Guest Speaker Thomas Wellstead from Nagle Catholic College;

The Importance of Education

Thomas represented his winning speech from the District Heat. He has been selected to contest the Final of the Four Way Speaking Contest in Perth. Rotarian Clark Scarff (Batavia Coast) has been tutoring Thomas in the finer skills of presentation and it showed magnificently.

Education is it a waste of time? Thomas wove the four Rotary Principles - Is it the truth? Is it fair? Will it build goodwill? Is it beneficial to all concerned? - throughout his presentation. He gave an example of each as it applied to his topic – the main thrust of which is that knowledge is power.

Clark Scarff  RC of Batavia Coast) offered a critique after describing Thomas as enthusiastic and smart. He has improved immensely on the presentation he made only a few weeks ago. Congratulations Thomas.

Anyone who can attend the final in Perth on September 5^th at Anzac House is welcome to attend.

Don Rolston provided a copy of “Reflections of HMAS Sydney II Memorial” for Thomas.

Grant Woodhams thanked Thomas for his presentation and gave him a Rotary Certificate indicating we had donated 50 shots of vaccine in his name in our ongoing fight against Polio.

Caption: Clark Scarff, Thomas Wellstead, Vanessa Wellstead

Guest Speaker- (accompanied by visual presentation) Brenton Wellington from Transformative Growth Institute runs the Blokehood Camps. Note we (RCGG) sponsored two young men to go on the Blokehood camp.

Brenton said when he reached twenty five he was frustrated at everything he didn't know and hadn't been taught. On that basis he has developed a programme to support young men and deal with stereotypes of masculinity and why young men believe in certain things.

He told us that young men need to get away from Mum and being mothered.

One of the great problems is that when a lot of boys reach 18, they have a party and get drunk, and that is their initiation into manhood. There are no genuine or meaningful connections. This can be accompanied by little in the way of passing on ideas and sometimes there is too much protection. Brenton believes it is important for boys/men to discover their boundaries.

One of the major issues is anger and how to deal with it. We are often taught that anger is bad and that we need to suppress it. A significant contributor to anger in young men is alcohol. It is important to master becoming comfortable with anger. At first a lot of young guys laugh off their anger and don't want to deal with it.

One of the highlights of the Blokehood camps are the fireside camps and story telling.

A lot of young men are coming from difficult situations e.g parents in prison, parents who have suicided.

Brenton has written “The Bloke Book” which details a range of emotions and energies.

The critical message is that young men need to know the direction they're heading in and take appropriate action.

Questions: Russell McKinnon – Do you do follow up programmes with the Blokehood participants?  Brenten explained that there is comprehensive follow-up involving direct contact with camp attendees and their parents.

Thanks by Hugh Lavery.

President's  Report - Hugh Lavery:

Apologies for not presenting in person. Thanks for getting zoom working to enable the sharing of the incoming World President Stephanie Urchick's address:

It can be found on the internet here: “The Magic of Rotary”

It is also very rewarding to watch Stephanie Urchick's presentation on making a Rotary Club irresistible.

Hugh's message echoes Stephanie's in making our meetings irresistible and engaging. Have conversation, connect, learn and get involved in the Community.  It is important that we become a more diverse membership.