District Governor's visit Agnes Ritchie

DISTRICT GOVERNOR'S VISIT WEDNESDAY 15th AUGUST 2018

Agnes Ritchie, our new District Governor, and from Bathgate Rotary Club, joined our weekly meeting as part of her whistle-stop tour visiting over 50 Clubs in District 1020, covering Scotland's Central Belt, the Borders and south-west Scotland. In her address she described how a recent attendance at the District Officers' Elect conference in San Diego, California, is helping her to promote here in Scotland this year's Rotary International mantra of 'Be The Inspiration'.

As someone with a long career in nursing in the NHS, an organisation that is seeing great change, she observed that Rotary is also facing a period of considerable change, something to which we all have to respond. 

From its very beginning in the early twentieth century, Rotary has grown into a worldwide membership of some 11million individuals. 1,499 of whom belong to Clubs in District 1020; just 31 of these are part of the Rotary Club of Thornhill & District.

She saw our mission in Rotary as one of helping to bring about positive change in lasting and significant ways, whether locally or wider afield, and all the while enabling its members to gain more life experience through involvement as well as a greater sense of overall achievement.  "We are building on a foundation that's been built over many years, and which will continue for many years to come", she said. "Create something which will live beyond us all was the message from San Diego - give thought to how you will do that".

Agnes was under no illusion that there would be many challenges to achieve what was wanted; courage would be needed, as would a plan. She added that many of the international speakers at the San Diego Conference spoke with considerable feeling about the difficulties that they had faced, many of them confronted with racial and religious opposition in their home nations. Social division and lack of respect within communities contributed yet more to the challenges that faced us. Delegates described how the 'magic' of Rotary had enabled them to accomplish extraordinary tasks.

Emphasising the importance of the Rotary Young Leadership Award camps in helping younger people achieve aims that might have been considered impossible, and the support given by this District, she concluded "In Rotary we all have dreams, we all want to make a difference; we all want to serve, and we all want to inspire, to give hope - especially where perhaps there is none".

M.M/A.S. 22-08-2018