President's Message
Welcome to 2024. Many of us came together over January for Rotary fellowship events. February is upon us and commences the start of the Rotary Club of Sydney 2024 program proper.
Thank you to the members and prospects who joined us for lunch at the Piccadilly Cafe on 16 January. A special thanks to Jo-ann, Christine and James who are all prospective members who are looking forward to becoming part of Rotary in 2024. The Youth Team stayed busy over January supporting RYLA participants at the annual Barrington Tops RYLA program. Also the effervescent social director, Pheobe Alexander, has our 1st 2024 social event planned for 31 January with a private tour of the Kandinsky Exhibition at the Sydney Arts Gallery.
Our last meeting for 2023 included our AGM. Thank you to all who attended or participated on-line. I would like to congratulate the successful nominees:-
President Nominee
Iurie Brinister was elected as our president nominee and will lead Rotary Club of Sydney for the 25/26 Rotary Year.
Treasurer
Rahul Guha was re-elected as Treasurer for 24/25
Secretary
We received no nominations for the role of secretary and this position remains vacant for 24/25. If you are interested in this role please contact me.
Directors for 24/25
Charles Allen IPP, Karen Loblay, Deborah Hill, Victoria Hollick, Mark Dyer, Pheobe Alexander and David Hirsch.
I would like to announce a new role we have created being the Club Welfare Officer. We needed someone who has an eye for the welfare of club members and someone who likes a chat. Although Geoff Little is over qualified based on the specified traits, nether the less will perform this role. Thank you Geoff for taking on this responsibility. Geoff will have a particular eye for members who are now less able to attend meetings and events. It is important that we don't lose contact with Rotary members who have given their time and resource to the community through Rotary Club of Sydney.
Over the 1st half of the 23/24 Rotary year we tried a range of alternate locations for Rotary meetings and events. Many of you have attended events at Rydges Darling Square, UBS Chifley Square and The Kent. We thank you for your flexibility and enthusiasm. We encouraged feedback from members and thank those who have provided feedback. Based on this feedback we are planning to continue to vary event locations with the Castlereagh Hotel remaining our 'home' venue.
We understand the Castlereagh Hotel are undertaking improvements to Cellos room including improved AV, IT, and speaker facilities. We look forward to you attending events at the Castlereagh. Please be aware that the Castlereagh have increased prices which we will need to pass on through our event ticketing. We will be offering other events at other venues with different price points.
The executive and board will continue to lead Rotary Club of Sydney based on our Strategic and Operational plan. The first half of the 23/24 year has seen us achieve against this plan and it will continue to provide guidance for the remainder of the year. I remind you of our vision statement;
‘RCS acknowledges its 100 years plus history while looking to next 100 years. As one of the Australian premier Rotary Clubs we will use our brand and influence to attract and retain a vibrant and engaged membership while delivering service to communities locally, nationally, and internationally.’
We look forward to the year ahead.
Charlie Allen
President Rotary Club of Sydney
Rotary Club of Adelaide