An evening with the Rotary Club
A few weeks ago I was asked by a lovely guy called Bradley Ayres if I would be the guest speaker at the Strathfield Rotary Club’s Pride of Workmanship Awards here in Sydney. Brad had heard me give a speech at the Cancer Council Relay for Life event the week before and came over to say hello afterwards.
Brad told me about his amazing wife Cheryl (below on left) who I met later on that day. Cheryl has survived cancer three times and is just brimming with positivity. Cheryl and brad were a complete joy to be around and my horrendous Movember moustache and I were so honoured to be asked to speak at this event.
I love giving my speeches as it’s great seeing peoples reactions go from sadness as I discuss my experiences with cancer and PTSD to joy as I show them how I came through it.
I must confess I didn’t know much about the Rotary club before I was asked to give a speech but I was promised a free meal so I said yes!:) I have since learnt about the club and what it stands for and I think it is fantastic.
The rotary club is a wonderful organisation which is committed to creating positive change in the world. Rotary has clubs in many communities across the world and offers services to make the local and wider community a better place for the people in it. Anyone can join the Rotary club and from what I saw that night it is packed with wonderful people from all walks of life and of all ages.
The awards ceremony itself exists to ‘acknowledge an employee irrespective of age or vocation, who, in the eyes of his or her employer, fellow worker, or member of the community, displays outstanding qualities in terms of approach, attitude, dedication and commitment to his or her job.
I loved this so much. It was so lovely hearing people praise their colleagues for their hard work in the work.
I also had the privilege of sitting on the same table as a young guy called Vidhushan who I was told does a lot of voluntary and fundraising work – it’s truly amazing. Vidhushan recently befriended me on Facebook and his timeline is packed with photos and posts of him volunteering and doing things for others. This lad is already changing the world. What a great guy and what a wonderful bunch of people.
A huge thank you to the Rotary Club for having me speak at this wonderful event and for their humbling feedback on my presentation. I love what the Rotary club stands for and it seems to do great things for many people. If any of you are looking to get involved more in your local and wider community then these guys seem to be doing lots to help others. For more info on the Rotary club and to find one near you then please see link –
https://www.rotary.org
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