Address
presented to
the
Rotary Club of Strathfield
on
Wednesday 30 October 2002
by
District Governor John Wakefield OAM
Thank you for allowing me to talk with you about our year and what we can do together. Our International President, Bhichai Rattakul, is a humble, yet outstanding man. He has put his thoughts down for our year, which is embodied in our theme.
He has decided not to put any new Rotary International programmes in place for this year, but wants us to concentrate upon the ones that are already in place.
He also believes in the ‘eradicate polio’ programme and that we must complete it.
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PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN SERVICE |
Bhichai feels that to be a true Rotarian, you must feel the personal satisfaction of doing things for others within your own community or the world community.
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FOLLOW THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM. |
With the new amendments enacted at the last council on legislation, the classification system is now either active or honorary. The senior active classification has been removed. You may have a maximum of 10 % of your membership, in one classification. Also if a person has retired from his or her profession, then the rotarian can retain that classification, and another person who is working in the same industry can join the club, and use that classification. The ‘two’ member rule no longer applies.
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MAKE THE INDUCTION CEREMONY SPECIAL. |
In order to gain a new member, you have extolled the virtues of rotary and asked them to join your club, so therefore make the induction ceremony a special occasion so the new member will remain a member. Involve the family of the member so they feel comfortable with rotary
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PROVIDE INFORMATION TO NEW MEMBERS. |
When you induct the new member, he or she receives certain booklets explaining rotary. Consider giving them a book entitled, the ‘abc’ of Rotary. A very good publication about Rotary. I intend to hold two information nights for new members during the year, to give them a better understanding of what is available in the rotary world..
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MAINTAIN A STRONG COMMITMENT TO HIGH ETHICAL STANDARDS. |
Bhichai wants each of us to maintain the high ethical standards in Rotary, as well as in our business dealings. In lots of cases our business dealings are with other Rotarians.
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SET MEANINGFUL CLUB GOALS. |
Set your club goals so that you will be able to achieve them.
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STRENGTHEN YOUR CLUB WITH LOVE. |
Bhichai believes that you, as Rotarians, are the seeds of love and he wants you to nurture your club and your fellow members. He urges the club president to get to know the members and their families. By having an understanding of the membership, then the club will grow..
Foundation Has Set Us A Challenge And Wants Us To Raise Money To Eradicate Polio And Support The Foundation.
This will be difficult because of the annual giving we participate in by subscribing to the foundation and giving PHF to members of the club and or the community, coupled with the additional request for money to go to the foundation to help eradicate polio.
What will assist us in this venture is that every dollar that is paid into the Australian rotary foundation trust, will be matched by the Australian federal government. When the money is forwarded to Rotary International it will again be matched by the gates foundation and the world bank. In essence, each Australian dollar will be worth 10 dollars Australian when it finally reaches its destination. And there is a tax concession as well.
We must attempt to fulfil both of these challenges, as we are so close to eradicating polio. When we do we can direct our efforts to other areas. But we must also contribute to the annual giving so that in three years time, the district governor of the day can put in place programmes which will be funded by the money raised in this year.
OUR DISTRICT GOALS
They speak for themselves in most instances, however, we will continue with the global quest, but the emphasis will be on the retention of members. If a member leaves, find out why they left and if there is a problem, try and fix that problem before other members leave.
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MEMBERSHIP |
I would like to see a net gain of one or two members per club in the year
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SETTING GOALS. |
As I said earlier, set your club goals so that you can achieve them and obtain a Presidential citation..
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STRONG CLUBS TO ASSIST SMALLER CLUBS. |
I believe that the club that chartered another rotary club has the obligation of making sure the second club is working well and when it is not, give assistance.
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SUPPORT THE FOUNDATION. |
We have covered this aspect.
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EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF CHARTERING A NEW CLUB. |
If a person comes to your club and wants to join and then finds that your club does not fit their situation, recommend them to another club and get in touch with that club. Where there is an opportunity to have a new club established, contact district and pass on that information and we will explore it.
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PHOTO DISPLAY AT CONFERENCE. |
I would like all clubs to have a photographic record of their club projects displayed at conference. It will be photographic competition, not a competition to have the best project. That will come in 2005 and PDG Jack Elliott will speak to you about that and the planning that must start this year.
I will be awarding a PHF to the club who has the best photographic display for them to present to a member of the community, or their club.
I would like as many people as is possible to attend the district conference, particularly those members who have not yet been to a conference. We have a great programme lined up for you.
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SUPPORT THE ERADICATE POLIO CAMPAIGN |
I realise that this could be a physical and monetary drain on a rotary club, especially a club that is not financially robust. We are planning district events to raise money so we can take the strain off clubs, however, i want clubs to contribute to the best of their ability.
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4 WAY TEST SPEAKING COMPETITION. |
This is a competition between year 10 students. It will be co-ordinated by John Batson of Holroyd club and will be held in the zones with the zone champs speaking at conference. The winner will be presented with a scholarship that has been donated by Jim Aitkin and partners, Real Estate.
My dream is to promote better rapport between the clubs and district as I believe that district committees are a tool that the clubs can use to their advantage, particularly the community aid project where money is available for new projects by a club.
If you want to talk to me about a matter, please do so at any time. There can be situations that must be discussed with me as your governor, so please contact me.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to working with you throughout the year. I am very impressed by your goals and targets for your year and I look forward to signing the application form for the presidential citation.
If you have any questions that you wish to ask I will try to answer them or find out the answer for you.