While the term “Club Assembly” may sound formal and stuffy, our meeting today was nothing of the sort. It was held at “Saucy Flo’s” restaurant, at Canterbury Rugby Club, and as usual members enjoyed mingling together as well as some good food! We were also joined by our ADG Kevin Fielding, President Elect of the Sunrise Club, Andreas Tatt, and a couple of guests who are hoping to become members.
Rosemary, who is a former Lord Mayor of Canterbury, will be taking over the helm at the Club from current President Tony Loughran in a handover meeting at the end of June. She reminded members of some of the many events and activities lined up for the year ahead – including the Annual Charity Duck Race on the 10th September and the final of our Innovation Competition on the 28th June. We also have trips to the Law Courts and the Tower of London lined up, as well as a visit to St Quentin and our usual Bat & Trap challenge with our fellow Rotary Clubs. We will of course also continue to support these clubs in their activities and fundraisers, such as the Santa Sleigh drive in December. For Christmas we will be having dinner at the Granville.
Rosemary also outlined some changes at the club – the most significant being a change to our committee structure. Up until now we have had three main committees (community service, vocational and international) as well as a fundraising committee. In Rosemary’s year the community service and vocational committees will merge under the chairmanship of Richard Kemball-Cook. At the same time we will have a new committee – events and fundraising. Speaking about the new structure, Richard emphasised how the new structure with help keep our club right in the heart of the community, strengthening our relationships with local groups and organisations such as the Prince of Wales Youth Club, domestic violence charity Rising Sun, and hubs such as Thanington Neighborhood Resource Centre.
Our “fourth Tuesday” meetings will also become informal events that Rosemary hopes will be easier for people to attend and which should encourage new members.
During the meeting we also heard from Stephen Thompson about The Point, from the chair of International, Raj Dasan, about recent donations to Shelterbox and Lendwithcare, and from Kevin about upcoming events at District level – notably District Assembly in July and the District Conference in October. Kevin also spoke about the Rotary theme for this year: “Create Hope in the World“. He recounted the story of a lady who lost everything in the 2004 Tsunami and who declared that Rotary had given her hope for the future.
Picture: President Elect, Rosemary Doyle. Picture credit: Rosemary Doyle/Rotary Club of Canterbury.
