This week we will be meeting face to face in the Carnaby Room at Moerlina School. Our Assistant Governor, PDG Jerry Pilcher, will be visiting and will be our guest speaker. DGE Pat Schraven will also be visiting us this week.

We will be introducing "Happy Dollars" to our meetings this week, which is a lovely tradition embraced by may Rotary Clubs around the world; PP Simone introduced Happy Dollars to her Rotaract Club and it was a very popular part of the meeting! 

PP Di Collins & PP Simone Collins attended the "Concert for Peace and Unity" at Government House on Sunday 27th August 2023, which celebrated Ukraine's Independence.

PP Di Collins and the Rotary Club of Freshwater Bay received a special mention during the proceedings, for our assistance with providing a stage piano so that concerts in support of Ukrainian refugees could be provided in regional areas where a piano is not available.

Our annual member dues do not cover all the administrative costs of our club, with the bulk of those fees collected paid to Rotary International and our Rotary District for the dues they charge us for their administrative costs, plus Rotary Down Under for compulsory magazine subscription fees.

The weekly meeting fee helps our own remaining administrative and meeting costs, however dwindling attendance at meetings meant that our operating account incurred a substantial loss last financial year.

To help address this, the Club Board approved a change to how meeting fees will be paid from October 2023, bringing in a process that is common in many other clubs: paying meeting fees in advance, regardless of whether you attend or not.

From October 1st, all members will be invoiced $40 a month for meeting fees, payable by the 7th of the month. There will be no charge for 5th Wednesdays in the month. We encourage members to consider setting up a recurring payment from their bank account to take all the hassle out of remembering to make this payment.

This will greatly assist our club in many ways, particularly lightening the load for our Treasurer(s):

We also hope that this will provide more incentive for members to attend meetings wherever possible, and prioritise joining in via Zoom or watching the livestream where you can't make a face-to-face meeting, to get the full benefit from your meeting fee payment.

Sheila Cheng and LAU En Seng were invited by Rotarian Clara Tan to attend the Rotary Club of Singapore East's first meeting of the new Rotary Year on 2nd August 2023. LAU apologized for being unable to attend.

Sheila was warmly welcomed by the President, Frederick Khoo,and members and guests of the Rotary Club Singapore East (RCSE). Sheila spoke briefly about our club and projects, and offered to bake for a Rotary event. She also mentioned the invitation from a school principal who has requested that Sheila demonstrate mooncake making for parents during the Respite Care Activity in September. 
Clara very kindly offered to sponsor the mooncake making, which Sheila has conveyed to the school.

During the exchange of friendship, President Frederick presented Sheila with a bannerette of his club. In return, Sheila presented him a bag of home-made cookies on behalf of our club. 

RYLA is an intensive eight-day program designed for 18-28 year olds with leadership potential and a commitment to community service. The program is a unique opportunity aimed to bring participants out of their comfort zone and challenge them to think outside the square while actively using and building on their existing skills and knowledge.

RYLA includes seminars, workshops, physical activities and team games relating to areas including Communication and Public Speaking, Leadership, Team Work and Group Dynamics, Problem Solving and Decision Making, Goal Setting, Time Management and Self Awareness and Emotional Intelligence.

The next RYLA will be held at the Serpentine Camping Centre from Saturday 6th January – Saturday 13th January 2024.

Applicants are interviewed prior to acceptance onto RYLA.  Successful applicants will have the energy, commitment and motivation to develop their leadership potential and be willing to challenge themselves physically and mentally over the course of the program.  Applicants who have come via a Rotary Club receive priority acceptance into the program.

Rotary Club Sponsorship for a RYLA participant is $920, and the participant contribution is $250.  This includes all activities, accommodation and meals for the week.

As one of our main sources of income for our projects, your assistance in sourcing, collecting, and/or returning containers is greatly appreciated. 

Project Coordinator PP Simone Collins is happy to provide any information or support, either with providing bags or assisting with working with the Scouts if you know a workplace that is willing to help, or helping with a roster to collect from the Tee Box Cafe, which provides our main source of income.

Scotch College are no longer collecting containers from the Tee Box Cafe (it turns out that they stopped some time ago, but we weren't notified!) - we are able to collect from them every night again. This means that we need helpers please! PP Simone filled her car with 9 bags this afternoon to take to the depot, and PP Di had another 10 bags ready to go. Daily collection from the Tee Box makes a huge difference to our fundraising efforts!

So far in 2023/24, we've raised $257.00 from recycling containers.

A Rotarian in Adelaide, Mark Huddleston, has written the book "Creatures of Habit", which looks at understanding and disrupting the patterns of service club membership decline. It's a very valuable resource, now available as an e-book. The following is from Mark's blog, of the same name:

I was constantly praised for my hard work as a district membership chair and was often complimented for inspiring so many Rotarians with my membership messages. Positive feedback is always nice, but the only thing that grew was my ego. The district numbers continued their downward trendline across my three-year tenure. 

It took me a while to work out where my strategies were failing. It wasn’t the message or the delivery method, but the lack of willingness for clubs to wholeheartedly support change. This clearly was not unique to D9520. Over the last 5 or 6 years I've had literally hundreds of one-on-one conversations with Rotarians all over the world about their membership challenged clubs. They often come about after someone has seen me present at a conference or on a video or Zoom meeting, or read my book. The same story gets relayed over and over again. They like the ideas and concepts I've conveyed, but they struggle enormously getting them implemented.

This is not the first time I’ve made this statement, and it won’t be the last. Our global membership challenges are well understood and we have the answers. I’m not suggesting I personally have all the answers, but the answers are known. Our inability to turn around our membership fortunes is not due to a lack of knowledge, but a lack of will.

For those who haven’t heard it, let me share the number one reason that the Rotary Club of Seaford was born, or more to the point, why I personally instigated the process. I was frustrated with the lack of tangible results from my efforts as a district membership chair. I knew the ideas I shared (not all my own, many were borrowed from successful clubs elsewhere) would work if only they could be implemented. So, when the opportunity arose, I went for it. With the help of a small group of hard-working colleagues and the initial interest group, we got the club off the ground, and it has been a huge success. Why? Because we do things differently. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard comments from other clubs (not always to my face) that the things we do at Seaford wouldn’t work in their club. The reason these things won’t work in other clubs is pretty simple really; it’s because they would never try them.