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Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland

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Rotary Monthly Theme

Each month of the calendar year is celebrated in Rotary with a different theme with the exception of May.

Each club throughout the Rotary world is encouraged to concentrate on programs to

promote each of these months.

Rotary focuses on Community Service and promotes International Peace and

Understanding. By celebrating each month and using these themes as a guide, Rotarians

can ensure that all of the various programs of Rotary are administered throughout the

entire year.

August is

Membership & Extension Month

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August is Membership Month in Rotary, but membership development and retention should not be focussed on only in August it is an area that needs attention all year around. Members are Rotary’s most important asset. It is obvious that without members we would have no Rotary. For those of you that have read the District strategic plan you may have noticed that membership isn’t mentioned as a goal. This is not a mistake, but I deliberately left it out of the plan. There are other metrics such as increasing the retention rate, increasing the percentage of female members and increasing those aged 30 and below, but no direct metric on membership mentioned. My vision this year is to ensure that all members are informed and educated on the diverse range of Rotary programs that are available. If we engage in these programs and contribute to the community in a positive way people are more likely to enquire what our organisation is all about and this presents us with the opportunity to invite them to our club. Simply put, that means membership should be an output not an end in its self. If we have strong projects, good club meetings and a plan we are more likely to attract and sustain members. It’s all about providing service in the community which can be your local town, the District, or the world and providing opportunities for members to serve. For some it is working with youth through RYLA, YEP, RYPEN etc. For others, it is working on international projects such as Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) or projects through RAWCS or the Foundation, or it might be a specific focus found through the Rotary Action Groups (RAGs).

No matter who you are or what your passion, there is a place for you in Rotary. And there is a place and a need for your friends and acquaintances in Rotary also. Membership growth requires clubs to have a plan, to have a purpose, making clubs relative and responsive to members and their passions. There is a lot of discussion in Rotary about gaining younger members and this can be achieved by clubs looking inwards to their club and asking does my club have traditions which would impede and scare away members, especially potential younger members. So, yes, change is involved. But I make the point that clubs do not have to change. Rotary is a membership driven organisation and membership month is an opportunity to explore how your club can attract and sustain membership into the future. I encourage all of you to promote your club and projects to the broader community in Membership month.

Rod Medew

DG News Membership Month

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DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S VISITS - August

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1 August DG visit – Gayndah and Mundubbera

2 August DG visit – Biloela, Monto, Theodore and Moura Cluster

5 August Hervey Bay City catering for the Dunga Derby

6-10 August Group 4 R.Youth Driver Awareness - Fraser Coast & Burnett (Maryborough)

8 August Nth Beaches Sat Club mship drive night – Speaker from Black Dog Group

9 August Group 7 Combined Clubs DG cluster visit

10 August DG visit – Discovery Coast

11 August Gladstone Rotary Major event – Gladstone Swap Meet

12 August Nth Beaches Sat Club – catering BBQ for the Black Dog Long Ride

13 August DG visit – Mt Morgan & Rocky West

14 August DG visit – Rocky Fitzroy & Rocky South

15 August DG visit – Rocky Sunrise, Rocky Nth & Rockhampton

16 August DG visit – Capricorn Coast & Yeppoon

16 August Bundaberg West High School Debating Comp Semi Finals – St Lukes @ 7pm.

17 August Bundaberg West Antiques, Collectables & Militaria Fair – Civic Centre

17-19 August YEP Inbound Orientation Camp – Yeppoon

20 August DG visit – Bundaberg, Bundaberg East, Bundaberg West & Bundaberg

22 August Gladstone Rotary catering breakfast for the Variety Bash Crew

23 August DG visit - Childers

26 August Biloela Rotary – billets riders and hosts dinner at Thangool Race Club for Smile for Smiddy

30 August DG visit – Bundaberg Sunrise & Bundaberg City Daybreak

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CQ Rotary Roundup

Contents Page

2 Rotary Monthly Theme

3 DG News

4 DG Visits

6 Meet a District Officer

7 From The District Governor Elect

8 District Bites

9 Survey Results

10 RYLA Applications

11 Membership

12 RYLA Flyer

14 District Conference Invitation

15 Women in Rotary

17 News from the District

21 A Night at the District Changeover

28 Rotarian Action Group News

29 Rotary Computer Systems Damage Update

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Meet A District Officer

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We are heading into August which is “Membership and New Club Development” month. For our district to survive we desperately need existing clubs to form Satellite and Rotaract Clubs. The district has one successful Satellite Club at the moment sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mackay North. At present it has 13 members and is heading towards the 20 required to form a club in its own right. It has already been involved in many community projects. Congratulations to RC Mackay North and the Satellite Club of Northern Beachers. How do I form a Satellite Club? The parent club needs to from a committee, identify a location where there is in need for a Rotary Club, then start a membership drive. The district can help with that. To protect the members of the Satellite Club while it is forming the satellite members will be members of the incorporated association of the parent club. Many Rotary Clubs have a culture that while comfortable to existing members may be off-putting to potential new members. One of the great things about Satellite Clubs is that they are brand new and so have the chance to develop in a way that their new members determine. How do I form a Rotaract Club? Many of our clubs have very successful interact clubs, as these students leave grade 12 there is a limited opportunity for Rotary to suggest to them that they form the core of a new Rotaract Club. Rotary International (RI) suggests we form community based Rotaract Clubs not university based Rotaract Clubs as the turnover is just far too high in university clubs as the Rotaractors finish their degrees and move away. Now is the time to start implanting the idea in our interactors to form a Rotaract club. Once they leave grade 12 it’s too late and too hard to contact them. Rotaract has no RI or district fees and the only membership fees will be what the

Rotaract Club decides it needs to allow it to run. RI has no limit on the number of members required to form a Rotaract Club however it is suggested to have at least seven to allow the club to be incorporated. Once there is some interest Rotary can offer the Rotaractors our district programs, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment and the existing Rotary clubs can extend an offer to help on their projects. The bad news, forming a new club takes a lot of time and effort by dedicated Rotarians, it doesn’t just happen. The good news is you will have a lot of support. Happy to take phone calls 0418879260.

Regards,

DGE Michael Buckeridge

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From the District Governor Elect

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Around the District

6 – 10 August Group 4 RYDA – Maryborough

14 July Emerald club changeover

17-19 August YEP Inbound Orientation

Camp – Yeppoon

25 August Oceanfest Bundaberg

25-26 August RLI – Rockhampton

(Athelstane Bowls Club)

8 September International Literacy Day

14-16 September Zone Institute Hobart

September Taste Longreach and Emerald

District Governor Vision My vision is that, at the end of this Rotary year, every member will be aware of the benefits, purpose, and how to engage, in the diverse range of Rotary programs available in our district.

A major priority and vision for the District this year involves informing clubs about the many programs within Rotary, specifically those programs that our District is active in, such as RYLA, TASTE, YEP etc.

Consequently, the District Officers responsible for each program have been asked to visit clubs to promote and educate members on those programs.

This aligns with President Barry’s theme of “Be the Inspiration’ as District Officers inspire us to change the world by participating in the many programs offered by Rotary.

Rotary 9570 Survey Thanks everyone for participating in the District survey.

The purpose of the survey is to determine the level of knowledge of members for each of the programs that District supports.

For me, the results are a gold mine of information and the data will be used to modify the way we promote and inform you of the programs, the benefits and how your club can engage if it wants to.

In terms of presenting the data I have decided the simplest way is to rank the programs according to an index. The higher the index score the more knowledge members have on the program.

A score of 6 or above is considered good, that is there is a lot of information about the program with members. A score of less than 5 means there is poor or no knowledge of the program.

The table on the following page ranks the programs from the highest score to the lowest score.

Rod Medew

District Bites

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Program Score

National Youth Science Forum 7.64

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards 7.22

Youth Exchange Program 7.20

Rotaract 6.97

The Rotary Foundation 6.65

Shelter Box 6.55

Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment 6.31

R Youth Driver Awareness 6.08

Interact 5.87

Rotary Australian World Community Service 5.82

District Board 5.71

Australian Rotary Health 5.11

Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children 4.97

Literacy 4.12

Rotary Leadership Institute 3.98

Interplast 3.54

The Agricultural Science Technology Experience 3.18

ConocoPhillips Science Experience 3.02

Dream Cricket 3.01

Rotary Action Groups 2.63

Rotary Adventure in Citizenship 2.52

Model United Nations Assembly 2.17

Rotary 9570 Survey Results

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The Rotary Youth Leadership Award retreat, RYLA for short, is a Rotary sponsored peer-on-peer leadership development program held at The Capricorn Caves, from 16-22 February 2019. It targets youth aged 18-28 years. The facilitating team consists of a senior facilitator, four facilitators, camp mum and dad (both Rotarians) and the chairperson. Over the week, participants are supported along a journey of self-discovery. The program is unlike any other; where participants are exposed to adventure offered by The Caves, there’s a long line of guest speakers who are experts in their field and participants are able to develop and fine-tune skills to benefit them personally and professionally. Every session in the program is designed to test participants physically, mentally or emotionally. The facilitating team constantly strives to offer participants a professional, positive and effective learning experience. Overall, RYLA is not just about aiding young people in developing their potential as a dynamic leader; it will energize and motivate them to discover their power to influence and their ability to contribute to the community and world. If this sounds like an opportunity for you or someone you know, contact us now to find out more. If you’re a club seeking a participant, let us know and we can connect you. Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/RYLA9570/ or contact Stevie 0427486950, 1819ryla@rotary9570.org

Please follow the link below to Google Drive where you will find the Application Form and RYLA Flyer.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yC-Q5H7iHfgmGgpfPzVxb_ez4kaQmIlo

Applications close Monday, 17 December 2018.

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August is a great time to reflect on our club’s membership numbers as now is

the aftermath of ‘end of year’ membership renewal and a chance to say “What did we do right?” or “Where did we go wrong?”

As I head into my second year as District Membership Director, I can honestly say that I have learnt a lot in the last 12 months. My eyes have been opened to the individual challenges that your clubs have and whilst those challenges don’t surprise I am inspired to see most clubs willing to embrace a 21st Century Rotary concept and make moves (sometimes radical) to initiate change.

As my own club’s Membership Chair, with the support of my board, I initiated a number of changes this year and was excited to see our club induct 11 new members. But as it’s been said by many, growth is only one part of the membership picture – what’s happened to our retention?

An active Rotarian did not renew their membership with our club this year, after almost 10 years of service. As with all members who leave, I asked this person for honest feedback; which I am now sharing with you.

I’ve changed specific details to provide them the dignity of anonymity, but the underlying message is very clear and one which I believe all clubs (and our District officers) need to think about…

There is a lot of positives with the club, I do like the relaxed format and was very impressed with

the president’s approach. Just the right balance between leading from the front and engaging with the members.

The majority of my reasons to resign are just a change of priorities for me. I have always been heavily involved in community service having been on the Chamber of Commerce for 4 years, Rotary for coming on ten years and in the past year on the committee for two other organisations. I’ve taken on a role at local business which is leaving me short of spare time to juggle commitments. Something had to go and with a work start time of 7.30am unfortunately it was Rotary.

The local members on the whole at the clubs I was a member of were engaging and remain close friends. There is probably more of an element in our club that frankly take themselves too seriously and forget that community service can be fun and challenging at the same time. Barking orders and becoming somewhat officious at events never brings out the best in someone volunteering their time. To clarify, this is the minority of members though.

I’d save most of my criticism for the greater Rotary politics. I took on a specific role within the district and it has turned out to be not a particularly pleasant experience. I’ve had to deal with some unique characters through this role including some particularly large egos. Having said that, there ARE some great ambassadors in Rotary – but unfortunately these are over shadowed by the negative ones.

In my mind Rotary remains predominately a retired persons passion. Over the years it has

Membership Hedi Filsell Distict Membership Development & Retention

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been a challenge to balance home life, work and Rotary commitments. My other community service roles have had a higher degree of flexibility and foster a far quicker way to complete goals and feel a sense of achievement.

What a treasure this balanced, and very honest, feedback provides! There are a number of key points that were raised, which I feel as clubs we need to consider:

1. Remember that we’re dealing with volunteers. Our members give up their precious valuable time to ‘work’ at our events so make it fun!

a. I always bring along music when I work a sausage sizzle as it engages Rotarians and the public, when I dance and sing and shows everyone that Rotary is FUN.

b. To get more out of your volunteers, I highly recommend reading Fish (ISBN: 978 1444 792 805) – short book which will change your life and club!

2. Create flexible Rotary meetings so people with external commitments can contribute more.

a. Have your ‘meeting’ during a community event. If members volunteer on a Sunday for an event, don’t have your regular meeting that week. A meeting can be as simple as “How’s everyone going? Any feedback on how things are running today?”

b. Vary your meeting times – some clubs in our district meet each fortnight whilst others meet twice at night and twice in the morning.

3. Less talk – more action!

a. I know I’m going to sound like a broken record – but get your Club Vision up to speed and have clear goals relating to your projects and DO THEM!

b. Don’t spend time sweating over the details for ALL projects, break them up in achievable chunks and just do it!

3. Service Beyond Self

a. We need to leave our ego at the door and think about the greater good of others – this applies to everything we do from challenging our club’s ‘traditions’ to helping out at a sausage sizzle.

b. Display the 4 way test and refer to it when you feel that members are not following them – but remember to be delicate.

My final words are – Which one are you?

People generally fall into one of three groups:

• the few who make things happen,

• the many who watch things happen

• and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens.

Every person is either a creator of fact or a creature of circumstance. They either put colour into their environment or like a chameleon, takes colour from their environment. (Adapted quote from Myles Munroe)

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Why does this matter?

The low number of women in Rotary matters for two main reasons.

First, women represent a large, untapped pool of potential volunteers.

At the heart of each Rotary club are its volunteer members. However, over the past decade there has been no growth in the total number of Rotarians worldwide, with many clubs struggling to maintain members. In fact, were it not for the increased number of women Rotarians during this period, Rotary would have over 115,000 fewer members than a decade ago!

Gender diversity is thus vital for maintaining and expanding Rotary’s membership base.

This is particularly so given that in some places the rate of volunteerism among women is higher, and growing faster, than that of men.

Currently, we have about 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide. If we had a 50/50 gender split, we could arrest the decline in the number of Rotarians and build up a volunteer base of more than two million Rotarians. Imagine what a difference that would make!

Second, more women in Rotary is likely to help us better deliver our services.

It is not that women make “better” Rotarians. Rather, increased diversity yields better outcomes, and clubs that reflect the communities they serve may be able to better engage those communities and meet their needs.

In the corporate world, research has repeatedly linked greater gender diversity on companies’ boards with better financial returns: of Fortune 500 companies, for example, those with more women board members outperform those with the least by 53 per cent in return on equity! One of the key reasons for this, it is

thought, is that women offer a differing and complementing perspective to that of men.

Put simply by the former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, William Donaldson, “monolithic backgrounds are destined to foster monolithic thinking”.

What next?

Increasing the number of women in Rotary is not about fairness or equality. It simply makes sense if we want to continue doing what we have been doing for more than 100 years.

In search of the Rotary Woman

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There is a large and growing number of women in senior business and community roles with a great deal to contribute through Rotary.

Why are they not gravitating towards us?

This is our loss.

The questions remain:

• How do we change the perception of potential women volunteers?

• How do we attract them to Rotary?

• What strategies do the District Governors and Presidents of today have planned, and what are their ideas for tomorrow?

We need to work hard to encourage more women to join Rotary and dispel the myth that they are not welcome.

The future of Rotary depends on enthusiastic membership.

In Melbourne, for example, over the past two years we have celebrated International Women’s Day with a large breakfast, which we hope sent a strong message that women are very much a part of Rotary, while also raising funds for local causes.

After just two years of running the event, we had nearly 1000 men and women attend in 2013, with other successful events in the UK and Canada.

As a fellow female Rotarian I throw this challenge to both men and women:

How do we increase female membership and spread the word that women are welcome in Rotary?

All ideas are welcome. Contact Kerry Kornhauser at kerry@travelinn.net.au or visit www.rotarywomen.org.au.

#Pressforprogress

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News from Around the District

In 2003 the Rotary Club of Port of Mackay hosted their first ‘Young Chefs competition’. The competition encourages all secondary schools in the region to enter junior and senior teams in a competition that is designed to highlight the culinary skills of the students.

After completing heats at school which are judged by POM members as well as teaching staff the finalists compete at a junior and senior school level in the CQUniversity training restaurant kitchens. Glen Davis, Leading Vocational Teacher, Commercial Cookery, Apprentice Co-ordinator at CQUniversity Mackay and Michelle Cross from 9th Lane Grind are the two judges.

Michelle is a former winner of the Young Chefs competition. She has gone on to establish her own catering businesses in Mackay after securing a training position at the Ocean International Hotel in Mackay who are a supporter of the Young Chef competition. Glen has been a stalwart supporter of the competition from the beginning.

The students are judged on technique, taste, texture and presentation. The students have to prepare a two course meal, plate it up and present to the table within a time line.

Competing in the CQU TAFE Fifth floor restaurant kitchens allows the students to gain insight into working in a hospitality service level kitchen environment. While the students are busily preparing their entries Chefs, Glen and Michelle, give guidance and tips to help them learn. After the event Glen and Michelle spend time with the students giving them feedback.

There is strong inter school rivalry to gain the Young Chefs shield for their schools for the next year.

All students are presented with a certificate and catering apron to celebrate their participation. The winning teams are given individual prizes as well as shield to display at their school for the next 12 months.

Rotary Club of Port of Mackay Young Chefs Competition

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The Rotary Club of Rockhampton North and the Red Cross have recently opened two disability

accommodation units at the Canning Street complex to fulfil the need for this type of accommodation for

people attending the Rockhampton Base Hospital for treatment.

The two ground floor units are designed for people in wheelchairs or with other devices to assist in their

mobility, each has its own bathroom but share a kitchen and large lounge room. The units have been

designed to operate separately or combined as a large family facility.

The Rotary club identified the need for units to accommodate people with physical disabilities whilst they

received treatment at the Rockhampton Base Hospital. Following discussions with accommodation

providers, the Red Cross facility was chosen owing to it location directly adjacent to the hospital and an

area of the complex area previously used as the Regional Office was demolished by club members to allow

for the new construction by JM Hanley to commence.

The Rotary club would also like to recognise the contribution to the project by several local businesses who

donated their companies labour and these were Neil Richardson Quantity Surveyor, Rockhampton Building

Approvals, Firelec Fire Protection Specialist, McAlister and Burford Painting Contractors and Thompson

Adsett Architects.

Each year the Rockhampton North Rotary give substantial amount of the funds raised from the Rocky

Swap to many organisations but the club’s members are particularly proud to be able to complete such

significant project as these disability units.

The was raised over a period of years

Each year by putting a small amount of funds raised from the Rocky Swap into a special account the club

has been able to provide $50,000 to the Rockhampton Special School for the purchase of a bus in 2017 and

the $200,000 for this project.

The Rockhampton North Rotary would like to sincerely thank the Rockhampton Regional Council for their continued support of the Rocky Swap and the club, the many other service clubs who assist at the swap and the public of Rockhampton and Central Queensland who attend the event to make all this possible.

The Rotary Club of Rockhampton North

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On the 13th December 2017 an induction evening was held to mark the beginning of the newest Group 1 Club, the Satellite Club of Mackay North – Northern Beaches.

The evening saw the club welcomed into the Rotary family with great support from DG Malcolm Saunders, DGN Michael Buckeridge, President of Mackay North Neil Wallace and Past President Larry Slattery. Since then our little club has been enthusiastically working towards contributing to the local community and also becoming those people of action that make a difference.

The most significant work that we have undertaken has been with areas of Mental Health, an area the members have voted to champion in the Mackay area. The Satellite Club hosted of a Mental Health Forum, focusing on youth depression anxiety and suicide. With the support of Past District Governor and Director of Rotary Health – Mark Lean we were able to arrange for the GM of Headspace Wayne Horwood to make a presentation to over 70 Rotarians and local community members passionate about this area. The night was also well supported by the local Northern Beaches High School staff. Our club has now applied for further funding to provide for the running of a two day Mental Health First Aide Workshop for 25 people. It is also anticipated that the club will support Headspace running a whole school project through staff and students at the nearby Northern Beaches High School.

We also ran the drinks and sausage sizzle at the start of the Black Dog ‘Short Ride’ that was held in Mackay this year. This was a great spectacle with over 200 bikes being involved. Bunnings set us up with some great equipment and we just had to provide the manpower. Coordinator of the event Charles Linsley had come and spoken to the club, just prior to the event and from donations received on the day we were able to invite him back and hand over a cheque for $200. Our very first donation! Our Club has recently committed to providing further support to the longer ride that will stay overnight in Mackay later in the year.

Our Satellite club is open to both men and women and typically the entire family of the members participate in many of our activities. Currently our membership is in the early teens but we are getting interest from new folk along the way. Our club only meets twice in the month and some of the flexibility for attendance and membership make the new arrangements a viable and attractive option for those of us time poor with work and family commitments.

We are a happy group of folks and all seem to be enjoying the possibilities being created for us to make a difference in our local community and contribution to the international scene.

It has been wonderful to have the support from members of the RCMN at meetings, functions and administrative requirements.

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A Night at the

District Changeover

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Alzheimer’s/Dementia Rotarian Action Group (http://adrag.org) is a collection of Rotarians and Rotaractors dedicated to supporting the family of Rotary and our communities face the challenge of dealing with family members and citizens that are afflicted with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia. This challenge is very real. Some are calling it the “silver tsunami”—the wave of men and women living longer than previous generations. Yet our communities and nations are not ready to face the rising tide of those suffering from these diseases. We have started this Rotarian Action Group to help address this challenge. The website provides links to other organizations and resources that are on the front line of care, research, and education.

The Alzheimer’s/Dementia Rotarian Action Group is working towards achieving the following: To support clubs and districts in planning and implementing large scale projects that seek to address Alzheimer’s and dementia through the challenging dimensions of:

• Patient care;

• Disease prevention;

• Care giver, patient, and community support;

• Research towards a cure and new methods of care and prevention;

• Patient, family, and community education and awareness; and,

• Collaboration with local, regional, national, and international organizations working with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

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On 15 June, Rotary International World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, experienced a water leak in our data center that caused severe damage to hardware. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and are working diligently to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. What caused the problems with Rotary’s computer systems? On 15 June, we suffered a water leak at Rotary International World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA. The water damaged critical hardware in our data center, briefly making Rotary’s systems unavailable. Temporary replacement hardware was installed quickly, and most of our critical systems are working again, but many are working more slowly than usual. As we continue to make repairs, intermittent planned outages will occur. You may notice that pages are loading slowly or that information does not sync right away. When will Rotary’s systems work normally again? All of Rotary’s computer systems are being moved to new servers. This will take some time. We are doing everything we can to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience these service reductions may cause. Has my data been compromised? No. Any information you entered into Rotary’s systems before or since the hardware damage occurred is secure. Your data may not be available to you immediately, but it has not been lost. Was any data lost when the damage occurred? No Rotarian data was lost. Some other data was damaged. It will be restored or recreated, but this will take some time. We take great precautions to protect your data and will do everything possible to ensure that no information is lost when we move it to the new servers. How does this affect year-end activities? Information processing related to year-end activities will be delayed by a few weeks. This means that information may not be available right away, but it will be restored soon. I made a contribution to The Rotary Foundation after 15 June, and it hasn’t been processed yet. Will it be recorded as a contribution I made during 2017-18? Yes. All contributions made to The Rotary Foundation 30 June or earlier will be recognized as being made in 2017-18. It will take a few weeks for Rotary to process all year-end contributions and make updated reports available.

Rotary computer systems damage in June 2018

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Published by District 9570 Central Queensland

Please submit all articles for consideration to the

District Editor—1819editor@rotary9570.org