On a very pleasant Sunday at the end of April in Hall's Gap, Rebecca, Trace, Thea, Meryl, Martin, Anthony and Geoff all represented our club at the District 9780 Learning Assembly. It was a day packed with relevant information that will assist our club to approach the 2023-24 Rotary year with confidence. Pictured is District Governor Elect Ian McKay outlining one of the major thrusts planned for the coming year in every one of the 600 Rotary clubs in our Rotary region - yes, a thrust with which we are quite familiar - "Say No To Domestic Violence" See Read more... for details and pics.
During the day, District Governor Elect Ian outlined his main focii for the coming year:
  • The Rotary International Theme of Create hope in the world - what can I do to make a difference to create more hope in the world? "The primary ingredient for progress is optimism and hope"
  • Celebrate the difference Rotary makes in your community, the world and in yourself. Our projects and customs need to show a visible difference from when we start - the progress needs to be trackable. We need to put wedges in along the way to stop us sliding backwards as we progress up the hill.
  • Celebrate the Internationality of Rotary - the Big R of Rotary. It's not just our club. We are part of something much bigger.
  • Say NO to domestic and family violence is now a Regional thrust supported by 20 DG's covering 1300 clubs and 30000 Rotarians  - The plan is to have a big walk on November 25th or around that time as part of 16 Days of Activism. (Our Energy Breakthrough Sunday)
  • Shine a light on ending Polio since it is only a plane ride away, and can build to 200,000 cases in a short while - promote the new District Polio Plus Society for a donation of $AU 100 PA
  • Promote mental health through Australian Rotary Health (ARH) support and focus on mental health of members talks (Ballarat EAST RC does this). A major cause of non- structural mental illness is a lack of meaning and purpose. Rotary membership is a way to create meaning and purpose for all members (See Simon Sinek)
  • Our work in Rotary needs to be something we care about and can manage - quote: "Working hard for something you don't care about is stress. Working for something you care about is passion."
  • Avoid the 7 most deadly words: "we have always done it this way" - however, ask what is the "current way" giving to our members that make them want to keep doing things that way? We still need to keep whatever that is.
  • Promote the image that Rotarians are movers and shakers for hope and a better world, and not just barbeque sellers - that's just one of the means.
  • Avoid negative comments about your club and the people in it - remember that people need to feel valued for what they can do - even if it doesn't seem much in the eyes of others.
  • Have Connection and Collaboration with other clubs and groups.
Other topics covered on the day included the importance of effective Risk Management, the new "Child Safety" legislation and its impact on Rotary clubs, the incredible range of deserving Rotary-based service projects available for us to support, the need to place our service "on show" so that others may see it and want to join us, the revival of the District Youth Exchange program, and a chance to develop a possible club project using some of the ideas presented on the day. We came up with a "May the Book Be With You" Literacy promotion for May 4th next year. (See the Green Poster below)