Joy Durrant organised another great opportunity for members to socialise and support the Wellington hospitality industry. This time it was at Beach Babylon's Willy Wonka lunch as part of Wellington on a plate. What a cheerful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thank you Joy. Joy Durrant organised another great opportunity for members to socialise and support the Wellington hospitality industry. This time it was at Beach Babylon's Willy Wonka lunch as part of Wellington on a plate. What a cheerful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thank you Joy. 
Matt admitted to being terrible at golf so on Fridays he works with babies with cleft palates as well as the charity Wish for a Smile. The first "wish for a smile" patient in 2011 was Evan Hill who was on Campbell Live asking for help to fix his teeth and NZ raised $180,000. Part of this funding was put aside for Evan and the rest pledged to Wish for a Smile. Since then over 440 Kiwi Kids have accessed donated orthodontic treatment which equates to over $3m.
Last Sunday a wonderful group of rotarians and interactors planted another 600 trees in Tawa. This is our second planting for 2024. Due to the numbers of volunteers it required only an hour or two activity and the team got a lovely view of the trees they have planted in previous years. It was great to see how they were thriving.
Richard’s pedigree/whakapapa includes his father Group Captain George Westlake of the RAF and aviation in general which he reckons is in his DNA. In 1969 he got his private pilot’s licence but failed shortly afterwards to get his driving licence. Luckily his pilot’s licence stood him in good stead and before long he was in the RAF flying Hawker Hunters which he described as like driving a Jaguar in the air – it just felt right.
This morning RCPN meeting attendees received a talk from Finn Messerli – representing Generation Zero (a climate advocacy organisation).
The 33rd goal setters award breakfast at the Pipitea Marae on April 14th was a red letter day for our Rotary Club, and will not be easily forgotten by the 212 people who were enthralled by the four stories of the worthy recipients in 2024 - Ace Goff, Jono Petersen, Marilyn Mansilla and Tanith Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi. The Prime Minister gave a strong address which echoed the stories of our scholarship winners and he enjoyed relating to and speaking with them throughout. The extent to which he appreciated the event was shown by the fact he stayed 20 plus minutes past his planned leaving time to have photos with the scholarship winners and speak with interested breakfast goers.
Peter retired from Cullen Law and as a Rotarian has established the Democracy Project which was the topic of his talk. Peter talked about the recent election results and how things like AI and social media has changed the world for the better and the worse on the latter he outlined that in the past some opinions were previously ignored but now these comments are competing with Politicians via social media. Peter decided to do something to try and strengthen democracy in NZ with the help of Donna Dentice and Ian McKinnon they are providing Workshops for secondary school students with the aim to improve young peoples understanding of civil service and democracy.
We had heard some time ago from the Principal of Onslow College that they had
used funds from our Lifting the Lid Programme to support parents of students who
were self-harming. This week we heard just how critical this support is, and how our
programme can contribute to better outcomes for our young people.
used funds from our Lifting the Lid Programme to support parents of students who
were self-harming. This week we heard just how critical this support is, and how our
programme can contribute to better outcomes for our young people.
Police Sargeant Brendon Paul is one of seven youth aid officers in Wellington city
“trying to put things in place to stop youth offending.”
He told the club this week that 80 percent of “the kids we deal with don’t come back,
but about five percent come back frequently.”
“trying to put things in place to stop youth offending.”
He told the club this week that 80 percent of “the kids we deal with don’t come back,
but about five percent come back frequently.”
We heard from attendees to our Youth events over the past year.
Lopa outlined the highlights being a site visit to Otago University at Wellington hospital radiation therapy learning to be very particular with perfectionist masks turning then from soft to hard.
Kara and Michaela went to Auckland University with another 168 year 13s. There were 13 academic modules including Robotics and food tech their particular favourites.
Kara and Eva talked about giving back to Rotary and the last year of Interact.
Grace Day talked about Rotary Youth Leadership Award.
