The rules of the Shaftesbury Rodeo Academy are simple: no school, no rodeo. It’s a message that teenagers who attend school at Bisley Farm, most of whom have never attended any school regularly, take seriously. Because come Friday night, these aspiring rodeo heroes want to join their friends to ride bulls for a heart-stopping eight seconds, if they last that long.
The school in rural Queensland, Australia, also teaches the boys, who are of the Wakka Wakka Aboriginal people, basic academics and farming skills, including how to care for crops and livestock. It’s a fairly common form of...
Around the world, millions of adults are unable to read or write, and therefore struggle to earn a living for themselves and their families.
Even in the United States, with its considerable resources, there are 36 million adults who can’t read better than the average third-grader, according to the international nonprofit ProLiteracy. In Detroit, Michigan, a widely cited 2003 survey conducted by the National Institute for Literacy found that almost half of residents over age 16 were functionally illiterate -- unable to use reading, speaking, writing, and computer skills in everyday life....
Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign was recently recognized for improving society through public relations by the Publicity Club of Chicago, the largest independent PR membership organization in the United States. End Polio Now won the 2015 Edwin J. Shaughnessy Quality of Life Award and the Golden Trumpet Award in the category of international public relations.
Separately, The Rotarian Magazine collected five Excel Awards from Association Media and Publishing, the leading group of association publishers and communications professionals in the U.S. An article by basketball great and activist...
This excerpt from the July issue of The Rotarian magazine profiles the 2015-16 RI president.
Before he gives a speech, K.R. Ravindran doesn’t like flowery, adulatory introductions. They make him uncomfortable. The 2015-16 Rotary president would rather keep a low profile and share the credit. If it were up to him, you probably wouldn’t even be reading this article.
Negotiating Days of Tranquility during the Sri Lankan civil war so that health workers could administer drops of polio vaccine? Although it was on his desk that the agreement landed, he says, a lot of people worked to make that...
Rotary members can enjoy discounts on travel, hotels, dining, entertainment, and more through Rotary Global Rewards, a new member benefit program that begins 1 July. Anyone can view the offers, but only Rotary members who sign in to their My Rotary accounts can redeem the discounts. Check back often as more products and services from companies around the world will be added throughout the year.
Explore offers in Rotary Global Rewards
Watch RI President K.R. Ravindran introduce the new program
Find answers to frequently asked questions
Club Information
Welcome to our Club!
Service Above Self
We meet Tuesdays at 6:15 PM
Warrnambool Football Club
Cramer Street
Warrnambool,
Victoria 3280 Australia
An application for membership in the Rotary Club of Warrnambool has been received from Louise Keogh with the proposed classification of Food Services/Merchandising. Louise is the manager of catering at Guyetts Funeral Services and a merchandiser for a number of food companies. If no objections are received within seven days the induction of Louise Keogh will proceed at a time convenient to all concerned.
John Stuckey spoke about the role he has taken on to build and sustain existing membership. John has done this role in the past and spoke with passion about his desire to see the club grow and flourish. The young members once recruited to our club are becoming the older members and we need new younger energy to keep our club alive. One thing our club has done well is to retain those people who joined many years ago. John said he wouldn’t like to see our club merge with East Warrnambool Rotary club - our club is the oldest, the biggest and the best and he wants to make it even better. John feels one of the best ways to recruit new members is to ask them along as guests for the night - but first make sure the guest speaker will be interesting! It is up to all Rotarians to make any visitors feel very welcome so that they will want to join our club. John Stuckey and John Harris have set a target of 12 new members in the next 12 months.
Ian Cairns provided an update on the Father of the Year and said entries do not need to be picked up from schools until the week beginning 3 August 2015. On Tuesday 11 August our club will read and screen about 1000 entries in the Father of The Year competition. Ian said there was some excellent PR recently done with The Standard who ran a full page feature of Father of the Year in conjunction with our major sponsors South West Credit, Bunnings and Ace Radio. This year the Father of The Year breakfast will be held on Wednesday 2 September.
Rotaracts guests Sarah and Bridget provided an update on Rotaract and its activities.
They have two new members bringing their membership to 11.
A BBQ was held at Bunnings on Saturday July and despite it being a bitterly cold day they managed to raise $1,100.
A blood drive will be happening very soon.
Changeover Wednesday 15 July: To be held downstairs at Images and there are spare seats available and all Rotarians are welcome to attend.
Trivia night this Friday night commencing 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start. To be held in the Wannon Rooms at a cost of $12 ph or $100 for a table of 10. Proceeds go to the Standing Tall Program which supports secondary students who need mentoring. All are welcome.
The Chair, Gordon Curran, introduced Tony Austin who has recently returned from a trip to Sariri. Sariri is a village in the Oro Province of PNG which suffered extensive flooding, loss of life and property damage during Cyclone Guba. Tony advised that subsequent to the disaster Elijah Sarigari, a former teacher and one of the community leaders of Oro Province, made contact with his former PNG school Principal, Reverend Donald Johnstone, who was living in Geelong at the time of the disaster, seeking help. Reverend Johnstone in turn contacted Anton Van Doornik of the Rotary Club of Geelong. Both Reverend Johnstone and Anton went to Sariri and it was agreed that assistance in rebuilding could be provided. Since then there have been Rotary teams working at Sariri Village in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Tony was a member of the 2015 project team which departed Australia on 31 May and returned on 13 June. The team completed a number of scheduled projects as well as unscheduled projects. Tony's report was informative and extensive, a little large for this bulletin. For those who would like to read the report in its entirety, please click on the link below:
This project is ongoing and they need more help. Perhaps this could be our International Project. Graeme Ross has started the ball rolling by offering a diesel tractor he no longer needs, but is in good working order. At the moment all the carrying, lifting, and digging is done by the villagers who often have to walk a number of miles to cart wood or to visit a medical clinic. Thank you Graeme.
President Steve Giddens thanked our visitors Andrew, Sarah, Bridget and Louise for coming along. He also thanked those Rotarians who worked at the recent Eisteddfod, contributing a total of 51 voluntary hours.
Rotarians were reminded to notify if they are not attending. Lack of notification puts some stress on the catering and kitchen staff. The Football Club had been expecting 39 members for dinner tonight and only 29 Rotarians turned up.
Steve passed on the Club's condolences to Andrea Sampson whose mother had passed away. This comes only a few months after the death of her father. Our thoughts are with Andrea and her family at this sad time.
Ian Cairns provided an update on the Father of the Year and said entries do not need to be picked up from schools until the week beginning 3 August 2015. On Tuesday 11 August our club will read and screen about 1000 entries in the Father of The Year competition. Ian said there was some excellent PR recently done with The Standard who ran a full page feature of Father of the Year in conjunction with our major sponsors South West Credit, Bunnings and Ace Radio. This year the Father of The Year breakfast will be held on Wednesday 2 September.
Rotaracts guests Sarah and Bridget provided an update on Rotaract and its activities.