Programme week commencing 26th April, 2012
As we approach the Rotary Assembly season, President Tim of District 1100 eClub gives his ideas and guidance on how he’d like to see our plans for 2012/13 shaped by everyone in the team.
I know to some people my thinking will be irritating, to others it will be strange and to others it maybe exciting. I’ve always been a visionary sort of person, wanting to think outside the box in a drive to start new things, hence my development of the Parrot & Palm Alcohol Free Bar in Worthing and later Holy Disorder in Gloucester. In respect of Rotary over the years I’ve found it very frustrating as new ideas haven’t really been welcomed, so as Janice related in last week’s programme, the International aspect of Rotary at the RI Convention and learning more about eClubs, changing Rotary’s image and how Rotary should be connecting with Generation X & Y was really exciting to me, at last I could start to use vision in Rotary. Coming home and being encouraged by the District Governor to explore the establishment of an eClub was even better, especially in being able to ultimately establish it. However we need to go further in ensuring that we are one of the leading edges of the changing face of Rotary.
When Paul Harris started Rotary it was a business network, I believe we need to re-explore these routes and encourage enterprise between each other and in the outside world especially amongst young people. It would be good if the eClub could get involved with helping Lorna and her school in the training she’s hoping to get off the ground for her young people. I believe helping to form an Interact Club in a School for Special Needs and young people with learning difficulties will be a really good boost to helping those who belong to get more involved in both enterprise and community service, plus rewarding for those who volunteer to help.
Emma’s idea about an eClub Calendar for 2013 would be an excellent idea for helping us to raise some funds whilst, encouraging her sister Alice with her career as a make-up artist. I’m sorry I didn’t get eClub approval for backing Max’s Car for the Scrumrun, but again I wanted to quickly encourage enterprise, I hope people will help sponsor the spots. I believe we need to really pick up some of these good ideas and get them underway. Now we have the Pay Pal option it will be good to get Yzanne’s idea about having a virtual Balloon Race up and flying.
However I want to return to our need for Rotary to relate and recruit to generation X and Y, from the start of the eClub I’ve always wanted the ability for the eClub to be able to recruit younger people and students. At the beginning I talked about creating a bursary to help pay their subs, perhaps another way would be a Rotaract Club which sat within the main Club, so that fees could be that much lower, however the members would join in with our activities. Whatever we come up with I’m convinced that the eClub needs to involve young people 18 – 30 years, so that not only can they help us, we can help them develop the much needed attributes that employers look for when recruiting to jobs.
I also still want to help Shelley with her project idea in the City Farm in Gloucester, for us to find £500 to move a pond and involving young people who have broken the law and are now engaged with the Youth Offending Team. Certainly helping Rachel with some of her projects with the British Heart Foundation, like the quiz the other day in Cirencester is another way in which we can ensure we are doing our Service in the Community. Becca wants the eClub to help collect tools for self reliance, Dave wants to us all to collect old mobile phones to sell to help raise cash. Plus it would be good to continue to be involved in practical projects with the Stroud Valley Project and to help clear litter from a lake in Swindon as suggested by Sinead, Chloe would like us to support a hospice in Worcester, how could we do this practically? Yes we’ve a lot to do as part of the eClub, however please keep the ideas coming in, lets continue to be innovative, enterprising and have a plan in place for 2012/13 which is visionary, exciting and shows Rotary some new things to do and ways to do it.
How can we help the unemployed?
How can we reach younger people and get them to understand the need for giving Peace through Service?
How can we encourage Business Networking and greater enterprise through our activities and in the Community?
Yes let’s support the other Clubs in the District to run more traditional activities, but can we help in their promotion through our skills in Social Networking or using the internet?
What else might we consider that is out-of-the-box and encourages things to do that relates to an eClub image and promotion?
Hi All
The idea for the Balloon race was from Rachel and not me. Hopefully we will be working on getting it set up soon within Service Projects Forum, once we’ve met to discuss this and the other ideas which have come in. We have a lot of ways to spend money, but not so many ideas on raising it – so please keep them coming!
Yzane
I think the concept of business networking is still important. The e club members represent a wide range of “business” ie many people work in a wide range of occupations. I see Rotary as a brilliant way of making contacts with people outside our immediate work circles. For example I am very well networked in the environmental conservation world and the charity sector…but I always welcome the opportunity to meet with people in Engineering, sales, financial services etc to enrich my own working environment and learn about their work environments, challenges and problem solving.
Past District Governor Peter in his presentation on Membership yesterday at the District Assembly stressed the need for Rotary Clubs to encourage Business Networking and build it again to be one of our strengths.
Young people ! Yes. They have great energy and great ideas and by using social media are very well networked and able to get a message or support for a cause out to hundreds of “friends”with the click of a button.
I am not sure we should be too worried about formally engaging them as a club…but encourage them to be involved in our fundraising and service projects. As they become engaged with Rotary, they will eventually want to join us.
If those of us who have teenagers could ask them to ask all their friends to participate in an on line activity, we can easily get hundreds of teenagers involved.
The District Assembly last Saturday gave a variety of different ideas for projects and guidance on where the District itself want support from clubs. The District 1100 website at http://www.ribi.org/for-members/secure-area/secure-resources gives a lot of information about international and national projects if you want to have a browse through (click on the Foundation, International, Environment titles on the left hand side to access fact sheets).
The different ‘boxes’, such as the Shelter or Water boxes are key things to raise funds for and the Zambezi Nutritional Gardens is a particular District International project. There is also a Jodpur Artificial Leg project (don’t know if I’ve got the spelling right for this) and I can’t find it on the website, but it sounded an excellent project in India providing people who had lost their legs in accidents with well designed prosthetic limbs, a service which can be provided within a day.
One project I was particularly taken with that we were told about, which I can’t find on the website, doesn’t involve raising money, just requires our effort – 2nd hand baby clothes are not accepted by our charity shops, but a Rotarian in Manchester has contacts in eastern Europe and Africa with orphanages desperate for baby clothes. The project involves making contact with charity shops and collecting from them any baby clothes they have been donated but can’t use and also build our own contacts with groups where parents meet and we collect unwanted clothes from them. All we have to do is deliver our collections to a Rotarian connection in Monmouth.
I’m happy to speak with the charity shops in Devizes and Melksham and see if we can have their unwanted baby clothes, but won’t do it until I can get out and about again, so not til June. I don’t want to co-ordinate it though. Re approaching groups, all the Mums I know pass to each other – our children’s clothes go through 6 children – or 3 if coloured girl or boy – by which time there isn’t much life in them at all. I know others do the same, esp as times get harder.
Janice, I’d be happy to pass on some of Nancy’s clothes to the contact in Monmouth. How are we proposing to get the clothes to them – by post?
I’m also happy to ask the Ciren charity shops, however I think a lot of them will sell on their discards to the rag trade so we may get some knockbacks. It won’t hurt to ask though. It would help if we had a website to show people.
We could also all ask our friends on our social networks to donate baby clothes if they have any – again a website link would help to do this.
What we need is someone to volunteer to coordinate how our eClub responds to this District initiative and liaise with the Monmouth contact as to how it will all work. From seeing my post Martyn Harwood (our District support person) contacted the link person in Monmouth to say I couldn’t see any details about it on the District website and could they get some posted.
Because I regularly travel on business throughout the eclub area, frequently going from Swindon to all points of the compass, including across the Severn I am more than willing to delivery parcels here and there (may not always be quick because I may not being going that way immediately). I have a large estate car and a roof rack so it will be a challenge to find something that won’t fit!
Lorna, my eldest daughter goes the SN school in Cirencester. If you are setting up in Interact Club they may be interested in joining in, which would increase your membership and offer wider opportunities/ friendships for all involved? Just a thought.
As Tim mentions above, I’m really keen for us to help Acorns Childrens Hospice. They are the local childrens’ hospice for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, and they provide care for life limited children and their families in this region. My eldest daughter goes there for respite so that we can occasionally have a weekend off from being parent carers. It really is a very special place – like a special hotel for VIP children – and it is very much all about living and sucking the marrow out of life.
In terms of helping Acorns practically I suspect there’s lots of things we could do. We could run an event to fundraise for them, or volunteer our time (see link below):
http://www.acorns.org.uk/volunteering.
I’m happy to find out more if its something that we’d like to do as a group.
Hi Chloe,
I’d like to take this forward as a eClub project under the Rotary Foundation Action Group. I wonder if a first step would be if possible for you to find out how we can help?, with Rotary if there was some specific equipment they needed we could fund raise and try applying for matching grants (Jill Johnston the new coordinator for the Rotary Foundation Action Group will have a lot of experience of how this is achieved). I wonder if a visit by one or two members could also be arranged, so a little group of members were involved in the project.
PS. Do we require moderation of comments? It is likely to make conversation ‘clunky’ once the eclub gathers pace – it would be good to be able to chat in real time.
I believe Tim has responded to say that all first time posters have to wait for moderation, but after that it goes up automatically. We have asked for a chat room in the new website and Kevin is planning to give us an update on how the new website will look and operate as our Programme from Thursday.