Weekly internet meeting

Howe of Fife Virtual Rotary Meeting, 19th May 2020

Participating were:

Cathy Adamson Don Allan John Bonington Libby Elliot John Ewan Roddy Greig Andre Hawryliw Andrew Kennedy Willie Lang Paul Northway Duncan Pickard James Storrar

Special Guest: Charles Dickinson (Harrogate)

Apologies: Sandy Davis, David Jack

Our club was successful in its application for District Lockdown Grants, achieving the maximum available on both counts: £115.10 for IT Support, and £250 for Charitable Work. District has applied to Rotary International for a further $25K in COVID-19 mitigation activities: assuming this is successful we should qualify for a proportion of this, subject to the stipulation that it is not further donated to other charities (monies have to be spent by us and then donated in kind). As a result the club Charity Account has a credit of £2,735. This balance includes the £250 received from District and a £500 surplus transferred in from the Bottle Raffle. Within the Charity Account there resides £1,155 ring-fenced for community and young people. This fencing includes 50% each of the District and Bottle Raffle Monies (£125 plus £250). After making these transfers to the Charity Account, the Club Account has a credit of £862. This balance includes £115.10 received form District for club IT support (i.e. one year’s special rate Zoom subscription).

To date the club has received £453 in Lockdown Donations, £155 in April and £453 in May. The question was asked if these donations would qualify for Gift Aid and its tax leverage. On discussion it was agreed to proceed immediately with some of the donations specified in our Distract Grant Application. That was £250 to Fife Women’s Aid, which Libby agreed to administer on behalf of the club; and £250 to Cupar Foodbank, which Willie agreed to administer. The Sunshine Kitchen was also mentioned, but their activities have been completely suspended in the current pandemic crisis. Generally there was a feeling that we should “keep our [financial] powder dry” pending more worthy causes appearing as the pandemic crisis eases. The local schools participating in our Primary Schools Quiz, each of whom had already received £50, were mentioned as a possible needy cause, especially when they return to teaching.

Considering infection rates, Fife seems to be fairing relatively well compared with other areas.

Having agreed immediate actions, Willie proceeded to give feedback on a District Zoom meeting hosted by Ken McLellan and Alastair Robb for next year’s presidents. In a changing world, successful Rotary clubs were moving away from being business oriented towards being more family friendly. Inner Wheel clubs were struggling, with many disbanding, and it was an obvious solution to incorporate their members into the host Rotary club. Also many clubs were no longer meeting weekly, adopting, for example, two traditional and two quick Zoom meetings a month instead. The consequences of ‘Lockdown’ would certainly drive these social changes and should provide many clubs with an opportunity to modernise and do things differently, and hopefully better. One possibility, suggested previously, was that we should move away from our current committee structure and simply appoint one person as a lead on each topic (e.g. Foundation, Community, Membership, etc). They could then adopt other members of the club to assist in a project or issue as appropriate. It was felt that this would more accurately reflect reality and would also be more efficient. It was also suggested that the Vertical Farming Lecture, scheduled for 1st October should move on line. This would eliminate the costs and risks associated with a traditional venue, and might result in a larger attendance from a wider geographical area. The lecture is about a changing pattern of food production. Attendees might be more enthusiastic from the comfort of their own homes, and we could get farming participants from a wider geographic area. It might also raise more money if we encourage donations rather than charging admittance. 

Finally it was agreed to repeat the Zoom meeting next Tuesday: Next Zoom Meeting: HOF Virtual Rotary Meeting Time: 7.00pm Tuesday 26th May 2020