President Murray opened the evening by welcoming everyone, especially our Guest Speaker Claire Feltoe, one of our sponsored attendees at the recent STEM event in Auckland. Claire was accompanied by her parents and brother and her grandfather Colin Feltoe, a Rotarian of 40 years standing.

David Brownson’s Opening Thoughts touched on the current global situation and how it threw into focus the Rotary principle of holding out a hand to those in need.

Gary Brown’s Fines Session took an unexpected turn - he claimed he could find no recent evidence of members’ misdemeanours so instead gave us an overview of current matters connected to with the Taranaki economy, ranging from methane to possible District /Regional council consolidation to the ongoing Timtams saga. Fines were duly paid.

Colin Feltoe was invited to give an update on the Shelter Bag Project, instigated and run by Waitara Rotarians over the past few months. Fund raising is now closed with a total of $104k raised, enough to order 1000 bags which will arrive in May . Some 80 will be distributed in the New Plymouth area on top of 50 already given out.

Only two Taranaki Rotary Clubs had provided support ( one being Ngāmotu) which he found disappointing - most support came from Auckland.

Current feedback indicates the Project is very successful and well received on the ground. As Colin said, it illustrates that Rotary is about what we actually do, not the show.

Gaylene then introduced Claire Feltoe who started her presentation by thanking the Club for the sponsorship and support.

As usual with these feed back sessions, we were left stunned by how much Claire, in common with the other attendees, packed into the two weeks.

Days lasted typically from 6.30 to 10 or beyond and included a mix of Academic Modules and Technical Visits.

Academic Modules included applied maths, nutrition, built environmental science, biomedical engineering,chemistry and robotics. Technology visits included Liggins Institute , Additive Manufacturing and Rocket Lab. There was also a team challenge  - the Innovative Design Challenge where Claire’s team developed Curriculare NZ,an app designed for the new curriculum.

On top of this, there was a very active social side including volleyball,debate,a talent quest and a disco. Lasting friendships were formed and like many others Claire came away with increased confidence and self belief plus a clearer idea of how she might shape her future.

Taylor thanked her for her impressive presentation and said it was good to hear affirmation of how Rotary can still add value to the younger generations.

President Murray gave a brief run down of Club activities - Des had organised the usual help for the Multi Ethnic Event, Murray,Des and Taylor had helped at the local RYDA courses and discussions are underway with  On The House to provide a regular team on a weekly basis. Details have still to be finalised.

Final figures from the Golf Tournament showed a net profit of just over $12,640 - a very satisfactory result. As agreed with New Plymouth North, this year $10k goes to Ngāmotu and the remainder to NP North.

The next meeting will be on 23 March and will be a business meeting taking the form of a Club Forum on the future of the Club.