Paul Kirkpatrick was born in Bendigo in October 1955. My Father, Doug Kirkpatrick, was a very industrious fellow who had a variety of jobs, his last one being with Bendigo TAFE where he was the lab assistant in the agriculture department. My Mother, Joyce Kirkpatrick, worked as a legal secretary before marriage, and was an ‘at home mum’ after that to me, one brother and one sister.

I attended Bendigo North Primary School, and was in the Rural School. The Rural School comprised six grades, 1- 6, with two boys and two girls in each grade. The idea was as a training model for student teachers who attended the local Teachers College. Being a small cohort with the same teacher for all six grades, there was a fair degree of ‘over spill’ of learning to all grades in the very tiny building, (which had been transported from its original Longlea site a decade or so, earlier). One of our teachers (there were 3 during my six years), was Ken Anderson, who gave us a great foundation for the love of literature. Ken used to have extended reading sessions for the who 24 pupils, where he read Tolkein books to us. The Hobbitt was great, but the following books grew darker and darker – I’m not sure if the grade one kids had nightmares or not!! I still see Ken, now in his 80’s, at the servo and often remark to him on his tactic of getting us to love literature.

I then went to White Hills Technical School up to year 10. The English master there, Dick Haire, was also very influential in developing my love of English. A few years ago I noticed his death notice in The Age, and wrote to his daughter outlining Dick’s positive impact on my life. Dick’s daughter wrote a lovely letter back acknowledging his abiding commitment to education. Also, there was a certain Ray Carrington, a freshly minted phys ed teacher who taught us to ‘lead with right and manage with the left’ in the boxing ring. Ray’s boss was Fred Clayton a seasoned Bendigo local who was Mayor when Queen Elizabeth II came to Bendigo. Fred still sat on the bench with local magistrates and invited a group of boys to the opening of the Bendigo Legal Year – perhaps sparking my interest in this area.

For years 11 and 12, I transferred to Bendigo High School where my favourite subjects were Biology and again, English, (probably because I had a crush on the English teacher!!) Maths and I didn’t really see eye to eye!

While at school my first job was pushing my bike in all weathers to deliver The Mail (a freebie forerunner of The Bendigo Weekly). A ‘real’ paper round followed, where at 4pm I would push a trolley full of Heralds and magazines around the wards at the Bendigo Hospital (all except the midwifery wards, where the nurses took over – who knows what a 14 year old might have seen!)

Next was a Christmas holiday job at Woolworths Variety store in Hargreaves Street followed, when Hargreaves St, was actually a street! The big event then was the advent of Friday night shopping until 9pm…Oh our aching feet! Also, after 12 noon on Saturdays all shops were shut and you couldn’t even buy meet at the supermarket on weekends. After three years at Woolies on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and most holidays, I transferred to a Christmas holiday job on the Victorian Railways, in the Goods Shed, where Discovery Science Centre is situated now.

The Railways Goods Shed was like a self-sustaining social service enterprise. The Foreman was Jacinta Allan’s (MP) grandfather, and he would call the ‘roll’ at the beginning of day shift. No one was marked absent until a car was sent around the houses in King St, Arthur St and Queen St, where most of the workers lived. Quite a few were heaved off their front verandahs, into the car, and propped in the corner of the Goods Shed until the ‘roll’ was called again at smoko, with virtually no one absent. I guess it was a form of social security, that pre-dated Centelink!

After study in Melbourne at what is now LaTrobe University, I started work at the Bendigo Base Hospital as a medical data analyst and medical record administrator. In those days, one didn’t really have to apply for a job, I simply chatted to the Medical Superintendent on our mutual walks back from the Easter procession (he lived at the hospital and us a street away) and he offered me the job at the conclusion of my course the following November.

After nine years at Bendigo Base Hospital, where I also did a degree in Health Administration via external study, I was asked to apply for a job with the (as it was then) Victorian Health Department involving a regional advisory role on health data management. It was the mid 80’s and time of budget freezes, so my position was added to what was euphemistically called the ‘grey staff’ who were departmental employees who were actually paid via PANCH hospital payroll system. Hence when the Opposition questioned the Government on staff numbers, ‘Sir Humphrey’ could say with a clear conscience that departmental staff numbers had not increased.

After 2 years with the Health Dept I applied for a position as Deputy CEO at The Bendigo Home and Hospital for the Aged, later Anne Caudle Centre, and now part of Bendigo Health. This was a great role where I had responsibility for all services except medical and nursing in the 433 bed facility. During my 9 years there I also undertook an MBA, again via external study and residential courses. My first ‘boss’ at Anne Caudle was (the late) Bruce Perrin, a very committed Rotarian who was instrumental in galvanising staff to commence payroll deductions for a new initiative…Polio Plus; that was in in 1986. In 1988 Bruce suggested I might be interested in joining a new Rotary Club that his (Bendigo) club was forming. So nearly 50 of us young (yes, we were then!), fresh faced potential Rotarians were mentored by Ron Slattery and Paulsen (via an actual fireside chat with a real fire) and on June 2nd 1988, our Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst was Chartered.

Following the amalgamation of organisations to form Bendigo Health, I was offered a larger role with lesser remuneration, so I opted to take a redundancy. After a couple of months of long service leave, and considering the possibility of relocating to Melbourne, I gained the position as CEO of Peter Harcourt Disability Services in Bendigo, Again, a great position that enabled me to leverage philanthropic funds to enhance and update services for people with a disability in Bendigo.

Again, after a nine-year stint at Peter Harcourt, I gained a position as CEO at Bendigo Access Employment, a multifaceted organisation with a primary objective of securing employment for people facing barriers to employment. Bendigo Access also had an RTO, and an occupational rehabilitation division. I had long held an interest in sustainability and the employment outcomes this might generate. Thus, driving around town looking for a location to bring this concept to fruition, I spied the neglected acres of PepperGreen Farm in Thunder Street. Many hours/days/weeks of negotiations, fundraising, grant writing and lobbying saw PepperGreen Farm reborn into what it is today, a hive of activity and employment for people of all abilities.

My long held goal was to retire at age 55, so lots of attention to the self-managed super fund was required, and completion of the Company Directors course de rigueur. Perhaps my goal was also influenced by the untimely death of my father at age 64, (my age at present). I actually retired six months after the target date, but knowing I still wanted to undertake short term assignments and become more involved with the community. So, those short-term assignments included; Interim Exec officer of a community legal centre, Interim CEO of a church-based charity, Director and Company Secretary of a community energy company, Director of a post-graduate medical education company, and the most interesting of all, Interim CEO of the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne. I certainly learnt a heck of a lot about the advantages and tribulations of social media during my 6 months at the Lost Dogs Home. More recently I have been a member of a couple of board committee of Ambulance Victoria, and am Deputy Board Chair of BUFS Pharmacies.

As for the community involvement I have been a past chair and board member of the Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre (for some 16 years), and enjoy the community involvement and assistance that being a Justice of the Peace brings. In terms of Rotary community involvement, I was approached at the conclusion of my Bendigo Sandhurst presidency (1998/99), by the then District Governor, the late Vance Hilton, to undertake a District 9800 project. That project was to lead the D9800 involvement to re-establish the Rotary Camp at Axedale to Camp Getaway (Rotary D9800). Working with a dedicated board and many D9800 contacts, we raised over $1.3m during my 13 years as chair, and received enormous practical support from clubs and individuals to rebuild the camp as one providing recreational opportunities to all people, but with a special focus on disability access and support.

Holidays were a big part of our life, and hopefully Clare and I will get to actually do that bike ride in France and the Greek Isles cycling trip we missed this year! Rotary has also given me the opportunity to travel to Samoa may times undertaking general construction programs in schools (post cyclones), under the arrangements of RAWCS – Rotary Australia World Community Service. If you ever get to go to Samoa, jump at it. It is a beautiful country full of the most friendly people you will ever meet.

Probably my favourite holiday spot in Australia would be the Kimberly, particularly Broome. Overseas, cycling in Italy, around Tuscany, is hard to beat, although the hills are starting to slow me up a bit now….bring on that electric bike!

Jokes make me laugh, but not always Robbies’!! I probably find more humour and more messages in some of Leunig’s cartoons…see the Dog’s power….and just remember…”The secret of Life is what you focus on”.