The First 6 months
Well 6 months of this Rotary year have gone, indeed a quarter of this century has gone. How’s it been then?
In a short review of these 6 months we can’t include everything, but at our regular meetings with their varied group of informed speakers, a special privilege has been hosting a number of club awards.
Of special salience for some of us was the inaugural presentation of the 2025 Cynthia Edgell Empowerment Opportunity Gift helping young women with studies and work. This was made possible by the late Cynthia Edgell through a generous bequest to the club to assist our humanitarian work. We were also graced with the presence of the Governor of Victoria in presenting our young achievers award.
In back of house activities, the board and others have worked with our newly appointed accountants in reforming our Chart of Accounts and further establishment of the Rotary Melbourne PBI fund. At a regional level a Pilot project (Rotary South Pacific) looking to lead Rotary’s adaptation and reduce complexities. This is continuing with new Council leadership. That is, Rotary overall membership has been in slow decline in this region and we have to work to make Rotary attractive. Rotary Melbourne Club membership has remained stable.
At a local Rotary level I represented the club at functions at the Ballarat, Bendigo and Greater Geelong Rotary clubs celebrating a hundred years of service. Rotary Melbourne played a part in the foundation of all 3 clubs. It has certainly extended my knowledge of the club’s earlier history.
A highlight for me was a side trip to Osaka en route to our daughter’s wedding, where I had the pleasure of signing an updated MOU with the Rotary Club of Osaka recommitting the sister clubs to seek to support each other and explore joint projects, as we would say “uniting for good”. In terms of partnerships, we have re-established a link with Interplast.
When I talk to members as to why you joined Rotary there are a range of reasons given, but nearly everyone feels that we can make a contribution to the community. And our range of projects is quite breathtaking. We help with clean water in the Philippines, notably in Dangan and in Cambodia. Both helping children continue to go to school. The Snake Bite project, in PNG, is attracting more interest internationally and its capacity to literally save lives has been breathtaking. In East Timor we progress our work with local partners and the Xpand foundation and DIK “relocates” much appreciated container loads of key healthcare and other goods.
Locally we make a contribution to Make A House A Home, RIMERN and Second Bite.
We are just beginning to work with the Brotherhood of St Laurence on a project in the North of Melbourne with a focus on some young people and their community. It is envisaged that this might involve Melbourne Rotarians becoming mentors in the future. The project starts with some sport as a way of connecting.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you all in 2026. On behalf of Debbie and myself I’d like to wish you all a very happy, joyful Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year.
