Our next meeting will be a Zoom meeting on Wednesday 27 May
Please see the details under - all welcome to join the meeting.
Membership Fees are now due
President's Message
Welcome to this Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Botany Randwick Inc. Our club has been serving the local and international community since 1948.
Rotary promotes the ideal of service through fellowship. Attending our meetings allows members to enjoy the fellowship of other club members, enrich their professional and personal knowledge, and meet other business leaders in their community.
As a Club we support a wide range of projects. As well as having a broad range of local and international community projects, we are particularly focused on the Rotary projects, Australian Rotary Health, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) together with The Rotary Foundation.
We welcome everyone to come along to any of our meetings to join in the fellowship and to learn more about what we do.
Unfortunately, our normal venue, the Graphic Arts Club, is undergoing renovations and our normal meeting “space” is unavailable.
As such the meeting will be held by Google Meet:
Wednesday, 27 May · 6:30 – 8:00pm Time zone: Australia/Sydney Video call link: https://meet.google.com/qfz-injh-baf Or dial: (AU) +61 2 9051 7747 PIN: 463 125 539#
At this meeting our President-elect, Mark Daniels, will outline his vision and plans for the Club in 2026/27. Mark is passionate about Rotary, being a second generation Rotarian, and now has his daughter, Angela, following in his footsteps.
Please make an effort to join this meeting, whether you are a club member, considering to be one or are just interested to know what the year ahead will hold for Rotary Botany Randwick.
Our normal dinner meetings will resume in June.
Our last meeting - 13 May
Prior to our Wednesday meeting our club attended a presentation by JJ Cahill High School who will be introducing a program called Big Picture Learning. This program is for Year 9 and 10 students. The Academy empowers students through personalised learning that provides choice and decision-making opportunities, creating meaningful pathways beyond school.
It was inspiring and encouraging to see the dedication and enthusiasm of Raf, Principal, and the school's career advisor, Rudi, for their students and the school. Our Club looks forward to continuing to build strong bonds.
At the meeting we welcomed five guests, one of who was Edith from A21, an organisation dedicated to combating human trafficking and supporting survivors in their journey to freedom and restoration. She was presented a cheque on behalf of both our Club and the Rotary Club of Marrickville, represented by Eddie, President-elect.
Our club was proud to welcome and applaud our new members, Marea and Janette - congratulations and we look forward to sharing your Rotary journey with you.
District Assembly - 16 May
Five of our members - Simon, Mark, Adam, Peter and Christine, attended the District 9675 Assembly on Saturday 16 May at the Bankstown Sports Club, together with members of other Clibs across southern Sydney, the Illawarra and Southern Tablelands. The Assembly has been renamed Club Leadership and Learning Seminar.
Many areas of Rotary activity were covered, some of which included:-
Rotary Foundation, its vast opportunities and how to apply for a grant
ROMAC, Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children, and the important work they do is saving lives
RYPEN, Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment, aimed a young people 14 - 16 year olds,
RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, youth leadership programs aimed at 19 - 25 year olds,
NYSF, National Youth Science Forum,
Plus areas of club governance and insurances.
It was wonderful to see our members' involvement in this event and to see how our club is growing, with member participation at an all-time high. Congratulations to all
2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at the Graphic Arts Club, 182 Coward Street, Mascot. 6pm for pre-meeting drinks and chat. The meeting, followed by dinner, starts at 6:30pm and the evening normally concludes by 8:30pm.
For a Rotary Club that doesn't very often do BBQs, our team excelled themselves last Sunday!
The big effort was in support of Ronald McDonald House Randwick's big fund raiser for the year -"Walk Me Home", when more than two thousand people walked the 25 km from Rose Bay via the very scenic Coastal Walk - Watsons Bay, Bondi Beach, Coogee, finally arriving at the Randwick House to be greeted by Rotarians handing them a sausage sandwich.
It was truly amazing to see how everyone just got stuck into the various roles - delivering supplies from the fridge, stacking bread and napkins, cutting sausages strings, cooking onion and sausages, refilling sauce bottles, serving, cleaning up, etc.
With the three BBQ's running flat-out, the hungry walkers didn't have to wait long to pick up their reward after their 25km walk from Rose Bay.
The Botany Randwick Rotary Club has a long association with Ronald McDonald House and has been sponsoring a Family Room for many years.
The House provides vital, and free, accommodation for the families of children from Regional NSW whilst their children are undergoing treatment at the nearby Sydney Children's Hospital. Without this facility, these families would be left in desperate circumstances at a time when there is already a lot of trauma in their lives.
Our support of the House is reciprocated, with the House also accommodating children from the Pacific islands who come to the Hospital for treatment under Rotary Australia's ROMAC Program https://www.romac.life/.
It was also great to see our ROMAC Child, 2-year-old Tom, and his Mum Marie come down to say hullo. They are staying at the House whilst Tom undergoes treatment for his club feet at the Sydney Children's Hospital. ROMAC District 9675 Chair Jenny Pedley also popped in to say whilst she was visiting them.
The Board and staff of Ronald McDonald House have expressed a very big thank-you to all involved - it was a very successful day for them.
Two-year-old Tom, from a remote island in Vanuatu, arrived in Sydney in early March for treatment at Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick.
Tom has now had surgery for bilateral club feet, and he was discharged from the hospital last Wednesday, with both legs in plaster casts, from his thighs to his toes.
For a little boy used to having the run of his home and village, the casts are restricting him somewhat, but he is facing up to the challenge!
Tom and his Mum, Marie, are staying at Ronald McDonald House, close to the hospital. The Rotary Club of Botany Randwick has been a long-time supporter of the House, and we currently sponsor a family accommodation room.
Tom and Marie are expected to stay in Sydney for about four weeks. During their stay they will be supported by members of the local Vanuatuan community, together with the ROMAC Eastern Region and District 9675 Team. Members of our club will be assisting.
It is somewhat of a challenge communicating, as Marie speaks Tok Pisin and some French. However, Google Translate has proved of enormous benefit, with a lot of laughs at some of the “close” translations.
We look forward to following Tom's progress and hope that it won't be long before he is up and running around on his two new feet!
This project, by the Rotary Club of Botany Randwick (District 9675, Australia) in partnership with the Rotary Club of Kampala City (District 9213, Uganda), aims to renovate existing dilapidated classroom blocks and construct two new classrooms at Bukono Primary School in Namutumba District, Eastern Uganda.
The school, originally established in the 1920s, now serves over 1,500 students in severely overcrowded and unsafe learning conditions.
The proposed works will include the repair and replastering of existing classrooms, construction of two new brick classrooms with iron roofing, painting, and installation of water harvesting systems.
The initiative will be implemented by AMPE Foundation Africa (Uganda) under the supervisory oversight of the Rotary Club of Kampala City, ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustainable community ownership. Local community members will contribute labour, sand, and bricks, while Rotary and AMPE Foundation will provide funding, coordination, and governance.
Upon completion, the improved facilities will directly benefit over 300 students and indirectly impact more than 1,500 families in the surrounding villages.
Every month is dedicated to one of the major themes of our Rotary lives - May is YOUTH SERVICE MONTH!
May is celebrated across Rotary as Youth Service Month—a time when we recognise the energy, leadership, and potential of young people. It is also an opportunity to highlight the meaningful impact created through Rotary’s youth and young adult programs, which continue to shape future leaders and strengthen our communities.
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a non-partisan, non-sectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
To contact the Club, please email info@botanyrandwickrotary.org.au
Our next meeting will be a Zoom meeting on Wednesday 27 May 
The big effort was in support of Ronald McDonald House Randwick's big fund raiser for the year -"Walk Me Home", when more than two thousand people walked the 25 km from Rose Bay via the very scenic Coastal Walk - Watsons Bay, Bondi Beach, Coogee, finally arriving at the Randwick House to be greeted by Rotarians handing them a sausage sandwich.
