SERVICE ABOVE SELF


The chat room f i l led up quickly throughout his presentation with praise and enthusiasm for his ideas. The next speaker, Peter Mutch is the District 1010 Rotaract Officer and a member of the Rotaract Club of Moray. He encouraged Rotary Clubs to start Rotaract in their area and will talk to anyone about moving this forward. After a quick comfort/tea break of 8 minutes, we were all back on time, (first time that has happened) to hear from Vicky Gorn (PE) and Alan Brown (P) about how they formed the new club of Forth Bridges which was chartered in January 2020. They focus on local communities and on service not fundraising – so they have started a children’s clothing bank, Kids Out in a different format and set up a Covid response team. Meeting online has not curtailed their social activities, eg they celebrated a member’s special birthday with 70 people online who each had afternoon tea delivered. The club has yet to have its “formal” charter event which will be on a boat touring the River Forth beneath the bridges. The boat may be swamped by attendees! As Alan and Vicky said, “The future is not what it used to be”. The final speaker, Jean Best, talked about ‘Dealing with Difficult People’. She started by stressing the need to


JUNE 2020 : ISSUE 134


recognise, encourage and welcome DIVERSITY – Different, Individuals, Valuing, Each other, Regardless of, Skin, Intellect, Talents or Years. She outlined how much more positive collaborative conversations are than confrontation and gave a brief outline of strategies to use to defuse difficult situations – brainstorm, clarify, discuss, and conclude. Jean, who is happy to offer her advice and expertise to clubs, ended her talk by telling us to “Get curious, before you get furious”. Alistair Robb then brought the Assembly to a close with warm thanks to all the presenters, attendees, and his team. How was an online Assembly? Pros: effective use of time, considerable saving in costs - travel, venue, catering, and speakers can come from anywhere in the world. Also, as a participant you have a clear view of the presentation slides and videos and you can control the sound level to suit yourself. Most importantly, any member from the furthest North to the River Forth can attend without it being a marathon day or possibly two days. Cons: somehow showing the symbol of a clapped hand is not as resounding endorsement as a round of applause, there is no personal interaction between attendees.


M


ember James Yule recently proved that he knows the meaning of ‘Service Above Self’. At the beginning of ‘lockdown’ James


started a route walking around his garden to get his exercise time in. After friends said that they would happily sponsor him, James challenged himself to go from the couch to running 5K around his garden (or a total of 30 minutes) in 8 weeks and sought donations for Food for Fife. His target was £1,000 and he pledged to add 10% himself. As the weeks went by he built up his time slowly and by week 6 managed 22 minutes and the total promised had reached £770. Suffice to say that by the end of his challenge, a well motivated and determined James achieved his target and raised total of £1,200. He is seen here crossing the finishing line. Not a bad effort for an octogenarian. We salute you James.


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