President's Report 2017-2018

President: Heather Kilsby

Theme: Rotary Making a Difference

Community Service:

The Community Committee have been very busy this year. It is wonderful that we have been able to achieve so much in our local and National communities. This year there has been the addition of funding in 3 different areas to help our Indigenous Australian community.

Request for applications for Grants resulted in funding being provided to Highgate Community Shed, Goodwood Primary School and the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club.

Funds were provided to enable children to play balloon soccer, for refugee children to go swimming, pamper packs for 5 Syrians women recently arrived in Adelaide, Beyond Blue and Second Chances for children of prisoners. John Smith from Computer Services repaired and recycled 2 computers and 3 printers for the cost of parts only, these were donated to those in need.

Another successful Carols at the Rotunda was held in December.

10 Christmas Hampers were given to Carers Association. The Salvation Army received funds for their Christmas lunch and $1,000 matching donation for their Red Shield Appeal. Other larger donations were made to the Royal Flying Doctor Service $2,500 and End Trachoma in Australia by 2020 $4,000. Jerry Casburn with support from the Rotary Club of Waikerie was instrumental in gaining a Global Grant with total funding of US$150,000 for Purple House which provides Dialysis services to remote Indigenous communities. Our club’s contribution was $7,755.

Domestic Violent Focus: We were involved in a joint venture with the White Ribbon Committee who sought applications for Grants to support projects aimed at the prevention of violence against women. We provided funding to 4 organisations, The Zarha Foundation $1,620, Northern Domestic Violence Service $3,000, Catherine House $3,000 and SA Adult Industry Workers Organisation $2,657, Christmas Hampers were given to Bramwell House and 8 to Louise Place and funding was provided for Yoga and relaxation classes at Bramwell House.

For the first time we were a part of History Week Celebrations in Unley in conjunction with St Augustin’s Church.

Some of our members attended the inaugural Pink Ribbon Morning Tea in Unley in October and agreed to assist in the running of this event as an ongoing joint venture with The Cancer Council. Our Clubs first involvement in this event that will be known as UNLEY ROTARY GOES PINK is being held on Friday 26th October at the Town Hall and I hope that members, partners and friends will support this event.

The Board have approved a project that has been named the Ceduna Project. This involves encouraging Indigenous women to come to Ceduna on a mini bus that will be provided in December when Breast Screen SA are there offering free screening. There is a very low rate of uptake on this service by Indigenous women. We are working on providing other medical services and information to them while they are in Ceduna.

The History Week event, Pink Ribbon morning tea and Ceduna Project have all been introduced to the Club by Maria and she has been the driving force behind all 3 of these projects.

TOTAL SPENDING FOR THE YEAR APPROX $26,600

Thank you to Wendy Andrews and her committee. Wendy is stepping down, thank you for your years of service as Director of Community Service.

International Service:

The International Service Committee made donations to Overseas Specialist Surgical Association $1,000, Shelter Box $8,000, Rotarians Against Malaria $4,000, Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children $5,000, House of Ruth & Naomi $1,500, Birthing Kits $2,000 and Interplast $1,000.

The Board has agreed to support a Global Grant application to be submitted by several Rotary Clubs in NSW to provide funding to an Eye Hospital, Technical School and Rehabilitation Centre in Nepal.

TOTAL SPENDING FOR THE YEAR $22,500

Thank you to Graham Beckett and his committee. Graham is stepping down this year, thank you for your service as Director of International Service.

Vocational & Youth Service:

The Police Officer of the Year presentation has been moved from May to September and will take place at the Royal Show.

three participants were sponsored to attend Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment, two to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, two to attend National Youth Science Forum and two to attend Operation Flinders.

Our youth exchange student TJ returned from France and Briony & Jerry looked after Clara Scheele from Austria in conjunction with Mitcham Club.

A Kidsafe course was sponsored at Louise Place.

Support was provided for a youth development project called SUBS in Schools.

TOTAL SPENDING FOR THE YEAR APPROX $14,000

Thank you to Stephen Baker and his committee. Stephen is stepping down, thank for your years of service as Director of Vocational and Youth Service.

Thrift Shop:

A Defibrillator has been purchased recently and training will take place soon.

A flat screen TV monitor has been purchased and we are awaiting delivery and installation. A USB is being produced by Jerry Casburn which will showcase what Rotary and our Club do in the community allowing volunteers and customers to learn more about how we use the money raised in the shop.

Thank you to Pam and her committee for their continued efforts in running the Thrift shop. A big thank you to Margaret Bosisto and Sandy Dobson for the time they so generously give to ensure the smooth running of the shop.

Membership:

The Club successfully ran our second Pride of Workmanship Awards & Small Business awards in conjunction with the Unley Traders Association.

In May we held another recruiting drive at the Unley Shopping Centre demonstrating the assembly of Birthing Kits. Nineteen names were taken, we will contact these people during the coming months.

Eight New members were inducted: Rhonda Hoare, Chad Leader, Vera Holt, Maria Galatsanos, Sorel Coward, Aine Stirling, John Peacham and Jason Booth.

Sheila Evans resigned due to ill health and has been granted status as an Honorary Member of the club.

David Payne is retiring after 32 years of service to our Club and has been granted status as an Honorary Member of the club.

Lachlan Reid has resigned as he is no longer able to attend meetings.

It was with sadness we heard of the passing of John Holds, many members attended his funeral and a donation of $250 in his memory has been made to Prostate Cancer.

Thank you to Jerry Casburn and his committee for their continued efforts in running the Membership Committee.

Fundraising:

Our main areas of Fundraising continue to be the Thrift Shop and BBQ’s at Bunnings, Mitre 10 and Detmold. Thank you to all those who work so hard at these BBQ’s.

Donations totalling US$13,162 were made to The Rotary Foundation.

In Conclusion:

I would like to thank the Board for the help that they have given me and the time and effort that they put into our Rotary Club. Those Board Members are Greg McLeod, Trevor McGuirk, Pam Trimmer, Ken Haines, Wendy Andrews, Graham Beckett, Stephen Baker and Jerry Casburn. Thanks also goes to all members of the Club for the many hours of their time they so generously give to help improve the lives of those less fortunate.

Attendance at meetings has increased with the majority of our meeting taking place in the larger meeting room with numbers often in the thirties. This makes the meetings feel very vibrant.

I attended all five Group 6 Presidents meetings to which I was invited and found this to be very beneficial both in finding out what the other Clubs were doing and the support we provided to one another. At these meetings I was instrumental in changing the system of allocation of schools in Group 6 to certain clubs. Clubs can now approach any schools in their area to take on projects provided they advise the other Clubs in our group beforehand so that we do not double up.

Some of the highlight of the year were meeting Ian Riseley, Christmas in July, Lunch at Chateau Yaldara, Pride of Work & Small Business Awards, my first car rally (thank you to Patsey & Valerie who organise this event), House of Ruth & Naomi (Families of Condemned Prisoners) Second Chances (children of prisoners), Issues of Human Trafficking, Pink Ribbon Morning Tea and trips to Calperum Station. Thank you to the Program Committee for there hard work in organising the program of guest speakers and outside visits.

It has been a privilege to serve as President, and I would like to thank the members of the Rotary Club of Unley for the support and encouragement you have shown me during my term as President.