Last week, members of the Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour heard from David Pointon, founder of The Men's Table. The Men's Table is 'a place where men can talk about what's really going on and how they're feeling'. Groups of about 12 men meet once a month over dinner, with the aims of: being heard; creating a trusted peer group; and creating a sense of belonging and community. Over the last two years, The Men's Table has also seen the introduction of virtual tables and forums, and this year, celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour has 15 projects underway at the moment, which have all had a long-lasting and significant impact on the world around us. We've used Kiva to empower entrepreneurs in other nations, provided books to nearby schools, helped provide clean drink water in Nepal, scrubbed graffiti off of buildings and supported the development of young people into the best versions of themselves. It's an inspiring and encouraging list, which was first documented by Mel Lane. The project page has been given a bit of a face lift recently, to make it more engaging and easier to find out how to get involved. Check it out at https://rotarydarlingharbour.org.au/projects/

The Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour has a well-earned reputation for punching above it's weight for the size, scale and range of its projects. In order to ensure that our Club is open, vibrant and engaged, we will be introducing Committees and Working Groups. Committees will sit underneath our existing Director structure, and be involved in the work of that portfolio. Working Groups will exist on temporary basis to support projects. Both, they will meet physically or virtually as required, and otherwise adopt communication and work structures as needed by the group. If you would be to involved in either of the groups listed above, please email info@rotarydarlingharbour.org.au for more details.

"Lifting one to lift many" is the sentiment behind the Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour's investment in Kiva loans. Kiva is a not-for-profit organisation facilitating loans to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 countries.  In 2011, Sydney City Rotaract club began a Kiva account, and this was transferred to the Darlings in 2020 .Over the last 10 years, we have made used an initial investment of $9,000 to support $55,000 in loans to people around the world. This puts us in the top 1% of lenders worldwide. Mel Lane, former President of the Darlings, recently presented to members on the impact and achievements of the Kiva loan system and showed the impact of our work there, and her passion for the cause.

The Darlings played their own small part in our recovery from the Black Summer bushfires this in June, travelling to Milton to help their Rotary Club plant new trees to replace some of the ones that had been lost in the fires. As of this week, our District Governor has sent us evidence that one of our saplings planted on his property is going strong and rising from the ashes of those horrible days. The Environment is now one of Rotary's areas of focus, and tree-planting will be a regular activity that the Darlings are engaged in. The photo of this young sapling should spur us on in planting new trees that our descendants will enjoy the shade of. 

To make staying on top of our events even easier, you can subscribe to our calendar in the productivity software of your choice, ensuring that your own personal calendar will contain all events posted by the Club.

Friday nights in lockdown aren’t always filled with laughter, but the 10th of September certainly was for Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour members and friends. Our Virtual Comedy Night featured four fabulous comedians, a musical MC, and a whole host of raffle prizes!