District Governor Russell Gurney’s official club visit last week
Russell thanked the club for the warm welcome he and Shelley had received, and took the club through the key themes for Rotary in 2018, under the banner of “Be the Inspiration”.
He emphasised that the most important people in Rotary are the Rotarians in clubs like ours, doing the work we do, and that Rotary doesn’t begin or end with any one of us - we must build on what has gone before, and build for the future.
In doing so, we must:
- Keep our work as transparent as possible
- Change the lives of as many people as possible for the better
- Continue to give the best possible experience for members, and ensure the flexibility and tools required are available to achieve what they set out to do
- Continue to grow
- Finish the 30 year work to eradicate Polio (450 million vaccinations still required each year), as we currently have 13 new cases worldwide this year
- Embrace sustainability and the environment
The number of Rotarians worldwide is not growing, and further work is needed to:
- Be relevant to the community
- Engage more with the youth of our communities through Earlyact, Interact and Rotaract.
Following the RI conference in Toronto the RI Board met and released a new strategic plan, with four major priorities:
- Increases our impact
- Expand our reach
- Enhance participant engagement
- Increase our ability to adapt
- Build a culture of research innovation
- Streamline governance structure and processes
Unsurprisingly, Russell’s priorities for District 9810 are around these same themes, and particularly to streamline and modernise Rotary.
To achieve this we need to:
- Secure the existing clubs
- Develop and protect youth and young members
- Remain Inclusive and relevant to members and the public
- Engage with current members to ensure they are enjoying their Rotary experience
- Work to make our Rotary clubs happy clubs, and on that note he praised the RCN on being an obviously happy club, with everyone enjoying their meeting.
Russell spoke about the exciting Multi-District Conference being held in February next year, in Melbourne - the first time Victoria’s districts have combined for a Conference. A “house of friendship” and a showcase of Rotary programs will be at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, with some components open to the public.
Locally, he praised the work that our club was doing and congratulated us on our 3 year plan, urging us to build on the momentum of our work.
Russell also congratulated us on the formation of the satellite club – particularly the work done by Judith Eadon – and urged us to keep working with the new members to make sure they enjoy being a part of Rotary.
He praised our international work, our resilience in finalising a Medical Imaging project, and our work in supporting Interplast. Russell also commended our local community work, with support of the Whitehorse Men’s Shed, Dad’s Group Inc, the Whitehorse Farmers’ Market, and the financial donation of members to the Bale-out Drought Appeal.
He suggested that we may have been hiding our light under a bushel and should seek more recognition for the club and club members for the work we do.
He promised that the District is here to help us develop and build on our momentum.
In closing he urged us to, keep innovating, ensure Rotary relevance, and to share the gift of Rotary.
Shelley Gurney – Partner’s Project - Rotary Against Malaria (RAM)
Shelley knows the risks of Malaria only too well, both her son and she caught Malaria while living in New Guinea, but with access to western medicine, both recovered well.
Worldwide there are 1,470 deaths from Malaria every year. RAM is working to reduce these numbers through several projects educating people at risk on how Malaria spreads and how to avoid it, and the provision of bed nets. These nets not only keep out the mosquitos which spread the disease, but are impregnated with insecticide to kill off the pests. The bed nets cost $10 per net and last around 3 years.
President Janette was pleased to be able to present Shelley with a cheque for RAM for $500, on behalf of the club, to support her most worthy project.
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Vocational Visit
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