Tauranga Sunrise Rotary Club decided to use the lockdown period to good effect with the establishment of a Covid19 Recovery Think Tank.
The objectives set for the committee by President Warren Scobie was to come up with suggestions and recommendations to keep the Club relevant in times of lockdown and its aftermath.
The Committee lead by Past President Pat Taylor included fellow Past Presidents Mary O’Sullivan and Wayne Shadbolt plus long term member Kathy Webb and recent recruit Rosalie Liddle Crawford.
The Committee identified five areas of concern (each delegated to a committee member).
These were:
Membership
Member Welfare and Club Health
Community Involvement and relevance
PR and Information
Use of new technology
It quickly became apparent that all areas were interrelated and that priority needed to be given to Membership, Member Welfare and Club Health.
Of immediate concern was to contact all members to see how they were faring and this was handled by Committee Directors with a follow up by our Kaitiaki (Past Presidents) if there were any concerns noted.
A list of vulnerable members was drawn up for extra monitoring.
Feedback was very encouraging and although circumstances will change as the recession bites, at this stage anyway it appears most members will stay with the club.
A quick Monkey Survey with a response rate of around 65% showed the club to be in good health and resulted in scores of potential fundraisers and projects for the club to consider during the lockdown.
The survey also enabled us to create a Skills Library from within our membership which may be very useful particularly for newer members requiring help.
The Club was an early adopter of Zoom meetings and the consensus is that these will continue when we return to normal meetings next Friday. We see giving members the option as a means to attract new members.
On that score we virtually inducted three new members during lockdown with another very close to induction.
We also created a Club WhatsApp group which has provided another means of staying in contact plus continue to raise our Facebook profile and following.
We are confident that the club is in good heart and well able to withstand whatever is thrown at us over the next few months.
The report made by the Committee plus the Monkey Survey results will prove invaluable for incoming President Rhonda Wisbey.