At the Rotary Melbourne meeting on 21 June 23 we witnessed the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow 4 Sapphire Award to Jim Orchard 'in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world'. Congratulations Jim.
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Jim was born in Sydney and attended the University of New South Wales, completing an undergraduate degree in Industrial Chemistry and a PhD in the same discipline.
After university, Jim spent some 18 years with Comalco, variously in Melbourne, Launceston and Invercargill NZ. He then transferred to Rio Tinto’s US coal mining division, where he spent 11 years working in logistics, sales and government affairs. When Rio Tinto exited the US business in 2009, Jim became Senior VP, Marketing and Government Affairs at Cloud Peak Energy. He retired in 2016 and returned to Melbourne. Jim is a part time pro bono lecturer at several Australian Universities and an independent energy analyst. Over his career Jim has been involved with the commissioning and start-up of major projects as well as executive level project review and approval.
Jim had not been involved in Rotary before relocating to Melbourne and first attended an evening meeting in late 2016. He was immediately attracted to the opportunities Rotary Melbourne offered for service to the community, and since his induction on 8 March 2017 (under the classification Engineering – Resources), he has responded in significant measure. Jim’s decision to join Rotary was based on a somewhat vague goal of wanting to do more to contribute to society after several decades where his time was consumed by work and family commitments.
Jim is a member of the Community Welfare Committee with an interest in homelessness prevention, is a volunteer co-ordinator for the club, and weekly volunteer at the Donations in Kind Warehouse. He is an Around the Bay project co-ordinator which raises funds for The Smith Family. In his first year in the Club, Jim involved himself in all aspects of this activity without fuss. It became natural that in the second year he took the lead role for the project, liaising with The Smith Family and Bicycle Network Victoria, finding participants, volunteers, sponsors and auction prizes and acting as a team leader to assist Rotarians positioned around the route.
Following the Victorian Bushfires Jim joined the District committee and engaged in relief activities working with other Rotary clubs across Victoria. This demonstrated the reach and value of community-based organisations like Rotary. Rotarians in bushfire impacted areas were able to identify areas of need and ensure that support went where it was needed while other clubs focused on fund raising and arranging emergency supplies. This included the Caravan Project in response to the Victorian Bushfires, overseeing the donation and refurbishment of 14 caravans used as temporary accommodation in the Gippsland area with a total project value of close to $200,000.
He is also a member of the End Trachoma Trailer team of the club’s Indigenous Committee working with teams at Monash and Melbourne Universities. This project suits Jim’s skills and passions for its engineering, remote work and simple but effective solution to an ongoing health issue faced only by our indigenous people. Jim has taken on the liaison role with the Aboriginal Community Services in the APY Lands. These roles have involved several trips to indigenous communities in central Australia to deliver and facilitate sometimes at his own expense.
He has also been a regular volunteer at Prahran Market with Second Bite and a supporter of the Rotary Foundation.
For Jim these activities are great opportunities to work with others to help those in less fortunate circumstances both close to home, regionally and internationally.
The Rotary Club of Melbourne takes great joy in recognising Jim as a Paul Harris Fellow now with four Sapphire.
