How one Rotary Club can make a difference to a whole community:
Janine Dayman and Karen Strange
Some years ago PP John Kelly introduced “True Blue Dreaming” (TBD) to Applecross Rotary, and after an MOU was signed we undertook to support mentoring of students at two rural District High Schools: Bruce Rock and Wyalkatchem. The mentors were sourced from Notre Dame University (mainly medical students) and St George’s College at UWA. In short, our support made a HUGE DIFFERENCE to the rural students in every key measure – improved academic outcomes, social outcomes, mental health indicators, and career aspirations.
Some changes last year saw TBD refocus its attention onto Juvenile Justice, while a change in senior staffing at Wyalkatchem meant the school support there for TBD basically disappeared. And unlike Bruce Rock, the local shire had not been as strong supporter of the program.
Applecross Rotary continued its funding of TBD for 2019-20 but after the program at Wyalkatchem ceased in late 2019, we had half the funds provided to TBD returned to the Club.
Meanwhile the folks at Bruce Rock saw this as an opportunity to reconfigure the management of the mentoring program, which has been renamed “Wheatbelt & Beyond Youth Mentoring”.
l-r: John Kelly, Janine Dayman, Remy Spring, Karen Strange, Ian Fairnie
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