President's Welcome Message
Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. We are an active group of people with a common interest in making a difference to the quality of life of others by accepting the challenge of volunteer service through our club. We enjoy friendship and engage with the commnity through the avenues of Rotary service: Community Service, International Service, Youth Service, Vocational Service and Club Service. In 2025 we celebrated the club's 50th Anniversary, half a century of unbroken service to the community delivered by willing, innovative volunteers who want to make a difference - people like yourself.
At a local level our service projects include the Boroondara Farmers Market, the Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network, the weekly Salvation Army bread run, special events to support Mental health research, the annual Parkinson's Walk, Clean-up Australia, tree plantings, and working with schools to support young people. Currently we have three international projects: The Sumba Eye Program in Indonesia, a leading role in Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds and a project providing clean water for a school in Sierra Leone. We are also heavily involved in the Rotary International End Polio Project which has resulted in global cases of wild polio coming close to being entirly eliminated.
In 2021 the Club successfully completed a special project to mark the 100th anniversary of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand, working with the City of Boroondara on the replacement of an iconic children's playground at the Yarra Bank Reserve in Hawthorn. In May 2022 we ran a very successful Charity Golf Day at Kingston Heath Golf Club, that raised more than $36,000 for mental health research. In 2023 we commenced a project to build two toilet blocks and provide hygiene training for children at the Aladura Ptimary School in Buedu, Sierra Leone, which was completed in late 2024. In 2025 we built on the success of that project in Sierra Leone to construct a water tower, solar-powered pump, plumbing, washing stations and seciurity lighting at the school, completed in 2026 in partnership with Rotary in Sierra Leone and with the assistance of a grant from the Australian Government through Australia Aid. In 2025
We are always looking for new members, being people who want the opportunity to give back, using their unique vocational and personal skills for the benefit of our community. Rotary membership offers those opportunities and more. With more than 1.2 million Rotarians, in 36,000 clubs, Rotary is present in over 200 countries and territories in the world. Rotary is a well-respected organisation globally that opens doors to success. Through engagement in Rotary, Rotarians increase their network, enhance their business, organisational and personal skills, and strengthen their leadership potential, while bringing great benefit to communities in Australia and throughout the world.
We meet for dinner on the second, fourth and fifth Tuesday evening of the month. Our meetings at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club feature interesting guest speakers, fine food and good friendship. We will warmly welcome you as a potential new member, or as a visiting Rotarian from another club. Please join us for a Tuesday evening meeting at any time. Just let the club secretary know you would like to come along: rotaryglenferrie@gmail.com.
We do hope you will accept this invitation to meet us. Thank you again for visiting our website and for your interest in The Rotary Club of Glenferrie.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Raw
President
