| World Earth Day – The Story! At the 1990 Rotary International Convention in Portland, Oregon, the then President-elect Paulo Costa declared a Rotary initiative to “Preserve Planet Earth” asking Rotarians to make environmental issues part of their service agenda: to plant trees, to work to keep our air and water clean, and to protect the planet for future generations. Whilst we planted nearly 35 million trees by the end of that Rotary year, Rotary as a whole has not carried its environmental commitment forward. |
| That is why, at the start of this year, RI President Ian asked Rotarians to plant at least one tree for every Rotary member by World Earth Day, 22nd April 2018. It is RI President Ian’s hope that by planting trees, Rotarians will renew their interest in, and attention to, the issue that we must put back on the Rotary agenda: the state of our planet. |
| World Earth Day – Rotary Ireland Tree Garden Initiative! The Rotary Ireland Tree Garden will be located within the Colebrooke Estate, located just off the A4 Enniskillen to Belfast Road at Brookeborough. This area is particularly rich in wildlife and a wide range of wildflowers /plants and it hoped that this will form part of an amenity park with connecting paths along the side of the Colebrooke River. This is a great initiative that all our clubs can participate in and at the same time tick one of the boxes on the RI Citation. To participate, please donate at least £50 / € 50 per club to be paid to the District Treasurer (Werner Scheel Waterfoot Park, Londonderry BT47 6SW) to cover the cost of planting. Any surplus funds will be donated to Polio Plus and will be matched 2 for 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Payment can also be made online – as below: GBP: 98-03-60 / 89161019 / IBAN: GB63 ULSB 9803 6089 1610 19 EUR: 98-62-60 / 43452239 / IBAN: IE13 ULSB 9862 6043 4522 39 It is important to meet the revised deadline of the 17th April to ensure your Club name is added to the signage. Balcas (NI) will oversee the planting and cover the cost of providing an interpretative panel and ceremonial tree in an appropriate location visible from the public road. This will tell the story of all 3 partners and list the names of all participating Clubs. My thanks to the Rotary Club of Enniskillen for their vision and management of this project |
 |
| Membership – The Life Blood of Rotary – Work Must Continue! Rotary 2 continues to be our Number One focus with our work on Satellite Clubs & Groups and achieving our 100 new Rotarians by the 30th June 2018. Our membership is currently at 1952, 48 short of our goal. We have 3 months left to achieve our target figure of 2000. Please continue to focus on membership. |
 |
| State of the Nation Following the internal public image campaign in which we released 9 videos, Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland 2018 ‘State of the Nation’ survey examines social and community issues in today’s society, along with establishing a barometer check on how people feel life compares now with previous generations. Rotary’s survey has importantly uncovered how nearly two-thirds of the population (64%) feel lonely. You can view the Executive Summary “HERE” It is the projects & initiatives and the ability to give something back that we enjoy and get great satisfaction from. It is important to share these stories, by sharing them we can attract new members. If your club has a story to tell, please get in touch with our Public Image Chair Pat Leogue leogue@gmail.com |
| Presidential Citation & Rotary Club Central Your Assistant Governor will be in contact regarding work on the Presidential Citation and to provide help in entering club projects and volunteer hours into Rotary Club Central. |
 |
| Know Your Blood Pressure This will apply mainly to the Northern Clubs; the national Know Your Blood Pressure Day is Saturday 14th April 2018; I know some clubs have different days and are working closely with the local Stroke Association Team. Don’t forget to register your blood pressure event: https://www.stroke.org.uk/get-involved/know-your-blood-pressure/rotary For those clubs who want to help in some additional way, I recently sent out specific details concerning the contribution of £380 which would provide for those who have been affected by stroke to rediscover previous skills, learn new skills, regain confidence, increase independence and socialise with other individuals who have had similar experiences. One such new skill is to get involved and take part in sport and recreational activity specifically boccia and new age curling. Some clubs already have come forward advising they will support; I still need more support if we are going to provide the materials for the 13 Voluntary Groups in the North. Please get in touch directly: gartharnold@btinternet.com |
| New Rotakids Club Congratulations to Lisburn Rotary for the setting up a Rotakids club at Knockmore Primary School. |
| PEPS – New Date As you are aware PEPS (2nd – 4th March 2018) had to be cancelled due to weather conditions. Unfortunately, it has not been possible, due to the non-availability of trainers and hotel accommodation, to run PEPS in its original format this year. Therefore, a condensed form of PEPS will take place following a shortened District Council Meeting on 21st April 2018 commencing at 10 am and finishing at 3 pm. If your President Elect has not yet registered to attend please do so now. |
| I hope you all enjoy the rest of your Easter break; I am heading to the RIBI Conference inTorquay on the 5th April. I look forward to communicating with you again next month; don’t forget we still have 3 months left of this Rotary year! |
 |
