Club News 02.07.23 (Jul 02, 2023)

Club News

2 July, 2023

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We've been supporting young Mums

Last Saturday night 22 members of the club, including partners and friends, attended the House of Grace (HOG) Fundraising Dinner at the Silverstream Retreat. It was a most enjoyable and fun filled event attended by around 130 people.

HOG was established in 2001 with a mission to provide a safe haven for young vulnerable pregnant women- a place where mums-to-be could find the love and support they need to learn life skills and prepare for parenting. To date they have served 174 young mothers, all with volunteers and donations but sadly, without any government support.

Above left: Treena van Rijssel addresses guests. Treena and her (late) husband founded the House of Grace over twenty years ago.

Above right: House of Grace Director, Fiona Collins.

The evening raised $55k which by any measure was an outstanding outcome, and will go a long way to support nearly 30 more young mothers. The Rotary Club of Port Nicholson donated $4,430, which included $2,000 top up by the club.

This week's speaker

Miriam Mylvaganam

Miriam is a Senior International Advisor of International Strategy and Immigration at Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. She is an influential and relational professional in the humanitarian space. During the COVID-19 pandemic she established and led the operations for Refugees and Afghanistan Evacuees to enter New Zealand's Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system. She is currently working in international strategy at Immigration NZ working on the Migration 5 (M5) requirements. Miriam is coming to speak to us about her time as a Rotary Peace Scholar and her forthcoming move to Bradford, England.

Desk: Brent

Greeting: Jo

Opening Thought: Julian

Our Duties

For 5 July meeting:

Buy the Box: Ross

Introduction: Paula

Thanking: Tori

Parting Thought: Warwick

Reporter: Brenda

Waitangi Markets

On Sunday 9 and Sunday and Sunday 16 July the club is on duty at the Waitangi Market carpark – always a nice earner for club funds.

We need 14 people to cover three shifts over the two days please.

Early shift: 7.30 – 9.30 am

Middle shift: 9.30 – 11.30am

Late shift: 11.30 – 1.30pm

If you would like to help please email John as soon as you can with your preferred date & time.

You’ve Been Scammed

A new Nigel Latta documentary delivers real world knowledge-you-can-use in an entertaining and easy-to-understand manner. It aims to arm viewers with enough knowledge to protect themselves the next time they receive a text, email or phone call asking them to do something that seems legitimate, but just doesn’t feel right.

You’ve Been Scammed is on channel 1 at 8pm tomorrow. Episodes will also be available to stream on TVNZ+.

Tākina open day - volunteers wanted

We have the opportunity to promote our club while collecting donations for the Mayor's charity of choice.

Keep an eye on your inbox for an email with the link to sign up for a shift on 15 July - we need 30 people in total.

A “storytelling famil” has been arranged on Wednesday 5th July, for an hour where collectors can learn about Tākina's history & specifications to tell the public on the day. This will take place on Tākina's ground floor at 4pm.

Thoughts from President Tony

Your new president has loved his first week and Wednesday’s meeting was a very busy and lively occasion with an excellent turnout.

It was special and very fitting to present Raymond Faulkner with a Keyway award and Brent Gerrard with a Paul Harris Fellow and second blue lapel pin. Brent and Raymond are very popular and distinguished Rotarians who offer a great amount and demonstrate in their lives everything that Rotary stands for.

Deirdre Tarrant was our guest speaker and she had us on our toes literally getting us out of our chairs and the blood flowing with her directed movements. I don’t think Deidre found any new talent around the room! Deirdre is known to many in Wellington as she has made a huge contribution to the Arts and the teaching of Dance over 50 years. It appears that she is far from slowing down as she continues to work four days a week as well as being the matriarch of a very talented family including seven grandchildren. It was a privilege to have Deirdre as our guest.

The messages and report backs were as extensive as ever with our Club’s involvement in a wide range of community activities. A large group of us greatly enjoyed the House of Grace fundraising dinner where the Club’s contribution was $4,500, a wonderful achievement. I followed up by going to the House of Grace Open Day and it was wonderful to see the care and environment this are provided for the young mothers and their babies.

Joy is organising a trip to Lifeflight to see the helicopters that have been purchased from the Royal Flying Doctors as we are helping with Whanau equipment. David, Paula and I are making another visit this coming Wednesday and we are thrilled that Lifeflight is one of our charities this
year.

We have the Takina Open Day coming up and it is a great opportunity for a number of us to be acting as collectors on what will be a very public occasion. Thankyou Raymond for your impetus and organisation here. John Bishop is presently doing the schedules for two forthcoming Waitangi Markets collections and Darryl has everything organised for an amazing Casino night in
August.

Our speaker on Wednesday is Miriam Mylvaganam, a Rotary Peace Scholar, and a young lady who has already achieved much in her career. A group of us heard Miriam speak recently at the Rotary District Conference and we were mightily impressed. I urge you all to come and listen to her.

Look forward to seeing everybody on Wednesday.

A Sunny Perambulation

A huge thankyou to David and Sheryn for hosting what, by all accounts, was a very successful perambulation last week. The sun shone, spirits were high, and so much food was contributed for afternoon tea that a household in need was able to be supported!

Deirde Tarrant - a life of dance!

Deirdre Tarrant says “her” Barber’s building, home of the Tarrant Dance Studio and Footnote New Zealand Dance, was given by the Borren family to the Nikau Trust to administer as part of a bequest to Victoria University. The building is now being handled by a property management company. Deirdre Tarrant says sadly the rents they wanted became unaffordable, but that didn’t stop her from re-opening in Te Auaha – just around the corner in Dixon St.

Brent Gerrard reports on our guest speaker on June 28.