Across the world, there are thousands of Rotary Clubs. Each are independent and have their own local projects, but it is when they connect with other clubs and share ideas, they can learn new ways of doing things, create opportunities to do things differently and have a greater impact.

So it was on Monday 17th June, 2019, when members of the Rotary Clubs of Port Melbourne, Southbank, North Melbourne, Glen Eira and Bentleigh Moorabbin Central came together for a combined meeting at the Cricketers Arms Hotel in Port Melbourne.

Special thanks go to the Rotary Club of Port Melbourne for being the host club. The night allowed an opportunity to share a range of projects undertaken by each club. By leveraging the talents of other clubs we can do bigger and better things and learn and grow together.

• Providing Morning Tea in Parliament
• Sending used hospital beds to Chile to support palliative care hospitals
• Working with Rotary Club of Albert Park to run a book fair
• Running BBQ's at Bunnings
• Donation of a Mobility Scooter by club member
• Set up of a hotel / school / café / Dental Surgery in Balibo East Timor while restoring the old Balibo fort
• Currently investigating Malnutrition needs in East Timor - Supporting Farmers in East Timor to grow crops that will assist
• Pigs for Cambodia
• Hosting of a Trivia Night at the St. Kilda Town Hall in support of Father Bob.
• Planning a cruise around Port Melbourne.
• Planning guest speaker from Mercy Ships could be a great opportunity for another combined meeting and will lead to a fundraiser.
• Planting Trees in Port Melbourne
• Supporting girls from MacRob with the set-up of an Interact Club and supporting them to attend Rotary Programs such as RYPEN, RYLA and the Science Experience.

• Combining with Ray White in Southbank to support their Christmas giving appeal 'A little Ray of Giving' and supporting local charities including Steps Outreach Service and Launch Housing'
• Planting Trees with First friends of Dandenong creek and also at Westgate Park.
• Participating in Run Melbourne.
• Combined with other District clubs to participate in an 'End Polio Now walk around Albert Park Lake Themed Punks and Princesses where everyone dressed up

• Works in the Homelessness space
• Food Bank community information support combined with Glen Eira council
• Run a monthly program called Nourish along with Beth Israel which has expanded to volunteering in Alma Park to feed 30-40 homeless people
• Volunteering at St. John's church
• Will run an Indian Cultural Day on 18 August to highlight projects in their country in partnership with Rotary Club of Warrnambool Central
• Installation of 200 Solar lighting kits in India

• Very Successful at running BBQ's for Bunnings / Election Sausages, etc. and inundated by requests for more opportunities
• Sell / Donate water filters to South America
• Had representatives from Afri-Aus Care at their last meeting along with the Black Rhinos Basketball Team. This will also lead to a fundraiser. Selba Luka from Afri-Auscare also attended the combined meeting at Port Melbourne.

President Elect Sally visited the Rotary Club of North Melbourne on 13 June and reports on their guest speakers.

Selba Luka was the guest speaker, she is from Afri Aus Care. They are a non-profit organisation that support African youth. Selba brought along 11 or so young men from the basketball club that they founded called the Black Rhinos. Her daughter also spoke about up cycling clothing as a project she is starting to raise some funds for the cause. Selba is doing great work with support and counselling of the African youth, but they need help, especially with employment opportunities and mentoring. Watch this space, we will continue the conversation and see what we can do to help as a cluster, championed by George Zindillis from North Melbourne Rotary Club and Dale Hoy, District Governor Nominee Designate.

Note change of venue and date

Monday 17th June, 2019 - 6 for 6.30pm

Cricketers Arms Hotel, 69 Cruickshank St, Port Melbourne

One of the exciting things about Rotary is often the opportunity and challenge to adapt to change at short notice.

This week, we had originally planned to have Lili Teichman, President Elect of Rotary Club of Glen Eira come and talk to us about the opportunity of sharing projects between our club and other district clubs however at late notice (but thankfully before the newsletter went out), Lili advised she wouldn't be able to make it due to another commitment.

Likewise, next week's speaker is also no longer available.

With a quick change of plans, we prepared for a discussion on future opportunities for the club but instead ended up welcoming David Richardson and Lucy Douglas from the Rotary Club of Port Melbourne who also visited our club with an idea of discussing shared project opportunities so we ended up having a similar discussion with that club.

It is now proposed that for next week, we have a combined meeting of Southbank, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne and Glen Eira at Port Melbourne's venue.

Monday 17th June, 2019 - 6 for 6.30pm

Cricketers Arms Hotel, 69 Cruickshank St, Port Melbourne

Other clubs would be welcome to join us too.

This meeting will replace our regular Tuesday club meeting, howver those still wishing to attend the Belgian Cafe on the Tuesday are welcome where President Sally suggests those attending join the Belgian's weekly Tuesday night trivia for some good fun with the community of Southvank.

If you would like to come, please continue to book through the new Southbank event page which now has the updated information.

I am excited and a little bit nervous that I am about to become President of my Rotary club. Excited because I know this is going to be an amazing opportunity. I will gain leadership skills and experiences, working in a team to make a real difference to the lives of people in need in our community. And a little bit nervous because I have never really had the opportunity to be a leader before.

But I know I am not alone, I have a supportive and talented team backing me up.

I want the year ahead to be enjoyable for everyone involved. I've got some ideas but I definitely welcome everyone's input. Let's have some fun whilst getting stuff done! I look forward working with you all.

Regards,

Sally, Presidet Elect

Below is a list of upcoming Changeover Celebrations in our area.  If you would like to help celebrate, please contact the individual club and book your ticket.

June 2019

Jun 13 Caulfield http://caulfieldrotary.org.au/event/38642/Changeover,%202019-20

Jun 14 Altona City Ray Lipscombe https://portal.clubrunner.ca/10794/Event/acrc-changeover-dinner-at-kooringal-golf-club

Jun 15 Hoppers Crossing Khurram Khan

Jun 25 Glen Eira  Lili Teichman http://rotarygleneira.org.au/event/38021/Club%20Change%20Over

Jun 26 Melbourne Kevin Sheehan https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=503008

Jun 28 RCCM Warwick Cavell https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=495961

June 30 District Changeover Grant Hocking https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=473703&

Jun 30 E-Club Madhumita Bishnu http://rotaryeclubofmelbourne.org.au

July 2019

Jul 1 South Melbourne John Wall https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=508353

July 3 Albert Park John Williams https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=512063&

July 4 North Melbourne George Zindilis http://rotarynorthmelbourne.org.au/event/38385/change-over-dinner

July 7 Port Melbourne http://www.rcpm.org.au - Railway Hotel

Jul 13 Melbourne Park Azu Azhan Aminath https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=512091

Jul 16 Southbank Sally Page https://www.southbank.org.au/event/event/detail/event/69095

The family of Rotary is invited to experience aloha at the 2020 Rotary International Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 6-10 June 2020.

Having Captured the Moment at the 2019 Rotary International Convention, attendees are leaving Hamburg, Germany with their eyes on the sandy beaches and natural beauty of Honolulu.

Local Rotary members are already hard at work preparing Honolulu to welcome Aloha, Rotary. Just as Rotary is a way of life for Rotarians, aloha is a way of life for Hawaiians one that focuses on living in harmony, being patient, treating everyone with respect, and sharing joy with your family, or 'ohana.

Read more

It was a small group that met on Tues 4th June at Southbank, but we made up for size with our spirit and busted out a few songs karaoke style for the South Village Singers practice. Even the barman was impressed with our tunes!

Sally hosted her first meeting as future President with some great ideas thrown around for her role and future events - some very exciting times ahead for Southbank Rotary. A lot of us will be keeping fit with some fun runs whilst also raising money for MS and STEPS, supporting the homeless at the Salvation Army Café and we talked wine tasting and book clubs more to come there.

We all missed Amrit who is travelling in Hamburg for the Rotary Convention However, we also started planning our holidays to Hawaii in 2020 for the next convention and already dreaming of sunny skies and beaches a long way from freezing Melbourne.

Don't forget on the 18th June we have a guest speaker from Destiny Rescue, a not for profit organisation dedicating to the rescue and restoration of child trafficking victims.

Club First Lady Saira Griffin and I attended the MS Global Lunch event in conjunction with World MS Day on Sunday 19th May 2019 at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Southbank hosted by RAGMSA (Rotarian Action Group for Multiple Sclerosis Awareness) - in our own turf!

Picture from right (L-R): Negar Asadian (PhD student from University of Melbourne), Professor Trevor Kilpatrick, Amanda Campbell (MS Ambassador)

MS (multiple sclerosis) is a silent illness, that mostly affects young people with the average diagnosis between the ages of 20-40 years, although children as young as 10 years have been diagnosed.. It also affects more women than men with 3/4 of MS sufferers being female. In 2009, the MS International Federation (MSIF) and its members initiated the first World MS Day where it brings the global MS community together to share stories, raise awareness and campaign with and for everyone affected by MS. So in fact this celebration marks the tenth (10th) time that RAGMSA has hosted MS Global Lunch - what a feat.

"Kiss Goodbye to MS" is about raising money to prevent and treat the symptoms of MS, as well as to provide support and services for people with MS. This campaign has raised over $205,700 since 2012 in Australia. With the combination of auction items & donations, RAGMSA was able to raise over $2000 to continue their tireless work and efforts in raising MS awareness throughout Australia and the world to "Kiss Goodbye to MS" - congratulations!

Special mention to Martin & Diana Taurins for inviting us to this great luncheon and we really enjoyed it!

Fourteen (14) of Rotarians and guests came along on a cold Tuesday autumn evening at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Southbank on 14th May 2019 to welcome back Claire Halliday who spoke at our club about two (2) years ago on her books (Things My Father Taught Me & Things My Mother Taught Me).

Claire presented her topic on Community Building for Better Business and the believe of how the power of networking and community-building online can enrich organisations like Rotary. With her experience since launching a Facebook community for women writers in Australia, she explained that it helps writers at all levels to connect and learn from each other in a supportive online environment. With Rotary's online footprint ever expanding, it is important to ensure safety and assurance remains intact and everyone can benefit from such presence.

In addition to the evening, we had Kerry Gerraty from Upbeat Arts who helped us practise on a number of songs for the upcoming 20th Charter Anniversary of our club. It was a delightful Rotary meeting for sure!

We like to acknowledge the visiting Rotarians and guests that came:

• Guest Speaker
  • Claire Halliday
     
• Rotary Club of Brighton North
  • Past Assistant Governor (Batman Cluster) Kate Strain
     
• Guests           
  • Racquel Shroff (Global Education Solutions)         
  • Kerry Gerraty (Upbeat Arts)

Twenty (20) Rotaractors, Rotarians and guests gathered at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Southbank on Tuesday evening 7th May 2019 for the first ever Rotary & Rotaract joint meeting. Intend of this joint meeting was to learn & share about each other's ambitions but most importantly knowing how both clubs can assist each other to foster collaboration.

President Martin Wilson, President Amritpal Singh, President Mary Zindilis and President Bronwyn Fanning shared how team work & required actions can be taken in the years to come. This was a great opportunity to discuss on these matters since the recent Rotary Council of Legislation (COL) 2019 approved to elevate Rotaract as key member to Rotary Clubs and Rotary International as partners.

We like to acknowledge the visiting Rotaractors, Rotarians and guests that came:

• Guests
  • Saira Griffin (Zaparas Lawyers & Club First Lady)
  • Nick De Mamiel (Friends of Rotaract Club of Melbourne City, Australia)
     
• Rotaract Club of Melbourne City, Australia
  • President Martin Wilson
  • Immediate Past President Ludovic Grosjean
  • Rotaractor Rigan Tytherleigh
  • Rotaractor Sam Haynes
     
• Rotary Club of North Melbourne
  • President Mary Zindilis
  • President-Elect George Zindilis
  • Past Assistant Governor Neville Page
  • Rotarian Judy Page
     
• Rotary Club of Altona City
  • President Bronwyn Fanning