President Sara Wood

I am honoured to be the President of the Rotary Club of Perth this year.  After only three and a half years in the club I’m still a bit of a “newbie”.  But it was the really warm welcome, the kindness, support and encouragement that I received from all the members over this time that is the reason I am where I am today.  That is, what I believe, is what Rotarians are all about!

Which brings me to reflect firstly of what “this Club” and Rotary means.  In a nutshell our members.  When members are asked why are you a Rotarian the answer is “to give back to my community” and “fellowship with like-minded people”.

Giving Back

In terms of giving to the community, we, our Club, do that in bucket loads!  The amount of money that we raise through a variety of events per year is phenomenal.  It’s then donated, carefully, through experience and high values to organisations who use it best to provide service and impact to our local community. 

Our hands-on community activities are numerous and often unsung.  Again, they are considered and intentionally done to give real value to those they benefit. 

This year’s Rotary theme cascaded to all Rotary Clubs worldwide is “Create Lasting Impact” and whilst aligning very well with our programme it’s also an excellent reminder that the middle word “LASTING” is fundamental to what we should be doing.

We are committed to identifying and delivering lasting benefit to our local community and to actively supporting national and international charitable needs through the wider Rotary.  We will focus our conversations with our local community as to what we can do better at creating that lasting impact.

Fellowship

We have an informal lunch at McDiarmid Park every Thursday and a breakfast meet at the Premier Inn every third Tuesday of the month, at which members and guests are very welcome.  Of course, not everyone can make each of these get-togethers, but they’re always there and are the best opportunity to meet fellow members whilst enjoying interesting speakers – often those in the community we support.  With a very active fund raising, sport, community and entertainment programme there are plenty of other opportunities to enjoy the fellowship and support the club.

One of our priorities this year is to introduce a buddy system to ensure new members’ wishes are heard and their early experience of Rotary is as rewarding as mine.

We are always looking for new members. So, if this is something that interests you then please get in touch now. Your community and our Club want and need you!