RCPN Bulletin 30 August 2026 (Aug 30, 2026)

Club News

30 August 2026

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Our Duties August/September
Please note that these may differ from previous notifications

	August 26	Sept 2	Sept 9	Sept 16
Desk 6.45	Brad Weekly	Peter Whittington	Geoff Smith
Greeter 6.45	Simon Warburton	David Shackleton	Bill Day
Set up/ Pack up	Nick Duncan	Hadleigh Petherick	Aparna Dubey
Kaikohau	Howard Tong	Jane Paterson	Steve Lawton
Opening Thought	Lindsay Chitty	Rob Whitney	Richard Brodie
Introduction	Rod Badcock	Richard Westlake	Dawn Sanders
Thanking	Brenda Lazelle	Heather Lucas	Peter Whittington
Parting thought-	David Quinn	Iona Sammons	Tamaris Livera
Reporter	Marc Rands	Charles Little	Howard Tong
Photographer	Jeff Lee	Jo Douglas	Nick Duncan

Our Speaker this week are:

Bryony James

Vice Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington

The vision for Te Herenga Waka

Professor Bryony James became the Vice-Chancellor in June 2026. Prior to that she was the Provost at Te Herenga Waka, starting in October 2023.

She has previously held various leadership roles in the New Zealand university sector, including Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Waikato, and Deputy Dean (Research) and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Auckland.

Over the decades of her academic career her research interests evolved from traditional areas of materials engineering to the intersection of materials, food and nutrition.

President David

Greetings Rotary friends,

Importance of Rotary Clubs

Rotary has a lot of fund raising and is a busy, action-focused environment, but in the end we are about something much more important: people. While we are a huge international organization, we are Club-based. I think this is important. Clubs are like an extended "family-unit' sized version of Rotary where we work together, share the ups and downs of life and get to know each other well. Good to think global, but we need healthy clubs to ensure a stronger, broader Rotary.

Tony Robinson

We continue to have lots of people traveling. Safe and enjoyable travels and we look forward to your return to the club.

We are delighted that Tony Robinson has made solid process in Melbourne after his awful injury and will shortly be discharged and expects to see us on 2 September.

Lifting the lid

Last week we were thrilled to learn Lifting the Lid was the runner-up in the Education category of the Wellngton Airport Regional Community Awards. A hearty congratulations to David Shackleton and his team. These awards are prestigious and highly competitive. Many truly impressive groups enter these awards. It is satisfying to see LtL getting this recognition given we know how wonderful LtL is and the gap it is filling.

Board Meetings

We have a Rotary Community Leaders' meeting and our own Board meeting this week. The Board will share with you our priorities for the year and seek your participation in our Club Forum coming up in September.

Have a good week. Ngā mihi nui, David

The future looks good

Meetings, speakers and events coming up

27 August - Book club - Theme - Australian literature
2 September - Vice Chancellor Professor Bryony James - The vision for Te Herenga Waka
9 September - Fiona Smith & Simon Warburton - New member presentations
16 September - Dr Melanie Young - Osteopathy and voluntary support for children in need
23 September - Club Forum
30 September Sarah Morris Encouraging participation and community power in response to creeping authoritarianism
7 October - Simon Douglas - Transport issues facing NZ now and into the future
14 October - RADAR awards
21 October (Wednesday evening) 2026 Grand Night Out - No breakfast meeting
28 October -Michael Nestmann Assisted Dying in NZ
4 November -Natalia Fareti International, domestic and regional initiatives supporting young Pacific change makers
18 November -Anna Fifield The Life and times of a journalist and foreign correspondent

2027

21 April - Goal Setters Awards at Te Papa. Early notice for your diary entry

A GRAND NIGHT OUT

is a special night in the Rotary Calendar

An update of the event Wednesday 21 October……….

We now have 18 restaurants who have confirmed their support who will each host a table of 8 people for a 2-course dinner without charge, but guests pay for all drinks consumed, and any other food.

Boulcott Street Bistro, Cable Top Eatery, Coene's, Cuba Street Tavern, Floriditas, Loretta, Fratelli, Le Bouillon Bel Air, Liberty, Logan Brown, Monsoon Poon, Noble Rot, Novotel Wellington, Rydges Wellington, Salty Pidgin, Shed 5, The Regal, Thistle Inn.

A fun and exciting fundraising evening, offering guests an exciting night out. A “blind draw” is held when guests find out where they will be dining for the evening. Tables are matched with a venue, by drawing out a venue name from one hat and a table name from another hat.

GET A GROUP TOGETHER MAKE THIS A SPECIAL NIGHT
FOR YOU, YOUR FRIENDS, AND THE CHARITY
Watch this space for an update of Auction items…

Settling Refugees in NZ

We were fortunate to have Jacob Smythe of the red Cross and Phil McCarthy of Anglican Services (AS) talking today on the work they do to settle Refugees into the NZ society. Our Rotary club regularly donate food items to stock the AS “pantry” from which newly housed refugees are supported for 2 weeks of their settling in period in the accommodation.