Our guest speaker was Acting Inspector Chris Allan who shared stories from his time on the force as well as the changing leadership style in Victoria Police and addressing mental health issues that face their members.
It was a pleasure to welcome Marilyn Ryan – welfare officer at Altona RSL, friend of the club, Bob Hawkins and Joe Horan from Bayside College (who was instrumental in finding RYPEN students for the upcoming program).
On Saturday 23rd, the Donations In Kind (DIK) warehouse is having an open day. We are meeting at 11am if you are interested.
The Charity Golf day committee are seeking new sponsors for next year. Contact Charlie if you have any ideas.
RC of Wyndham Harbour will be celebrating their Charter on Sat 6th of April.
Kay and Charlie will be doing the Memory Walk, in honour of Charlie’s brother George who is battling dementia. If you’d like to sponsor them, let Charlie know.
Acting Inspector Chris Allan gave us a terrific talk about modern Policing, including a couple of precarious situations when he was with a specialist critical response unit.
Chris' introduction highlighted some of Altona City Rotary's signature projects, and a couple of our past keynote Speakers- Major Brooke Jones and Bernadette Schwerdt. He clearly does his homework thoroughly...
Chris is another Kiwi, coming to Aust. in 1998. Started in a bank, living at "Backpackers," before joining the Police and training at the Police Academy in Glen Waverley.
After a posting in Moe, he transferred to Richmond, and later spent 7 years with the Critical Response Unit.
He gave us a couple of examples of the challenges of facing precarious situations dealing with a mentally ill drug affected person, and a person threatening suicide with a firearm.
Chris discussed the importance of Mental Health within Vic Pol. While there is still a big stigma around mental health, they are trying to disrupt the stigma by openly acknowledging mental health and talking about it.
Leadership style is very important. In some critical response situations an authoritarian approach may work, but the priority now is to select leaders who are people focussed, and who can show "confident humility."
For those available, an Altona Community Conversation Forum will be held at Hobsons Bay Council on Wed 27 March 19 at 6.00pm. Hear from guest speakers Senior Sergeant David Galea, Neighbourhood Watch, Crime Statistics Agency and members from Vic Pol speciality squads. (Register on line via Eventbrite or contact Sergeant Lori Cuthbert on 9392 3111).
Photo: Acting Inspector Chris Allan with ACRC Rotarian & Justice of the Peace (JP) Loretta Cormack.
My Brother George has Dementia on Sunday the 5th May Kay and I will be taking part in the Melbourne Memory WALK & JOG. We will be walking 5 km, any sponsorship will be appreciated.
Open Day at the DIK Store on Saturday March 23rd. This is an opportunity for members to visit the store between 10am and 3pm and see just what the store can provide for projects that you might have in mind. It can also serve as a great thought starter for projects. We would love to see you there.
Suggest we can meet at DIK AT 11AM and then for those who are interested we can go and have some lunch together.
I will have an interest sheet at our meeting on Monday the 18th March 2019
Dale Hoy has been a member of the Rotary Club of Brighton for 15 years and has served on the Board as a director of Vocational Services, Fundraising, Foundation, Community Service and was President in 2016/17. He has been a trainer/facilitator for the District Rotary Leadership Institute "RLI" for the past 2 years and is the current AG for the Batman Cluster.