As we near the end of the first half of the current Rotary year we all hope that under the new covid traffic lights system we have now entered that we can engage more with our communities in the coming year. Mandatory vaccination requirements will give us more certainty in this regard, but all the time hoping we do not see a dramatic spread of the delta strain through the rest of the country.
I am delighted that our Club has elected a President-Elect for the 2022-2023 Rotary year. We look forward to giving Jay Jaiganesh every support as she prepares for office in July next, starting with District PE training in February. Jay is a senior IT Consultant with Ernst & Young, currently on a secondment to the Ministry for Primary Industries. She has a wealth of experience working with various community organisations in a voluntary capacity and is a board director of the Wellington Branch of the Cancer Society. Jay will bring new ideas and directions to the Club which we have discussed in brief at the board and at our recent Annual General Meeting.
Christmas means time to support family and community organisations we are closely committed to. At our last meeting we decide to donate gifts including Rotary Christmas puddings to the Wellington City Mission. This is a great commitment. Please follow through with treasurer Doug Langford, with the number of puddings you wish to personally donate. Please also bring to our Christmas function on 4 December at Marsden other gifts that you would like the Club to donate to the City Mission for families in need.
As I hand over to fellow Past President David Watt to steer us through the next six months to June 2022, please support all our community projects to keep doing good things in the spirit of Rotary. We will have several social events with other Rotary Clubs in the New Year and a continued programme of outstanding speakers. We hope that we can resume our business breakfasts in February and to maintain this programme in the coming year.
Trisha and I look forward to seeing you and your spouses and partners on 4 December to enjoy time together, to get in the swing of Christmas and to have some time off to recharge the batteries ready for the New Year.
Warm regards
President Graeme.