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Chair: Nick Clift President Neville Taylor, welcomed members, guests and visiting Rotarians; Gene Pastidio – Guest of Lady Pastidio Jasmin Dhillon – visiting Rotarian from Rotary Club of Southbank Luz Restrepo – Guest Speaker, SisterWorks social enterprise
Neville then invited Chairperson Nicholas(Nick) Clift to propose a toast to the excellent work of Rotary International. In the absence of Gerard, Neville invited Alan Seale to tell all members his Truth or Tale. Alan told the members a gripping Tale about a sailing trip off the west coast of Scotland in a heat wave and mooring at a jetty and a confrontation with a big man with a gun. Announcements: Herb Greenwood: Russell Rolls: RC Central Melbourne is supporting the RC North Brighton International President’s Breakfast on August 31. It promises to be an interesting morning with the guest speaker being Ian Risely, the past Rotary International President. Please register directly through the link:http://northbrightonrotary.org.au/events/ then email Russell so that he can arrange the RC Central Melbourne table.
Anne King: Anne invited all members to a Vocational visit to launch Anne’s new business, Virtual CFO on 26ths Sep, 6pm & 8pm at Work Co. Anne’s will be focussing on the non for profit sector where there is an opportunity to deliver better financial outcomes. The business will use cloud accounting platforms for delivering services. Tickets are $15 which will go towards the Rotary Foundation. Nibbles will be provided and drinks can be bought at the bar at discounted prices. Bookings can be made on www.eventbrite.com.au.
Elias Lebbos: Campbell Chambers: Reached out to a few club members that might have connections through their professional networks that may be interested in supporting the 2018 Garden Designfest via advertising or raffle donations. If you have any immediate questions, please contact Campbell on 0477 353 175 or email: campbell@gardendesignfest.com.au
Alan Seale: Frank O’Brien: Therese Robinson: President Neville’s announcements: Kevin Walklate who is in recovery after his chemotherapy, travelled to Tailem Bend to visit the Bend Motorsport Park but on his way back had a fall and had to be admitted to Bendigo hospital. Kevin is to return home on Tuesday night. Recognising past members and their contribution to club and RI. The board has sent out invites to a number of honorary memberships to past members to recognise their legacy.
New member induction – Lady Pastidio: Neville welcomed Lady Pastidio to the Rotary family on behalf of 1.5 million Rotarians around the world. Lady is a second generation Rotarian and as known in the Philippines Rota kid. Having worked with Deloitte Philippines and Deloitte Singapore, Lady signed up for a stint at Deloitte Melbourne. Lady is an External Auditor by vocation and most of her clients are non-for-profits in Melbourne. Anne King has generously agreed to mentor Lady for the first few years in Lady’s Rotary journey. Lady has picked Youth Services as her preferred avenue of service, a cause she is passionate about. Lady will be doing the Oxfam Trail walk (100 Km) in January 2019, and asked members to wish her the best. Guest Speaker Presentation: Guest speaker Luz Restrepo gave an passionate and informative presentation about SisterWorks. As a political refugee, Luz arrived in Australia in 2010, with her life in tatters and spoke no English. She felt like a nobody: frightened, isolated and disempowered. But Luz soon discovered that she was not alone. In 2011, along with a group of 25 women experiencing similar challenges, they began to make and sell crafts around Melbourne. The group understood that to support each other was also to strengthen each other. Hence SisterWorks was formed. SisterWorks is a not-for-profit that exists to help women migrants, asylum seekers and refugees become financially independent and happily settled in Australia. The social enterprise currently supports 171 women from 55 countries, including 88 ‘Entrepreneurs’ – who create and sell their wares from our Richmond ‘Home’ – with the remaining sisters supporting this effort behind the scenes. The social enterprise also teaches their skills to others through workshops and shares their incredible stories through guest speaking opportunities. They foster those women with entrepreneurial ambitions, teach them skills, provide them a space to create and sell their wares, and the broader network of SisterWorks women supports them. Women with migrant, asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds are the community’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged newcomers. They face social isolation, domestic violence, long-term unemployment and dependence on government welfare. SisterWorks support women to support themselves. Luz called for all members to support SistersWorks. President Neville closed the meeting reminding us to “Be the Inspiration”. |
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