Greetings and welcome. Thank you for joining our online news and updates. 

 

I am sure that I am not alone in finding that life has been remarkably busy over the last week. As we move closer to Christmas, we all have much to fit in. Fortunately, with access to online meetings, we can achieve a lot from the comfort of our home. A benefit of not needing to rush around for the extra meetings is that we can still try to keep on top of those many tasks that must be managed before Christmas comes around. In addition to a number of local meetings, I was able to join a few online discussions that share the common theme of growing our membership base within Rotary. A focus for our club at present, we are fortunate that there is great support within Rotary to assist with the planning of our campaign to increase volunteer numbers. Ben Featherston’s presentation last week gave everyone some insights into what is planned, and we will keep you all informed on progress. 

 

On the home front we were again treated to an informative and thought-provoking presentation at our Monday night Club Meeting. Our guest speaker, Sarah Conlon was able to provide us with the background and an understanding to the life of an elite athlete. Sarah’s journey to her current role has been an interesting one and could easily be the topic of a separate presentation. Her role as the Combat AUS Wellbeing and Engagement Lead has provided her with some amazing opportunities and extreme challenges at the same time. Sarah’s reflections on the Paris Olympics clearly demonstrated the highs and lows experienced by our athletes and officials and gave us all a much better understanding of the demands they face on an ongoing basis. Once again it was fantastic to hear from a younger member of our community who is making such an impact and providing great leadership. 

 

I would like to thank Garth Symington for reaching out to, and meeting with, a number of our local Community Groups. Developing our connections with these organisations is critical if we are to gain a better understanding of how we can support them within our community. One such group is the Torquay Community House, who we have supported for some time now. I was fortunate to receive an invitation to be one of the judges of their colouring competition (obviously the required qualifications were very low), one of the many fun activities taken on by the team. The small but devoted management team are to be congratulated on their years’ achievements and building this into such a thriving organisation. 

 

Over the coming week, a number of our members will be visiting the Surf Coast Shire Primary Schools to present Community Spirit and John McDonald Awards. A total of eleven awards will be presented to Grade 6 students acknowledging their motivation and achievements over the year. Along with a certificate, each student receives a $200 Officeworks voucher to assist them with their transition to secondary school. Thank you to Rhonda Anchen, Kelly Binyon, Ben Featherston, Richard Hawker, Maggie Isom and Robyn O’Loughlin for assisting with these presentations. In Amanda’s absence your assistance will save me a huge amount of time. 

 

I’m looking forward to sharing our Christmas celebrations on Monday night with you all at Torquay Taphouse. We have a fantastic number attending! See you there.  

 

Updates for members: 

We have received an update on David Mitchell’s health from Sally Mitchell. Unfortunately David's condition is deteriorating quickly and he has been in St John of God hospital for 6 weeks. David has many close friends in Rotary and received an Honorary membership at our last changeover. If you would like further information regarding David’s health please feel free to speak to either Maggie Isom or myself. 

 

For more photos from the past week in Rotary, please Click HERE