Phelan (Northbridge) Peter Young (Mosman) John Taylor (North Sydney Sunrise)
Those in attendance were then addressed by two extraordinarily impressive young women who recounted their recent life experiences as clients and how their lives had been turned around through the assistance and support of Taldumandi.
When Vanuatu was devastated by cyclone Pam, the Rotary Club of Northbridge raised $2,200 in a bucket appeal at Northbridge Plaza. The Club has partnered with the Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed which has a number of active projects in Vanuatu, and which particularly aim to build local capacity rather than perpetuating a welfare dependent mentality.
Northbridge Club decided to support a project which involves the introduction of Aquaponics to help create sustainable small business opportunities in remote villages. The Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed Club has partnered with the Vanuatu Agricultural College in order to bring this about. The country's Minister for Agriculture has taken a personal interest in this project, and the first training session has been delivered through the Agricultural College (pictured).
The Northbridge Club also provided a manual bore water pump, filter and tippy tap (pictured) so that the children at the Matantas school can now wash their hands. Previously the nearest water source was 45 minutes away, and health and hygiene issues were an everyday event. The pump also supplies water to a bush shower for the boarders at the school.
Many thanks to Chantal Dunbar of the Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed who has initiated these projects and many others, and has changes countless lives in Vanuatu now and into the future.
Several young North Shore people with brain injuries will be helped to recover using a new recumbent tricycle donated from funds raised jointly by Northbridge Rotary Club and Manmos Cycle Group.
The new tricycle was presented to Gordon-based charity Fresh Tracks in September. The charity’s CEO Alan Lawrence was “over the moon”, with the donation bringing the total number of tricycles at the charity to seven.
“These specially-made three-wheeler trikes are designed for the disabled to ride, as the pedals can be adjusted to be hand-propelled and there are gears on the hand grip to suit each individual,” Alan said. “If the rider can only steer then there are handle bars for a carer to push the bike. Another advantage is that the rider can attach their feet to the pedals so that their legs move with the rotating wheels.
Alan noted that, because of the trikes, several people in the group can now move their legs and have become more mobile and independent. The tricycles also brings a huge amount of excitement, fun and freedom for all that have the opportunity to ride them.
Northbridge Rotary President Paul Sullivan congratulated Alan on the fantastic work being done at Fresh Tracks, and thanked him for his service to the disabled community.
The new recumbent tricycle was presented to Fresh Tracks’ CEO Alan Lawrence by Northbridge Rotarians Paul Sullivan and Bob Farrar, and by Tony Reeve from the Manmos Cycle Group
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