The President of Ripon Rotary 2015 - 2016

What do I mean by hopes and aspirations?.......

Hope – to cherish a desire that something good and successful will happen

Aspiration –        aims of a person, desire eagerly

Presidents are encouraged to ensure club continuity and the development of a 3 year plan, I am grateful to President Rodney for included me in his planning and goals, and Iikewise Robert is fully on board with my Hopes and Aspirations and you will note there are continuing common themes. I was so encouraged that in April 7 of us attended District Assembly. 

·         My first priority is that I am going to enjoy my year, I recognise we are all volunteers, we give our time freely, and it’s important we use our individual skills and meeting times effectively and along the way we have fun and fellowship, if we enjoy our club the members will stay involved.

         This year’s rotary theme is “Be a gift to the world” so let’s not shy away from sharing with others what rotary means to us.  

·         In January I gave all members the opportunity of meeting with me to chat informally about ideas they would wish me to consider, I have taken on board ideas shared – they may need tweaking but let’s give them a try. I want to provide an opportunity where established and less established members can learn more of each other and I have planned 3 casual lunches – bit like a funeral tea without the pickles, no speaker, and less formality – take these opportunities to get to know each other in a less time pressured way. As president it’s really important I listen to you, to understand what you want from our club but I encourage to ask yourselves is there more you can do for our club?

·         Our speaker programme organised by Derek will offer a variety of club and external speakers, varied and interesting topics humorous and more serious, not all charities seeking financial support. I think the Tuesday programme is now full.

·         I want to build upon raising our profile in Ripon; there is still a lack of understanding of what we do, so we need to look at ways of engaging the local population. One way could be a presence in the market square twice a year to attract locals perhaps a bike/tool drop off, carol singing given our in house talent.

·         Social Media: we promote our activities successfully in the local press but we need to recognise younger people tend not to buy the local paper, communication is now via social media and we need to take our club into this realm by setting up a Club Face Book page, district are soon to hold workshops to assist in this development Keith Pettitt will lead. We will also continue to be pro active in forwarding information to Rotary in Yorkshire by Peter Race.

·         Membership – we need to give others the opportunity to join this great club, the average age of current members is 72 I think it’s fair to say we need to ideally attract members age 50+, perhaps early retired of mixed gender. It’s a crucial area hence my forming a separate Membership Committee.

·         Income streams – we depend so much on income from the golf day and despite a significant amount of work this has been reducing, I have therefore formed a fundraising group headed by Colin Hunter, to explore fundraising opportunities, not all will happen this year, we recognise the more we raise the more assistance we can give to needy causes. 

·         Club Visioning – on Tuesday 4^th August we will be having a facilitated session and I am aware even the use of this word switches some people off – all I ask is you please come, and let it lead to a defined shared commitment and agreed direction, deciding together what we want our club to look like in three to five years time.

·         District Conference – I have booked 10 double rooms, I know some will say been there done that! When I joined this club in 2011 I went to conference for the first time, really got to know more of what rotary is about, and the fellowship side was great – all 10 rooms taken – but more can be booked in.

·         Rotary Club Central – (not a railway station) RI/Rotary GB&I/District have developed an on line tool enabling each club to input their goals and activities throughout the year, certain officers will input but I am seeking one person to be the executive secretary to update monthly, it will provide an up to date picture of what we as a club are doing and progress being made towards our goals.

·         Presidential Citation – This has been introduced by the President of RI Ravi Ravindran and its a list of goals that I and club committees are encouraged to build into our plans, some we have achieved already, some are ambiguous, and others are worthy of consideration (copies of the Citation are available).

·         My Charities will be Dementia Forward, a Ripon charity that receives some statutory funding but is very reliant on voluntary donations; I am impressed as to the difference they make to people with dementia and the family support.

I asked IW if I could support their International Charity choice – together we can make a greater difference, and this will be Jacob’s Well Appeal established in 1984 and working in over 30 countries, many projects but specifically agricultural – the buying of fruit trees, fundraising events will be advertised in July.

·         Lastly,  thank you to all who have taken on positions of responsibility and thank you to you all for the honour of electing me your next President, I’ll try not to let you down, I’ll work hard for the club, I want to ensure every member feels involved and fulfilled and together we enjoy the year.

Christopher A Eyes

President 2015/16