What a great way to start the new year with 38 of us at Leuven for a casual breakfast.
There was a lovely buzz to the morning with everyone catching up and talking about their holidays, reminding me we are very much like a family.
As many of you know, Rotary International and Toastmasters are now working together to provide our members even more opportunities for personal and professional growth. Toastmasters have 16,800 clubs in 143 countries and some 8 clubs in the Wellington area. Its members attend club meetings where they give speeches, evaluate the speeches of others and perform other club duties with the objective of becoming more confident leaders, speakers and communicators.
Some years ago, I had the good fortune of being a member of a Toastmasters group and it was one of the best things I did for my career. We have been in touch with Toastmasters here in Wellington and are arranging for one of their Presidents to talk to the Club, probably in March.
While we have just started our new year, we already have a couple of programmes lined up for February. They are the Child Cancer Fund raiser and Refugee Pantry Support. You will be hearing more about these programmes at next week’s meeting.
Thanks principally to the work Richard and his team we will induct three new members in February, so we are starting the year on a high note. When I ask our new members, what makes our Club attractive, inevitably the response is the friendly, welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. So, thank you all for creating this great culture.
Unfortunately, we have just heard of the sudden death of Gloria Poupard. Gloria was returning to Wellington having been away for a couple of months and fell ill in Hong Kong. Gloria was a passionate, long standing Rotarian who was planning to join our Club in the new year. Our condolences and sympathies go to her family.
Have a wonderful weekend and see you on Wednesday.