The theme for this month is membership. At this week’s meeting, member Nick Pelham spoke about his Rotary journey and what was important to him about being involved with Rotary and the Club. He spoke about a lesson he was taught very early on about the priority of Rotary – first is family, second is work, third is Rotary!
Nick has held the role of Director at two clubs (including RCM), a District Chair for the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, and was the last Sergeant at Arms at RCM, a function that no longer exists. For the last few years Nick hasn’t been as active in the Club, as he completed a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Melbourne. He took his own advice and prioritised Rotary accordingly!
The second important facet of Rotary life for him is that of the importance of fellowship within the club. Nick spoke about the three different clubs he has been a member of. Nick first found out about Rotary in 1998, after meeting a group of Rotary members at a New Year’s Eve party at the Cairns Hilton. Soon afterwards, he joined the Rotary Club of Cairns. At the end of 1999, he moved to Canberra, where he joined the Rotary Club of Canberra City, which met at the National Press Club, and in 2006, he joined the Rotary Club of Melbourne.
Nick also shared with us about an opportunity that was provided through RCM, where he was asked to become a Board Director of the Australian Childhood Foundation (www.childhood.org.au). The Foundation was created by RCM back in 1986, and has had a strong connection to RCM, through a previous board member and RCM member Ted Garland. The Foundation now has over 250 staff across Australia, who provide therapeutic services for children who have experienced abuse and trauma.
Nick has this year re-joined the RCM board as Director of Events and Fundraising, and is looking forward to more face to face fellowship opportunities later in the Rotary year.
