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The meeting was opened by Michael Stephens. After Rotary Grace and toasts to Australia and Rotary International, James Delahunty introduced his guests Chloe Sainsbury, our Guest Speaker and two former participants in her research programme. Mark Williams introduced Paul Choy, a fellow St Johns College scholar recently returned from Hong Kong, Chris Muir introduced Jane Hillyard and Roisin O’Neil from River City Roteract and Celia Grenning, CEO of the Kyeema Foundation who is looking to work with the club in gaining a District grant for RCOB’s chicken breeding programme in PNG. Chris Muir then provided the club with an update and a further welcome to all guests. He provided a report on a meeting with a previous District Governor regarding the district grant application for the Kyeema Foundation. Almost all conditions of the application have been met. A target for the first farm has been identified in the remote highlands where there is significant need due to the large number of AIDs orphans in the area who lack carers due to the related stigma. The facility is being run by an Australian woman who has a suitable security set up for her small farming operation. The goal is to have the programme up and running as early as possible. Michael Stephens then provided a small update regarding a rural health initiative initially started up by Rotary which is now being supported and taken up by state government. RYPEN 2018 has been cancelled due to low participation so our candidates will need to be told and the donation is still available. Chris then relayed a new article regarding the ability to edit video footage using artificial intelligence to depict speeches or events involving people that have never in fact occurred alerting us to the fact that the age old adage “seeing is believing” can no longer be relied upon… Apologies were also received from Jill-anne Myers and Keith Watts. SPOTS: Mark Williams advised that the Mundubbera Gold Day has been scheduled for Saturday, 22 September and that money raised will go to mental health initiatives split between the flying doctors and Rotary Health. Daniel Vankov also had a spot: "This is just a short note to say "Thank you!" to those who volunteered to help me during implementing the continuation of the Club Virtual Reality project. I spend 10 working days at the QUT Gardens Point Campus and had President Chris Muir helping me during three of them, Robyn Burridge and Jacqui Page during two and Rick Tamaschke during one. It was a fun exercise meeting young people which also provided us with space to discuss Rotary business. In total we have registered 282 people as having participated." Jane and Roisin from River City Roteract presented Mark Willians and Luke Marshall with certificates of recognition and thanks for their participation in their club’s Professional Development Workshop which focussed on three main areas: conflict management, public speaking and interview skills. The next workshop is scheduled for March 2019 and will focus on managing personal finances, project planning and how to make a good first impression. They are looking forward to further support from RCoB for this. Lunch followed with fellowship. After lunch our guest speaker Chloe Salisbury was introduced but there were a few technical difficulties so the Sergeant, Michael Stephens asked for contributions to the pot before conducting the draw which was won by Luke Marshall who obligingly drew the 6 of clubs. Luke then entertained the club with a few jokes and tried to find a golf partner for 9 holes on Saturday. Guest Speaker Chloe Salisbury accepts certificate of appreciation from Pres. Chris. With no solution to the IT issues, Chloe, a PHD candidate at the University of Queensland, courageously and most impressively presented her talk. Chloe’s area of research is in the impact of exercise on people recovering from chronic medical conditions but more specifically cancer survivors. The research has shown not only what we have always known that “exercise is good for your health” but that in people recovering from cancer, the key benefits of increases in fitness, muscle mass and strength, a reduction in fatigue, an increase in functional activity, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, increased connectivity and improved quality of life are all areas that are greatly impacted by cancer treatments and require rehabilitation. Thanks to developments in modern medicine, we are seeing an increase in the number of people surviving cancer but often with a greatly reduced quality of life. While it is clear that exercise is of great benefit to addressing the issue, the research found that the barriers of time, access, lack of motivation and social support are often too great for cancer survivors to overcome. This programme aims to restore that qualify of life using peer support where people are matched with peers who have suffered similarly so that they can support each other through the initial 4 week supervised programme and then the ongoing 18 month peer programme. Chloe’s presentation was extremely well received and she was flooded with questions as to the success and key factors before the meeting was closed by Chris. |
