The Board met on 26 March 2026 for a productive session covering key club business. Highlights include a reaffirmation of our Child Safe Environment Policy, a strong financial report from Treasurer Thelma, a bumper Farmers' Market with 922 patrons and gross takings of $5,045, and several important updates to how we manage club payments and events. Click Read More to catch up on all the details!
Summary – Board Meeting
Thursday 26th March 2026
Business arising from last meeting
- BFM Deed of Variation – letter sent to Council by Helena and David. No reply yet.
- Donated Rugby tops – Ian Dobson advised sell them to members for $20 each.
- New clothing to order – Ian Dobson will send Alex an order form.
- Electric leads at the Farmers’ Market. All leads will be tested by an electrician for safety and tagged.
Correspondence
Discussion followed on the report to Board from our Club Protection Officer Richard.
Working with Children Check (WWCC) – this is mandatory and currently all members have it. It was acknowledged by the Board that any member who does not hold a current WWCC cannot be allowed to work with any child.
Rotary Youth Declaration (RYD) – those members working with any youth must have completed this. Currently 45 members have completed it and 2 have declined. We cannot allow these 2 to work with any youth.
Motion: “That the Board reaffirms the club’s Child Safe Environment Policy and the requirement that members involved in activities with minors comply with the policy’s WWCC and RYD requirements.” Carried.
Motion: “That members or volunteers who do not hold a current Victorian Working With Children Check, or who have not completed a Rotary Youth Declaration where required, are not eligible to participate in youth-related activities nor have direct contact with minors while on club business, until the relevant requirement has been satisfied and confirmed by the Protection Officer.” Carried.
Motion: “That the Board notes the current compliance status reported by the Protection Officer and requests periodic updates on Child Safety compliance, with the next report to be presented at the June Board meeting.” Carried.
Motion: “That the Protection Officer issue reminder notices to members prior to the expiry of their Working With Children Check to assist members in maintaining compliance.” Carried.
Treasurer (Thelma)
Thelma reported that the Club is in a sound financial position and all expenses over the last month were within budget.
- A further $1000 sent for the Sierra Leone project, has been received by RC Bo.
Farmers’ Market (David)
Amelia will now take control of the Volunteer Roster operation. She will be the person to communicate with regarding all aspects of the Roster, including sending the
pre-market reminders and to be advised of changes.
- Market 21/3/26 - There was a remarkably high turnout of Patrons, 922 of them. We had a few stallholder cancellations, not believed to be due to fuel price rises, and 39 attended on the day. Gross takings were $5045.
- The Buggy again failed to work on Saturday and once again we called upon Alex Marshall and his car to assist. Luckily, Mark Howlett had a trailer on his car for another
reason and that helped too. We managed to recharge the buggy in the hope that it was just low charge, and this turned out to be the case and it was operational for pack up.
Club Service (Alex)
Changes to our payment system for meetings. Richard submitted a letter advising that Clubrunner Cloud Events would now be better to use than Humanitix and
eWay for special events with many guests. This change has been discussed with Treasurer Thelma and approved by her.
Motion: “that the Board approves the adoption of Clubrunner Cloud Events as the ticketing and registration platform for all special events, replacing the use of Humanitix.”
Carried.
Motion: “that the Board approves the opening of a club PayPal account as a payment option for event ticket purchasers, and in readiness for the adoption of Clubrunner Nova.” Carried.
Community Service (Wendy)
- Salvation Army – we completed our first six-week men’s cooking program on Wednesday 25th March. It went well and Norman Gale and the homeless men appreciated our efforts and enjoyed the meals.
- Small Comforts – A number of Rotary clubs donate $2000 per year to support this program. Jennifer has notified Small Comforts that we are withdrawing from this as they now have adequate support.
- Power Assist - Program temporarily moving to Rossbourne School. Two volunteers needed for the April session.
- Bread Run – This is a fine service for the homeless but Simon reports that we still need volunteers to cover shifts in April & May. The roster is on Club Runner.
Environment (Thelma)
- Recycle Books – Remaining books at BFM will be offered to the Rotary bookshop in Docklands.
- Soft Plastics – disposal of these remains a problem.
Foundation (Jo)
A Rotary Glenferrie Peace Building Committee meeting was held on 10 March 2026 to discuss potential peace projects for the coming year. It was decided to organise a sausage
sizzle at Bunnings to raise funds for Middle East Relief. All funds raised will be donated to Shelter Box.
International Service (Amelia)
- Sierra Leone SchoolWater Storage and Reticulation System.
This project has now been completed and RC Bo are busy organising the Opening Ceremony which will take place on 28th March. The local MP will officially open the water reticulation system and about 500 people are expected to attend.
- WASH Project in Timor-Leste - In the past years we have contributed to the WASH projects in Timor-Leste managed by the Rotary Club of Camberwell. They are planning a visit there later this year and we may have the opportunity to be part of that.
- Vo Thanh Community, Vietnam - Our Club has been supporting the Vo Thanh community in Vietnam for many years. This year we were fortunate to have Christine McCann participate in a visit to the community with the Rotary Club of North Balwyn.
As a result of this visit, we donated $3,6oo to purchase medical equipment and a Personal Computer and printer for the medical station.
Membership (Anita)
Laura Schembri has applied to join our Club. Laura has been introduced to our Club by Maria Pantling and she has attended working bees as well as four Club Dinners.
Motion: “That the Board endorses Laura Schembri’s membership nomination, subject to the satisfactory completion of her Rotary Youth Declaration and submission
of a satisfactory Working With Children Check.”
The Board was advised that Laura now has her WWCC.
Next step – Secretary to circulate all Club members. Carried.
Social Media Champion - Kersha Chettri – after correspondence and discussion about issues of privacy, together with consideration of the document entitled “Facebook Page Management by a non-member” the following motion was put:
Motion: “That the Board appoints skilled volunteer Kersha Chettri as Member Recruitment Assistant, reporting to the Membership Director and appoints her as an administrator of the Club’s Facebook and Instagram pages, with accountability to the Public Image Chair for ensuring the accurate representation of the Club and of Rotary in public communications.”
The Board was advised that Kersha holds a current WWCC certificate. Anita – can you please obtain a copy of this to file in our records? Carried
Youth & Vocational Service (Chris)
Mock Job Interviews for high school students are a common Vocational Service project to assist students prepare for the real thing. They are generally organized
by Careers Staff at each school. We will be approaching local schools to see if they are interested
- Interact Club – Mandeville Hall
We have a good relationship with Loreto Mandeville Hall. This is mainly due to their involvement in MUNA & recently the Peace Pole project. Talking to the Principal
she thought that Mandeville would be open to us forming an Interact group at the school. We will approach Mandeville Hall at the beginning of 2026 to discuss setting up an Interact Club. Support will, of course, be required from the potential sponsor club and a member or two should be appointed in an advisory role, which involves attending Interact meetings where possible and providing general support, mentoring and guidance to the students you will be working with.
- Mark Howlett will be Director of Youth Services for 2026/27.
Don Heath
Secretary