North Melbourne Rotary Club is back In action

Until recently, the North Melbourne Rotary Club has been back having face-to-face meetings, but it has been difficult to get into fundraising and general community activities.

Well, late in May we got right into a community barbecue at the community consultation meeting at the Bedford Street Park which was run by the City of Melbourne to get local people’s views on proposed changes to expand the park.

Our club has also just become a foundation member of the newly formed Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network (RIMERN).

This network has established premises in Brunswick and will collect unwanted furniture and household goods and distribute them to people and families that have been referred by local not-for-profit organisations. This will mean people who may have found or been provided with accommodation will be able to have them furnished using this facility.

The North Melbourne Rotary Club is probably one of the most diverse in the country. Though only small, we have just inducted a new member from Hong Kong and are about to induct another soon from Malawi. They join members from India, Poland, Cyprus, Greece, Somalia and a few home-growns as well. On top of that, on July 1 our Somali member, Sainab Sheikh, will take over from Neville Page as the new club president. We believe Sainab will be the first person from an African refugee background in Somalia to become a Rotary president. COVID permitting, the event will be an in-person one at the Mercure Hotel in North Melbourne. The public is welcome to attend and can book via the Trybooking link trybooking.com/BRXQD

Our club is well known as a very friendly environment, and we would welcome meeting up with anyone interested in helping the community and knowing more about Rotary •