Well, another Perth Makers Market successfully concluded. What an amazing team effort it takes to organise the parking for this event. The team of stalwarts who work to set up Saturday and Sunday then clear up, pack away and return equipment long after the rest of us have returned home wearily, your essential efforts are impressive, and it is beholden on us all to work towards ways to share this load into future market days.
We greatly appreciate the support of our good friends from Attadale Rotary and I was particularly impressed with the youthful enthusiasm of the Waylen Sea Scouts whose high spirits brightened the atmosphere for us all.
Well done Applecross Rotary, our families and friends! Let’s keep this team spirit firing as we approach the countdown to the 25th Applecross Rotary Jacaranda Festival.
Simon began by explaining why he chose to move back to his home town in Perth two years ago after spending 15 years in Queensland.
One of the reasons is to be closer to his mother who naturally enough, is ageing, and also to join Red Cross, a not for profit humanitarian provider. Simon is the Business Development Officer for Red Cross in WA and is involved in its Community and Stakeholder engagement activities.
Red Cross was founded by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant, in 1863 in Geneva. He went on to win the world’s first Nobel Peace Prize. The Australian Red Cross was founded after the outbreak of World War 1, leading to its centenary in 2014.
There are 191 Red Cross societies across the world. The red cross, red crescent or red crystal have their roots in religion but their fundamental principles are the same: To provide support to anyone regardless of allegiance, nationality or religion.
Red Cross brands include First Aid and Mental Health, Lifeblood and Red Cross Shops.
Red Cross is on hand to respond to emergencies and disasters and is activated by Department of Communities. Here in Western Australia our natural disasters are usually bushfires, cyclones and floods. Red Cross offers support services to help people to get back on their feet, before, during and after an event.
Red Cross has a wide range of community services to help people feel safe and connected, for example the soup patrol. The organisation also helps migrants in transition who may come from areas of conflict, war and disaster. Emergency relief, settlement and support to reconnect families are offered.
Red Cross has around 20,000 volunteers and members and 521,000 blood donors in Australia. It receives funding from the Commonwealth and State Governments and donations.
One of its key focus areas is aged care with the aim that older, vulnerable people have better lives through friendship and to be comfortable in their own homes. One in four aged people live alone and loneliness can affect their mental and physical well being.
Some ways that Red Cross can help is through Telecross with a quick phone call each morning to check in with a person who lives alone. An extension of that is Telechat which enables a longer more sociable conversation and volunteer visiting. These services can be accessed through the My Aged Care umbrella.
Simon gave us a comprehensive overview of the principles and aims of Red Cross. There are many volunteer roles available in the organisation and if we run out of chores to do at Rotary, he thoughtfully left booklets on the tables encouraging us to join up!
Marianne, Chris and I recently volunteered to assist Mal and the AKA team with allocating seat numbers for the concert at Langley Park last Friday week. With our finely tuned skills, we ensured that every “correct bum found its correct seat” — a truly masterly operation!
The great news is that Mal has presented Applecross Rotary with a $500 donation as a result of our help. A big THANK YOU, MAL!
There’s potential for similar fundraising opportunities in the future if AKA requires more help with this essential seat identification process — so if you’re interested, let us know!
2. District Membership Incentive Project
Membership interest in Applecross Rotary — or any volunteer organisation — doesn’t happen without genuine commitment to community needs.
This Wednesday, 5 November (5–6 pm) and again on Saturday, 9 November (9–10 am), Rotary District will host important Zoom sessions to discuss and develop strategies to strengthen Rotary membership and community engagement.
President Marg will share more details at our next meeting, but it’s worth noting that Rotary membership in WA has declined from around 4,000 members across three Districts to just 1,800 members in one District today.
Let’s all commit our ideas, energy and enthusiasm to help rebuild Rotary — because membership should never be taken for granted.
3. Red Cross Opportunities
Our guest speaker from the Red Cross last week gave a compelling presentation about the organisation’s vital work — not only across Australia but around the world — and how much of it relies on volunteers.
Two of their programs are especially well-suited to the experience and empathy of our members:
Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme – a free service where volunteers visit older people who are lonely or socially isolated.
Kaleidoscope Mentoring Program – a 12-week, one-on-one professional mentoring program for migrants of any visa background seeking to reconnect with their chosen field here in WA.
We’re all busy — but the Red Cross offers meaningful, well-structured opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives.
If you’re interested in getting involved, please let me know and we’ll see how we can support their great work.
Although we were a little short on volunteer numbers this time, particularly during setup and pack-down, we still enjoyed another successful community and fundraising event.
The Goolugatup Lowerlands Renewal Project continues to present a few challenges — with reduced parking space and the added complexity of marking out the area to fit as many cars as possible.
Ongoing roadworks around the stallholder carpark limited access for many, resulting in more stallholders parking in the lower carpark.
The upper carpark also remains a juggling act — balancing spaces for restaurant patrons, ACROD parking, and playground visitors (who often don’t realise the market is on). We’ve also lost a few bays due to a new garage and a temporary sea container being used for City of Melville storage.
We simply couldn’t operate without our amazing volunteer team, strengthened by the support of our friends from Attadale Rotary, the Rotary E-Club, and the Waylen Bay Sea Scouts. A special mention goes to our Rotary Youth Exchange students, Essi and Brie, who did a terrific job collecting donations, directing cars, and helping with pack-down.
Each event brings opportunities for improvement, often driven by the feedback and suggestions from our volunteers. Some recent updates include:
Moving the collection point in the upper carpark further up the driveway to ease congestion on the public roundabout.
Installing a new directional sign at the roundabout to guide traffic to the stallholder and public carparks.
Reorganising the entrance and adding signage at the lower carpark to help drivers navigate the entry gate more easily (click here to view video).
Carpark management at the Perth Makers Market remains an important fundraiser for our club and the volunteer groups that support us. We’re proud to be part of Erin’s team, helping make these markets such a valued community event while providing a platform for small business stallholders to showcase and sell their products.
A huge thank you to all our volunteers — your enthusiasm and teamwork make all the difference. Please keep up the great spirit! As always, many hands make light work — and that’s never more true than at the end of a long, sunny day.
Lorri & Ray PMM Leads
Our new sign that will hopefully see stallholders parking at allocated carpark
Our Jacaranda Festival promotions dynamo, Kenn Williams, is absolutely on fire!
Promoting the 25th Applecross Rotary Jacaranda Festival to a broad audience across so many media platforms is no small task — but Kenn is rising to the challenge, creating fresh and engaging content that connects with different audiences and demographics.
Now he needs your help to keep the momentum going! Please take a few minutes to share our promotional content with your family, friends, and community networks. Every share helps spread the word and build excitement for this milestone event.
Here’s how you can help:
Have a Go News – Click here to open the link and, under the article heading, you’ll find easy options to share via social media, email, or even print a copy.
Weekend Notes – Click here to view the article. Weekend Notes reaches over 104,000 email subscribers and 71,000 Facebook followers – a great audience for JacFest!
JacFest Newsletter – Register here for the Rotary Jacaranda Festival Mailing List to receive updates compiled by MarketLife.
Let’s lift our subscriber numbers — register yourself and share the link with your network!
Posters & Flyers – A3, A4, and A5 versions are printed and ready for distribution. Please help by displaying or distributing them wherever you can. Copies will be available at this week’s breakfast meeting or directly from Kenn Williams or Ray Philp.
Signage – Large promotional signs will soon appear at Applecross Village, Canning Highway, and Riseley Street. Volunteers will be needed to help with installation — keep an eye out for Kenn’s call for helpers.
Rotary & City Promotions – The event will also feature in the RotaryWA Round Up (emailed to all WA Rotarians) and the City of Melville newsletter.
✅ First step: Register for the JacFest Newsletter, catch up on past editions, and then share the subscription link far and wide!
Together, let’s make sure everyone in Perth knows about the 25th Applecross Rotary Jacaranda Festival! 💜🌳
The 2025 Jacaranda Festival briefing session for all Club volunteers will be held during our breakfast meeting on Tuesday, 18 November, in the Dome meeting room.
Attached below is the current draft roster. Please check for your name and note the tasks assigned to you.
While some of you are already familiar with the process, many new members have taken on important roles this year. It’s essential that we go through the briefing together to ensure everything runs smoothly.
You may join via Zoom if necessary, but your in-person attendance is strongly encouraged.
For those unable to attend on Tuesday, there will be a second briefing session on Wednesday, 19 November, for other volunteers. Please make sure to attend that session instead.
Thank you all for your continued support and commitment — your efforts make this event a success every year!
Please see below a message from President David Rowell, Rotary Club of Mill Point.
Please purchase your tickets prior to Friday 7th November 2025 in order for us to finalise numbers for catering.
Special $40 Offer to Rotary Members and Friends
The Rotary Club of Mill Point is pleased to invite Rotarians and Friends to attend the Ashes - Breakfast With The Rivals on Friday 21st November 2025 starting 7am at the Camfield in Burswood.
We have been able to obtain a special Rotary discounted ticket price of $40 per person for this event which is a discount of $70.
Jodie Lee Bower Cancer Foundation
The purpose of this special event is to help the Jodie Lee Bowel Cancer Foundation to expand its charity throughout WA and to increase awareness of bowel cancer. Learn more about this charity at: https://jodileefoundation.org.au/about-us-our-story/
Alternatively, you can link to the QI code shown in the image below.
To obtain the special discounted tickets of $40 per person you must enter the PROMO CODE "RotaryVIP" within the payment section prior to finalising payment.
Our club has a strong collaborative relationship with Rotary Washington. They have supported our Rotary Foundation Grant for the Mama Respond Kenyan project and are currently supporting our Wheatbelt Speech and Hearing project.
Dorothy will talk about Rotary Washington's projects supporting charitable groups in Ukraine.
