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We had seven delegates from Southbank attend the Perth Conference and all of us had a great time.  In many ways the event was quite special with a number of inspiring speakers, both from within Rotary and outside of it. 

Our team also enjoyed a great Club dinner at a unique restaurant called Balthazar, where the food and wine was excellent. 

I found the most inspiring speakers were Dr Fiona Woods, Justin Jones and James Castrission.  Dr Woods is WA’s only female plastic surgeon and was propelled to the media spotlight when she led a courageous and committed team in the fight to save 28 patients after the Bali bombing.   She spoke of success coming from collaborating far and wide to come up with the best solutions, despite one’s own experience.  I can’t help feel that in Rotary we also need to collaborate far and wide, as we have proven many times that if we work across Rotary, we achieve a far greater impact because of our scale and collective knowledge.

Justin Jones and James Castrission are two young friends who conquered the Tasman by kayaking from Sydney to New Zealand.  Their story of focus, determination, preparation, teamwork, risk management, and resilience got them through where others would have given up.  Their presentation was not only humorous at times and awe-inspiring at others, but demonstrated enormous insight to overcoming adversity.

Another inspiring speaker was Roland Dillon, our Ambassadorial Scholar.  I won’t go into details of this talk now, as we will present the content of his talk next week along with a summary of other interesting projects that were highlighted during the conference.

A couple of reminders:  tomorrow night is the bowling night and it’s important for all who are attending to advise Bobbi Lehman Horn; and on Thursday morning we have a business breakfast.  Gabe has the details in the bulletin, but please bring friends if you feel they will benefit from Geoff Kelly’s talk.  Attendees need to notify Narina at meetings.rotary.to by tomorrow lunchtime.

Have a good week in Rotary.

President Philip

Last Week's Meeting

Meeting 519 Scribe Notes

We had a very pleasant meeting with Darren Williams as our guest speaker.  We also had a contingent from RC Caulfield, led by President Heather Welsh, visiting the club.  President Heather presented to the club their GreenClean Laundry Balls project which is not only environmentally friendly but is also economical.

Acting sergeant Charles D stepped in to execute a fines session whilst Carl took over as chairperson for the day.

Our guest speaker, Darren Williams is a co-founder and president of the Hobsons Bay Community Centre - The Substation.  Darren is a self-employed glazier and Newport resident.  In 1996, the run-down substation which was an eye-sore to the local community caught Darren's eye.  The substation was built in 1916 to convert electricity for the railways.  It has since been replaced by a building one 20th its size and it has remained disused for a number of years, except by different gangs who used it as a base.  Neglect resulted in its condition deteriorating.  The numerous broken windows (there are over 1,000 windows in the building) caught Darren's attention and in 1996 he began working on an idea to clean it up.

The task was enormous and included clearing the place of gangs (not an easy task), replacing the windows, clearing the floor of syringes and rubbish, fencing to keep the gangs out, sealing the roof removing graffiti, etc.  A lot of this work was done by local people who were long term unemployed.  This was done via a Community Jobs Project with government support.  This served to raise the hopes of those selected (220 applicants for 20 positions) and was used as a stepping stone for further employment.  The diverse age group and background of those selected meant that there was something special about this group.  After participating in the clean up, over 90% of the participants went on to full time employment.

After the successful clean-up phase which was largely funded by donations and some government grants, the next phase was to improve the interior of the building.  By now, the who community was aware of the project and supported it.  A committee was setup to oversee its development and it was decided to turn this space into a community art centre.  Improvements including installation of toilets, stairs, and re-designing of the space took place over the next few years.  The Substation was opened in 22 November 2008 and has become a focal point for the local community and, through its Community Jobs Project, transformed the lives of many local residents.

The Substation is also home to a monthly Artist's Market, on the first Saturday of each month.

Our own Carl was involved in this project as he helped in the process of Victrack leasing the premises to the program so that a community arts centre can be established.