PDG Geoff and Bettye Tancred

Vocational Service - Vocational Excellence Awards were presented at the District Conference to three worthy recipients, Dr Elaine Dietsch for her work with women and midwi ves

in sub-Saharan Africa, Jamie Newman who has been the driving force behind the development of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service and Peter Darley agricultural lobbyist and vice president of the NSW Fanners Association.

Membership - A highlight of the year for me was to be asked to participate inthe induction on one night of three new mem bers at the Boorowa Club and another seven members at Murrumburral1-Harden a few weeks later. Other clubs also grew their membership which was pleasing to see. At the end of the year our membership was 1,131, an increase of 8 over the previous year.

New Generations (Youth) Pro jects - Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) attracted 27 participants (22 male and 5 female). Guest speakers included real estate mogul Charles Tarby, PDG John Egan, financial planner Peter Hastie, detective inspector Sandy Green, Rotarian and Ronald McDonald House

Manager Deborah Braines and life coach Jeremy Hutchi ngs. Activities throughout the week involved a day trip to Kapooka Army Base and a self defence class run by Aikido Yuishinkai. Each speaker gave their advice on leadership and what makes a successful leader. As the week progressed each RYLArian opened up more to the group and a remarkable change was seen in each one by the end of the six day camp.

Rotary Youth Program of ENrichnlent (RYPEN) was attended by 68 year 9 students (47 girls and 21 boys) from 27 schools, bei ng sponsored by 21 Rotary clubs from across the District. The magic of RYPEN is that this large group of young students from varying backgrounds are brought together in an informal setting where they meet and hear from business and community leaders and are exposed to workshops, discussions, physical, entertainment, and team building activities - all the while being encouraged to participate, interact, think, debate, learn and get to know their peers... and at the same time have a whole lot fun. This resulted in the students improving their teamwork and leaderships skills and broadening their horizons culturally, socially and academically.

Dream Cricket, Science & Engineering Challenge and Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) were again very popular around the District with the programs being nm by many clubs. Several students from our District attended the various National Youth Science Forums (NSYF) whilst the Youth Exchange Program (YEP)

attracted 6 inbound and 2 outbound students.

Service Projects - Community service work throughout the District exceeded 50,000 man hours which in dollar terms at a very conservative $30 an hour means a gift of over $1,500,000 to our cities and towns. This is in addition to the many donations made by Clubs to various charities and groups within their communities which could account for a further $1.500,000. Add this to support given by Clubs to overseas programs of say a further $500,000 then this would make Rotary within our District, a

$3,500,000 enterprise.

The Rotary Foundation - This year saw the introduction of the new Rotary Grants structure - District Grants and Global Grants. District Grants totally $15,300 were awarded to Cootamundra, Leeton, Orange, Orange Daybreak , Wagga Wagga, Wagga Wagga Kooringal and West Wyalong. The District was successful in its application for a Global Grant for Teacher Training in Nepal. The project can now be extended with $40,000 provided through a Rotary Foundation Global Grant. Teams led by Orange Daybreak Rotarian Mary Brell will have trained more than 350 Nepalese teachers by the completion ofthis project in 2015. As a way of informing Clubs and members about the Rotary Foundation and in particular the project in Nepal, a dinner was held in Orange during Rotary's Foundation Month of November. A capacity audience of 220 heard special guest the Hon Consul General for Nepal Deepak Khadka thank our District for its humanitarian and educational support for the people of Nepal.

Donations to the Foundation and Polio Plus were down for the year as at 30 June but I am pleased to note that contributions in the few months since that date have exceeded those for the same period last year.

International Service Projects - "Darkness to Light" Eye Camps in India were started by Rotarian Dr Alok Sharma of the Wagga club in 2005. In the four Eye Camps since then of the 8,300 people who have registered, 1,004 have undergone cataract operations, 2,100 glasses have been prescri bed and 5,450 medicines dispensed. InNovember 2013 a team of 14 people from six Rotary Clubs and one Inner Wheel Club travelled to Northern India to help restore vision of the very poor in the Yamuna Nagar District. A gala dinner held earlier in the year raised over $30,000 to fund the project. Yet another example of Rotary 'doing good in the world'.

Rotary Friendshjp Exchange - The Friendship Exchange Program is an international exchange program for Rotarians and Rotary couples that provide participants with the opportunity to experience other cultures by staying in the homes of Rotarians, visiting their Clubs and participating in the lifestyle/activities of their communities. The goals of the exchange are to advance international understanding and peace through visits across boarders, as well as promote interclub relationships, fellowships and service projects. The Rotarians patticipating gain the opportunity to make long lasting friendships while exploring different areas of the world. During 2013 - 2014 exchanges were made with District 6200 in Louisiana USA and District 7120 inNew York State USA and late in the year we hosted an inbound team from District 5360 in Canada.

District Conference - Whilst numbers might have been down, the speakers, food and entertainment were outstanding. Keynote speakers included Rotary International Presidents Representative PDG Kamal Sanghvi from India, economic and social commentator Dr Keith Sutor, Youth off the Streets founder and CEO Fr Chris Riley, adventurer and philanthropist Rob Pennicott and architect and Healthabitat director Paul Pholeros. A special thanks to Chair Paul Cox and his committee for organizing such a memorable event.

2014 Rotary International Convention - The annual Convention held at Sydney's Olympic Park was well attended by Rotarians of our District. The plenary sessions were world class. After bom-s activities for District members and their partners included a Harbour Dinner Cruise, an Indian dinner at ''Nilgiris" St Leonards and a further dinner at the revolving restaurant atop Australia Square. My thanks to Marilyn Roberts who coordinated our activities at the Convention.

Bettye's Partners Program - Through the generosity of the Rotarians of the District, the raffle for a magnificent Patchwork Quilt pieced and kindly donated by Maria Banks (wife of then Orange Club President Len Banks) raised $6,415 for Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC). Eastern Region Chair Rob Wilkinson has advised that the awareness that had been created through the promotion of the raffle has resulted in contributions made by District Clubs during the year of a further

$31,215, making a total of $37,630 which is a record high.

Several Clubs celebrated special anniversaries during the year. Cowra, Parkes and Young each celebrated 75 years of service to their local communities whilst Condobolin celebrated 60 years of service. Congratulations to all.

In closing Bettye and I wish to thank everyone for making our year so enjoyable and one which we will remember for a very long time. The support that we have received from the District Board, Assistant Governors, Presidents, Committees and Club members has been tremendous. During our Club visits and on reading the Club Bulletins we were amazed to learn of the many and varied community and overseas projects in which the Clubs are involved. We were particularly thrilled to hear that all Clubs are actively involved in one or more of the many Youth programs.

No matter how big or small, all Clubs have truly Engaged Rotary and Changed Lives.

Geoff Tancred

District Governor 2013- 2014

Rotary International District 9700 9 November 2014