Forum 19th September

Please don’t forget that Forum is imminent – one of the four occasions per year when we try and pull together as many members of Rotary as possible. This will of course be a virtual event and an agenda and zoom invitation will be forwarded shortly. The aftermath of the Beirut explosion remains with us, and we are therefore pleased to announce that the President of Beirut Cosmopolitan Club Habib Saba will be talking to us about the disaster.

The main theme of the day will be Growing Rotary and we will be discussing ideas as to how to grow our membership – so challenging in today’s virtual world.

There will be:

Briefing for Presidents Elect

Crowdfunding partnership for Rotary projects – Global Giving

Dave King (editor of Rotary magazine) video on Growing Rotary

Do try and attend!

A snapshot in time

The National Finals of Young Photographer took place this year via electronic submissions and desktop judging at RGBI. Obviously, youth competitions have been affected by the pandemic, but it is very gratifying to see that all three candidates from District 1200 – Junior, Intermediate and Senior – gained places, and that the clubs below supported these young people. Photography is such an important medium, affects how we view life and the world in general, and can capture one moment in time, an historic happening, or a mood. More of us than ever before take photos with the ease of using mobile phone cameras, whilst some continue to perfect their art using specialist equipment.

Congratulations to the following talented young people:

Junior: Sam Mathais – 3rd (sponsored by Brue Valley)

Intermediate: Sophie Goggs – 2nd (sponsored by Brue Valley)

Senior Emily Bunce – 1st (sponsored by Calne)

You can see for yourself the quality of the images produced, and the judges were certainly wowed by them. As well as providing constructive comments, praise included:

Emily Bunce: ‘Three superb images entitled ‘Bio Creature’. Bright, colourful and a joy to look at and technically very well accomplished.”

Sophie Goggs: ‘ Well done, Sophie, three excellent images. Picture 1 has captured the bee in precisely the right spot as it approaches the bloom, good composition. Picture 2 is spot on, a very good image. Picture 3 I find thought provoking and technically very good.

Sam Mathias: unfortunately the judge’s comments weren’t available at the time of writing this – so please judge for yourselves! In fact, why not give a caption to Sam’s picture of a frog spouting out water? Do comment here, or email me, and I’ll send a prize for the best one.

Martin Carter has received a couple of enquiries from clubs wanting information about youth competitions for 2020/21, in particular Young Writer and Photographer. This is encouraging given the focus schools will have on students ‘catching up’ after the Covid break. Rotary is very good at sponsoring such contests and therefore helping to nurture talent in so many fields. However, perhaps we are not so good at building on these relationships we establish, for example encouraging young people to join their age-appropriate part of the Rotary family (probably because we don’t have many opportunities for that currently!), or encouraging schools to set up these clubs, as per Midsomer Norton Rotakids. I do feel strongly that this is an area where we need to focus more, and to that end Martin will be circulating a questionnaire to capture what our clubs are all doing in the youth arena the connections we have with educational establishments, and helping us to map out a way forward for the District. We’ll incorporate this in future membership discussions (as in Forum – thought I’d give it another plug!) and do feed in your ideas to your AGs.

Talking of capturing information to help us all evaluate what we are doing and provide us with more Rotary good news to tell (you’ll hear more about that in Dave King’s session in – yes, you’ve guessed it – Forum!), I’m also asking all clubs to provide more detail as to the causes they are supporting for example, a club may say – gave money to polio, or foodbank, or whatever – but may not tell us how much they did give. My objective is not to draw any comparisons between clubs, but to be able to put together some newsworthy soundbites as and when opportunity affords itself. An example of this is that as a District we have given £28,718 to Polio in the year ended 30th June 2020 and this has been matched 2 to 1 by the Bill Gates Foundation meaning an impressive £86,154 raised for polio because of our fundraising. Rotary and the Gates foundation combined contribute approx. 28% of the total funds raised for Polio eradication around the world. Individually each club should be very proud of what they have fundraised and donated, but collectively it makes for an even bigger picture and helps demonstrate our impact. So please update your AGs with details of monies raised for local causes.

Feedback and evaluation

Still on the topic of feedback, I was minded to look at some of our club websites as a direct result of a comment made by a potential future Rotarian. They had read the article about my DG appointment in the Somerset Gazette, and made contact with me. However they said they had gone to their local club’s website – and had been put off immediately! I’ll save this person’s other comments for discussion at the aforementioned virtual get-together (another reason for you to join in!), but as a result I’ve asked all AGs to do a quick review of the home pages and photo pages of their clubs, and feed this in. Observations from you all about club websites most welcome – it’s not a bad idea to just scan the pages and not look in depth – after all, that’s what most non-Rotarian visitors to the site will be doing. Or ask a friend or family member to take a very quick peek and provide feedback.

Of course, I’m conscious that our club websites are affected by many different factors including different club ‘styles’ and demographics, and not least, who is available to create and manage content, but I believe that in this period of stasis for most clubs, we should be taking a good, hard look at what image we are creating, whether or not it truly represents our clubs as they are currently and as we want them to be in the future, and whether or not some of us can learn from others. So – yes, I’m asking for a lot of feedback from you all via these blogs and meetings, but do bear in mind that I can’t get to visit you in person!

How to keep your Zoom meetings Interesting

I was asked recently whether there was a list of Speakers for clubs.  There is a Speaker’s List on the district web site  and we would like more contributions to add to it.  If you have had interesting speakers at your zoom meeting, and they are willing to be added to our list, then please send details to Penny Underwood.   

Also, what else have you done to make your Zoom meetings interesting?  Have you run competitions?  Have you invited prospective new members?  Have you found a way of fundraising online?  We would love to add your ideas to our online list.  

The power of 6?

My article last week about risk assessing face-to-face meetings and events apparently sparked off some debates, and I confess that I am pleased that it did. One club pulled back from its planned face-to-face meetings, whilst another went ahead this morning. It illustrates the need for each club and individual to judge the risks for themselves.

However, at the moment that decision-making has been pulled back from us with yesterday’s announcement re no more than 6 people meeting indoors or outside. Nevertheless, as that is eased at some time in the future, we will need to re-visit this risk assessment piece, so it’s been no bad practice run!

Best Wishes
Rory O’Donnell 

ROTARY IN ACTION

I still find it amazing that with 1.2m members all over the world and 33,000 clubs many people have a vision of Rotary as ‘well-meaning old men in red trousers doing good in the community’! No offence to anyone wearing red trousers! But this was said again to me only last week, so it’s an image we need to dispel, and major on the difference Rotary makes.

A typical example is the Beirut disaster on 4th August. On Thursday evening (13th) I had a zoom meeting hosted by the Rotary Club of Mendip and attended by the President of Rotary International Holger Knaack. What an opportunity platforms such as Zoom has afforded us – the man in charge of 33,000 clubs world-wide, able to connect directly with Somerset, and also with the President of the local Rotary Cosmopolitan club in Beirut, Habib Saba, who had met with the other 27 Rotary club presidents in Beirut that morning and decided on a project of rebuilding two floors of the local hospital, a project that would cost around $800,000.

Following the Monday 10th August Rotary meeting in Taunton, the Taunton Vale Rotary club had pledged £1,000 towards the Lebanon crisis, Wrington Vale had carried out a collection at Sanders Garden Centre and many other clubs had pledged money – a typical Rotary response to a disaster, be it local or international. Many charities advertise for donations, only for us to find that there are massive delays in getting the support to where it is needed and indeed after deduction of costs for administration. But we were able to get the bank details of the Rotary club ‘on the ground’ in Beirut and get the money there immediately and with no deduction for expenses. I am immensely proud of what we do in Rotary in Somerset and this is the kind of example we can promote to others who may wish to join us in the Rotary family.

ALOHA HAWAII!

Just thought I’d share with you a photo of our trip to the International Convention in Hawaii – not! Sadly of course the trip was cancelled due to coronavirus, and I can’t help but feel for those who had put so much work into setting up the event, and the suppliers in Honolulu who were expecting thousands to input to their local economy. Not to mention those of us who were planning to share the international fellowship of Rotary. Anyway, when my granddaughter asked to have her 8th birthday party at our house this week, since children no longer have to socially isolate, guess what theme she requested?

Seeing the youngsters enjoying themselves so much reminded me that young people have endured a great deal in lockdown, and of the sharp contrast for children in poor or abusive families who have had to cope with significant added burdens and trauma. I’ll be writing more about mental health issues in a future blog, about the food bank initiatives which have helped so many in our district, including families with young children, and about the work in the Halcon district of Taunton – my chosen district charity.

However – a couple of photos from ‘Hawaii’, just because they brought a smile to my face. Surely the next best thing to the convention in Honolulu!

Best Wishes

Rory O’Donnell 

FACING UP TO THINGS!

Well, just when I thought that we might not be meeting physically until 2021, lockdown is being eased and ‘Eat out to help out’ encouraged by Rishi Sunak, so I attended my first club meeting in person last Wednesday: the Taunton Vale breakfast club meeting at Mr Miles restaurant in Taunton, with all very conscious of the challenge of socially distancing, of course.

I must stress that any clubs contemplating face to face meetings should be careful that they comply with government guidelines and also carry out their own risk assessment and not just rely on that of the proprietor.   Insurance for any event requires a risk assessment as a prerequisite. Obviously should I become aware of any updates to guidance from RIBI I will highlight it to you all. 

The induction of a new member was a very pleasurable part of the proceedings, and we were all thrilled to welcome someone into Rotary particularly during these challenging coronavirus times. However, this was to me a very special occasion – a full circle being completed. When I joined the club in 1988, it was Tim Jay, a local chiropractor, who sponsored me and  signed my application to join Rotary.   He left the club some years later but has decided to re-join, so it was an honour and delight for me to sponsor him this time round!

ROTARY’S STRATEGIC ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST CORONAVIRUS

In respect of efforts to combat coronavirus, resource and funds to combat polio and other foundation projects have been vired to this global battle. I’m immensely proud of Rotary’s role in the fight against Covid-19, and I’ll no doubt talk about it further in future blogs. I’m not sure how successfully Rotary as an organisation is getting the message out that our support is playing such a big part – something for us all to think about. And, of course, alongside this current virus focus is the continuing need to wage war against polio, and Rotary’s work to support worthwhile concerns continues, so please do your utmost to donate to our foundation which is acknowledged as a gold star charity by Charity Navigator – the largest and most utilised evaluator of charities in the US.

BEIRUT DISASTER

Whilst we are dealing with Covid-19 world-wide, there are of course some countries having to cope with the additional circumstances – horrific at any time, let alone now. The explosion in Beirut, which measured 4.5 on the Richter Scale, has caused many deaths and injuries and international support will be required in order to facilitate a recovery. The following is an announcement by Dominic Raab UK Foreign Secretary setting out the actions being taken by the UK Government to support the people of Lebanon:

‘This was a devastating explosion which has caused enormous suffering and damage. The UK is a long-standing friend of Lebanon and the Lebanese people, and will stand with them in their hour of need. We have offered immediate direct support including search and rescue, emergency medical assistance and up to £5m in humanitarian aid.”

As always, Rotarians are stepping up to the plate. District 2452 in Lebanon has established a Disaster Response Account. Follow the link below for Information on how Rotarians can contribute to this disaster:   https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/disaster-response

My Rotary is not working but the above page is available and has details of a bank account to which donations can be made. We don’t hold significant reserves to meet disasters, therefore we advise clubs on how to direct their contributions to the Rotary clubs on the ground.

RI PRESIDENT VISITS MENDIP!

Holger Knaack sees opportunities for Rotary to change and thrive

As many of us have experienced already, Zoom presents great opportunities for international speakers to present to us, and I know I’m not alone in valuing the international input, information and at times, entertainment (as per Dave King’s presentation about which I wrote last time.) As I write this blog, I am looking forward to RI President Holger Knaack’s presentation to Mendip Rotary Club tomorrow evening – something which, in ‘normal’ times, would have been unlikely to happen, given that he has about 33,000 Rotary clubs under his jurisdiction!

What’s been happening:

A trend over several years has been, for many clubs, a gradual decline in membership. This has been exacerbated by a 5% loss of membership at June renewal, no doubt influenced significantly by the coronavirus lockdown and the interruption of physical meetings. At the District Executive meeting last Friday we agreed to form a task force comprising the existing membership committee plus the District Executive and – importantly – co-opts, to further our objective of growing Rotary in this coming year.

What are we going to do about it?

This group will act as a focus on this challenge facing so many of us. Crucially, we will be asking clubs to share with us their ideas and promotional material of which they are particularly proud, have had a demonstrable impact, or are concepts in the making. We feel it’s vital that, as part of the service we offer at District, we help by acting as a conduit, to review and re-distribute the concepts and ideas as a framework for clubs to assist in their efforts to grow Rotary. We want to give you as much material and support as possible to help you achieve your own membership objectives. No plans to tell you what to do!

District is your support mechanism, so please, please forward your ideas to Ric Canham, our membership chair, ric.canham@btinternet.com, and copy me, rory@fulfordhouse.co.uk

Thank you – membership opportunities arise daily so don’t wait to submit any ideas and thoughts – the time to pull all this together is now.

A starter for 10:

Here’s your starter for 10: one initiative, two weeks ago, was a three-district collaboration with a great presentation from Dave King, editor of Rotary magazine, on communications and growing Rotary. This would make an excellent presentation for a club meeting or a standalone presentation for any member interested in membership – the youtube link is https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3QQJWk2Mugg&feature=share

His advice was so thought-provoking, informative, and humorous. In fact when anyone who references Baldrick’s ‘cunning plan’ almost at the outset, you know you are in for a presentation which isn’t boring! I urge you to check it out – and it demonstrates the wide range of expertise and talent we have sitting within Rotary already! And those of you on Facebook will notice that I have learned from him and am venturing into the world of social media I hadn’t explored before. So bear with me whilst I learn and watch out for more updates!

And coming soon:

PDG Brian Murray’s daughter is offering social media training free-of-charge and we hope to arrange a session in the next few weeks.



Rory

District Governor

Becoming a Rotary District Governor is a 2 -year journey of preparation, but who could have imagined that the destination for the 2020/21 incumbents would be so different?

I had planned to start my year off with a bang – straight into our District 1200 conference, the day after a joint Rotary and Inner Wheel handover which seemed to me to make perfect sense. Our conference committee had worked tirelessly to create a truly innovative conference programme for one day as opposed to a weekend, whereby we would proactively focus on non-Rotarians as well as Rotarians attending, with a parallel programme of fascinating and fun activities aimed at families – to encourage those who may not normally think of coming along. The best laid plans, and all that…!

Rotary Opens Opportunities 

However, as we are all adapting to a new pace and rhythm of life, some aspects of my year as DG do remain as planned. The overarching international theme for 2020/21 is ‘Rotary Opens Opportunities’, and it’s going to be the challenge for me – and indeed for every Rotarian – to spot the opportunities which this coronavirus pandemic has afforded us. The obvious one is the way we can hold meetings.

Adapting to a Virtual World 

Most of us are adapting to the virtual world (and some with an impressive grasp of new technology – though I only wish I could count myself in that group!) with meetings on platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and what this means is that clubs can, in the future, consider holding some of their regular meetings in this way. Whilst not every club or Rotarian may wish to do this, it does mean that we may attract new members who haven’t joined previously because they didn’t actually want to attend regular meetings with meals, etc. It is also the case that we are able to broaden our range of available speakers from an enormous pool of international sources, (and with no associated travel and subsistence costs!) and affords us the ability to invite many more non-Rotarians to zoom into our meetings if the topic is of interest to them.

And indeed, the fact that so many in our communities, and in Rotary, have pulled out all the stops to support others in these strange times, means that there may well be a pool of people who have discovered they enjoy volunteering, and may wish to join Rotary to maintain that sense of purpose, of fellowship, and of achievement. Again, an opportunity for us to showcase our incredible altruistic activities, and invite others to join us. I can’t do it alone – and you can all play your part in making the all important contacts.

District Conference Plans – Caring for our World

Returning to our District Conference plans – well, we’ve postponed to Saturday, April 17th next year, so please do put that date in your diaries and come along to what we hope will still be an interest-filled and rewarding day, with speakers such as Eddie the Eagle and Simeon Moore having confirmed their availability for this new date.

And what if we are all in lockdown again, you may well ask? Let’s hope and pray that is not the case, but if it is, then we will return to our online world and deliver a virtual conference – because life goes on, because many ‘Plan Bs’ and indeed ‘Plan Cs’ may need to be implemented, and because my objective is that we will see positive outcomes in District 1200 in this year. Challenges abound for all of us, but I’m determined that we will major on the silver lining and not the dark clouds of the pandemic!

Rory O’Donnell