President’s AGM Address
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Fellow Rotarians, it is with great pleasure that I submit this report having almost completed my year as president. Many of you have commented that my year as President has gone extremely fast. And yes, it has; it has been challenging, fun and rewarding. All in all, it has been a very affirming experience. My presidential year can be aptly described as “annus peculiaris”. |
| I became president not after a “hand over” but an unexpected “take over” due to unfortunate circumstances that you are aware of. Lockdown added to the difficulties. Without having sit-down meetings and unable to socialise in person put a strain, to say the least. But we are a robust club. We recognise our strength. We are resolute. We know we have an important place in our community, and our commitment to serve. We did serve and continue do so. I would like to give a big thank you to all of you who supported me during this period. However, I would like to mention the following: Neil Ferguson – Community and President-elect Stan Ure – Secretary Mike Watkin – Treasurer Brian Cunningham – Fundraising Alasdair Macleod – Health and safety, Foundation Ewen Jenkin – Youth Stuart Robison – International Together with these council members I like to give a big thank you to. Derek Lang – Past president Nick Day – Auditor and International Dennis Young – Community and Special counsellor Hugh Begg – Handbook Scribe and Advisor For their functions, wisdom, counsel, and support. Particularly, Dennis, whose steady hand and support during the awkward situations has been most valuable. I am grateful. Stan Ure, our secretary Stan has been outstanding in his support to me and the club as secretary – and the quality of his work has been excellent. A good secretary in any organisation is essential and without doubt Stan is truly first class in his role. Mike too has been an excellent and meticulous treasurer – he has provided great support ensuring all transactions were dealt with speedily and efficiently. Providing reports and adding valued gift aid. Both Stan and Mike are truly a credit to our club. But as you all know, Stan has given his notice and will be giving up his role as secretary at the end of June this year. For reasons even I do not understand I have put myself to take up that role from Stan. It will be a major challenge to walk in those huge shoes. (What was I thinking!!) We will miss Stan, but I know Stan will always be there for us when we need good counsel and support. Stan, I am ever so grateful for all that you have done as our secretary. Moving on to the past year plan. The plan that was put together, largely in consultation with the appointed team convenors, was mostly acted upon. It is either completed or work in progress. This was due to council’s and members for their dedication, hard work, and remarkable resilience. The pandemic, which continues to plague us, has made Rotary business difficult but we overcame. We embraced new technologies and learnt fast to conduct our business virtually. We held our club meetings via Zoom. I can honestly say, with significant success. I acknowledge that few members could not adopt to these new “virtual” meetings and consequently could not engage fully in our club activities. It was imperative that we embrace the membership under an umbrella of fellowship and keep everyone engaged. So “Fellowship” was adopted as the prime theme. We organised several fellowship events throughout the year such as.
During Easter we organised an Easter Pack and delivered it to each member to encourage engagement with the club more.
In addition, I identified Move More AngusAlive, a subsidiary of Macmillan Cancer Support, to be the main beneficiary this year and will receive £1000 next week.
I am sure you will all agree that our international endeavours have been totally successful due to the fabulous work by the team; Stuart Robison, Nick Day and Hugh Begg. Praveen Manthri |
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