FAREWELL FROM THE 2023-2024 PRESIDENTS

On July 16, 2024, members celebrated our collective efforts and launched future endeavors to continue making a difference in our community and beyond. Our goals for the past year were:

• Increasing our Club’s Visibility in the Community
• Broader Rollout of the Teen Mental Health First Aid Training Course in Secondary High Schools
• Delivering Hearing Screening to Primary School Students in Tonga

We successfully achieved these goals.

The Bayside Farmers Market continues to boost our community visibility and serve as a major revenue source. The impact of our noticeboards, explaining where patrons’ donations go and providing project updates, cannot be underestimated. Thanks to the Market Committee, led by Lance Blackley, for gaining youth group assistance in setup and pack-down, ensuring long-term sustainability.

We engaged with community groups and other Rotary clubs through joint projects like the Teen Mental Health First Aid and the Bayside Farmers Market. We also invited groups like the SES and Neighbourhood Watch to present at meetings.

The 2023/2024 Rotary theme was to create hope in the world, with a focus on mental health. Thank you to the Youth Committee, led by Christine Lindsey, for projects addressing youth leadership, resilience, and mental health. Partnering with the Rotary Club of North Brighton and Mental Health First Aid Australia, we delivered mental health first aid training to high schools. Since 2022, 650 students have completed the training.

We continued hearing and large motor skills development screenings of children with the University of Melbourne, impacting 20% of children referred for follow-up. We also continued intergenerational interviews for Melbourne University physiotherapy students to develop their communication and interpersonal skills, crucial for effective patient care.

Our international project in Tonga, screening for hearing problems in children, continued, and we expect to exceed our target of screening 2,000-3,000 children.

We have enjoyed our year as Co-Presidents and thank our Board members for their wise counsel and all club members for their support, commitment, and friendship.

Bev and Amanda

WELCOME FROM THE 2024-2025 CO-PRESIDENTS.

We are looking forward to sharing the president’s role over the next year and together with you all creating “magic”!

Our plans for the year ahead are basically to continue with the very successful projects the club are running such as the International project in Tonga, the teen mental health first aid programs in the local high schools, the “ready for school” screening of hearing and gross motor skills, the wonderful BayCISS projects being undertaken etc.

In relation to the impact of our service projects, we are looking to implement a formal assessment process starting with the club’s current projects, looking at:

• What worked well?
• What were/are the challenges?
• The impact for stakeholders
• How the project promotes Rotary in the community.

We have looked at a growth plan which we hope to be a whole club approach. 

The market is an obvious place to try to attract new members/volunteers and a small working group will be producing flyers/posters to share with people at the market. Hopefully this initiative will result in new members/volunteers.

As mentioned earlier, we believe membership is the responsibility of everyone and we will visit the subject frequently to see what is working/not working.  We are a small group of 17 members who are passionate about what we do and are very willing to help each other. We will continue to focus on making it fun to be a member of Hampton rotary and open to suggestions on how we can continue to do so. “guess who”s coming to dinner” will definitely continue as it has been such a great success. Our first quiz night is next week thanks to Anette.

Regionalisation is happening and there is hope that clubs in the region can work on projects together. This will hopefully increase communication between clubs as we work towards group outcomes. We will keep you informed as this unfolds.

So, we look forward to working with you all over the next year and creating some marvellous rotary magic! 

Bev and Gill

RECENT CLUB EVENTS

Club Changeover July 16th

Hampton Rotary’s annual changeover was held on July 16th and was MC’d by Club raconteur Lindsay Morgan, who welcomed all the members and guests who attended. Congratulations and special thanks to the Hampton Rotary Club Co-Presidents 2023-2024 Amanda Hill and Bev Blackley for a great past year and sharing the highlights from the year. We also welcomed PDG Ian Ballantine and AG Linda O’Brien as well as District 9815 Community Leader Group 1,Wil Cornelissen and Past Rotary International President Ian Riseley.

This night was also the occasion to recognise the 2023-2024 Club Annual Award recipients. Paul Harris Fellow Recognitions were awarded to Christine Lindsey (Public Image and the Teen Mental Health Project), Geoff Tickner (projects in the local community and youth leadership), Amanda Hill and Bev Blackley (leadership as Presidents).

There was also an award to John Skerritt for winning 'the first responder award' and we acknowledged the contribution throughout the year from member partners Prue Tickner and Rob Ware as well. Our Club was also awarded with the District Award for 2023-2024 for Public Image & Communication.

Congratulations to all the award recipients for all their hard work and dedication over the past year.

We finished the evening by welcoming incoming Co-Presidents for 2024-2025 (Bev Blackley and Gill Merzvinskis). It was a great night and everyone is now looking forward to another productive and fun year ahead.

UPCOMING CLUB MEETINGS/EVENTS

Tuesday 23^rd July - Social Night.

Trivia at Bentleigh Social Club

Tuesday 30^th July - Board Meeting

Tuesday 6th August - Club Meeting at Picasso’s

Tuesday13th August - Club Meeting at Picasso’s
Speaker - Grant Holland, The Holland Foundation

Tuesday 20^th August - Social Night TBA

Tuesday 27th August  - Board Meeting

YOUTH & EDUCATION PROJECTS

Youth Mental Health First Aid training coming up for school staff in August

In supporting local high school students and entire school communities with mental health first aid training, we will be holding a course specifically for adults called Youth Mental Health First Aid scheduled for the 23rd & 30th August.

Teachers and Wellbeing teams at local Secondary Colleges are invited to attend the 2 day course, which is designed for adults who work with youth. They will learn how to recognise and support young people who may be experiencing mental health problems, or in a mental health crisis, and then to develop a practical mental health first aid Action Plan to support them.

We will be seeking volunteers from Club members shortly to help with the set-up and pack-down for the training each day, which will be delivered at the Petersham Youth Centre in Highett.  

This course forms part of our youth project Bayside Teen Mental Health First Aid to provide professional mental health first aid training and support to local school communities for their students and school staff. For more information about the project, please contact:

Christine Lindsey at christine.lindsey@gmail.com

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

 June Bayside Farmers’ Market

The June market saw a steady turnout of patrons, and although a cold winter morning, the rain managed to stay away.

It was a food lovers delight at the market. Everyone was out and about shopping for fresh produce and gourmet goods as well as tucking into treats from the takeaway food and drink stands….and as always, enjoying the great community vibe.

Thanks to all the stallholders and volunteers for ensuring another fabulous market, and all the community who came out to support the market.

The Bayside Farmers Market will be back again on Saturday 27th July and we’ll look forward to seeing everyone again then.

Remember, the Bayside Farmers Market is held on the 4th Saturday every month at Trey Bit Reserve Sandringham.

Next Bayside Farmers’ Market – Saturday 27th July

Our July market is coming up on Saturday 27th July, 8am-1pm at Trey Bit Reserve (Jetty Road), Sandringham. What a great way to kick-start the weekend, with a visit to the 60+ market stalls featuring seasonal fresh produce direct from the farm, gourmet and artisan foods and beverages, take-away food, drinks & coffees, and live music…all at a fabulous beachside location…..…so get your family and friends together and join in this fantastic community event!

HERE’S WHERE YOU’LL FIND US:

🗓When: Saturday, 27th July

📍Where: Trey Bit Reserve (Jetty Road), Sandringham*

⏰Time: 8am-1pm

🐶Dogs welcome on lead also

More details about the market are also available at:

Website: https://BaysideFarmersMarket.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaysideFM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baysidefarmersmarket_

*For parking options at the market, please refer to the market website

Market Volunteers Needed

If you’re interested in joining our volunteer team at the monthly Bayside Farmers’ Market, we’d love to hear from you. It’s only a commitment of 3 hours each month and no experience is necessary…so if you like meeting other locals and want to get involved in a fantastic community event that raises funds for many worthy causes, please get in touch.

If you are interested, then please contact Lance Blackley at 0411 741 586 or email: admin@hamptonrotary.org.au

WHERE TO FIND US

Club Meetings 

 

Details of meetings can be found on our website and you can refer to our website for updates on the upcoming meeting program: https://hamptonrotary.org.au/all-events