As presented by Peter Roberts to Club Assembly 19th May 08
Thank you Colin – whilst formal hand-over 30th June remiss of me not to say a few words of appreciation of our President which I am sure the whole Club will endorse.
Also before I go further I would like to express thanks to John Kelley in respect of the trip on Saturday to London. As our Fellowship Officer for next year we can look forward to more of the Kelley magic.
Turning now to the business of the evening welcome Penny [District Representative] who is here on behalf of our District Governor John.
Before I pass on to the Committee Chairmen for next year I want to assure you that whilst we will operate with a Committee structure of:
with all reporting through to a Club Council which consists of 12 members & club officers plus an ex-officio member responsible for our Press & PR. However, this Club without the help of RI & RIBI has actively been moving towards a structure to ensure our key result areas (which embrace all of those identified in the Club Leadership Plan) plus others that are particularly important to us here in Kenilworth are achieved.
During this year we have had 4 Sub Committees thereby ensuring our Committee meetings are more productive. Council has recently endorsed that for 2008-09 our three committees which, of course involve all the members, will be supported by:
Sub Committees for:
(Both of these Sub Committees will continue to operate with help from some non Rotarians).
Plus Six Focus Groups
These will be an informal bringing together of members serving on different committees. They will be encouraged to talk together about Rotary in one or two of our key result areas. They are then to ensure ideas and questions are not lost but are brought forward to the appropriate committee meetings. This should lead to Committee meetings having a sharper focus, capable of achieving more and possibly being shorter in duration. Focus Groups are not to be seen as another tier of management and it is not suggested that members arrange formal additional meetings albeit another by-product could be improved fellowship within the Club and easier integration of new members.
Our Planned Focus Groups will embrace the following:
All members will be circulated with a paper “Rotary Club of Kenilworth and the Club Leadership Plan”. This will draw together our plan for informal Focus Groups and also outline the objectives within Rotary International for developing the Club Leadership Plan. But be assured Rotarians that from our visit to last year’s Convention in Saltlake City this Club is ahead of the game and delivers in all the key areas.
Before handing over to the incoming Committee chairmen I will warn you Penny that our Club has a very ambitious programme and to achieve this we are determined to continue to grow our membership and also develop our recently introduced “Friends of Rotary” membership.
After the committee presentations I then propose to outline a little of the activity planned from the President’s desk.
Introduce:
Club Service Vice President Philip Southwell
Community & Vocational Service David Bracegirdle – very experienced back bench Rotarian
International Past President Zig Layton – Henry
Summary
Thank you. Very appreciative of the efforts made here.
Also need to sincerely thank the Club Service committee who this year have striven hard to put in place building blocks for the future as well as managing the Club’s traditional business.
When I was President before back in 2001-2 some of you may recall that I was chased by the police at approximately 135 mph and had a 14 day driving suspension some of which was spent in New York. Well it’s happening again. Camera on the A45 dual carriageway at Ryton at 15 minutes passed mid-night. Slowed down a bit only 63 mph this time.
Why have I told you this: - well it is clear we are going to have a busy Club, an adventurous Club and a President still pushing the edges. However, this time being much older like the speed I drive it will be relatively fast but not totally out of control. I will ensure that as a Club we have time to grasp our breath.
With this in mind additional to what has been said tonight I would like the Club to continue to develop the Town Lecture and stage this for the 3rd time.
I will continue to do my little job on the District Foundation Committee and this Club is one of the few in District that achieves or over achieves our Foundation giving targets.
We are taking forward for the first time the Kenilworth Festival. This is high profile and a lot of work – we still need fresh ideas for our fund raising but similarly we may need to review and revamp or abandon some of our projects. You will notice we may not continue with the Tree of Light and need to wait and see how Talisman Square is likely to look.
It is my plan to use my Presidential charities allowance in providing the Town Centre & castle area with up to 3 defribillators. If any of these can be accessed on a 24/7 basis so much the better. It may also be possible to effect this provision in partnership with the British Heart Foundation. When costs are established if funds remain available I will then possible consider a further project to recommend to the Club.
As a Club the last time we celebrated our Charter was in 2000 when we were 40 years old. Planning needs to be started during this coming year for our 50th Charter Anniversary. I believe the actual date will fall on the August bank holiday 2010 but we celebrated last time in November.
As our commitments in respect of our Convention hosting become clearer and we establish whether or not we progress the Town lecture I will be better able to access whether in addition to the Christmas Message & Special Citizen award we should have a President’s Night or Ladies Night.
Please come with me to Llandudno for the District Conference for which details will be shortly circulated. Our Club is planning to stage an exhibition or make a presentation at the Conference.
John Kelley is arranging a BBQ and Gliding evening Saturday 2nd August at Husbands Bosworth. Please try and support even if you have no intention of flying & Penny as our DG’s Representative can Kenilworth winch you up?
P G Roberts
President Elect
19th May 08