Making a difference... you can too
People will do amazing things when given an opportunity.
 
This simple philosophy inspires Applecross Rotary's members: both locally and further afield. 
 
We are from all walks of life - we are marketeers, scientists, educators, farmers, engineers, lawyers  and retailers: the list goes on - and we range in age from early 20s through to 80. The commonality we share is an interest to use our time, skills and energy to improve the lives of others. And we have fun while we do it.
 
Our projects are equally varied. From our much-loved Rotary Jacaranda Festival, the Pride of Workmanship Awards, a local Art Show and Sale, numerous youth initiatives as well as supporting indigenous, mental health and women's refuge projects and delivering major health and water based projects around the world that will save thousands of lives.... we're an ambitious club with the power to get things done. 
 
GET IN TOUCH
Applecross Rotary meet weekly; and we have a flexible approach to membership. Just be involved; be there only when required for your project outcomes.
 
We meet Tuesday for a 7.30am start, at the Dome Café, Deep Water Point, Mt Pleasant (or via ZOOM if that works for you). 
 
Just turn up (and/or send an email to secretary@applecrossrotary.org)
 
Visitors are the future of our community service outcomes. Check us out at a meeting, a fund raising event or at a social event. Try us on for size. 
 
If interested please drop us a line.
 

Upcoming speakers at our Tuesday breakfast meetings (7am for 7.30am start, finishing at 8.30am)

John Kevan
Jul 15, 2025 7:30 AM
East Sumba Malaria Prevention project
Michelle Wright
Jul 22, 2025 7:30 AM
Prostate Care update
Essie Mustonen
Aug 12, 2025 7:30 AM
Welcome to Applecross Rotary
Essie Mustonen
Aug 26, 2025 7:30 AM
Where am I from, where am I going?
Club News
Jul 07, 2025
Sara David walked the Camino Frances, Really!
 
Applecross Rotary got to know Sara as the face of Living Child, a charity she helped set up in 2013, in remote villages along the Sepic River in New Guinea.  Living Child up-skilled local people in midwifery to deal with the high levels of Maternal and Child mortality during labour. 
 
Applecross Rotary became a big supporter of Living Child, with Sara giving members regular reports at our breakfast meetings.  We also awarded her a Paul Harris Fellowship, Rotary International’s highest award, to recognise her outstanding service to the community. However, in April 2024, Sara developed some health issues which helped her to decide that it was time to step away from “her" Charity and trust the other volunteers to continue the good work.
 
Sara’s health began to improve.  It may have been because one of her sons was spending a year in France, but whatever the reason, she decided travel to France recently and walk one of the many pilgrim trails with her friend Deborah. 
 
The popular name for the pilgrim path is El Camino Real but in fact there are four main trails and they chose to walk 200km along the most popular one, Camino Francés (the “French Way") that begins in Geneva and runs all the way to Santiago in Spain.
 

 
They walked 10-15kms each day, staying overnight in basic shared accommodations which cost around €100 (AUD180) for dinner, bed and breakfast, and often included a packed lunch.  Sara and Deborah shared one piece of luggage that was taken by truck to the next overnight stop. In case you haven’t worked this out, you need to plan ahead, especially as Camino Francés is the most popular walk.  Around 2500 pilgrims complete the walk every day!
 
The BEST chocalate eclairs!
 
 
Few of the other pilgrims they met spoke English so Sara was glad she had taken a crash course in basic French in Alliance Francais, before she flew out.
 
Sara loved everything about her pilgrimage: the wildflowers, the wild chestnut, walnut and other trees, the old churches, attending Mass in French, meeting other pilgrims, including a lot of older women walking on their own.
 

 Thanks for sharing the journey with us Sara.
 

 
 
Jun 23, 2025
In 1998, Scarborough Rotary founded Wheelchairs For Kids Australia (WFKA) and engaged Br Olly to start the first WFKA workshop in Wangara. 
 
This year, over 30 years later, Bro. Olly was recognised as Senior Australian of the Year in January, and Western Australian of the Year in June, which means he’ll saddle up again on Australia Day 2026 to see if he is crowned Australian of the Year.
 
In the beginning Bro. Olly and Scarborough Rotary members rummaged around a local Council Garbage Tip, looking for items that could be recycled into a wheelchair for a kid somewhere like Cambodia or Vietnam.  These kids had lost their one or both legs because of a landmine left behind from an almost forgotten war, that they walked on in a rice paddy.
 
WFKA began as a labour of love, putting together these life-changing wheelchairs to make a difference in the life and future of some kids a long way away.  Come to think of it, it still is a labour of love.  Over 250 volunteers, whose average age is in the mid 70’s, now turn up at the Malaga workshop every day to make 30 wheelchairs every day to WHO standard.  The wheelchairs are shipped overseas to 81 countries in a partnership with a local in-country charity - WFKA makes them and the charity gets them from Fremantle to the grateful recipient.
 
In June last year Bro. Olly and his volunteers made wheelchair number 60,000.
 
 
      
 
This achievement is a long way from the beginnings of WFKA, where dumped items in the Council tip were scavenged for parts to make a couple of wheelchairs.  In those early days, the wheelchairs were only made if someone had donated $100/chair, so sometimes the volunteers would turn up only to be told there was nothing to do.  It was socially-devastating news.  
 
However, as Paul Kelly sang back in those times: From little things, big things grow*
 
Recently a group of Applecross Rotarians and friends made the perilous journey up Freeway North, across the Narrows, to far-away Malaga.  Some were making their fourth visit, and some their first, as Greg reminded me most of the morning.
 
 
The current workshop is huge.  The names of major donors, and the logos of the many supporters are featured on the wall. Scarborough Rotary was there from the beginning, and still is.  The Rotary logo adorns the wheels of every wheelchair.
 
Our host was CEO Greg Hebble, an Associate Member of Applecross Rotary.  
 
Greg showing a memorial plaque that can be added for people whose love & generosity has made the wheelchair possible
 
We saw a container load of 350 wheelchairs destined for kids in Gaza, but given the issues regarding delivery of aid to Gaza, they’re being shipped via Jordan.  Many of the injured kids from Gaza end up in a hospital in Jordan so that makes sense, in a region where sense is in very short supply..
 
Greg also took us to the room where pre-loved soft toys, wheelchair covers and knitted or crocheted lap rugs, made by Beppie's 300 volunteers.  They are stored under Beppie’s watchful eye, until they are shipped with each wheelchair.
 
Greg told us that the WA Government provides some recurring funds for WFKA, but there is no financial support from the Federal Government, yet!  Bro. Olly’s award as Senior Australian of the Year gave him several opportunities of raising the issue with the PM, and there will be several more opportunities when he returns to Canberra for the announcement of the 2026 Australian of the Year.  
 
Greg has flagged some serious conversations with Foreign Minister Penny Wong as WFKA’s efforts are all focussed overseas and highlight the generosity of Australians when it comes to providing love and support for kids facing a difficult future. 
 
Greg also mentioned that WFKA received very little public financial support from elsewhere in Australia.  That changed almost overnight with donations flowing in from the rest of Australia after Bro. Olly was named the 2025 Senior Australian of the Year last January.
 
We had a thoroughly enjoyable and educational morning.
 
Our Vocational Visit ended at The Kingsley Tavern where 16 of us enjoyed some Rotary Fellowship over lunch, with Olly, Beppie and Greg as our guests.  
 
 
* Song composed by Kev Carmody (1993)

 
 
Feb 24, 2025
 
Let’s Change the World says Josh Patrick
 
"I have always admired Rotary International. This morning, I had the invaluable opportunity to witness first-hand the individual members that make this incredible collective 'movement' so impactful!”, wrote Josh Patrick on his LinkedIn post after his recent presentation.
 

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