General Meeting - Live

ROTARY CLUB OF CHESTFIELD

Breakfast Meeting: 07.30am @ The Plough, 3^rd September 2020.

Present:      Andrew B; Dave C; Godfrey; Jean S; Paul; Pat; Andrew & Jean M; Sue; Spyros & Pippa; David M; Kathryn; Ron; Peter; Marion; Reggie; Iain; Robert; Maureen.

Apologies:   David K; Elaine; Jackie; John; Nick; Owain; Myfannwy; Hilary.

General:      Andrew opened the meeting by wishing David a Happy Birthday.

                   Regarding the presidency for the remainder of the year.  Following the last face-to-face meeting here at the Plough, there has been a strong suggestion that swapping the presidency every two months as per the previous plan was not a good idea in terms of stability.  The notes of last week’s Zoom meeting (already circulated) refer to this.  There is unanimous agreement from the Board to propose a new arrangement, viz:

·         Kathy to take over the presidency from today until after Christmas.

·         From the new year, Paul will hold the presidency for six months until the usual handover time, when Lesley will take over for 2021/2022.

·         Those who would otherwise have been president for two months each (Pat, Hilary, Robert) have agreed to forego the presidency.

Andrew asked for someone to propose a vote on the new arrangement.  Ron proposed, and the vote when taken was unanimous.

Breakfast

Kathryn:      Kathy now took over as President.  Spyros asked whose name(s) will appear on the chain of office for this year?  Andrew agreed there wouldn’t be room for everyone’s name; we will probably arrange for just the three presidents’ initials.  Andrew added that he is still searching for a suitable, larger, box in which to keep the regalia.  If anyone has anything suitable lying around at home, would they kindly donate it to the club?  Would it be worth asking around the local jewellers to see if one of them has a box going spare?

                   Kathy reminded members of the recent announcement regarding Mercy Ships.  Rotary has just made the largest single donation ever to the latter - $1.125 million.  The new ship ‘Global Mercy’ will be launched next year.

                   Next Wednesday @ 7.00pm there will be a Zoom meeting hosted by the Humanitarian Team.  Anyone who wants to join this, contact Kathy for the link.  Last night, Kathy attended a Zoom meeting with a talk about the Concorde, which was very well received.  Apparently one of the factors restricting Concorde’s commercial viability was that it was only allowed to fly supersonic over water.  Kathy said that the meeting was not up to capacity; she encouraged members to sign up for future similar talks.  Lesley said that she will attend a Zoom talk about membership this Saturday.  Sue would like to attend, if Lesley sends her the link.

                   Kathy reminded the meeting about her Chat Spot this afternoon @ 4.00pm, regarding mental health.  The link for this has been circulated.  Brenda Parsons is also contributing.

                   The Rotary Walk / Cycle this Saturday.  Meet in front of the Reculver Towers @ 1.00pm, for a walk / cycle to Minnis Bay and back.  Those attending can make a donation of £5 per head (via David M) to Prostate Cancer.

Car Parking:   Godfrey said thanks to all those who volunteered last Saturday.  We raised £510.  He  has applied for additional slots during week days, and is waiting to hear back.  Godfrey added that, since lockdown eased in July, we have done four car parking days and raised £1770.  The next one will be Sunday 13^th September.  Volunteers needed as always.

Pat & Sue’s Skydive:  Sue confirmed that this will take place on Saturday 12^th September.  She has had the guidelines which say that each participant is limited to four spectators.  Robert Mc and Jean S will go along as spectators, and one of them will take some photos.  So far the event has raised £499 in sponsorship.

Any Other Business:  Kathy said that she wants to encourage openness at these meetings; if she forgets anything, would members gently remind her, rather than mutter among themselves.

                   The question of whether we should resume weekly meetings, here at the Plough, was raised.  The problem is that we have to be inclusive towards those members who are still uncomfortable with face-to-face meetings.  Also, there is some evidence that having a variety of meeting formats encourages member participation.

                   David B is not here this morning.  He is due in hospital for further investigations.  He has promised to come back and tell us all about them.

                   Lesley will do her 15 minute report back on the membership satisfaction survey next time here at the Plough.

                   Andrew said he has letters to give to our school contacts for those schools participating in next year’s Walk4Water.

                   One member asked, did we have a problem with a punter being rude to one of our volunteers last Saturday because he had to wait for a space?  He wasn’t actually rude, but he did make his impatience obvious.  Perhaps we remind some people that we are volunteers.

                   Spyros said that during lockdown a van came and collected a whole load of mobility aids for Africa from his garage.  Andrew reminded people about TWAM next April.  If members know of anyone near them who is moving, maybe they could ask if the latter want to leave any tools behind.  Andrew confirmed that he will arrange a date to empty Ron’s garage.

Greeting from Other Clubs:  Jean M said that on Saturday, she exchanged greetings with members from Minster Radio and from Thame.  We also spoke to members from Maidstone and Amersham.

Raffle:         David M won the bottle of wine; Kathy and Maureen each won some tomatoes; and Peter won a pot of home made jam.

Next Meeting(s):  Thursday 10^th September @ 8.00am via Zoom.  Thursday 17^th September @ 7.30am here at the Plough.