President Charles Keeper - Presidential Address

President Charles welcomed everyone to the meeting and highlighted “Avenues of Service” in his Interesting Rotary Information for this week.

The "Avenues" refer to the four elements of the Object of Rotary: Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service and International Service.

"Club Service" involves all of the activities necessary for Rotarians to perform to make their club function successfully.

"Vocational Service" is a description of the opportunity each Rotarian has to represent the dignity and utility of one's vocation to the other members of the club.

"Community Service" pertains to those activities which Rotarians undertake to improve quality of life in their community. It frequently involves assistance to youth, the aged, handicapped and others who look to Rotary as a source of hope for a better life.

The Fourth Avenue, "International Service," describes the many programs and activities which Rotarians undertake to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace. International Service projects are designed to meet humanitarian needs of people in many lands.

When a Rotarian understands and travels down the "Four Avenues of Service," the Object of Rotary takes on even greater meaning.

Speaker for the Evening:

President Charles gave his ‘President’s Address’ to the Club.  Please see the appendix.

In proposing the Vote of Thanks, I.P.P. Katrina thanked President Charles for an address that was inspiring and gave the Club hope and purpose for the future.

Reports on members:

President Charles reported that Paul Begley was now home from hospital after his kidney transplant.  Paul would be attending the Golden Jubilee twice a week to check that things were continuing to go well. 

Members doing things Rotary:

Katrina Gibbons reported that Callan Dick, Jean Murray and herself had had a face-to-face meeting to discuss ‘Wrap up Lanarkshire’ in terms of the Club and wider network. Matters were progressing.

Callan Dick and James Gibbons had attended the District Council meeting, at Peebles Hydro, on Sunday 29^th August.  Secretary Ian had joined the meeting via Zoom, along with 33 other Rotarians from various Clubs throughout the District.  Various matters had been highlighted by the chairpersons of the District committees.  It was reported that the anticipated amalgamation of our District with District 1230 will not go ahead.  District 1230 can remain as a District until 2024 and its members have decided to use the next 3 years to try and build up their numbers to a level that will entitle them to remain as a District.

Following on from last week’s report regarding Taylor High School wishing to connect with our Club in relation to the Young Musician of the Year, Jane Allan had been in touch with the Head of Music, Sharleen Muir.  Jane will contact the other secondary schools in the local area to ask if they would also be interested in participating in a music competition organised by the Club.  The young people, winners and runners up in each of two categories, would go forward to the West Area semi-final and, if successful, to the District 1020 final.  The competitions at Club level have to take place by January 2022.  Jean Murray offered to help Jane, if she needed it, since she had been involved in the competition at her previous Rotary Club.  Peter McCrossan offered to give Jane the name of a contact in North Lanarkshire Council who could assist, regarding music, in reaching out to the schools.      

The Bonus Ball was a roll-over last week.                                                        

Secretary Ian intimated that all relevant information had gone out to members

He highlighted the email he had sent out regarding the return to face-to-face meetings.

A discussion followed and members should note the following information regarding this and subsequent face-to-face meetings in the present climate.

The first face-to-face meeting will be on Thursday 9^th September at 6.30pm in the Bentley Hotel.

The cost per person will be, as before, £11.00 and, as usual, there will be a starter, main course & tea/coffee.

Members should pay the £11.00 by bank transfer into the General Account, during the week of the meeting.

Details required for bank transfer:  Account No. 00105765; Sort Code: 80 09 15; Reference: ‘Meal’.

Any member unable to do bank transfers should deposit £11.00 in the box at the meeting room door and inform the Treasurer.

Masks should be worn on entering the hotel and can be removed when seated at a table.  If leaving the table, the mask should be put back on.

Hand gel will be situated at the door and should be used before entering.

A sheet, with details of all members present, will be given to the hotel management to comply with ‘track and trace’ requirements.

If unable to attend a meeting, it is important that the member should submit apologies for absence to the Club Secretary in advance.  Since the Bentley are willing to accommodate some flexibility in numbers, Rotarians who forget to submit apologies for absence will not be charged for the meal. 

Since the Club was returning to face-to-face meetings, the notes of weekly Club meetings would cease to be issued.

A.O.C.B.

James Gibbons reported that since last week another entrepreneur had been funded through the ‘Lend with Care’ project.

Appendix

President’s address 2nd September 2021

6^th October 1988. That’s when it all started. I joined the Rotary club of Motherwell & Wishaw. Having joined I decided early on that this was something that I wanted to contribute to as much as possible.  I have now in 33 years served on the community service committee, treasurer for 5years, Sport’s officer for 15 years and International convener for a short time before being elected as President in 200-2001.

I now wish at this time to express my gratitude to the club members for appointing me club President for the second time. I greatly appreciate the honour and I will endeavour to make this year a very happy and a fun time for us all.

This year Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta message to us is:

SERVE TO CHANGE LIVES.

I do not presume to think that I need to define the meaning of the motto which is self- explanatory.

As Rotary is a service organisation we are ever mindful of the enormous difficulties that exist at home and all over the world. We must with our efforts try to identify areas where we are able to put our resources to the best use. I do believe that whatever change comes along we should meet it together.  Much more unites us than divides us. Paul Harris once said: “This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.”  By serving, Rotary has changed so much in our lives and the lives of others. As we serve to change lives don’t you think Rotary could have an even greater impact on the world if people were practicing “service above self.”

Rotary is continuing to go through a period of change and we must all adapt if this organisation is to continue to be relevant in the future as it has been in the past and our club must be built on a positive attitude to the future if we want to participate in it.

This year more than ever we must seek to increase our membership and retain those members which we have. This is a critical area of development and together with the existing promotional material we must encourage the membership committee to continue extending their activities out into the community to promoting the club. We should try to have new member introduction nights linked to our speaker programme to ensure potential new members get sight of the calibre of speaker we can attract. Rotary President said,” EACH ONE, BRING ONE.” Commit to bring a friend, neighbour or colleague along to a club meeting. I am sure John and his team with the effort they are putting in will bear fruit in time.

Last year was a difficult time for the Rotary clubs due to the pandemic.  We were not able to organise our normal calendar of events and functions.  We now are in a position to organise these again and I am sure that our junior vice Peter and his committee can do this for us. We will need to ensure now that all our events receive the full support of the club. Special events are something that our club is good at organising and we have our chance soon to show our prowess.

I am sure that we will support Treasurer Tom in his duties to keep the club informed on a regular basis of the accounts. Over the past year this has been a challenging area and we must continue to support Tom in as positive a way as possible.

As with many things our club projects have been curtailed somewhat by these strange times but it is important that the club identify and develop relevant projects. We are in an advanced stage of planning for the “Wrap up” project which is raising great interest with local clubs and

I am sure that it will prove to be a success. Another project continuing is the “Furniture for families”. Jim has had the vouchers printed and is now having discussions with our partners to start the process.  Collection of buttons and zips is continuing and donations are still coming. I am sure Jean and her team will identify other projects for the club.  Aqua box and shelter box collections should be a good way to get the ball rolling.

James Gibbons has made a great job of keeping RYLA going through these difficult times and has to be applauded for his efforts through zoom.

Internationally, James has started our club on the “lend with care” project and the results are increasing all the time with this excellent project.

This year our district conference in October is in the Doubletree by Hilton in Cumbernauld, which I am sure will be a super week-end. Why not make an effort to join Margaret and me for an enjoyable time.

The youth activities programme has been severely curtailed by the pandemic and we have no timetable for these activities to start, but we will endeavour to start with the youth activities, school’s nights and the senior school’s golf tournament whenever possible.

Lastly, I would like to thank Katrina most sincerely for her efforts over the last Rotary year, which was not easy to say the least.

Well, fellow Rotarians, always remember, outstanding leaders are realistic people who measure themselves and their goals for the club in relation to the resources and people they have to work with them.

Considering the quality of people and resources around me I am sure that this year will prove to be as exciting and successful as ever, and we should remember never to lose sight of the fact that you should think not of what Rotary can do for you---BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR ROTARY.

Charles Keeper

President