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Page 1: Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland · Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland. 2 Rotary Monthly Theme Each month of the calendar year is celebrated in Rotary with a different

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Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland

Page 2: Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland · Rotary District 9570 Central Queensland. 2 Rotary Monthly Theme Each month of the calendar year is celebrated in Rotary with a different

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Rotary Monthly Theme

Each month of the calendar year is celebrated in Rotary with a different theme with the exception of May.

Each club throughout the Rotary world is encouraged to concentrate on programs to

promote each of these months.

Rotary focuses on Community Service and promotes International Peace and

Understanding. By celebrating each month and using these themes as a guide, Rotarians

can ensure that all of the various programs of Rotary are administered throughout the

entire year.

July is

Changeover Month

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Thank you for a tremendous welcome as your District Governor for 2018-2019. I am very honoured to be given this great opportunity and look forward to supporting and assisting you in this Rotary year. Congratulations to all the new presidents and District Officers who now have training and experience under their belts, and are very enthusiastic and raring to go. Rotary International President Barry Rassin theme “Be the Inspiration” epitomises what we need to do, which is to inspire each other and tell the inspirational stories of Rotary to others so they will want to join and help us with our projects, that do change lives. It’s an extremely powerful message and one we must get out into our communities. Rotary President Barry Rassin reminds us that we all have been given a great opportunity to motivate, inspire and direct our Clubs to be better, more effective and to be more ambitious in our service, but that is up to each one of us. Too many people do not know who we are or what we do. They hear the name Rotary, but still don’t associate it with local and worldwide community service.

Too many people still think of Rotary as being an exclusive club made up only of business people who just meet for lunch and to make business contacts. We can change this misconception by sharing Rotary’s inspirational stories such as the changes we make to people’s lives by water projects in countries where water and sanitation is poor, or the changes we see in young men and women after that have completed the RYLA or RYPEN courses. It may be a project that your club has implemented locally and impacted on the community. Whatever the project, it can inspire others to join this organisation and make a difference. Again, Cathy and I thank you for your support.

Rod Medew

DG News Welcome to a new Rotary year.

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DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S VISITS - July and August

11-Jul-18 Hervey Bay City, Hervey Bay Sunrise, Maryborough City, Maryborough Sunrise

16-Jul-18 Mackay Presidents

17-Jul-18 Mackay, Pioneer Valley, Walkerston

18-Jul-18 Mackay West, Mackay Sunrise, Sarina

19-Jul-18 Mackay Nth, Port of Mackay, Nth Beach Satellite

24-Jul-18 Emerald, Emerald Sunrise

25-Jul-18 Blackwater

26-Jul-18 Longreach

1-Aug-18 Gayndah and Mundubbera

2-Aug-18 Biloela Monto, Theodore and Moura

9-Aug-18 South Gladstone, Gladstone, Port Curtis, Gladstone Midday, Gladstone Sunrise, Calliope, Boyne-Tannum, Rotaract

10-Aug-18 Discovery Coast

13-Aug-18 Mt Morgan, Rocky West

14-Aug-18 Fitzroy, Rocky South

15-Aug-18 Rocky Sunrise, Rocky Nth, Rockhampton

16-Aug-18 Capricorn Coast, Yeppoon

20-Aug-18 Bundaberg, Bundaberg East, Bundaberg West, Bundaberg Rotaract

23-Aug-18 Childers

30-Aug-18 Bundaberg Sunrise, Bundaberg City Daybreak

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CQ Rotary Roundup

Contents Page

2 Rotary Monthly Theme

3 DG News

4 DG Visits

6 Meet a District Officer

7 Embrace the Renewal of Rotary International

8 District Bites

9 Our New Vision Statement: Why Should You Care?

11 Rotary Voices

13 What’s The District Governor Elect Been Up To?

14 Changeover Invitation

15 A word from Cathy

18 A message from District Governor 2020/2021

19 Does your club need help?

21 E merging Update

23 Rotary Action Groups

25 Rotary Action Group Profile

26 District 9570’s New Website

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Meet A District Officer

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If we are serious about change in Rotary, then it is time for all of us to embrace renewal of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand.

If we were to empower each Club with a vote to decide the next District Governor, rather than relying on Past Governors to select the District Governor, how would this impact our Districts? Would such a system deliver a different ‘brand’ of Governors, rather than leaders selected by a committee that consists of a majority Past District Governors with traditional views?

We need to be thinking about the future of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand - a new style Rotary! We have great opportunity with the redistricting process happening in Australia and New Zealand at present and which will continue to happen as Districts fall below 1,100 members.

We must get away from District Governors and club Presidents talking about ‘my year’. District Governors, Governors Elect and Governors Nominee need to be working together on long term plans for District change and development. There must be constant communication within that group.

We do not need people in leadership roles talking about “my year” and focused only on the present. That will not stimulate Rotary growth. We should be talking about the future and best outcomes for our Districts and Clubs five, ten and even twenty years on.

Because of our unique size and self contained regional status, Australian and New Zealand Rotarians have an ideal opportunity to develop a new Rotary ‘model’ - one that will carry us forward. Director Elect for Zone 8 and 10, Raffy Garcia is supportive of what we are doing in Australia and New Zealand. He wants to see these changes happen quickly as he wants a strong Rotary ‘Down Under’.

Let’s all focus on what Rotary needs to be in the future and how we are going to get there.

Embrace the Renewal of Rotary International

Noel Trevaskis Past Rotary International Director

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Around the District

31 July – 1 August Group 1 Mackay RYDA

6 – 10 August Group 4 RYDA – Maryborough

14 July Emerald club changeover

17-19 August YEP Inbound Orientation

Camp – Yeppoon

25-26 August RLI – Rockhampton

(Athelstane Bowls Club)

8 September International Literacy Day

14-16 September Zone Institute Hobart

September Taste Longreach and Emerald

District Governor Vision My vision is that, at the end of this Rotary year, every member will be aware of the benefits, purpose, and how to engage, in the diverse range of Rotary programs available in our district.

A major priority and vision for the District this year involves informing clubs about the many programs within Rotary, specifically those programs that our District is active in, such as RYLA, TASTE, YEP etc.

Consequently, the District Officers responsible for each program have been asked to visit clubs to promote and educate members on those programs.

This aligns with President Barry’s theme of “Be the Inspiration’ as District Officers inspire us to change the world by participating in the many programs offered by Rotary.

Rotary 9570 Survey In the last few days a survey has been sent to all club Presidents and Secretaries.

This survey is an important tool to assess the knowledge of Rotarians against the programs we operate.

Each member is asked to complete the survey by indicating the level of knowledge they have for each program based on a scale of 0-10.

The survey does not identify what club or group members are from and all emails have been masked to ensure anonymity.

The results of the survey will be used to analyse where gaps of information are. This will assist District in targeting information for specific programs.

I encourage ever member to complete the survey. If you have not received your survey form, please ask your club Secretary.

Rod Medew

District Bites

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We are now more than a year into the process of revisiting Rotary’s strategic plan, a process that will allow us to examine our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in order to move the organization in a direction that will allow Rotary to thrive in the years ahead. Our new vision statement is the first lap in that three-year journey.

You may have seen the vision statement and wondered what its relevance is to you. If Rotary were a ship approaching land, our new vision statement would be the lighthouse that keeps us from running aground. Our vision statement explains what we want to achieve, in the same way that our mission statement explains our focus, and our strategic plan represents how we are going to get there.

Strategic planning is a process, not an event. And it is certainly not limited to activity conducted in the board room. Almost 30,000

Rotarians, Rotaractors, and alumni participated in the 2017 triennial strategic planning survey sent out last January. Our strategy office and our consultant partner, Grant Thornton, then conducted countless focus groups, in-depth interviews, and

discussions with Rotarians, non-Rotarians, Rotary leaders, alumni, Rotaractors, and others to gather more insight. Over the course of all these sessions, more

than one million individuals had an opportunity to provide input.

Out of these focus groups, different elements emerged that were then tested around the world to be sure they were culturally appropriate to both a Rotarian and non-Rotarian audience. These elements became our 24-word vision statement.

OUR NEW VISION STATEMENT: WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? By Stephanie A. Urchick, chair of Rotary’s Strategic Planning Committee

From Rotarians of the Internet (ROTI) May 2018 http://www.roti.org

“Together, we see a world

where people unite and take

action to create lasting change

— across the globe, in our

communities, and in ourselves.”

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“Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

President-elect Barry Rassin did a masterful job of unpacking the vision statement to incoming district governors and other leaders at the 2018 International Assembly in January. More and more leaders and members are having a chance to see and hear the vision statement and think about how these words reflect the impact we wish to have on the world.

Entering the second year of the process, we will begin to test “priority concepts” that will move Rotary toward our vision statement. These concepts are being tested in every part of the world through additional focus groups, to ensure these concepts resonate in all geographies, all languages, and all cultures. In the third year, the rubber will hit the road. Strategies and tactics will be created and approved, and districts and clubs will be asked to try them and give us feedback.

Why is all this important? Let’s look at Amazon, a great example of the power of strategic planning. Amazon was the very first company to endorse free shipping. Amazon, researchers have noted, rose to power not by inventing a new product or service, but by analyzing the entire industry and making multiple moves into the future, much like a chess game.

Our three year-process allows for many checkpoints along the way to determine if we are still on the right track, if external or internal aspects have changed, and if a response to these changes requires altering our trajectory. When the strategic plan finally rolls out two years from now, there will be more than one million people who — because they had input — can say, “I helped shape that plan.”

What would we like you to do? Share the vision statement with your fellow club members. Think about what it means to your club. And look for opportunities to give your input into our strategic planning process. Help us chart a course for taking action to create lasting change.

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Rotary Voices Stories of service from around the world...

How we added younger members with an evening group

Our club meets at lunch and has a membership that is mostly retired. We do have a few younger members who have their own businesses or retired early, but gone are the days when employers encouraged their local bank managers to take two hour lunches. We began to be seen as a club that wasn’t a good fit for young working people. So it became a strategic goal for our club (and also for RIBI) to attract younger members and also more women.

We decided to establish a Satellite Club, although we now prefer not to call it that. Past President Gilly Rushton took it on as a personal project, and identified a handful of people, two or three, who would meet in

the evening, joined by a few members from our lunchtime group (but not too many, so as not to dominate the group.) They would meet informally over a drink in a pub, at an agreed upon time and date. The only structure was to fix a date for the next meeting.

Welcoming the new members

Eventually, this “evening group,” as we refer to it, developed into a meeting over dinner, and committee chairs would join them to discuss what was up in their committee. Our club president and an assistant district governor would check in to make sure Rotary guidelines were being followed. We encouraged our evening members to attend

By Jonathan Craig, Secretary of the Rotary Club of Stratford-Upon-Avon,

Warwickshire, England

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lunch whenever they could. Establishing this group as a satellite became part of our strategic plan.

When it was clear that they wanted to join Rotary, we sent out induction letters for each individually, and they were welcomed in front of the whole club at one of our evening meetings (we do have an occasional evening meeting already, mostly on fifth Mondays.) One of the evening members was selected to sit on our council as a full voting member, and in addition the newly-elected honorary treasurer is from the evening group.

The evening group is less formal than our lunchtime meeting, meets twice a month, once for business and once social, in different places. The group is nine members strong, soon to be 10. They are full members of the Stratford-Upon-Avon Rotary Club, pay the same dues, and receive the same emails and notices.

Yellow ducks race down the Avon

They set up their own project, a very successful Duck Race on the Avon, which has already been repeated. And they also join some of our other club projects such as a marathon, our biggest fundraiser of the year.

I saw a comment recently about the value of starting an evening group with shared experience, shared administration. It doesn’t

have to be intended to become a separate club, as long as it works. The average age of the group is younger, which is not only good for future growth but brings new insights into things like using social media.

We currently have 70 members, nine of which are in the evening group. Of our 11 women members, five are in the evening

group. So that says something. It’s been quite a journey for us, and the journey continues.

Engaging Younger Professionals, a new online toolkit, helps clubs better understand younger professionals. From ideas for outreach and engagement to long-term benefits of becoming a Rotarian, this toolkit helps clubs rethink their membership, from a broad perspective down to a tactical level.

www.rotary.org/en/engaging-younger-professionals-toolkit

Stratford-Upon-Avon club members prepare for the

Shakespeare Duck Race.

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What’s The District Governor Elect Been Up To? Hi, the DGN’s year is really all about learning and the District Governor Elect (DGE) year is all about planning, the two positions are joined at the hip. For me the official learning started at the Zone 8 Institute in Darwin where the DGN’s from all around Australia attended a three-day training course centred around district governance.

Following on from the Institute our then DGE Rod and I have been working closely together on the district’s governance. We have developed many procedures, restructured the district and appointed new positions such as the District Youth Protection Officer. We have developed a new district website to help support our members. The website was designed around three concepts:

1. Showcase Rotary, District 9570 and the District Clubs to the world, which will encourage prospective members to contact us.

2. Provide members a webpage where they can access all the information and news they require.

3. Provide a web based storage platform to store district program data.

All of this is being driven by our District Strategic Plan and our District Leadership Plan.

Rod has for the first time implemented District Officer (DO’s) Training to help prepare the incoming DO’s for the coming year. The education of our district Rotarians is so important. It is a fundamental building block of everything we achieve as a district.

I have been assisting clubs to understand their obligations under the Queensland incorporation Act and the Queensland Collects Act, and the district clubs have been very proactive.

The most rewarding part of the DGN year was getting the chance to be involved and learn about our district programs. Attending the Youth Exchange Camps, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYPEN) camp and so on.

Karen and I are lucky to have been able to attend the Toronto Rotary International Convention in June which has been another great Rotary experience to add to what has already been a busy but rewarding Rotary Year.

Regards,

Michael and Karen Buckeridge

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When Rod first nominated for DG, after picking myself up off the floor, I was reminded that it’s tradition in Australia for the DG’s wife to have a project to support.

I thought long and hard about this over many months because there are so many worthy causes out there that I’d be happy to support. (And those that know me, know that too many choices means delayed decision making!)

After considerable thought, I came up with – no not a charity but three criteria.

• Firstly, I thought there is so much good being done in Rotary, all around the world, that I would prefer to support a Rotary project.

• Secondly, I thought, I’d like to support something in Australia, and

• Thirdly I’d like it to be around an Indigenous issue if possible.

At Darwin Institute last year, Lien Trinh, a remarkable young woman, an optometrist and Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholar in Public Health, introduced us to the ‘End Trachoma by 2020’ project. She is the Project Manager, and voila!! I found a

project that ticked all my aforementioned boxes.

If you haven’t heard of End Trachoma, by the end of the 2018-19 Rotary year you will have! This is my chosen project. Ian Riseley,

Immediate Past Rotary International President, and Australian, asked all Rotarians in Australia to help rid our Indigenous communities of this disease by 2020, and I’m going to do my darndest to encourage this District to play a part in this historic event. Imagine Rotary in Australia eradicating a disease in our own country!

Trachoma is a disease of the eyes that was wiped out in mainstream Australia 100 years ago, but it still exists in some remote communities.

In fact, Australia is the ONLY developed country in which this disease is still active.

The WHO held a meeting in Sydney, for the first time ever, outside Geneva in Switzerland, to basically tell us that if anyone should NOT have this disease, it’s us, because of our standard of living.

In 2009 the Australian Government for the first time funded the treatment of this disease with the remarkable results of

A Word from Cathy

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reducing it from 20% (that’s one in five people in affected communities) down to 5%. However there has been no investment in prevention. Lien saw a role for Rotary in this, because Rotarians working together, pooling their resources, can achieve the insurmountable. This project absolutely meets the four way test:

1. It’s absolutely true that Trachoma still exists in Australia but the good news is that Rotary has the capacity to do something about it;

2. It’s certainly fair to ensure that everyone in this country enjoys the same standard of health care, and as PDG from 9700 Michael Milston said, “it is the absolute right thing to do to intervene when we see something not quite right”;

3. It builds good will, not just between indigenous and non indigenous communities, but between Rotary clubs and districts around the country who, for the first time, are uniting on a single Australian project focused on supporting our remote Indigenous peoples.

4. It will obviously be beneficial to those communities who can be trachoma free and because it’s building such good will and friendships amongst Rotarians and communities in Australia, it will also benefit all those who become involved.

I hope the clubs in the district will catch the vision (pardon the pun) of this project and

support it wholeheartedly.

There are a couple of ways to help.

Obviously cash is always useful, and I encourage you to throw what you can over our way.

The other way is to help us collect stamps! Yes you read that right! We need used stamps, in good condition, that are sold on to stamp dealers. Carrol Farmer in Melbourne, whose husband is a Past District Governor and philatelist, is heading up this part of the fundraising.

You can put the word out there to family, friends, the local Council and businesses, Interact and Rotaract Clubs - anyone who receives mail - to keep any stamps on mail they receive, and then forward on to me. Do not unstick them from envelopes, just perhaps trim the envelope itself.

Instructions will be placed on the District webpage.

Collecting stamps means anyone can contribute to this project - even if they can’t donate cash – and can be part of Rotary history in Australia, and indeed, part of Australian history.

https://www.endtrachoma2020.org.au/resources

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I am so incredibly proud to have been chosen for the

position of District Governor 2020/2021, the final year

of the 9570 era.

These next few years are going to be so exciting, as I

learn more about our District and what the position of

District Governor entails. I am so very keen to get going!

The planning behind us becoming a whole new District

is going to be extremely interesting and challenging. I

look forward to this with delight.

Our kids are our future and to that end I would love to

see a Rotakids in every town in our District. It was

Aristotle who said “Give me a child until he is 7 and I

will show you the man.” What a joy it would be to see

these younger students developing a sense of service.

Thank you all for your good wishes to both Wade and

myself. We look forward to this new challenge in our

lives, and I trust we will serve you well.

Adele Hughes

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Rotary Resource Manager

Hello Rotarians and Friends of Rotary.

Welcome to a new Rotary Year and to a new rotary Resource for you and your Club.

District Governor Rod has challenged me to be the District Rotary Resource Director and I in turn challenge you to help “Us” build this into a positive source of assistance for the

District.

We have a Job Description with which to work.

POSITION PURPOSE

The Rotary District Resource Director has the responsibility for advising members and clubs on what resources are available for a project, enabling members and clubs to leverage the

delivery of professional, scalable, sustainable projects.

So how can this work?

Well, most amazing Rotary projects all started with a conversation. Like the ones that led us to the Global fight against Polio, and the 5,000 bales of hay sent to the drought-stricken outback, and the Mental Health & Wellbeing Fairs in Central Qld and the Mobile Emergency Communications Trailer in Monto, to name just a few.

How do we take this forward??

We can try the funnel approach

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Also, I will be guided by the Position Duties

• Work with Rotarians to assess project needs, act as point of contact to locate resources.

• Pro-actively build on a pre-existing network of contacts.

• Identify non-standard Rotary projects such as Rotary Action Groups, Rotary Friendship Groups and non-Rotary projects and inform the clubs

• Keep members informed – use of information sources including the district bulletin, website and Rotary information.

• Assist Rotarians and clubs in locating resources for projects.

• Match Rotarians and clubs against projects.

• Communicate with District Officers around needs of members and clubs relating to projects.

And we can employ the “Engagement Triangle”

With the collective will and experience of us all, surely we can make our next Rotary Projects professional, scalable, and sustainable.

So, let’s make a start. You can contact me on any of the following.

PDG Mark Lean

Mob – 0408 186 473

[email protected]

[email protected]

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In March we advised that Districts 9550 and 9570 had commenced the process of working out the creation of a new joint District – District 9560. The task force has been doing quite a lot of work and we want to share our proposals so far and get your feedback. Remember we are scheduled to merge by 1 July 2021 so it is still early days for what we are working through and nothing (apart from the merge date and District boundary) is set in stone.

We have looked at what a Rotary District is, why we need it, and what it does.

The purpose of having a Rotary District is to provide support and direction to Rotary Clubs in the geographic area of the District. The ability to provide support and direction to Clubs, derives its authority from Rotary International operating through the Rotary District Governor.

In the Emerging District, the District Governor is responsible for 88 Rotary Clubs. Clearly a structured organization is required to provide support and direction to this number of Clubs and Rotarians.

A new legal entity:

Where a group of people give direction and receive and expend monies on behalf of others, they need to become incorporated. Rotary District 9560 is going to be incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee because it straddles a state, a territory and another country. It will be a legal entity and will therefore have to comply with Australian Company Law. We are

developing a new constitution for this company.

This corporate entity has to determine its organizational structure, be accountable back to its members and be clear as to who is responsible for what. The governance of the entity must be designed to meet the needs of the members and the requirements of Rotary and the Australian Law.

Meetings of the body corporate:

Currently the Rotary Clubs in each District meet together annually at Rotary District Conferences to get support and direction from the District and to discharge their responsibilities as members of a legal entity – in the case of District 9570, as an association and in the case of District 9550, as a company limited by Guarantee.

The question of the viability of District Conferences is being discussed. In recent times attendance at District Conferences has been dropping off and the cost of attending has been rising due in large part to the high cost of travel to and from District Conference venues. Rotary International is likely to

E merging - May 2018

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accept that a District is not required to run a District Conference so long as there is an alternative forum for the conduct of District business. The new District 9560 will need some forum for its members to meet – this may be a virtual meeting on say Zoom. A meeting twice a year would probably be desirable.

It is highly likely that all Australian Rotary Clubs will be invited to join in a National Rotary Conference in the next few years.

The powers and functions of the Company:

All corporate entities have to have a management team that is responsible for the operation of the company. In the case of the new District, this management team is the Board, which is presided over and chaired by the District Governor. The Board are supported by 2 groups – the support services and the program specialists.

This total structure comprises around 30 to 40 positions. All of these officers need to be able to train and support the Clubs of the District. These officers themselves will need training and this will be a significant feature of the new District.

Support Services:

The business of the Company (the District) is managed by the Board through the support services group which includes but is not limited to: Insurance; Legal Advice; Training; Property Management; Web Management; Direction for the Council on Legislation; and Newsletters and Communications. These support services should be available through the District Governor to the Clubs.

Program Specialists:

Rotary has lots of programs. The District can provide advice to Clubs in relation to these programs and also provides direction on the range of programs which it supports. These

include but are not limited to: The Foundation; ARH; RAWCS; ROMAC; Interplast; Disaster Aid; NYSF / Conoco Phillips Science Experience; YEP; RYLA; Rotaract; Interact; and Probus. This program direction is provided by the program specialists and has to flow to Clubs through the Area Governors.

Area Governors:

For many years, we in the north, have grouped Clubs together and had Assistant Governors oversight and assist Clubs and report to the District Governor on the state of the Clubs in their group. Between our two Districts we currently have 15 groups of Clubs.

Now across Australia, Rotary is looking to formally have between 10 and 15 Clubs come under the oversight of an Area Governor. It is likely, given the larger size of Districts, that the District Governor will not visit all the Clubs in the District during his or her term of office. The role of the Area Governor is therefore going to: take on a more significant role; require more training; and take on a whole new look and feel.

The recommended grouping of 10 to 15 Clubs is not mandated however it does provide the group with a greater pool of people and resources to draw on. We think this has some exciting potential for our new District and we have come up with an initial structure of 7 Groups as indicated below.

We invite your feedback on all of what is proposed so far and we welcome your suggestions on how we go forward. You can contact the E merging Officers of either District:

John McLaren District 9550 [email protected] or

Craig Edmonston District 9570 [email protected]

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The Rotarian Action Group for Addiction Prevention (RAGAP) is an International group of Rotarian specialists and activists in Prevention of Substance Abuse and Addiction.

Substance Abuse and addiction of illicit drugs is a global problem and can only be stopped by joint efforts of all society layers and organizations in a joint, structural and continued action. It is not only the responsibility of governments. All civil society organizations should get involved in their specific field of activity. Rotarians will strengthen this common effort through the work of the Rotarian Action Group Prevention Substance Abuse and Addiction.

RAGAP Informs, stimulates, supports and advises clubs and districts how to tackle the problem in a structural long-term way, with a vision and a strategy. Set up cooperation with the international professional organizations specialists in prevention.

The aim of RAGAP is to

• Prospect all Rotarians active in prevention of substance abuse and addiction

• Bring their expertise together for study and exchange

• Learn how Rotary clubs can participate in the struggle against addiction

• Disseminate this knowledge and the developed methodology

• Inform and stimulate Rotary Districts and clubs

To find out more about RAGAP visit www.rag-ap.org

Rotary Action Group Profile

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District 9570’s New Website A new district website has been launched. Many thanks to Michael Buckeridge who has worked tirelessly on this project for months. The website has the same address www.rotary9570.org but is completely new.

The district website preforms three functions;

1. Showcase Rotary, District 9570 and the District Clubs to encourage prospective members to complete the online form which will in turn enable us to contact them.

2. Provide members a webpage where they can access all the information and news they require to allow them to assist in the delivery of the district strategic plan

3. Provide a web based storage platform to store district program data to assist knowledge transfer and data retention.

The philosophy behind the website is to inform the public of what we do and what projects are available, at a District as well a club level. Anyone can click on a club and find out when and where they meet, what projects they undertake and how they raise funds, in addition to photographs of clubs working in the community. Information is also publicly available on all the projects our District is involved with (and there are a lot!) This is an important component of the website as it promotes our clubs in our district.

The website also links to the District conference website which is continually updated at http://www.rotarydistrict9570conference.com/ (have you registered yet?)

The web site also holds historical information including Past District Governors’ newsletters and an early history of the district. The member’s area is equally impressive with all the forms, policies and procedures securely stored. The District Directory and District Calendar can also be found in the in the member’s section. The site is also capable of storing all of the districts records in a secure location

I have an Idea

Many Rotarians have ideas on how we can improve clubs and the District. The website has a section in the members section appropriately named “I have an Idea”.

Here is how it works.

a) A member completes the form “I have an idea” b) The form is received by the DG and DGE c) A number is allocated and sent to the originator d) The information is analysed and if necessary sent to an appropriate member for

comment e) At all stages the members can look at a separate “what Happened to the idea”

which identifies the status of each request. f) Finally, the member is advised of the outcome.

Please take time to visit our website.

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Published by District 9570 Central Queensland

Please submit all articles for consideration to

the District Editor.