My parents have always been heavily involved in their local Rotary club in Horsham and are my most admired Rotarians – My Mum is the current treasurer and my Dad has been involved with the club for over 40years. They have had various roles, including President, and have been to overseas conventions, as well as travelled to India to support polio eradication.
My parents have always been heavily involved in their local Rotary club in Horsham and are my most admired Rotarians – My Mum is the current treasurer and my Dad has been involved with the club for over 40years. They have had various roles, including President, and have been to overseas conventions, as well as travelled to India to support polio eradication.
My husband Rob recently retired from teaching and my parents thought it would be a good idea to get him involved in Rotary and asked if he was interested. He thought it would be great for both of us to get involved, and so we tried out a few clubs and decided on North Balwyn as it’s our local. We were both inducted on 5th March, just before we all went into lockdown in Victoria.
Both my husband and I grew up in country Victoria—me in Horsham and Rob in Geelong—but have lived in Melbourne all our adult life. I am also a teacher and currently managing remote learning as a primary school art teacher, which can be challenging. Being creative, I love all kinds of art and Rob loves to do wood-turning, which he also did as part of the Men’s Shed before it was closed due to COVID-19. The Men’s Shed is a great community based organisation accessible to all men with the goal of having a safe and friendly environment where they can work on meaningful projects. It also provides support and improves health and wellbeing.
I am happiest when I am swimming in the ocean and have had some great adventures with my open water swimming in the past. In 2015, I travelled to Turkey to swim 3.5miles across the Dardanelles in an event organised by the Rotary Club of Canakkale. This event is organised annually on Victory Day (30th August), which commemorates the final victory for the Turks in the Turkish War of Independence in 1922 against the Greeks.
I have not been involved in a large volunteer organisation before, but have had many experiences volunteering at kids sporting clubs whilst my three children were growing up. They are all young adults now in their twenties.
Our club has stayed connected via Zoom since COVID-19, but I’m looking forward to being allowed back out there and participating in fundraising events such as our BBQ’s. Gaining new young members and having a connection with younger people, along with moving projects forward when we cannot meet in person are key challenges we all face.