Literacy Month - March Combating illiteracy has been a focus of Rotary International since 1986 - and for good reason. UNESCO estimates there are 862 million illiterate adults in the world and about two-thirds of them are women. Millions more are functionally illiterate, without the reading and writing skills necessary for everyday life. The United Nations has identified illiteracy as a major obstacle to economic, political, and social development. How can you be involved? Follow the link below to the RI website section on Literacy and Numeracy Programs. Be a part of the solution for this world wide...

Australian Rotary Health is pleased to announce they will dedicate $1,598,008 towards research in a wide variety of mental health areas in 2018. This includes 11 new Mental Health Research Grant projects, 10 continuing Mental Health Research Grant projects, 2 new Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2 continuing Postdoctoral Fellowships, and 4 new Ian Scott PhD Scholarships in mental health. The research will focus on important topics such as suicide prevention, child mental health, depression and anxiety, and perinatal mental health. Australian Rotary Health CEO Joy Gillett OAM said it is always a pleasure to award new funding to deserving research candidates. “As always, there were many outstanding applications this round, and it was difficult to choose from so many worthwhile projects,” Ms Gillett said. “We are positive that the projects we have selected will produce some interesting findings in the mental health field.” A total of $691,611 will be put towards the following new Mental Health Research Grant projects: Louise Mewton, University of New South Wales – The long-term effectiveness of a combined prevention model for anxiety, depression and substance use in adolescents. Delyse Hutchinson, Deakin University - Breaking the intergenerational cycle of mental disorder: A longitudinal study of the social determinants of childhood psychosocial adjustment problems. Sonja March, University of Southern Queensland - Improving efficiency of online cognitive behaviour therapy for childhood anxiety through stepped care. Caroline Donovan, Griffith University - Improving Pre-schoolers’ Transition to School: Targeting Sleep Problems. Elizabeth Elliott, University of Sydney - Longitudinal study of wellbeing and quality of life in remote Indigenous youth: the Biswun Kid* Project. Justin Kenardy, University of Queensland - Effectiveness trial of...

First – we are again fast approaching Easter (If you went to Coles between Christmas and NY they already had Hot Cross Buns out) and for us that means doing our thing for the Easter Shut Ins. Those people identified by Meals on Wheels in need of a few treats for Easter. We will again get sponsorship from places like Uncle Toby’s, but do ask all members if they could dig into their own wallets and purses a little to help bring a little happiness to these less fortunate souls. Julie will have a collection box out this week. Julie also tells me that she spoke last week about the Share the Love project with St Matthews. We are still in our 40 year anniversary so this looked like a good project with  which to be involved. There will be bags at next meeting, but if you would like to contribute small amounts, bring to meeting. We want to collect: 1 can or bottle each day 1 item of clothing 1 book each day This will happen for 40 days – ready for...

Guest Speaker Rosemary Creed has come from a farming background near Jerilderie NSW.  We had four daughters and we were very involved in many organisations in the District. In the early 1980’s I became a member of “Health Right” a branch of Albury Community Health, where I coordinated and ran health related groups between Albury and Deniliquin, mainly for Women. Rosemary has been a Lifeline councillor with Albury Lifeline for six years, and was one of the first members of Palliative Care in Wodonga when it began in the nineties. For the last 11 ½ years Rosemary has been coordinating the “Look Good, Feel Better” workshops for the Albury/Wodonga and surrounding region.  These have grown enormously, when she began in this role in 2006 there were only four workshops a year with six participants and now she with her volunteers runs eight workshops a year with between eight and 14 participants. Rosemary enjoys her volunteer work and social interacting with many people from all walks of...

Guest Speaker this week was Bree Pickering from MAMA … Artists from across the local region and around the country were invited to apply to exhibit at MAMA in August this year. The sixty-five applications received were then assessed by local Waragerie (Wiradjuri) artist Lorraine Connelly-Northey and Artistic Director of Melbourne’s Gertrude Contemporary, Mark Feary with MAMA Director, Bree Pickering and MAMA Curator, Michael Moran. Proposals were assessed on grounds of innovation, artistic potential and relevance to a local audience. This year the program has been updated to better reflect the supportive role MAMA plays in local art. With increased support this year from Create NSW, upgrades to the program have been instated. These include the removal of financial barriers to local artists seeking to exhibit at MAMA, such as the removal of hire fees and the payment of national-standard artist fees. MAMA staff will work closely with the selected artists on the development of their exhibitions, offering professional support, assistance with production and advice on advancing emerging careers....

Guest Speaker Mick Brennan, Assistant Curator at the Albury Botanic Gardens gave us an insight into future projects planned for this four hectare site  known for its established trees, meandering pathways and colourful garden beds. When Albury Mayor, Alderman William Jones opened the gardens with the planting of an English Elm tree in 1877, he created an icon which has stood the test of time. The gardens have a long history and are extremely popular with horticultural enthusiasts and garden lovers, many travelling from around the country to explore the 1,000 plus native and exotic plant species. There are a range of things to do when you visit the gardens such as self-guided walks, the dinosaur family in the children's garden or you can simply relax and watch the world pass by. From a conservation point of view, work is going into regeneration and replacement of species that have reached the end of their life-span, in particular the elm trees in Elm Avenue. With the assistance of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens, there is  planned a range of improvements to not only keep people going here, but to engage a whole new audience, in particular children through the creation of a Children's Garden.  To guide the management and ongoing improvements to the gardens the Conservation Management Plan was developed in 1997 and a Marketing Strategy in 2005. While the gardens already attract around 300,000 people a year, including over 75 weddings, there is room for many more, making the Albury Botanic Gardens one of the most visited outdoor attractions in...

Last week’s meeting we had a lovely presentation from Kellie’s daughter Tess Kadoui who is our outbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student for the next year. Tess heads out to Denmark in January – remember to pack your winter woollies Tess. Kellie’s son Jack was our outbound a couple of years ago and I’m sure that Tess will enjoy her experience as much as Jack did.  We also had a visitor at the meeting – Rotary Youth Exchange student from France, Kilian Vele, who also joined Rod and the Paying it Forward team on their recent excursion to the Yasawa Islands to help with the painting of some community buildings. Rod tells me that they all had a great time and the interaction with the local village was better than last...

  Noel Jackling was born in Albury, and lived next to Ian Harrison (!) but  was only there until the age of three. War-time meant family removal to Melbourne when his father Stan Jackling joined the RAAF. The family unit never returned to Albury, leaving Stan with a law business in Albury and a family in Melbourne, a disjunction that he resolved by becoming a weekly commuter between the two cities. For Noel, with grandparents in Albury and Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga became a wonderful holiday venue in his younger years. Following the death of his father in 1994 he donated his father’s Albury Choral Society and ABC International Celebrity Concert programs to the Albury LibraryMuseum and wrote a book to interpret them. In 1998 Noel became executor of the deceased estate of a former Albury Choral Society chorister Ruth Whyte, whose residuary estate of $1.2m was equally divided between the Albury Wodonga Regional Art Foundation and the Charles Sturt University Murray Conservatorium of Music, a bequest that remains the largest cash donation to the Arts in Albury. In the late 1960s, Noel became the lawyer for Arthur Newnham, the ABC radio 2CO announcer who called on cars to go to the Albury Racecourse to illuminate a landing strip for the Uiver. As a result of this connection, Noel has in recent years developed a keen interest in the Uiver, an interest that has led to him securing major donations of Uiver-related objects for the Albury LibraryMuseum, and with others, to ensure that Albury’s memorial DC-2 Uiver remained in Albury for restoration here. Noel successfully advocated for the Uiver collection at...