Weekly Bulletin (Feb. 18, 2024)

I welcomed everyone to the meeting including our speaker tonight, Linda Holland. I then reported that I had had a busy week again with family which isn’t always a good thing but was glad to be back in Warrnambool.

Apologies for the meeting from Kelly Curran, Ann Body, Svet Lineham, Rachel Furnell, Leon De Villiers, Brooke Jensen and Trevor Williams. We hope Kelly is on the mend and she has had her ladder removed from temptation.

Presidents’ announcements
1. Our District was allocated four (4) Rotary Community Groups. We will be part of Southwest Rotary Community Group (to be confirmed) which includes Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Colac West, Hamilton, Port Fairy, Portland, Portland Bay, Terang, Warrnambool, Warrnambool Central, Warrnambool Daybreak, Warrnambool East.
2. After the Rotary Community Groups have been formally advised by RISPPO, Establishment Meetings will be held before nominations are called for Rotary Community Leaders (RCL). Establishment Meetings are expected to occur between 17 February and 15 March. At least two from each Club should attend the Establishment Meetings. It is recommended the current President and President-Elect attend. Where possible, they would also encourage the Secretary to attend. It will be a zoom meeting so I’m sure if we wanted more that would be ok. Let me (Janet) know if you’re interested.
3. The District Nominating Committee has decided to extend the closing date for applications
for the next DG to Wednesday 27 March 2024.
4. There is to be a “Say no to domestic violence” display at conference. Please see me if you are interested in being involved with this. Robbie had our guest speaker draw the ticket for swindle which was won by Glen again. He apparently obtained an impressive payout with only two cards left in the pack.

Member Announcements
- Chris Stebbing let members know that there is a survey to occur which involves counting bikes in greater Warrnambool and asked if any members were interested in participating. Chris advised it will be discussed at the Board meeting.
- John Beks reminded us of the meeting at Crossley on next Monday 19 th Feb. There is no meeting on the Tuesday evening. If anyone needs a ride contact Janet.
- Minigolf is on Thursday 15 th February, and I heard that Warrnambool were the winners with Alan Bowes getting a hole in one. Congratulations to our golfers. This will be on again next year and I think we need a cheer squad to go to.

Linda Holland spoke to us about suicide awareness highlighting that the numbers of people suiciding are unacceptably high. She spoke to us about the difference between empathy and sympathy. I realised that I am very good at sympathy, giving examples and practical solutions easily and not so good at empathy which involves really listening to what is being said and being there for the other person. I need a lot of practice at empathy, and I suppose it doesn’t just come naturally to most people but is a skill we can all improve on. Linda stressed the importance of checking in on friends
and fellow members and sometimes asking the at times difficult questions and being a listener. I, as someone who has a fair bit of stress in my life, have a “Mental Health Action Plan” for what I do when things get tough. I have it written down so don’t have to think it up when under stress and it goes through steps, I should take to ensure I can get through the days ahead. It has things like eating 3 meals a day, going to bed in time, turning off my phone at night, going for a daily walk, staying away from situations that irritate me (Bunnings) and more. At times members and in particular older members who as a generation are not so used to talking about feelings, experience really hard situations and feel like they do so alone. Whilst we do not want to intrude on people’s personal lives we can as co members be respectful and caring to each other as well as empathetic.

We never really know what someone has experienced and what (at times thoughtless) words may trigger so we need to be gentle with ourselves and others. Here are some hints on being mentally healthy.

Don’t forget Monday night at Crossley and have a good week.
President Janet Blackley