2024 Barham Weekend - March 15 to 17. Phone 5453 2553 to book and say you are from Rotary
Week
31-May
7-Jun
14-Jun
21-Jun
Speaker
NO MEETING
Jason Sleep
Double amputee, embracing life
Brian Turner
Sporting Facilities
Catherine McAuley College
Club Forum
Meeting Location
International Convention
PepperGreen Farm
PepperGreen Farm
PepperGreen Farm
Chair
Doug Lougoon
Stan Hendy
Brian Hinneberg
Set-Up 6.45am
Ted Gretgrix
Philip Harris
Paul Kirkpatrick
Welcome
Peter Elliott
John Harkin
Evelyn Lehmann
Raffle
Julia Grace
Paul Henderson
Allie Lyall
Members please double check the roster. We are a dynamic club and changes can occur!
Reminder: if you are rostered on and cannot make it, please find someone to cover your spot.
President's report
Welcome to you all, was great to see so many turn up this past week on a very chilly morning, especially our new guests; Little Ted and Ross, one of our Market stallholders.
Very appropriate to have our guest speaker talking about the homeless over the winter months. Extremely difficult for us to imagine what it would be like walking in their shoes. Andrew gave us a clear picture of the situation for the Bendigo Winter Night Shelter. Please review the pamphlet and consider volunteering, even once every few weeks to enable the program to continue over the weekends.
Changeovers are on the horizon. Our club's is on July 2nd, but am sure you have that highlighted. Will be a great opportunity to review the year and have a bit of fun. Details shortly.
And the District Changeover is on the 24th June, with our local Eaglehawk DGE Ron Payne going in as our DG. There will be a bus traveling down to Melbourne for this occasion. Details shortly.
The final Cluster Meeting for the year was on Sunday night, to keep us informed on the Rochy Flood developments and share some activities. Now 2000 blankets have been dispensed and clothes dryers are on order for much needed families.
A RAWCS update on Monday night with Brad Quilliam, National Project Supervisor. $500 vouchers will be distributed at the end of the month. The Pods are still being sourced. A regional meeting on June 8th will be held in Bendigo to review the outcome of the tour through the flood areas from NSW and our region. But ongoing support especially in the mental health areas is a definite.
The position for President Elect is still open, so if you are interested, please have a chat to Ray or Adrian and remember this role can be shared.
Next week is no regular sunrise meeting, due to many of our members attending the Convention. However, a cuppa or breakfast at 9am in the café is available for those who wish to catch up for a social chat.
Two tickets are available if you missed out on Murder on The Orient Express Train on Saturday July 15th. See me re details.
Have a good week and enjoy the Convention, gather some great info from the House of Friendship for show and tell when you get back.
President Judy.
Left: Dougie enjoys breakfast for one on Wednesday.
Right: President Judy liked the words of wisdom from Andrew's presentation, quoting Rotary founder Paul Harris, among others.
Guest speaker: Andrew Plant -
Bendigo winter night shelter
Andrew has been with Bendigo Council for nine years, co-ordinating the Strong Communities program. He primarily works with Churches, welfare groups, charities, and community organisations. This of course includes Rotary clubs, Bendigo Sandhurst being one of these.
Six years ago, they saw the need to focus on the growing number of homeless people in Bendigo. People sleeping rough, or in their cars because of their strained circumstances. The fastest growing sub-group are women, and 50% of homeless have their children with them.
The Night Shelter is located at Koolamurt Scout Camp, where ten cabins are made available to homeless adults nightly. They are provided with clean sheets, dinner and breakfast, shower facilities, and washing machines. This is available for three months, five days per week, and guests are assessed daily to ensure the safety and risk factors involved for the volunteers. Children are not permitted, and guests cannot stay if they have mental health or serious drug issues.
Andrew tells us of the pleasure that the guests derive from having their own room, the privacy and comfort that we sometimes take for granted. And that his belief is that we are all only four steps away from finding ourselves in this situation. Job loss, domestic violence, gambling problems, drug and alcohol abuse are just some of the pitfalls.
Andrew’s belief is that Bendigo has very comprehensive facilities and amenities for social welfare care, but of course the numbers requiring help continue to grow, placing great strain on the existing suppliers of funding.
As an example, the facilities at the Scout Camp are only available until September 1st, and the organisations are constantly looking for extra volunteer numbers in other areas.
There is a hope that the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village will become social housing after the Games, which would be a real step forward for those less fortunate than us.
We commend Andrew on his enthusiasm and commitment to the welfare of the homeless and thank him for his address this morning.
RCoBS Photography walk (part one)
Part one of Brian's RCoBS photo walking-tour of the middle of Bendigo took place on Friday.
Brian has generously offered his time and expertise to club members interested in improving their photography skills, or just looking at our city from a new perspective.
The next photowalk will be on Tuesday, June 6, with participants meeting at the Visitor Information Centre at 10am.
Thanks for a brilliant photowalk on Friday, Brian, and thanks to Tony Commadeur for the photo (right).
Bargain time!
Paul Kirkpatrick found a questionable bargain at the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne this week.
He has asked if Chris needs to review his pricing for our club apparel!
Do you have a photo from a Rotary event? A joke or a funny meme?
If so, please remember your hard-working bulletin editor (!) and send them over. As a special deal for the remainder of this Rotary year, you will be paid double the standard contribution rate!
