The Bernie Gerlinger Hope for the Future Scholarship
2026 Winter Sleeping Bag Appeal
Nominations for the 2026 Victorian RESCA are Open
Help Mawien Ariik Build a Health Clinic in South Sudan!
Gallery
NEXT MEETING
Rotary Central Melbourne meets at the RACV Club on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
If you would like to visit our meeting, you are welcome to join us at the Theatrette, Chancery Level of the RACV Club. There is no charge for attending the meeting.
If you would like a more general discussion about attending a Rotary meeting, please contact the club secretary at rotaryclubcentralmelbourne@gmail.com
The meeting will commence at 7:40 am and conclude no later than 8:30. Members and guests are invited to stay for coffee or breakfast in the RACV Club Bistro following the meeting.
Bryce McNair - Stopping Preventable Deaths in Australia’s Backyard
Bryce will introduce Australian Rotarians Against Malaria: why it exists, how it works, the challenges it faces, some success stories, and how the Rotary Club of Melbourne can help.
Bryce McNair is the Southern Region Chair of Australian Rotarians Against Malaria. He has a background in law, economics and accounting, spent 8 years as a ministerial adviser in Melbourne, Darwin and Canberra, ran a laboratory and two industry associations and was a management consultant before becoming a teacher. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Albury Wodonga Sunrise.
The International Student Mentoring Program, which was initiated by Ignacio and Rhys. Five mentors participate in a pilot program. One of the first objectives of the Rotary Club when it was formed was to help each other and to help young Rotarians. Doing good for the community came later. From mid-June several young people will attend the mentoring program.
Neville John
There will be two BBQ sessions on the same day (“Super Saturday”).
The Sleeping Bag Appeal asks for donation of unwanted sleeping bags or $40 for the purchase of a sleeping bag. 50 bags has already been delivered. The homeless people were eager to line up and grab them. Peter Duras will deliver another 30 on Saturday.
Year to date to end of March, RIMERN has received $47k worth of goods
John Ilott
The Victorian Police Leadership Mentoring Program was initiated by RCM in 2007. It is the longest running and the most rewarding mentoring program that the police has. The program builds senior sergeants’ capability in managing external stakeholders and working with communities.
This club has 5 mentees for 15-18 months. They may be invited to be guest speakers, or they may join the sausage sizzles.
Rhys Williams
Rhys introduced Purva Bhoir, an international student from India studying at Monash University. She’s keen to meet people and to volunteer.
Following the previous meeting's presenation from Warwick Cavill and Pat Wilson about The Community Employment Partnership, members requested an email template to contact businesses in thier network.
‘Dear ….
Rotary Central Melbourne is working on an impactful project that assists people with Intellectual Disability and Autism find employment. It’s a collaboration between Rotary and Belonging Matters, a not-for-profit organisation, and the project is based on a highly successful Rotary project started in Canada over 25 years ago.
There can be significant benefits to businesses who take up this opportunity and some of those were reported in the Harvard Business Review July-August 2023. These include the following:
Disabilities often confer unique talents
The presence of people with disabilities often elevates the culture, making it more collaborative and boosting productivity
Develops a reputation for inclusiveness enhancing a firm's value proposition with customers
Being recognised as socially responsible gives a firm an edge in the competition for capital and talent
As Rotarians we have been asked to reach out to our business and social connections to see if anyone is looking for reliable employees. If this is something of interest to you. I can introduce you to Belonging Matters. They have a range of qualified jobseekers keen to find casual, part time or fulltime work, with a range of skills and interests that could be an ideal match for your business needs.
Belonging Matters work with a business to match the skills and interests of a jobseeker to the needs of the business. They also offer onsite job support and assist both the workplace and the candidate as new job tasks are learned. They offer this service for as long as is required to ensure the appointment is a success long term. This significantly reduces the risks to the business, even more so than traditional employment approaches.
I would be happy to introduce you to Belonging Matters via email and they will arrange time to speak to you further. There is no obligation to employ but just to explore the idea. It may not be something for now but could be something you come back to later. I just think it is a good opportunity to find out about something different that could be of a benefit to the business.
This video shows examples of how The Community Employment Partnership works with testimonals from businesses and the success stories.'
For over 30 years, Rotary Central Melbourne (RCM) has partnered with Steps Outreach, a service of Concern Australia, to support people who are at risk of or have experienced homelessness to build a better future. RCM members donate Christmas hampers and the club facilitates corporate gift giving through the Tree of Joy. It has provided other support over the years including food vouchers and personal hygiene kits. It now sponsors a scholarship program named in honour of Past President Bernie Gerlinger.
The Bernie Gerlinger Hope for the Future Scholarship Program provides school essentials to enable awardees to remain in school and participate in out of school activities commonplace to most students but out of reach for them.
For example, the scholarship provides things like uniform, shoes, textbooks, art supplies, backpacks, music lessons and support to get a driving licence. The program goes beyond material support though, with Steps Outreach also providing assistance from a youth worker and a mentor for each participant.
The students have all faced significant challenges in their young lives. Some have developmental issues. They commonly live in high-rise public housing, couch surf and / or have experienced homelessness. There is often a history of domestic violence, poverty and grief and loss. In most cases one parent has died leaving a father or mother to raise the child.
The combination of material and personal support has been life changing.
For example, one student passed year 12 with high marks while living in in-secure housing. She is now studying Law at university and working part time. Another completed Year 12 and also attained a Cert 111 in Warehousing and Logistics. Yet another is in Year 12, has been accepted into a pilot hospitality course overseen by William Angliss. He works and trains part of the week and attends school for the rest of the time.
Other students are in lower grades in school and are doing well, often with the intensive support of the Steps youth worker. The attached case study demonstrates the value of this intensive youth work and mentoring.
WINTER SLEEPING BAG APPEAL – SLEEPING BAGS FOR THE HOMELESS
Rotary Central Melbourne supports two local homeless welfare centres, namely Youth Projects (located in Hosier Lane) and St Mary’s House of Welcome (located in Fitzroy). They both provide a wide range of services to homeless people in the CBD and inner suburbs of Fitzroy/Collingwood, including the distribution of over 400 sleeping bags to help those sleeping rough through the approaching cold winter.
This time last year, we provided a large number of sleeping bags to both organisations, which were quickly distributed to their clients and much appreciated. We want to do so again. The need is real as the numbers sleeping rough have escalated and temperatures will soon be dropping. Our objective is to collect or purchase at least 170 sleeping bags and distribute them in April/ May. This should be achievable given a successful Rotary District 9800 Foundation Grant application. This is effectively the return of previously donated funds to The Rotary Foundation, back to clubs to match funding on worthy projects. The Rotary Foundation's matching grant structure is one of many good reasons why we support donations to them - those donations are offered back to clubs to do good in the world.
The Community Service Committee is now seeking your support in any the following ways: 1. Donate any unwanted sleeping bags your family, your friends or you may have (in good condition that are winter grade). 2. Visit your local op shops to see if you can purchase winter grade sleeping bags (in good condition) for modest prices and drop them in to one of the committee members listed below. 3. Donate to Rotary Central Melbourne by depositing funds into RCM’s bank account (details below) before 15 April 2026 – and note as “sleeping bags”. Forty dollars will purchase one bag. If you plan to donate funds, please contact Rebecca John (email below) and let her know how many bags you are donating funds for. We will then purchase bags from a supplier who sell high quality winter grade bags at a very competitive price. 4. If you have sleeping bags you can contact any of the following Community Service committee members either to drop sleeping bags off with them or for pick up from you, by 30 April 2025:
· Tom Callander (East Malvern) tcallander@rigbycooke.com.au · Rebecca John (Eaglemont) beng1@iprimus.com.au · Rohan Williams (St Kilda) rdwrcm@gmail.com · Peter Duras (Southbank) peter.duras@bigpond.com
Sleeping bags should preferably be “zero or minus 4 degrees centigrade” grade, but all will be gratefully accepted.
RCM Banking details are as follows: Bank Westpac BSB - 033000 Account Number – 791085 Please make a note of your name and sleeping bags.
If you have any questions, please contact Tom Callander or Rebecca John.
Nominations for the 2026 Victorian Rotary Emergency Service Community Awards (RESCA) are open now, from March until the end of April.
The Vic RESCA awards cover all recognised emergency service agencies operating in Victoria. There are many deserving people that are worthy of being recognised and Rotarians are ideally placed to know who these people are in their communities. The attached flyer contains all the necessary details for nominations.
Vic RESCA also supports Emergency Service Foundation (ESF) scholarships up to $10k each for 2 ES personnel each year to embark on a study tour with particular relevance in improving the ES sector.
Over the last 3 years of the awards we have recognised 37 finalists from across Victoria and all the ES agencies in both a volunteer and paid capacity. Of our 2 winners each year four of the six have also been recognised as winners at the National level highlighting the success of our program. To learn more about these remarkable humans, please head to the website: https://www.vic.rescawards.org.au/
View the latest promotional video on our facebook page and we invite you to follow and share the page and posts.
Please contact Kerrie Hicks if you need any more information or would like to discuss anything related to Vic RESCA. https://www.vic.rescawards.org.au/
Save the date: Saturday 29th August 2026 at the Greenacres Golf Course, Melbourne for the 2026 Vic RESCA Awards Ceremony!
Our Club has had a long involvement with our member Mawien Ariik’s South Sudanese Health Matters Incorporated (SSHMI). Recently, SSHMI completed a very successful menstrual hygiene project for 800 girls in remote Lou Ariik Village. The outcome was enhanced school attendance, fewer medical problems and improved attitudes to menstruation.
In recognition that Lou Ariik Village is a very poor village in one for the poorest countries in the world, SSHMI is raising funds to build a small, primary health clinic.
It has just launched an appeal: https://together-we-build.southsudanesehealth.org/.
Maternal health will be a key priority of the clinic’s work.
Please read it and your help will be greatly appreciated.
