Welcome Home Gavin -Thursday August 25th 2022
A very special Rotary meeting at the Vine Inn has been arranged for the above date. All members, partners and friends are asked to make every effort to attend. Please put this date in your diaries.
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President Peter's (Words of Wisdom).
Think that Rotarians who attended the meeting on Thursday 4th August would have left the meeting somewhat confused and perplexed. In less than two months, Rotary clubs will be asked to vote on a proposal to replace the twenty three Rotary districts in Australia with a centralised governance structure.
The guest speakers, District 9510 District Governor Elect Craig Dowling and Past President (Rotary Club of Adelaide) Frank O’Neill were eloquent and spoke about the Zone 8 Rotary Regionalisation Pilot Project, but were not able to present too much detail. Instead of a document full of information, we were presented with a “motherhood” document that is short on detail.
What we do know is that the current Rotary structure of multiple districts is not providing sufficient support to enable Rotary in Zone 8, particularly Australia to grow, in fact Rotary is in decline. So the Regionalisation Pilot (over three years) aims to provide a bureaucratic structure that shall represent Rotary as a single authority and should better support Rotary.
Within the next two months, club members willl be required to vote. Time will be set aside at a club meeting to conduct a poll.
The introduction of “Umpire Pete”, i.e. my caricature presented at the recent Changeover Dinner, was meant as a subtle attempt to remind Club members that there is a protocol of respect and silence to be displayed to guest speaker(s) at club meetings. However it did not seem to serve the purpose, as DGE Craig was interrupted by conversations between club members when he was addressing the meeting.
SO PLEASE SHOW RESPECT AND CEASE TALKING WHEN THE GUEST SPEAKER IS ADDRESSING THE MEETING.
Speakers DGE Craig Dowling and PP Frank O'Neill from the Adelaide Club.
Those attending were each handed details outlining that our region, known as Zone 8, which includes Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, has been selected by Rotary International to pilot a regional approach to governance. For some time now a Regionalisation team made up of Rotarians from our zone has identified five key project objectives.
1. Support clubs to engage members, volunteers, and communities
2. Create new attractive, leadership roles and development opportunities
3. Build a stronger unified Rotary brand
4. Encourage partnerships
5. Improve efficiencies and reduce duplication
To help achieve these objectives, the project seeks to develop and test a streamlined governance approach to:
1.Allow clubs sharing geography, culture, and language to organise in ways that suit them.
2.Eliminate duplication and remove layers of hierarchy to make Rotary more responsive and cost effective.
3.Bring together the best resources from across the region and make them easily accessible to every club.
4. Improve communication effectiveness to enhance club and member engagement.
5.Grow membership through new club types, flexibility, and partnership options reflecting our diversity.
6. Attract more community, corporate, and government sector support by communicating with one voice.
7. Enhance leadership and personal development activities to better suit our modern world.
8. Foster more diverse perspectives in decision making.
9. Reduce the burden of administrative responsibilities placed upon leaders.
We all know that gaining new members has become more and more difficult and we have watched several clubs handing back their charter. Across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands the drop in membership reflects a loss of 23% over the past 10 years.
The time has come to address some of our most persistent challenges in ways that are more impactful, relevant, and attractive to future generations who share our passion for service and leadership. We must do so whilst enhancing what is great about Rotary. However, there is still a fair way to go yet. There will be questions that will need to be answered. No doubt some will be reluctant to change. Zone 8 Members will be required to vote either for or against this 'new approach' in a few weeks time and that result will determine whether Regionalisation goes ahead or not. The Board of RI considered us pre-qualified to be one of two regions in the world to develop and pilot a new governance solution. What happens next? We will all know in a couple of months.
A message from DGE Craig Dowling following the Workshop in Sydney last weekend 5th to 7th August.
I was privileged to represent the current Zone 8 cohort of District Governors Elect at the Regionalisation Strategic Planning Workshop in Sydney on the weekend 5 to 7 August. Also present were representatives of the current cohort of Zone 8 DGs as well as PDGs and senior Rotarians from throughout the Zone who have been involved for up to three years in Regionalisation planning. Almost 2 dozen folks all together. Our activities focused on developing and progressing appropriate and well-reasoned plans to be ready for implementation in three time periods. Firstly, between now and the club voting in second half of September. Secondly, for the period October 22 to June 23 planning was significantly progressed to make the best use of the significant work done by the Regionalisation Planning group whether Zone 8 votes YES or NO for the pilot. Thirdly, if the vote is YES options were developed for implementation of the pilot from 1 July next year. All Rotarians can be assured that the sole intent of Regionalisation is to change Rotary for the significant benefit of all clubs and members in Zone 8. There is little doubt that, to meet the challenges Rotary faces, there must be some changes. Clubs are being asked to vote whether the proposed pilot is the best way to test and bring about these changes. It is clear that the work done on Regionalisation is valuable and if Zone 8 votes NO then that information will be available to inform any alternative initiatives that may be considered to drive change in Rotary. Be certain that you are able to make an informed vote. If you have concerns or questions then go to creatingtomorrowrotary.org and if you still need more then take steps to get answers through your club and district leaders.
Finally please make sure you read the article in your August RDU from
p44 to p47 'Is your Club ready to vote on our future?
President Jennifer Jones says" You don't imagine yesterday, you imagine tomorrow.
Rotaract Australia Chair Laura Telford says "We are leading the world in elevating Rotaract, and I implore every Rotarian and Rotarator to approach regionalisation with an open mind and look towards the possibilities of a united future together."
George Bernard Shaw said "progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
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Women in Rotary
Stephanie A. Urchick is selected to be the 2024-25 President of Rotary International.
Stephanie is a member of the McMurray Rotary Club Pennsylvania USA.
With the world facing incredible changes, including COVID-19 pandemic, disasters driven by climate change, and conflict in many regions, Stephanie says Rotary's leaders can offer a vision and a plan for overcoming these challenges. Measures taken by Rotary leadership to survive and end critical challenges often make our organisation stronger and more resilient for future events. This kind of essential leadership also creates new levels of co-operation, even among rivals, when Rotarians pull together as people of action to serve and solve a crisis. Making regionalisation a priority is crucial she said. Because Rotary operates in more than 200 countries and regions, it is vital to recognise that the organisation has the potential to become more efficient and effective by understanding and reacting to how regional differences affect the way Rotarians work together to address providing service, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill and peace" Stephanie is partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She joined Rotary in 1991.
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Message from Emily Harman
Hey I hope you're doing well just wanted to send you an email Letting you know that we are having an opening event for our fundraising for 2022 would love to see you there and some of your members
On August 31st
At 17 Wiltshire St, Salisbury SA 5108
Time 6.30pm
I have Discussed with the team and we are thinking about doing a fun run 🏃♀️
I will send you our donations link it's up and live now we have a massive goal of $16000 this year
Thank you so much
Salisbury City Rotaract Club is proud to be stepping up to raise support and awareness for people with disability.
Get active, get healthy, and get connected with your teammates as you challenge yourself to take 10,000 steps each day, your way, during September. STEPtember is all about inclusivity, with over 40 different activities that can be converted into your daily steps.
And I'm happy to come out to your club and be a guest speaker or given update On the last 12 months ?
1 in 6 Australians are estimated to have a disability, and every 20 hours, an Australian child is born with cerebral palsy resulting from damage to the developing brain. From early intervention for babies, life-changing technology and equipment, or ground-breaking research, by participating in STEPtember you’ll be improving the lives and futures of people living with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
Emily will be our guest speaker on Thursday October 6th 2022
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Fears of a spreading polio hit
Just to finish this bulletin off, did you read the following in the Sunday Mail on the 7th August?
A POLIO outbreak is feared to be spreading beneath the surface after the virus was detected in waterways, with health officials calling it an "unprecedented" community circulation. New York State health officials said polio had been found in wastewater samples north of the US's first confirmed polio case, suggesting the disease has been spread through the country's northeast since it was first identified on June 20th. "For every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected," Dr. Mary T Bassett, the state's health commissioner said in a statement. "Coupled with the latest wastewater findings," Dr. Bassett added, "the department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of the iceberg of greater potential spread."
The last thing we need now is a new strain of the polio virus, gathering pace around the world.
Enjoy the rain and have a nice weekend - Bulletin editor
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