Co - President's Notes Tom Atkinson & Murray McKay
Dear Rotarians and Friends,
One of the most pleasing aspects of volunteering in Rotary is the direct support we are able to offer fellow non-profits. At our recent board meeting, the Applecross Rotary board approved the following contributions to valued partners:
$2750 to Wheelchairs for Kids- In recognition of the continued great work this organisation does, led by our Associate Member Greg Hebble and Senior Australian of the year Brother Olly Pickett. This contribution will build and distribute 10 specialised wheelchairs to children in need across the world. Wheelchairs for Kids is a project of Scarborough Rotary club, having built and distributed over 60'000 wheelchairs over the years. We are very proud to support this terrific Rotary initiative.
$2000 to Wheatbelt Youth Mentoring - as a continued supporter of this terrific regional program, Applecross Rotary is pleased to provide this funding which will allow 5 wheatbelt students to attend a leadership camp in Perth. Led by Karen Strange, another Associate Member of our club, WBYM is a high quality leadership program that has provided countless opportunities for students in remote and regional areas to connect with mentors across WA, with the Perth leadership camp just part of the year round program offering. Thanks also goes to long time supporter and AxR member John Kelly for his continued connection to this program.
$1800 to Every Daughter Matters - Members may remember Darren from EDM presenting a compelling story to our club last year. Focused on rescuing girls and women from human trafficking on the Nepal/India border, EDM set up information booths with specially trained staff who identify at risk women crossing the border and sensitively intercept them, dramatically limiting the damage done by both innocent family members and more sinister organised groups. This contribution will allow 10 individuals to be saved from human trafficking.
These donations are only possible due to the hard fundraising work done by members and supporters at Perth Makers Market, Jacaranda Festival, Rotary Art Show and other fundraising events. Thank you to everyone who supports us and our community!
Yours in Rotary,
Co-Presidents Murray and Tom
Visiting Rotarians
We had four visiting Rotarians at our recent meeting, Sue and Ian Spencer from Tunnamurra NSW, and Jacques Phillips and Wendy Campbell from Perth Rotary.
Sue and Ian are relocating back to Perth, and looking for a new Rotary Club. They are good friends of Liz and David Palmer so we hope they can convince Sue and Ian that Applecross would be a good choice. First reaction was that we were a younger looking club than the others they have visited. Oh, and Sue also won a bottle of wine in Heads ’n Tails. Just coincidence of course 🤣
All in all we had 32 members and guests at our meeting, the best attendance for this year (so far).
Liz Palmer (R) introduces Sue Spencer to (a young) President Tom
Prospective member Aaron Hoffman (L) with Perth Rotarian Jacques Phillips
Are you intending to come to the conference at the end of March? Have you booked?
Help your conference team in planning the logistics of making the best weekend possible for you by booking now.
Join us for an inspiring weekend with incredible speakers at the world-class HEART venue. In this video see the speakers we have lined up to challenge you, entertain you, and help you understand what differences you can make to the world by being a Rotarian.
Invite your friends to register....they are welcome.
Click on the image to see information about our speakers and activities on the weekend.
"In January 2025, in WA alone, people used their smart phones and laptops/tablets to send scammers at least $3.6 million. In one month!”
Our guest speaker Bhargav Parthasarathy had our attention immediately, because he was talking about someone you know, maybe a member of your family.
He was talking about me. And my son’s text message about losing his phone, borrowing one from a friend to send me a message, saying he needed to transfer funds urgently that morning please Dad, which of course he would repay as soon as possible. Which I did, from my seat at the Dome after our regular Tuesday meeting. Ten minutes later I got a call from BankWest cyber security, saying the fund transfer had been intercepted and paused, so I could be informed this whole thing was a scam. All I should have done was call Callum on his apparently ‘lost’ phone and find that he was surprised that someone, maybe in Russia, could so easily persuade me to send them a large sum of money. Not $3.6 million I hasten to say!
So now you know why I tracked down someone, Bhargav, who knew all about phone and Internet scams, and asked him up to speak to our meeting so you won't do what I did.
Bhargav spoke very quickly which made it a challenge for some of our mature age members to keep up, so we have also included the slides & ZOOM recording so you can take your time going through them.
Text messages/SMS scams are increasing in Australia: they may impersonate someone you know or an organisation you have previously connected to - if in doubt ask for a phone number to call them back.
e-mail - NEVER click on a link, call the sender instead
Check the full email address of the sender - Australian companies have the suffix .au, never .ru
No-one will call asking for your bank details, other than a scammer
No legitimate business will threaten you like "send us the money you owe or face arrest"
If in any doubt, disconnect straight away - legitimate callers will leave a message
Get your laptop/tablet hard drive cleaned
Call IDCARE on 1800 595 160 if you think your identity is at risk.
Last year email scams cost Aussies $141 million.
Follow these simple rules:
Be doubtful, especially if the matter is “urgent"
Keep private things private
Say - I’ll call you back please give me a number to call
Tell someone about that call or email you got today
In autumn each year South of Perth Yacht Club with support of Kiind (a support organization from Perth Children’s Hospital) and other sponsors including Applecross and Melville Rotary has staged “Cruising Butterflies” to take children with life-long health issues onto the Swan River on members boats to enjoy a morning of fun on the water. Working with Kiind, over 150 children along with their parents, siblings and carers are expected to attend this special day in the lives of the children that gives their families a short respite from the 24-hour a day caring duty. After the morning on the water there will be a sausage sizzle lunch, a live ukulele music band, guide dogs, and special guests and events. The day will wind up early in the afternoon.
Applecross Rotary have ben tasked with the BBQ duties, cooking and serving sausages in a bun and assisting in car parking, both inside SoPYC and on the Heathcote Lower Land. We are a few volunteers short so if you can assist contact Gordon Dunbar by text (0409 884 689) or email dunbarz@ozemail.com.au.
It's on again and it is not too late (only a few games played) so join now at the below link and have a chance of winning the BIG prizes by registering in THE GAME as well as bragging rights by joining the AxR comp!
The combined Applecross / Melville Rotary Clubs will be hosting the annual Art Show from 8th to 15th June. The event is held in the display area of the Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre in front of Woolworths.
This event provides a wonderful platform to promote our local artists.
We normally have around 450 paintings on display and in so doing promote about 150 artists.
The setting up, the manning of the display – and finally the dismantling, consumes considerable time and effort. Consequently your support would be appreciated and it’s the old saying “….many hands……”.
Applecross Rotary's responsibility is for the setting up, the manning of the display and finally dismantling on the Sunday afternoon. Also manning the display on the Monday ,Wednesday, Friday and the Sunday morning, with Melville Rotary responsible for the alternate days.
A blank roster will be circulated at the end of the month. Roster stints include a range of options ie: morning / afternoon and evening in 3 hour time slots. This way the roster caters for everyone.
The purpose of this note is to ask you to diarise a day /days and then once the roster is out you can indicate what times best suit.
In closing – as this is our 50th year so can you give some thought as to how best we can advertise this achievement.
Rene Breuer from Frankland Olives will explain why Australia is now one of the top exporters of olive oil in the world - after Greece, Italy and Spain. Is it our mediterranean climate? Rene is bringing some samples with him but to get them you have to be there when he is speaking!
"In January 2025, in WA alone, people used their smart phones and laptops/tablets to send scammers at least $3.6 million. In one month!”
