Rotary Club of Strathfield in Strathfield, New South Wales | Community organisation

Rotary Club of Strathfield

Locality: Strathfield, New South Wales

Phone: +61 416 163 090

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25.01.2022 GOLDEN JUBILEE Who would have thought? Our Club celebrates 50 years of Rotary next year. The Rotary Club of Strathfield came into existence on 14 March 1971 The Charter was presented at the inaugural meeting held at Macquarie University. Although there are no Rotarians inducted on the night still members of our Club, we have PP Roger Vince who was inducted at a meeting later in that inaugural year who is a continuous active member of our Club, our Club historian and part of o...ur golden jubilee celebration committee. We could not book a return to Macquarie University (in COVID-19 times the University requires all accommodation be used for education) so the Strathfield Golf Club Function Centre has been booked for Saturday night 13 March 2021 for our celebrations. Save the date! See more

25.01.2022 AFRICA POLIO FREE The transmission of the wild poliovirus has officially been stopped in all 47 countries of its African region declares the World Health Organisation (WHO) After decades of hard won gains in the region, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) WHO, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the vaccine alliance are proclaiming this milestone.... But Polio caused by the wild virus is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan Commenting on reaching the African free milestone President of Rotary International Holger Knaack said, This is a big step in our journey to a polio-free world, but the fight is not over yet. We still need the support of our Rotary members, donors, and heroic effort of health care workers to finish the job. Read more at endpolio.org

24.01.2022 JOB WELL DONE The Rotary Club of Strathfield just loves to hold the Pride of Workmanship evening. There are people who take pride in the job they are doing; going the extra bit to accomplish excellence. They are often taken for granted and although appreciated are sometimes never put under a spotlight.... So having communicated with employers and others who know of these special people, the Rotary Club of Strathfield holds a special night to honour these special people. This year we decided not to let COVID-19 get in our way of what we call the prestigious ‘Pride of Workmanship’ award. President Elect Thaya Ponniah sums it up: "What an intense and busy three weeks we had. Finally, a very successful and significant event - much more than we expected. It’s the appreciation that makes this occasion great in the eyes of Rotarians. Meriden staff and Strathfield Private Hospital was so appreciative that we had included them this year. Amanda’s mother was in tears when I told her what a wonderful service her daughter gives us every week. Mayor and his deputy were full of praise and were very thankful that they were part of this event. Past District Governor Di North told Subo my wife that she was so enthused that she attended this outstanding event travelling from Wollongong. Rotarians your hard work and sacrifices paid off. As a very small team (originally a three-member committee Jan Barrett Vocational Services Director, Peter van der Sleesen and myself); but it soon increased in number. You all made it happen. For example Although Rod McDougall had only just come home from hospital, he sat on the computer till 2:30 am in the morning. Inspiring! And on the night MC Keith Byrn, Peter Manenti, President Usha Garg, Janelle Watson and PDG David Croft played important roles. Our photographer Rotarian Bradley Ayres was very busy. You can see Bradley’s photographic collection https://www.flickr.com/gp/159392105@N08/LMFpCt I am glad that I was part of this dynamic team. Yes Rotary Club of Strathfield has the right people to do the right thing at the right time with the right spirit under any circumstances." Well said President Elect Thayaparan Ponniah

23.01.2022 POWER OF ROTARY It is at the Foodbank pickup that David Powell personally met up with Rotary. While waiting for a new trolley load to stow into the vehicle, we have had conversations where I have learned more about today's Rotary said David. David writes that the charity he is involved with has benefited wonderfully from Rotary’s initiative, personal commitment of energy and resources, and networking prowess. David's charity is associated with Food Bank... David comments that Rotary has supported his charity with weekly or even twice-weekly pickup of goods from the Foodbank warehouse in Glendenning. This early morning duty is physically demanding, as we have no forklift or elevator to assist loading of the provisions in our van. Rotary has offered this kind of much-needed practical assistance. We learnt something of the power of Rotary networking. When our fridge broke down Rotary was able to assist. Through Rotary connections, a donor contributed helpfully towards that purchase, and for this we are also incredibly grateful.

23.01.2022 PRESIDENT ELECT Congratulations to Thaya Ponniah, a very popular Strathfield Rotarian who has distinguished himself in Club activities. Thaya has accepted the nomination committee's invitation to lead the Rotary of Strathfield as Rotary President for the Rotary year 2021-2022. The nominating committee established at the 2019 AGM was chaired by PDG David Croft Thaya is currently our International Service Director and who as President Elect takes on the role of Vice President... for our Club for the rest of this Rotary year. Thaya will be especially busy from now until 2 December which is the date of our AGM and when his Board Elect will be selected and announced.

22.01.2022 ARE YOU A SURVIVOR? Professor Janette Vardy, a medical oncologist working as a clinical researcher at both Concord Hospital and the University of Sydney was our guest speaker at a Zoom meeting of Strathfield Rotarians. Rotarian Andrew Aravanis said, "Professor Vardy gave us both a sobering and reassuring presentation on both the physical and cognitive symptoms cancer survivors face post their treatment." The Sydney Cancer Survivorship Centre, operating out of Concord hospital..., consists of 4 specialised teams providing tailored and unique services through a clinic, cottage, gym and research Rotarian Andrew Aravanis said we were privileged and grateful that Professor Vardy shared with us the important work that the Centre undertakes for cancer survivors. It was also reassuring to note that survivors could avail themselves of the facility free and the expertise with a referral from their treating doctors. Rotarian Andrew has a much fuller report in our bulletin https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au//Bulletin%2025-Novemb Earlier a group of Rotarians met on site at the 'Cottage' and on behalf of our Club made a donation to the Sydney Cancer Survivorship Centre You can watch a Video of Professor Vardy describing her work https://youtu.be/_cJpxhgeq2g

22.01.2022 CELEBRATION DINNER IS OFF TO A GREAT START

20.01.2022 Rotary member Dr. Tunji Funsho named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

17.01.2022 GOVERNORS VISIT The Governor of Rotary District 9675 Warwick Richardson visited our Club at a Zoom meeting. President Usha Garg said "It was a very enjoyable and relaxed meeting with lots of questions, discussions, fun and fellowship. We look forward to meeting him again" He jumped in at the deep end describing how in the last few months the district leadership team got together to develop the web based training , education, information systems and conference platforms. Som...e examples of these included, pre-recorded discussions, role play acting videos, interactive web based learning providing instant feedback to users. He discussed his experiences of virtual and face to face meetings and believed the future would see more and more hybrid meetings. We heard about the many District initiatives and events in the coming year and were encouraged to contribute and participate as much as we can. These include: the Centenary of Rotary in Australia; the district conference; the newly formed Environment and Sustainability committee; the visit Australia of the RI president nominee; the polio fund raising partnership with Darrell Lea chocolates; and International Peace Day. A fuller account of President Usha's report is contained in our Bulletin https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au//Bulletin%2023-Septem

17.01.2022 Huge congratulations to Neridda Hutchison our Property & Facilities Manager who has been awarded a Rotary Club of Strathfield Pride of Workmanship Award 2020 th...is evening. This award is designed to recognise outstanding qualities in approach, attitude, dedication and commitment to work. She is a truly deserving recipient. #WeWillShakeTheWorld See more

16.01.2022 HONORARY MEMBERSHIP Congratulations to our new Rotarian and honorary member Fiona Martin Dr Fiona Martin MP member for Reid was presented to President Dr Usha Garg by Strathfield Rotary's Sergeant-at-Arms Nick Hamilton-Kane and Fiona was introduced to the assembled Rotary membership by Rotarian Dimitry Palmer.... In welcoming Fiona to the exciting world of Rotary International, President Usha said "You have been elected to honorary membership of the Rotary Club of Strathfield in recognition of your distinguished community contribution embodying the principles and ideals of Rotary." District Governor Warwick Richardson presented Fiona with the lapel pin by which she will recognised as a Rotarian. Warwick said "Rotarian Fiona Martin we now formally admit you to membership of this club and I affix to your lapel the Rotary emblem. I hope you will wear it proudly."

14.01.2022 PERCEPTION? On Wednesday 4th November, we will have a talk from Shannon Chin on "Cognitive health and wellbeing". Shannon Chin is the author of the book "Demystifying Dementia" and the founder of "Fit Minds Australia" Shannon specialises in helping people build healthy brain function using Cognitive Stimulation Therapy to protect against cognitive decline. Our meeting is a Zoom meeting and you are welcome please. Access details can be found on our webpage https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au/

13.01.2022 STRATHFIELD ROTARY'S NIGHT OUT Club Service Director Alexey Prokopenko said that after nearly 5 months without a face to face meeting the Rotary Club of Strathfield finally got together with a well organised Rotary Meeting. Having chaired a number of Zoom electronic meetings, President Usha Garg shined as she ran an analog meeting; her first as President but on stage she used all the electronic props as well as our Rotary paraphernalia out of storage. The selection of guest ...speaker was the pièce de résistance. Annlone Dalhoff from 'Joy Hearts business' was our guest speaker . She is professional coach and prepares her clients to think outside the square when selling. She rethinks how one should build a relationship with customers. Toss out the old concepts and get the right mind set of ideas. She talked about about 6 phases of selling. In her presentation she gave our members an opportunity to get involved and true to form we were all happy to participate in her interactive presentation. Everyone was sold on Annlone. From Annlone's website here is a promotional video https://youtu.be/kiHnrLmr8XA

11.01.2022 A MENTAL MASK Our Program chair Janelle Watson reports on our guest speaker last week, Dr Neil Jeyasingam. Dr Neil spoke upon the very catchy title Batman and what he teaches us about mental health Using various cartoon characters specifically Batman, the Joker and various others that Janelle says she had not heard of previously, Dr Jeyasingam gave a fun, yet quite insightful glimpse into the area of mental health and the flawed nature of these characters.... Dr Neil advised that treatments for depression are also used for anxiety. The proportion of the population with mental health issues hasn’t changed over the decades though now most people are assessed and treated with appropriate medications. Good follow-up papers on Dr Neil Jeyasingam’s theories and explanations are presented at the websites: https://www.psychologytoday.com//batmans-mental-health-par https://medium.com//bruce-wayne-batman-de-stigmatizing-rei

10.01.2022 Giving Back Rotarian Janelle Watson reports on our most recent guest speaker Maria Calibo-Salesis who addressed our members at a Zoom meeting Maria Calibo-Salesis is the founder of Calmar Corps. Ten percent of company profits go towards a program called Capability with Conscience and this organization partners with other not-for-profit organizations, including Rotary, to assist disadvantaged communities. And has many achievements: from clearing landmine affected land to pro...viding school supplies to those in need. Maria focused her guest speaker’s talk on a project in the Philippines to provide clean drinking water to communities. This is achieved via a gravity-fed water filtration system. The Skyhydrant filtration unit uses no chemicals and is able to provide 1000 litres of pure drinking water each day. Village members are trained how to install, test and maintain the filtration system. Maria Calibo-Sales said that all these programs work within the United Nations goal of Clean water and Sanitation.

09.01.2022 NEXT IN LINE Our Club membership had a great opportunity to find out about our President-elect Thaya Ponniah when we had a Q&A segment at our Rotary meeting the other night. Thaya answered questions about himself and his role in taking over the reigns in the next Rotary year 2021-2022 The really big moment will occur at the AGM on Wednesday 2 December when the new board will be announced. President-elect Thaya encouraged all Rotarians to become involved and he looks forward t...o working with his new board to enhance Rotary in our community. There are so many existing strategies that can be continued but Rotary must grow and new opportunities will emerge for everyone. We all look forward to the time when President-elect Thaya and his new board become inaugurated in just over 6 months time Check out our photogenic President-elect. Which photo is your favourite?

09.01.2022 CELEBRATION DINNER On Saturday 12 September the Rotary Club of Strathfield will be celebrating the previous Rotary year (2019-2020) at the Event Centre at Strathfield Golf Club . Read more in the flyer https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au//200/10/celebrate.htm A magnificent Raffle of 12 prizes has been organised by Trudy and Roy. The prizes include: Several presentation baskets of beautiful packed useful items; a bottle of Jack Daniels; a number of bottles of quality wine; various items of Kitchen equipment: designers include Kambrook and Maxwell & Williams; golf day for four with golf cart included; and a beautiful golden saree. Thanks to our sponsors: The Pappas family; Roy Ellis; Usha Garg; Trudy Ho; and Strathfield Golf Club

09.01.2022 HELPING HAND Strathfield Girls High School needed our help. A group of Strathfield Rotarians went along to the school armed with our BBQ to support the girls raising money at their ‘Pink Stumps’ event. President Usha Garg said the Rotary Club of Strathfield was pleased to be part of the girls team and help out at the school... Pink Stumps Day is a way for cricket clubs & teams, schools and workplaces to come together, turn their cricket game pink, have fun and fundraise for the McGrath Foundation all while showing support for people in the community experiencing breast cancer said President Usha Roy Ellis reported the playground got very crowded at lunch time with lots of girls, there were queues for the BBQ the girls had a lot of fun playing cricket. They were sitting around in small groups eating - very festive atmosphere

08.01.2022 AVOID SCAMS Our recent guest speaker Geeth Geeganage is a community ambassador for the NBN, running information sessions to alert and advise on how to avoid being caught in a scam reports our programs chair Rotarian Janelle Watson Rotarians were provided with an overview of different types of scams. These included: online shopping & classified advertising scams with fraudulent websites; Phishing to gain personal & financial data; hacking and malware with malicious software... to get passwords and other personal details; Dating & Romance scams are also common; and it can be by phone, scammers play on fear and abuse trust, so if in doubt hang up. Report scammers to your retail service provider said Geeth. IDCARE is the official website. Phone 1300 432 if you believe that your personal and financial details have been accessed. In 2020 (Jan Jun) there were 2337 reports of NBN impersonations. Read Janelle's more detailed report on pages 2/3 in our Bulletin https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au//Bulletin%2028-Octobe

07.01.2022 Homebush Boys High School "Interact Club" presenting one of several cheques to worthy recipients earlier today. Well done lads - 2016 was a great year!

06.01.2022 ART TREASURE IN OUR MIDST Our guest lectuer on Wednesday 22 July at our Zoom meeting was Dr Lachlan Warner, Senior Lecturer and Curator of the McGlade Gallery at the ACU. He has achieved many awards for his work over the years, including the Blake Prize (2001) Lachlan's talk focused on the role of the McGlade Gallery where some of the exhibitions included South African textiles, Religious and Spiritual Icons, Australian Indigenous art from the Kimberley area, high school pho...tography as well as the annual graduate exhibition. Lachlan Warner extended an invitation to Rotarians to hold our meeting at the Gallery and to enjoy the exhibition towards the end of the year. Rotarian Janelle Watson thanked Lachlan saying "It was an interesting presentation and indeed quite informative for many Rotarians to know that this jewel is 'on our doorstep' so to speak."

05.01.2022 Celebrating Rotary A group of Strathfield Rotarians who are part of our nearly 50 members. It’s the team (IPP Arie's Board) that made things happen in 2019-2020. We were the Rotary Club of the year. Now that's something worth celebrating!

03.01.2022 Lovely to attend the Rotary Club of Strathfield meeting with guest speakers Dr Prabhat Sinha (my dad) & Chris Vergona. Informative speeches with an interesting Q & A #stopcovid19 #serviceb4self

03.01.2022 HISTORY IN THE MAKING Jennifer E. Jones, of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2022-23. Australia’s representative on the Nominating Committee is Noel Trevaskis, Merimbula, Tura Beach. Noel and has been a guest speaker at our Strathfield Rotary Club... Jennifer Jones will officially become president-nominee on 1 October if no other candidates challenge her and this will make her the first woman to hold that office in our organization’s 115-year history Read more https://www.rotary.org//jennifer-e-jones-makes-history-bec

03.01.2022 A LETTER OF THANKS Below is a letter of thanks from Father James Collins, Rector, St Paul's Anglican church to Rotarian Thaya Ponniah and his representative band of Rotarians (President Usha and Dinesh Garg, Jaya Challa, Charles Pitt, Paul Anton and Rod McDougall) for our Club's help with the Parish Pantry "Dear Thaya... It was great to see you along with everyone else today [27 July]. Can you please thank the members of the Rotary Club of Strathfield for their ongoing generosity and support for the Parish Pantry at St. Paul’s? Thank you. I am truly grateful to you and to the members of the Rotary Club of Strathfield for caring for others at this challenging time. I look forward to seeing you again soon. With every blessing. Peace, James" President Usha said "We made our humble contribution to replenish the pantry with grocery items, blankets, clothing and other nonperishables. In these times, it is commendable how Father James and his team reach out to people who could use some help".

03.01.2022 WE’RE BACK In an historic moment some 17 members and guests returned to the Strathfield Golf Club on 5 August to hold our first in person meeting with all the COVID-19 restrictions in place. Club services director Alexey Prokopenko made sure all arrangements were in hand for President Usha Garg to conduct the meeting and guest speaker Annlone Dalhoff to make her presentation

02.01.2022 ROTARY CLUB OF THE YEAR Our immediate past President Arie Pappas was the hub of the 2019-2020 Celebrations held at the Strathfield Event Centre when our Club was named the Rotary Club of the year. There were many laudits; watch this space for more info about other awards that include Club and Interact citations, Service awards, Paul Harris Fellows. What a night said Arie. So let’s start: A very proud Arie accepted the District Shield from Immediate Past District Governor Di... North OAM and also her congratulations to the Rotary Club of Strathfield for being awarded District 9675 Club of the year Also chuffed was our MC for the Celebratory dinner, Past President Rick Vosila who said ... it was a great honour, and great reward for the good work that the Club has been doing in recent years ...

02.01.2022 UNTOLD STORY Sargent-at-Arms Nick Hamilton-Kane asked did we know just how significant World Toilet Day is.? He told us that World Toilet Day is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Worldwide, 4.2 billion people live without "safely managed sanitation" and around 673 million people practice open defecation!... One of Rotary’s goals is to improve world sanitation. So it may not surprise you to learn that the very first service project of our fledgling Rotary organisation well over 100 years ago was the establishment of a public toilet by the Rotary Club of Chicago. And what about our own Rotary Club of Strathfield? Well when Roger Vince was President and Janelle Watson was International Service Director our Club teamed up with the Indian Rotary Club of Nasik Road. And with the support of the Rotary Foundation we built a toilet block for the school children. It was hard to believe that without our Clubs intervention these Indian school children did not have proper toilet facilities. Lack of access to sanitation (toilets) has an impact on public health, dignity, and safety. To think that today billions of people live without proper access to toilet facilities and the impact of this on women is just unthinkable. Thanks Sargent Nick for raising our awareness

02.01.2022 VIRTUAL MONGOLIAN TOUR Guest speaker, PhD student Munkh-Erdene Bayartai Muugi, took us on a virtual journey to Mongolia said reporter Rotarian Peter van der Sleesen. Mongolia is in Central Asia and is landlocked, surrounded by China and Russia. The capital is Ulaanbaatar where half of its 3 million population live.... Geographical features include: The Gobi Desert; Rugged mountains snow covered even in summer; and Extensive treeless grass covered Steppe. Nomadic Mongolians live on the steppe. Because of the severe climate, they must move at least twice a year taking their animals and houses with them. Mongolia is famous for furs and more especially cashmere. July is the best time to visit as not too hot or too cold and a time of festivals and free events. President Usha Garg said It is not often that we hear from overseas students about their homeland first hand Read Rotarian Peter’s much more detailed account in our Bulletin https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au//Bulletin%2030-Septem

02.01.2022 HIGH-QUALITY AND SUPERIOR FACILITIES Rotarian Janelle Watson reported in our bulletin upon our recent guest speaker, Jack Britton the Customer Experience Manager of Strathfield Public Library. He has been in his position since late last year. Jack spoke about library improvements with the major internal renovations to study spaces and services opened since July. Jack explained how the previous study spaces have been reorganized into a study stadium with bright new furniture... and lounges to fit with modern study styles; he told us of the new learning laboratory where users can borrow laptops with a docking station available and how the printing and scanning facilities have been upgraded with a new 3D printer. Jack said that new facilities included an exhibition space, the Iron Bark Gallery, capable of holding exhibitions by local artists each quarter; a smaller group study rooms with new audio-visual facilities; and book lockers are available to collect and return library loans Local studies and history still form a core part of the Strathfield Library Services, along with Storytime and the Book Clubs said Jack and he also said that access to online resources including talking books or eBooks using apps are also available to library users. Covid-19 has introduced new measures such as photographs, temperatures and details of patrons and all items returned to the library are quarantined prior to going back on the shelves. "Overall a very informative talk on the local library" said Janelle

01.01.2022 COVID-19 FOCUS President Usha Garg said our last in-person meeting was a runaway success. We had ‘job talks’ from our very own fellow Rotarians Chris Virgona and Prabhat Sinha with the opportunity to hear first-hand from the people at the coal face whose businesses have a continuous stream of clients walking in off the street day after day in these covid-19 times. The talks were on a serious subject, yet presented beautifully in a light hearted manner, that kept the room breaking out in laughter. Through these talks, we got a glimpse of myriad challenges businesses are facing and how creatively and continuously these are being managed. Our thanks for these interesting talks.

01.01.2022 STOP PRESS! From the AGM.... who's who in the Rotary year 2021-2022 President Thaya Ponniah... Immediate Past President Usha Garg President Elect Andrew Aravanis Secretary Nick Hamilton-Kane Treasurer Rod McDougall Director - Club Service Arie Pappas Director - Community Service Rick Vosila Director - Vocational Service Alexey Prokopenko Director - International Service Roy Ellis Director - Youth Service Peter Smith See the photos of the Board-elect: https://www.strathfieldrotary.org.au/Rot/Board2021-2022.htm