Ingrid was accompanied by Gary Langford, District Governor Elect and Peter Barron, the District Governors Secretary.
Ingrid spoke to us of what she is looking for in her year as DG her approach to the Rotary year and re-stated the vision of the RI President Barry Rassin - "Be The Inspiration". That is for both Rotarians and the community at large.
in particular;
Ingrid wants to keep Rotary real by
– Getting Rotary’s name brand out into the market
– Maintaining and sustaining membership
– Being relevant 1st to members then to our communities and to the wider world.
Ingrid wants to promote the growth of leaders within Rotary in two ways;
-through clubs providing leadership opportunities and mentoring, and;
- through Interact and Rotaract.
One of Ingrids aims is for clubs in our district to actively engage in sustainable projects both locally and globally. Our region is lucky as it has seven Pacific Islands Nations within it's boundaries so identification of projects is easy for for clubs. Ingrid reminded us that we should not forget Rotary Foundation as donations to Foundation enable clubs to undertake projects small and large. Ingrid suggested that we need to partner with other clubs and entities to make projects happen. In other words clubs should not put themselves into Silos.
Ingrid wants us to tell our stories
– tell others what we do and why members do what they do.
- tell and sell the Rotary story,
-tell others why you joined rotary
-tell others about impact of Rotary locally and globally. Use the Polio projects as an example of what Rotary can achieve and how it leverages off the support of the Gates Foundation.
Ingrid noted that our District, 9920, is the largest maritime district in the world. seven countries, 52 Rotary clubs three satellite clubs and at least one E Club. The size of our District gives us pretty good scope for finding projects.
Ingrid touched on membership saying she would like Rotary to create an engaging member experience while undertaking service. She noted that we have gained 20 new members in the district since 1 July 2018 on the downside we have lost over 200 members in the past two years through attrition and other reasons
Ingrid’s messages that if you can get people to give time and money they need to feel it is worthwhile.
Ingrid told us that 2021 is the anniversary of Rotary’s establishment in New Zealand and Australia There will be a special joint project being established for that purpose. So watch this space.
One of Ingrid’s aims for the centenary is to have a record of the history of every club in New Zealand. For this purpose a wiki page has been created to contain the history and story of each Rotary club.
Our guest speaker on Tuesday 20 November was DG Ingrid Waugh, who was introduced by Past DG Ron Seeto, himself both a past DG and President of our club.
