At the meeting today Elida Brereton, Chair and Helen Worladge, Education Programs Manager with Education Chances Foundation provided an informative update on the work they are doing within Boroondara to support students from disadvantaged families achieve better educational outcomes.
It was interesting to hear how our own Denbigh Richards has been involved in Chances from the very early days.
Hawthorn Rotary have been a long-term supporter of Chances and the Club has agreed to donate $1,500 for the 2023-24 year.
Photo: Helen Worladge and Elida Brereton with Anne Scott.
Club Announcements
Salvo Hawks
The Salvo Hawks played a Grand Final match last Thursday at ETU Stadium, Port Melbourne against the Ballarat Bushies. The match was attended by four members from the Club and Big Mac has written a game summary for this week’s Bulletin.
The Salvation Army and Reclink were very appreciative of the support provided by Hawthorn Rotary over the season and attending their Grand Final.
Rochester Flood Victims Relief Update
Thanks to Anne Scott’s long-term connection with MLC, she has been able to organise a significant number of books that are surplus to MLC Library’s needs to donate to the residents of Rochester and their local library. The majority of the books are for children and young adult readers, which is the type of books the local Rotary Club asked us to source.
Anne is in the process of transferring the books from MLC to Sackville Grange and we will look at the best option to transport them up to Rochester in the next few weeks.
Rotary Zone 8 Regionalisation Project
I attended an online update of the Regionalisation Project on Saturday and they confirmed the new structure is on schedule to go live from 1 January 2024.
A new Regional Council will be established with direct links to Rotary Clubs within Zone 8 and new roles as Rotary Specialists and Rotary Community Leaders will be established. The current District Governor roles will continue under the new structure.
All Clubs will be voting for the Regional Council Chair, Chair-elect and Portfolio Leaders roles between 17th and 31st October. Details on each candidate will be circulated to Clubs in early October. Clubs will also be asked to nominate which Rotary Community Group (RCG) they want to join under the new structure. The RCG’s can be based on region or areas of common interest and the Regionalisation Team encouraged Club Presidents to seek input from across their Club prior to nominating which RCG they want to join.
Club Covid vaccination certificate records
With recent changes in Health regulations, Rotary Clubs are no longer required to maintain a register on Members’ vaccination status. Hawthorn Rotary have erased all computer records and destroyed physical records to comply with this directive.
Upcoming Events
· Mock interviews at Auburn High 13th and 14th September: Rashi and Geoff have been busy organising this with over 130 students participating in the two-day activity.
· District Governor Ron Payne will be the guest speaker at our meeting on 19th September at Kooyong. The lunch meeting will be followed at 2pm by a Board meeting to be attended by Ron as well. (DG Ron and Deb, right)
· Rotary Club of Nhill weekend 25th and 26th November. Save these dates in your diary as we are planning a Club visit and the Nhill Club will organise a special dinner with the local Myanmar community.
· Club Christmas Dinner Thursday 14th December is in the planning stages by the Social Committee and they are looking at potential new venues over the next few days. Put the date in your diary now and watch out for further details.
· Rotary District Conference 12th to 14th April 2024 Bendigo: registrations will open in early November and David Pisterman has agreed to act as our Club’s coordinator for the event and will provide updates as we get closer to the time.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 19th September at Kooyong and the meeting will be attended by Ron Payne as guest speaker. Dr Billy Lugg, a local psychiatrist and Peter’s son, will also attend to provide some feedback on how important the Mental Health Unit care packs we provide to the Alfred and Box Hill Hospitals are to incoming patients.
Doug McLean
President 2023-2024