Club meeting Thursday 4th August – VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
A presentation has been arranged to provide information about the proposed Rotary Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot Project at our club meeting on Thursday 4th August. The presentation will be led by District Governor Elect Craig Dowling and someone (to be confirmed) from the District Communications Team.
It is imperative that ALL Rotarians attend this presentation and learn as much as possible about the intentions and implications of this Pilot Project, as EVERY Rotarian will be required to vote for or against the Project at a time to be determined within the next few months.
It is essential that you make the effort to attend on Thursday 4th August, so that you are well-informed and able to make the right choice as to whether this Project goes ahead.
You must advise Marie by Friday 22nd July whether OR NOT you will be attending on Thursday 4th August, as numbers will determine if we need a different venue for the meeting.
Secretary Sandie Simons
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Welcome Home Gavin -Thursday August 25th 2022
A very special Rotary meeting at the Vine Inn has been arranged for the above date. All members, partners and friends are asked to make every effort to attend. Please put this date in your diaries.
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President Peter's (Words of Wisdom).
REPORT FOR ROTARY CLUB BULLETIN, DATED 21ST JULY 2022
Firstly thank you for members’ support and attendance at recent President’s Changeover dinner. I am looking forward to being your President for Rotary year 2022-23 and leading the Club forward.
It was important that the initial speaker for this Rotary year was Cathy Main, CEO of the Barossa Co-op. A report on Cathy Main’s presentation is included later in this bulletin, so I shall not repeat a summary of it. However, I would like to offer my thanks and gratitude for Rotarians Sue Graetz and Keith Adams who have had discussions with Cathy about the Barossa Co-op being a corporate supporter of the Club through RYLA. We can be confident that a Barossa Co-op employee shall be a participant in this year’s RYLA programme. Sue and Keith are continuing to hold discussions and I feel confident that the Club and Barossa Co-op shall form a close relationship. As they say “watch this space”.
There are two meetings during August that are important for the Club:
- August 4th. District Governor Elect Craig Dowling shall address Club members on the Regionalisation of Rotary in Australia. Regionalisation refers to a three year pilot programme that shall have a significant change to the structure of Rotary in Australia. Whilst it will not have a direct affect on individual Australian Rotary clubs, potentially the support provided and district leadership of Rotary clubs will be significantly changed.
I would encourage all Club members to attend this meeting and listen to DGE Craig’s presentation. At a future date, all Club members will have the right to vote on Rotary’s district structure. Please register with Attendance officer Marie Rothe that you will be attending this meeting.
- August 25th. Gavin Sidhu is returning to the Barossa Valley and will be guest speaker at this meeting. Gavin was the leader and driver of the Rotary Uganda-Australia School & Community Dental Health Promotion Project. It is not an exaggeration that this project is one of the most important with which this Rotary Club has been involved, particularly from a financial point of view. Include in this bulletin is a report from Gavin on this project.
Members are encouraged to invite their spouse or partner to attend this very important presentation. Because of the expected large attendance (there will be members of fellow Rotary clubs also attending), this meeting shall be held at the Vine Inn, 6.30pm for 7.00pm.
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Board Members reports.
Community - James Dunn. Plans to increase community presence and expand Rotary Base. 25th September plan for BBQ event.
Vocational – Bryce Lillecrapp. Having a meeting on Monday. Plans for visits to locals such as the Bush Garden and to get Guest Speakers from our community.
Sue Graetz- Membership. Planning to implement District recommendations in Marketing, Personal experience, Credibility and customer experience.
Peter Thomas – International. Report given by President Peter as PT was apology. Gavin will report on Uganda and Peter T has a new international project in mind.
Pru Maitland – New Generations. Report given by President Peter as PM was apology. Support for our Faith Students will continue. RYPEN, RYLA, NYSF, Santos Science Forum and the Science Challenge will be supported.
Keith Adams – Program. The dates for the next meetings are filling up with some interesting speakers already booked in. Some bookings are 15th Sept John Semmler introduce Adelaide Uni student Luca Harper.
22nd Sept possible Darts competition at Kapunda.
Keith Millington – Airshow. The Airshow will be on 16th April 2023. The committee is already working on setting up the Airshow with a lot of preliminary planning and preparation completed. We intend to make this the best Airshow.
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Guest Speaker Cathy Main
I feel honoured to be able to share a little about my career journey
and the ambitions for our wonderful Barossa Co-op.
I am a Mum of 2 wonderful adult kids – Sarah and Ben.
I have been away from Adelaide for the last 5 years working in both Melbourne
and more recently Sydney.
For the last 14.5 years I have worked at Westfield, running small
and large shopping centres;
and more recently working in support office in more of a HR role.
When I was contacted about the CEO role at the Barossa Co-op I thought this was such an amazing opportunity to seriously consider.
It’s rare that you get to work for an organisation owned by the Community.
We have such a meaningful purpose, “Make living in the Barossa better”.
If we are successful, the community will directly benefit.
It’s on that basis, one of our key ambitions is to ensure we listen to our Members and customers and deliver what they need and want.
Add value…. and make sure there is an emotional connection
to the Barossa Co-op.
So where do I see The Barossa Co-op being in 5 years’ time?
We are working with 5 key pillars in mind:
Our Customers and Members:
Delivering value to our members and customers – whether it be discounts, rebates, exclusive events, promotions, or feedback
on things that are loved or missing.
Our people:
That we are offering people living in the Barossa a career,
not just a job – that means ongoing training, career and development plans.
Our retail offer:
That our employees feel a strong, positive connection with the Co-op
and they have a great experience when they are working with us.
Our Barossa Co-op and other Brands:
That we provide the right categories, retailers, brands, products
and services that meet and exceed the needs of the Barossa community.
Our financial performance:
And finally, we continue to grow sales and profitability so we can
continue to expand our offer, create more employment
opportunities and wealth generation in the Barossa
Specific to the Co-op we have systems that work but require future
investment and upgrading to drive productivity and efficiency gains.
Speaking of efficiency, we are focused on driving environmental
and sustainability initiatives – we have started our journey with LED light replacement, recyclable bags, organic waste back to farmers for feed,
recycling cardboard and paper; but there are many other initiatives
to progress whilst making sure they are giving us the right commercial
pay back – solar, building management systems for
lighting & aircon, water usage and so on.
Thank you for listening and I look forward to seeing you
in and around the community.
(if you would like a copy of Cathy's entire well written presentation
send an email to the bulletin editor)
Cathy receiving thanks from Sue.
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Barossa Valley Foundation - Student Scholarships
Secretary John Semmler has received the following detail from
The University of Adelaide.
Hi John
Apologies for the delay as Josie Gray has been away.
The 2022 Rotary Club of Barossa Valley Foundation Scholarship has been awarded to Luca Harper.
Luca is enrolled in the first year of the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Psychology (Advanced) program.
Please find details attached and we hope to see you at the Scholarship Celebration on 12 October later this year.
Once again, our sincerest gratitude to your organisation for supporting
these scholarships.
Kindest regards
Pina Noack
Donor Stewardship Officer | Advancement
Division of External Engagement
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
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Rotary Club of Barossa Valley Foundation Scholarship
2022 Recipient Luca Harper
We are pleased to advise the successful recipient is Luca Harper.
Luca is enrolled in the first year of the Honours Degree of the Bachelor of Psychology (Advanced) program. He achieved an ATAR of 98.25 in Year 12 at Xavier College. Luca was elected College Captain and awarded the Xavier Platinum Medal for his contributions to the school community.
Luca was awarded the Order of Australia Association Student Citizen Award for his contribution to the local community.
Luca relocated from Wiliamstown in the Barossa Valley to commence his studies at the University of Adelaide. He is very grateful for the support and encouragement provided through this scholarship towards his living away from home, study, and travel expenses.
Luca is looking forward to his studies at the University and pursuing his aspirations to help others through Psychology. We look forward to sending you the 2022 progress report later in the year.
We advise the 2022 Scholarship Celebration will be held on Wednesday 12 October 3.00-4.30pm at the National Wine Centre. Invitations for this event will be forwarded to you and your student in coming months, so please mark the date in your diary.
On behalf of the University of Adelaide, we thank you for your valued support for students.
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An amazing summary of Gavin's work in Uganda.
Between the 14th and 21st of April 2022, Barossa Valley Rotarian Dr Gavin Sidhu and his wife, Mrs Lifen Sidhu were in Mbarara, Southern Uganda, helping with the commencement of the Rotary Uganda-Australia School & Community Dental Health Promotion Project. This project was the result of years of work by the Rotary Club of the Barossa Valley in conjunction with clubs from Group 9, District 9500 and the Rotary Club of Mbarara East which culminated in the approval of an AU$90000 Global Grant. Through this Global Grant tens of thousands of Ugandan children in schools and adults in surrounding communities will get to learn about toothbrushing and diet while also receiving simple dental treatment. This will help towards the project's goal of increasing oral health to reduce the burden of dental disease. The first 7 days of the project were spent working with orphanages, schools, refugee camps and 3 different rural community centres. On the 14th and 15th of April, the project staffed with dentists Dr Gavin Sidhu, Dr Joseph Opendi (the dentist coordinating the dental component on the Ugandan side) and early childhood educator Mrs Lifen Sidhu visiting Divine Mercy Baby School in Mbarara city. This orphanage provides a safe space with food and education for hundreds of children, who treat each other like members of one big family. Dr Kangaroo (Gavin) and Dr Crane (Joseph) explained brushing and diet to the children and screened all 111 children. Thanks to a minimal sugar diet, only 14 had decay which was then treated. Mrs Panda (Lifen)went through toothbrushing with each child individually and then made Play-Do and blew bubbles with the kids as a reward. On the 16th of April, Gavin, Joseph & Lifen were joined by Rotaractors from the clubs of Nakivale and Mbarara City at Shabani Social Program initiative, a school in the Nakivale Refugee Camp. Whilst Uganda is poor, it is a safe and stable country with an open refugee policy. As such, thousands of people from neighbouring countries, including Congo, South Sudan and Somalia, fleeing fighting and persecution in their homeland end up in the Nakivale refugee camp. Many of the refugees want a better outcome for their collective future, with a vibrant Rotaract club being active in the community and one man' Moise Sarick, opening up a free community-run school to educate the next generation. 111 children were screened, with only 5 needing work. The children were rewarded with bubbles at the end of the session. To finish the day, Rotarian Dr Gavin and Dr Joseph were the speakers at the Rotaract Club of Nakivale, On the 18th of April, Dr Kangaroo, Dr Crane and Mrs Panda went to a small community-based orphanage Mercy Child Samaritan Care, 32 children were seen, only 4 had decay, again due to a minimal sugar diet. The 19th, 20th and 21st of August were community-based services which differed from the school focused services provided in the week prior. A large team from the Rotary Club of Mbarara East, the Rotaract Club of Mbarara City and Dentists from the Mbarara Referral Hospital helped contribute to 3 busy days of community care. More than 100 people were seen each day at the Kabwohe Health centre, Kihunda Health Centre and Nyarubungo Health Centre. The majority of the community members approached requiring dental care (mostly large decay requiring extraction). Dental education and a toothbrush were given to every patient before they left. The financial support provided to this project by many South Australian Rotary and Rotaract clubs is already reaping rewards. ln the first 7 days alone -700 Ugandans, both children and adults, received dental care and education they otherwise would not have. This will quickly expand to thousands this year and tens of thousands from next year. The Rotary Club of Mbarara East, the dentists from the Mbarara Referral Hospital, the various Ugandan school & community organisations and the Ugandan people themselves thank everyone involved in making this Project a reality.
Back home. Now living and working in Canberra
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allkids
The following letter has been received from Paul Otto on behalf of the 'ALLKIDS program in Cambodia. You will recall that our club supported
PDG Jeff Neale's wife Jenny's project in assisting with the building
of a school in Cambodia.
(If members would like a copy of the AllKids Newsletter send an email to the bulletin editor.)
To The Rotary Club of Barossa Valley.
I am pleased to present the attached update regarding the development of the AllKids Prek Trabaek Centre in Cambodia, RAOAF 19 of 2021 2022, and supported by the Rotary District 9510, and sponsored by the Rotary Club of St Peters in Adelaide.
I have also attached a copy of AllKids recent quarterly newsletter for your interest.
In September 2021, AllKids commenced a pilot program in the Prek Trabaek area in a leased premises and the Learning Centre has been very well accepted by the children and families of the local community with around 70 primary school aged children attending daily. We recently started a small kindergarten program and now have 11 pre-schoolers attending for 2 hours each week-day. Remember that these children had no access to formal education prior to AllKids commencing operations in their area. Apart from their academic subjects of Khmer literacy and mathematics, they are thrilled to have access to our English classes, IT programs and a range of art, sport and performance activities.
In early June, we commenced construction of our own centre in the area and were lucky that the rain held off for most of June and we were able to get most of the site preparation, drainage and foundations completed. Please see attached update. I will send these reports monthly to keep you up to date with our progress. Our lease on the current rented premises ends on June 30th 2023 and I am very confident that we will have the new centre completed well before that time.
The local families are very appreciative that AllKids have joined their community to provide education for their children and this would not have been possible without the generous support of the Rotary District 9510. I would like to pass on my sincere thanks for your generosity in donating towards this exciting project.
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