District 9800 will continue its commitment to consolidate and grow Interact in both the Metropolitan and regional centres during 2021-22 with some exciting initiatives which will support existing sponsor clubs, encourage the introduction of new clubs and provide training and development for our Interact club members.
District 9800 is very proud of the achievements of its eight Interact clubs. Like Rotary, they are experiencing difficult times during the current lockdown and many of their projects have stalled.
Whilst it is acknowledged that we are going through rather bleak times, we must remain positive and look forward to our Interact future as there will be a return to normalcy at some time in the future.
In the Rotary 2021-22 year, District 9800 has decided to increase its focus on Interact, and the other Youth arms of Rotary, such as Early Act and Rotaract. Therefore, a new “Acts” committee has been formed headed by Past District Governor Julie Mason under our Pathways to Rotary program. This committee is tasked with consolidating our current clubs and to encourage clubs throughout District 9800 to consider sponsoring new EarlyAct, Interact and Rotaract clubs, particularly in regional areas where we currently have nil or very few clubs.
In relation to Interact, our District has decided on a fresh approach and Des O’Shanassy from Hoppers Crossing and Jane Watters from Woodend will be the Interact coordinators for the District this year, with many new initiatives to be introduced to support existing clubs and to encourage new Interact clubs in Metropolitan Melbourne and in Regional areas.
Some of the planning includes encouraging all Interact members to participate in the third Multi District Interact Conference scheduled for early 2022, and participation in the District 9810 Interact District Assembly Attendance in December as our District clubs have now been invited by District 9810 to attend.
The third initiative will be the introduction of a new Interact District Council where leaders from each Interact club will meet key Rotarians on a semi regular basis to discuss issues, planning and special events.
A brief description of the proposed Council:
To support all Interact Clubs of D9800 in their community service activities.
To provide a means of communication and collaboration between all Interact clubs.
To facilitate regular leadership training for Interact office bearers.
To publicise Interact in the District and beyond its boundaries.
To work in collaboration with the District’s Rotaractors in matters of mutual co-operation and to help to provide easy pathways from Interact to Rotaract.
To foster the development of new Interact clubs in D9800.
To encourage all Interact clubs to meaningfully connect with the wider world of Interact and Rotary International, especially on projects of mutual benefit.
To facilitate co-operation and communication between other Victorian Interact clubs in the context of Multi-District conferences and allied activities.
To maintain an accurate record of all Interact clubs in D9800 and to ensure that all contact information is updated with R.I. and D9800’s database.
Finally, in August commenced regular Zoom meetings with our eight sponsor club Interact liaison officers and their deputies, and reports on the activities of all Interact clubs will be reported to the District Leadership teams via the District Youth Committee. Easy to read templates on establishing an Interact club are being developed and will be added to the Youth Services section of our District 9800 website as soon as possible.
So, we now invite District 9800 Rotary clubs to seriously discuss the option of sponsoring your own Interact club during this Rotary year. For further information please contact the following:
Des O’Shanassy (Rotary Hoppers Crossing) mob 0401 287050
email: desoshanassy@hotmail.com
Jane Watters (Rotary Woodend) mob. 0473 246 559
Email: brenjanewatters@gmail.com