District Council Meeting

District Council Meeting, Saturday 16 th May 2026
Commencing 09.30 at Larkfield Village Hall, New Hythe Lane,
Larkfield, ME20 6PU.

Please register your club's attendance or apologies
using the District Council Registration online form.

The form will remain open until 15th May but please register as soon as possible, particularly if your delegates would like lunch.

You will receive an automatic acknowledgement with full details of your registration. If you need to change your registration please use the link in the email and not submit a new form. 

Agenda:
1. Welcome: DG Penny Spiller (DG)
2. Silent Tribute: DS David Lister (DS)
3. Apologies for absence: DS
4. Minutes of the meeting held on 24 th January 2026
5. Matters arising therefrom
6. Proposal: District compliance statement.
7. District Governor: DG Report
8. District Governor Elect: Graham Forster (DGE). Report
circulated
9. District Governor Nominee: Mark Underwood (DGN)
10. Treasurer: Stephen Askew (DT). Report circulated
10.1 - 2024/25 District financial accounts to be approved
10.2 - 2024/25 District charitable accounts to be approved
10.3 - 2026/27 District Budget to be approved

11. Secretary: DS. Report circulated
12. Service Team reports

12.1 Foundation: Brian Dunne
12.2 Membership: John Wren
12.3 Public Image: Arlene Orr
12.4 Rotary Radio: Steve Wood. Report circulated
12.5 Humanitarian: John Dunkley. Report circulated
Community: Pauline Goldsack
Environment: Margaret Keenan
International: Juliet Atako
Resilience: Brenda Parsons. Report circulated
Youth: Steve Hanks. Report circulated

13. Learning Facilitator: Denis Spiller. Report circulated
14. Conference 2026: Denis Spiller. Report circulated
15. Any other business
16. Date and venue of next meeting:

Saturday 12th September 2026, Larkfield Village Hall.

Reports to District Council Meeting 16^th May 2026.

District Governor Elect – Graham Forster

Our last Council Meeting was on 24^th January having just returned the day before from The International Assembly in Orlando. I updated you about that then.

Only a short period of time seemed to pass before attending the LDF (Leadership Development Forum) weekend at Warwick University. This year we had something of a change of arrangements with only the first year ADGs being invited but other role holders Membership, PI, Humanitarian Services and Foundation attending instead of having a separate symposium. The Assistant Governors had for the first time a Nation-wide zoom meeting, one appropriate for each of 3 years. The main theme presented in Warwick focused on planning and providing improved support for Clubs (and Districts) from RGBI in the form of Multidisciplinary Support Teams (MDST) which we will hear a bit more about in due course after trials in some Districts.

Preparations for next year are going really well with almost all roles filled, however as you know we are trying to boost District involvement with more ‘teams’ working together like Membership have become very successful doing. We are keen to develop teams like we had many years ago to share the load or just have an interest and help continuity without it being too onerous. Examples are Youth, International and Environment in Humanitarian Services as well as PI. Working together is both fun and helpful. Please feel free just to ask with absolutely no commitment for doing so.

Final preparations for District Assembly in a few days time on 2^ndMay at Aylesford School are now complete with our guest Speaker RGB&I Chair of the Board 26-27 also presenting to us. We hope to see as many of you as possible there to hear presentations and join the breakouts so please book in and come along.

Dates for the Diary - District Handover kindly organised by Margaret Keegan for Penny and I is on Saturday 27^th June at The Tudor Park Country Club. A two course lunch in a delightful country waterside setting. Penny and I would love to see you there and bookings are open on the website and flyer.

I will also repeat a few words about your Conference on 17-18^thOctober this year which is coming together really nicely and booking about to open. If there is anything you would like to see and hear about there or even like to share / contribute let us know. We really do want your support. Please let Chairman Denis and I or other Committee members know.

Graham Forster DGE, 26/04/26

District Treasurer - Stephen Askew

Report Prepared 30 April 2026

Bank Balances

Account

1. 01850229 £25.00 District Grant

2. 31528076 £57132.22 Reserve

3. 31828092 £11124.12 Conf Reserve

4. 31775577 £5339.56 Conference

5. 41528041 £1265.39 Current

6. 91711679 0 Rotary Grant

7. 21555650 £2001.79 Charity Account

Account Movements

Rotary Conference account is managed by the conference team and they prepared a summary of the 2025 account. I have seen the Conference accounts and the decision was made on the uses of the surplus. Half has been paid to District 1130 and the balance of over £5,000 has been transferred to Conference Reserve. The Conference account is now Managed by this year’s Conference Treasurer. A sum of £10,000 has been transferred from the District Reserve account to the Conference account which aligns with the budget for 2026/27.

District Subscriptions

I have had returns from all 66 clubs including the RI monies for the Hub. with membership numbers and amounts paid.

The budget for 2025/26 is based on 1600 members paying £22 each, with returns showing some differences to Rotary view numbers we ended up with 1569 members including 45 family members and 25 corporate members.

From information currently available more clubs may close on 30 June 2026 so I am budgeting for 2026/27 only 1500 full, 25 corporate members and 40 family members. I am budgeting for a similar contribution for Hub members as this year.

Proposed Budget 2026/27

The proposed budget is attached, for this year I have not proposed an increase in subscription level although a £1 increase would be justified in line with inflation. With reserves still at a high level I believe we can charge the proposed deficit to reserves for the year in question although not a long term solution for maintaining high levels of spending against falling incomes.

A major item of expenditure is the Conference Grant. As mentioned above I hope to recoup a significant percentage of the 2025/26 grant and would hope to do the same in 2026/27 however as District 1120 is going alone in October an increase in the grant has been requested but we hope the reserve will not be needed.

Other expenses have been maintained although hoping for positive variances on operating expenses including travel maybe with enhanced use of technology including use of virtual contact.

Expenditure on marketing. PR and membership have been left at a higher level as membership is a key area and as such investment is important but spent externally rather than preaching to the converted.

The proposed budget does indicate a deficit for 2026/27 of £6,015, affordable as a one off but I would hope that the actual deficit would be much lower with a successful Conference and careful spending.

District Secretary – David Lister.

District Council Meetings dates for next Rotary year: 12^thSeptember 2026, 12^th January and 15^th May 2027. All at Larkfield Village Hall.

District Magazine: Editions for this quarterly publication each year are scheduled for February, May, August and November. Copy material should be sent to the Editor by the 15^th of the preceding month. petelindsey30@hotmail.com

Recording of Club Officers for 2026/27: Many thanks to clubs which have entered the 3 main club officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer) into Rotary View. This significantly helps the district leadership team communicate with our clubs. After the election of other club leads at AGMs, will clubs please add as many of the other officer roles as you can, which should help alleviate the email burden of Secretaries.

Club Compliance Statements: I recently sent the standard compliance form to clubs. This should be signed by either the 2026/27 President or Secretary and returned to me by 1^st July.

Club emails to members: It has been recently highlighted that clubs using the Template system to communicate with members have experienced failures to transmit. This is a problem throughout Rotary GB&I, with the strong recommendation to use Rotary View for email purposes.

Rotary View:Those that have been active with RV and/or followed developments, may have noted two aspects.

1. First, in the last few months there have been several new features introduced which are shown in the left-hand side navigation panel on the Homepage. More will come from the Web team in due course.

2. Many of the previous glitches have now been resolved, resulting in the system being much more reliable to use. There remain some residual problems which the Web team are monitoring. However, I encourage club members to build a familiarity with and actively use Rotary View.

David Lister, District Secretary.

Rotary Radio – Steve Wood

At the last District meeting there was a lot of talk about telling stories and I asked the representatives of all the clubs in attendance to send us a story about what their club is doing. How many did I receive? None - a big fat zero.  The station exists to promote the activities of Rotary locally, nationally and internationally. We have listeners in the UK, Europe and the USA, and small numbers spread around the rest of the world. Take the opportunity to contribute to the growth of Rotary by sending us news. You can do this by sending us your club newsletters or by email with details of individual club events. We have the knowledge, skills and technical equipment to make even the most mundane event sound exciting. We have signed up for a new AI programme that enables us to make news items and adverts with a wide variety of voices, with or without background music.

Our team of volunteers continues to give many thousands of hours to the station. Sure, we all enjoy doing it but there is a far more important aim ie to help Rotary grow.

Steve Wood, Rotary Radio UK.

Humanitarian Lead – John Dunkley

The Service Leads will provide their own individual reports as usual.

Barbara (Babsi) Frikstad is joining the International Team with Juliet Atako with immediate effect

Babsi will take the role as Inter Club Contact. This will involve assisting clubs with international contacts for Twinning or to assist with finding international clubs who would be interested in assisting with Foundation Grants.

Pat Jeffery has taken the role as the Domestic Abuse Campaign Lead for 1120. This role was due to be in place from July 2026, but Pat is already working in that role.

John Dunkley, 22.4. 2026

Resilience Lead – Brenda Parsons

Resilience Report

1. Kent and Medway.

• Since the last meeting 5 Rotarians from Maidstone/ Medway area took part in a Kent Resilience Volunteer Event in April on behalf of our Rotary District. We had a Rotary Stand and I made a presentation to the other Kent Volunteer Groups, Kent ouncil Representatives and Fire Teams. I shared a selection of the wide range of ongoing resilience programmes we are involved in e g Rotarians volunteer at Food banks, Warm Spaces, support the Homeless, Refuges and Raise Funds, (Rapid Response vehicle ) as well as being available to help at emergencies (not as first responders) and support on emergency exercises.(Approx 80 in the audience)

• Training. Please email me if you would like to take part in a Welfare / Rest Centre Training for emergency evacuations. If there are sufficient number Kent Resilience Team can organise. brenda.e.parsons@ntlworld.com

2. Sussex. New Lead for next Rotary Year David Sanders Hailsham We have been invited to attend the Sussex Resilience meetings

3. Bromley.

• Information Home Office funded Project Adder is being led by the Police in Bromley and Croydon. It focuses on cuckooing . .This is criminal exploitation where criminals take over the home of a vulnerable person to use as a base mainly for drug dealing. Vulnerable people could be of all ages and abilities and include mental health and dementia. The police are usually alerted by neighbours. Please keep your eyes open .https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/project-adder/about-project-adder Contact your local police if you wish to report any concerns

4. Resilience Leads

• Please ensure that all AGs know who the Resilience lead is for their area for Rotary Year 2026-27 and confirm with brenda.e.parsons@ntlworld.com

5. RESILIENCE MEETING June 2^nd 5.30 open to all Rotarians and timed before most club evening meetings Please confirm attendance for your club to brenda.e.parsons@ntlworld.com It is vital that all emergency leads attend please so you are all familiar with the procedures in case of an emergency.

Zoom link scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82879319283?pwd=rjxIoOa3aJ9HCeQzYambebj8AaRv3u.1

Meeting ID: 828 7931 9283 Passcode: 374707

Agenda

1. Our communication system if there is an emergency

2. Personal Preparation for emergencies

3. Duke of Cornwall award for young people.

Brenda Parsons 07901911172

Basic Education and Literacy Report

Club Name

Name person in your club to contact

Email

Telephone no. if willing to be on WhatsApp as a quick way to share info without meetings

Project Title

Area of Basic Skills Literacy/ Maths / IT

Brief description

Please email your Clubs Projects to brenda.e.parsons@ntlworld.com

Youth Lead – Steve Hanks

See separate report.

District Training  Report – Denis Spiller

The training period for the Rotary year 2026/2027 is now approaching its conclusion and plans for the training events for 2026 are as follows.

• 11^th – 15^th January – International Assembly attended by the DGE Graham and Christine - Completed

• 14^th February  District Officer Training - Larkfield -Completed

• 27^th Feb – 1^st March – GB&I Leadership Development and District Symposium - Warwick    - Completed

• 7^th March AG Training Part 1 – Zoom - Completed

• March 14^th- 29^th – Rotary GBI Virtual Presidents Elect training sessions – Zoom – Completed and attended by 34 D1120 Presidents elect and supported by D1120 Facilitators

• Mar- April – Presidents Elect Training by AG Area – In progress

• 21^st April AG Training Part 2 – Zoom - Completed

• 2^nd May – District Assembly and President Elect Training – Aylesford School -in final preparation at time of writing. 100 registrations so far and planning for 120+

As advanced notice, it is also time that a new District Training Officer was identified and so I am keen for a volunteer to shadow me through the remainder of this year.

Denis Spiller, District Learning Facilitator

District Conference 2026 – Denis Spiller

Planning is well underway for the district conference 17-18 October. To manage costs and still deliver a good value event, it is planned to repeat the delivery pattern of 2025, that is a whole day on Saturday with an evening event and the final session on Sunday morning.

D1130 will be involved in the conference as before and our combined target for attendance is 400. Funding is however a challenge as D1130 have committed their budget to a Peace conference in April 2027, however, the D1130 DG is fully supporting his members attending and through including members of D1130 on the organising committee, we are anticipating a good level of participation. We suspect that we shall require the full £10k district grant plus the returned balance from last year to make this event viable. In 2027, we anticipate two district funding returning as normal.

Following research for viable alternatives the venue once again is Eastbourne, however, we plan to utilise the space differently this year to avoid the congestion issues and limit the resetting of seating.

Also, following general feedback, we are returning to holding a gala dinner/dance on the Saturday evening with music and dance until midnight.

Costs from Eastbourne for the venue and the catering are favourable and a budget is in place. Registration will be £70 pp as an Earlybird rate, and the gala dinner will be £45. Details are on the district website.

The programme is now 95% complete with a good range of speakers and entertainment representing Rotary, charities and special speakers. Details are on the district website.

We encourage clubs and members to secure hotel space as soon as possible.

The website is live and registration will open on the 2^nd May

Thank you

Denis Spiller,Chairman Conference Team 2026.