DG Jed Brooks

Our District Governor, Jed Brooks, was a guest at today’s lunchtime meeting.

He told us he had read through our Committee reports that Jenny Black had sent him in advance of the meeting. He congratulated us on our success as a Club, particularly our events, projects, website and social media page.

District 1240 has also enjoyed success this year. Two new Rotary Clubs have been chartered since 1 July and two new Rotaract Clubs formed. There as been a net gain of 36 in membership.

Nevertheless, there are challenges ahead. Rotarians are aging and RGB&I suffered a net loss of 2,000 members last year. This year’s Rotary International President, the first woman in that role, has chosen “Imagine” as the theme for her year. There are now many different ways of being a Rotary Club. Clubs are becoming more informal, doing away with regalia for example. There are successful evening Clubs where turning up for the meal is optional; members can skip the meal and arrive later if they wish.

Jed also referred to the recent conference in Iceland which he attended with many others including our own Club member, District Governor Nominee Anne Moriaty.

Before the meeting started Janice Goodman, Chair of our Membership & Public Image Committee, distributed copies of our new Club brochure. After Jed spoke we took the opportunity to present a cheque for £1,000.00 to Chelmsford Community Transport. This completed our five-year commitment to give financial support to Community Transport. Club member Graham Furnival, who is one of their trustees, received the cheque on their behalf.