DG Dave’s October Newsletter

Dave’s Diary 

The Monthly Newsletter of the District Governor

31^st September 2012

DG 2012-2013 David Ashley

Well, hello everyone, a quarter of the year has already past and it seems like just the blink of an eye, but so much has happened. I have carried out my official visits to all but eight clubs now and three of them I shall be visiting during October. The RIBI president has spent three very successful days in the District. The Conference is almost upon us and I have just returned form the second RIBI General Council meeting at Alcester. I would like to spend the next few paragraphs outlining one particular issue that was on the agenda there.

Re-Districting within RIBI

Some time ago Rotary International stated their intention of reducing the number of Districts within RIBI from 29 down to 24 and it suggested those Districts that it intended to eliminate. District 1220 was not one of them. Partly as a result of this and partly to address the issue of the declining and ageing membership within RIBI a report was sent from RIBI to RI making alternative suggestions.

One of the suggestions was that RIBI would itself address the number of Districts and would look at a more structured approach to reducing the number. These proposals have now been published to the RIBI General Council in draft format and are now subject to the first round of discussion and review. Within the draft document all the proposed new Districts have been given a letter rather than a number.

All the clubs within District 1220 have been kept together within new District H. {webmaster: this is to aid with the re-oganisation study and Districts will be renumbered later} In addition ten clubs from North Lincolnshire and sixteen clubs from South Yorkshire have been added. These are:-

North Lincolnshire

• Barrow Meridien
• Barton Upon Humber
• Brigg
• Cleethorpes
• Epworth & Isle of Axholme
• Grimsby
• Grimsby Havelock
• Grimsby St. James
• Scunthorpe
• Scunthorpe Pentagon

South Yorkshire

• Abbeydale
• Barnsley
• Barnsley (Rockley)
• Doncaster
• Doncaster St Georges
• Doncaster St. Leger
• Hallam
• Mexborough & District
• Rotherham
• Rotherham Sitwell
• Sheffield
• Sheffield Vulcan
• Stainborough
• Thorne
• Wombwell
• Wortley

The new District would therefore be the combination of all the clubs from District 1220 plus the clubs listed above. This would give the new District a total of 84 clubs instead of the present 59 and just under 2,700 members instead of the present figure of just under 1,800.

There are many long term benefits to enlarging the District, not the least of which would be the financial benefit of having more contributing members making the District finances more stable. There are of course many issues still to decide and agree upon, such as election of officers, venues for District meetings, regalia, incorporating the additional clubs etc. etc.

There is now a period until 12th October to allow present District Governors to present any comments or counter proposals to the Re-Districting Committee so that they can then be considered and where appropriate included in a revised draft report. (The basic intention here is to allow a short period of time to iron out any obvious mistakes in the proposals – one or two of which have already been identified in other areas) The revised report will then be circulated back to all the District Governors and also placed on the RIBI Website.

Clubs will then have a period from 25th October till 9th November to make any representations regarding the proposals.

Following this period of consultation a Final Report will be prepared and sent to RI for ratification at their board meeting on 19th January 2013.

The proposals are due to come into force on 1st July 2015. The proposals will not affect the status of any Rotary Clubs or Rotarians. They will simply change the size, shape and nature of the District to which Clubs will be attached.

Would Club Presidents please bring this matter to the attention of their clubs this week so that everyone has an opportunity to comment should they so wish.

I would appreciate it if any comment could be forwarded to me by email by no later than 5pm on 11th October so that I can consider them and forward them to the Re-Districting Committee if appropriate by the set deadline. Anonymous comment will not be considered.

On a personal note, it seems to me that District 1220 has come out of this exercise as well as could have been hoped for. No clubs are being split off from the main group. I am sure that suitable arrangements can be made to combine 1220 with the additional sixteen {webmaster: twenty-six} clubs, many of which are well known to us in this District in any case.

General News Items

The RIBI President, Rotarian John Minhinick and his wife Sheila were in the District from 10th to 12th
September. They were very impressed by the quality of the projects and presentations that they saw. My
thanks to everyone who was involved in any way with the visit for making it such a success.

District Conference

The District Conference is almost upon us and I look forward to seeing as many Rotarians and their guests as possible at Southport. Whilst you are there, do spend some time in the Rotary Showcase, where we have many stalls and stands of Rotary projects and non Rotary organisations. Free tea and coffee there (and the bar is open) on the Friday afternoon.

Don’t forget that you will need to collect your delegate packs from the showcase on arrival.

Group Study Exchange Team

The Group Study Exchange Team from Nepal is presently in the District until 20th October. They are also appearing at District Conference. They are a really good team. I had the pleasure of listening to their first presentation at Mapperley and Arnold on 26th September. Try and get to see them when they are in your neck of the woods – it really is worthwhile.

Remember, this may well be the last GSE Team from abroad that we see because under Future Vision they will be replaced by Vocational Training Teams, a slightly different animal.

Your Views ?

Over the last few months various members of the District Team have been working really hard to deliver a good service to Rotarians across the District. We are trying to make what we do for Clubs and Rotarians at District level as relevant and appropriate as possible. However, to ensure that we are doing the right things we need your comments and views. I have had very constructive feedback from a number of Rotarians recently about District Council, Conference and various other District events. I welcome this. If you have any views about Rotary topics please let me know. I really do want to know. Without this knowledge we cannot improve

Yours in Rotary

Dave Ashley