Rotary Club of Wellington (RCW)

🌟 The Rotary Club of Wellington is proud of our network and commitment to bringing quality speakers. We are excited to host Tamatha Paul, Wellington Central MP and Green Party Spokesperson, at our rotary meeting. With her deep Māori (Waikato Tainui, Ngāti Awa) and European heritage, Tamatha offers a unique perspective on Corrections, Courts, Housing, Justice, Police, Wellington Issues, and Youth. Her impressive background includes advocating for inner-city densification, safer city initiatives, and the restoration of Māori place names during her time as a Wellington City Councillor. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a leader dedicated to meaningful change. 📅 Date: 2nd September, 2024 (Monday) ⏰ Time: 5.30 pm - 7.00 pm 📍 Venue: The Wellington Club, Terrace 📍 Map: https://g.co/kgs/v5yMwr2 ✅ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/gBbjEX2n #TamathaPaul #rotary #rotaryclubofwellington #GreenParty #wellington #newzealand

Recent survey insights from the Rotary Club of Wellington shows that we Rotarians love fun evenings out, enjoying live performance, verbatim play and sharing meals. It’s a fantastic way to engage in warm conversations and connect like family. Here are some glimpses of how we bring this fun to life—these pictures truly capture the essence! We’re dedicated to revitalizing our club to keep the experience enjoyable and engaging. Events: CinCin,Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington,Dragons Restaurant,Circa Theatre #Rotaryclubofwellington #RotaryLife #MemberConnections #ClubFun

A recent PhD study, partially funded by our club, could revolutionize early detection and treatment of bowel cancer. Annabelle Greenwood’s research mainly focused on identifying genetic biomarkers in blood plasma. These novel small non-coding RNA markers show promise as predictors for early diagnosis and responses to treatment. This breakthrough could lead to a non-invasive diagnostic tool for early-stage bowel cancer. It also offers insights into tumor behavior and potential treatment strategies. Let’s celebrate science and Rotary making a difference! 💪 🙌 🎉

Stephanie A. Urchick has taken over as this year's Rotary International President - and has a great message about diversity and being people of action. She says: "We know that most members are introduced to Rotary through friends, who may share the same values, background, or education. Let’s grow Rotary by inviting people from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives who also share our passion for community and service to join us and become people of action." Well said - it's what we're all about! Why not come along to one of our meetings and find out for yourself? 😁

As part of our club revitalisation, we’re phoning our members to ask what they enjoy about being part of Rotary, and what isn’t so enjoyable. Hopefully this means we can shape our club into something that appeals to current members - and also new members. We're hoping out club can be something people are proud to be part of and enjoy - and that people will want to be part of. Stay tuned!

July has been maternal and child health month. Rotary makes high-quality health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger. Rotary also helps expand access to quality care, so mothers and children everywhere can have the same opportunities for a healthy future. This is especially important because an estimated 5.9 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation—all of which can be prevented. Rotary provides education, immunisations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease. You can learn more about what we're doing to help improve people's lives around the world by coming along to one of our meetings! The next is this coming Monday at 12:15pm at The Boatshed on the Wellington waterfront. We hope to see you there! 😀 https://lnkd.in/guiF5eXG

Anil Thapliyal is well-known for pioneering the design, development and implementation of eMental Health initiatives around the globe. His reputation is built on work in New Zealand, Australia, the US and Canada in the areas of strategy, policy and implementation of scalable eMental Health solutions. Examples include the National Depression Initiative (The Lowdown & The Journal) here in New Zealand. He is guided by his belief that “we must focus on the service user, their families and carers. If it does not work for them, it does not work." Feel free to come along to our next meeting at 12:15pm on Monday, August 5 at The Wellington Club (88 The Terrace in Wellington) for what promises to be an interesting and important talk!

At our changeover of Club presidents on June 10 was also the unveiling of this year's Paul Harris Fellows. These Fellowships celebrate members who have done tremendous good for the community, both here in Wellington and the wider world. Christine Hurley was named a Fellow for her work with childhood vaccinations in the Pacific, an initiative which has raised more than $7 million and made a real, lifesaving difference to many thousands of children in the region. Peter Cullen was also named a Fellow for his Democracy Project. In its second year, the initiative is an opportunity for young people to learn about democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand by meeting some of the key people involved in it. About 100 students from 24 schools have been taking part this year, from as far away as Wanganui. The Democracy Project is a series of workshops - and the next is this coming Monday (June 17) at Loaves & Fishes (next to St Paul's Cathedral at 2 Hill Street in Thorndon). All club members are welcome to attend - assistance with set up and take down afterwards would be greatly appreciated. If keen to help, please arrive about 3:30pm, or talk to Peter Cullen for more information. Congratulations Christine and Peter, and thank you for all that you do! You're tremendous examples we can all follow - and remember, if you're doing something great in the community (or have some ideas), get in touch and let us know! 😀 Image, from left: outgoing President Julie Haggie, incoming President Roger Blakeley, Peter Cullen, and Christine Hurley.

Ever wonder where Rotary's wheel logo comes from? Our new Club president Roger Blakeley has the answer. As he says, the first design was made by Chicago Rotarian Montague Beat, an engraver, who drew a simple wagon wheel, later adding a few lines to show dust and indicate motion. Since 1924, all Rotary clubs have used the emblem we recognize today, with the number of teeth and spokes intended to reflect a real, working gear wheel. "Gear wheels can be small, vital components. They keep moving. They can be adjusted when damaged. They intermesh with larger gear wheels. Our Club is currently small, but still plays a vital role in our community." Well said, Roger!

Another initiative of new president Roger is revitalising our Club and increasing membership. It's no secret Rotary clubs around the world have struggled to retain members and attract new members. Terms of reference are: - To explore options that will revitalise membership of our Club. - To make recommendations to the RCW Board on the preferred pathway for the Club. - Report to Board by mid-September 2024. The first meeting of the group was yesterday (Tuesday). As part of kicking off the meeting, President Roger asked each member to say in five minutes what they think are the primary causes of declining membership, and what they think are the best opportunities to revitalise membership. A conversation about revitalising our Club also took place at the June 24 lunch meeting. Among the takeaways include: - Spreading good news stories about what our club is doing. - Inviting our club members to be speakers to learn about their expertise. - Instead of fellowship time - create ways to learn more about each other's experience & skills. - Involve other clubs in our project and our social events. It's a big project, but it's good to get the ball rolling. Stay tuned for more - and if you'd like to help, let us know! A great start too is joining our Club if you're not a member already! 😁