Rotary International - District 1070

The third quarter of the year has been a mixture of ups and downs, of extraordinary feats by special people, all in the name of sharing Rotary with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. New initiatives like the TravelAid boxes have been launched and gained approval. A lot of hard work has gone into the formation of new Clubs with three in the pipeline, one of which, Northampton Apollo, will be inaugurated on 24^th April 2008. I am sure we all wish the members well in their adventure and don’t forget it is our responsibility to give them our support. The other two, based on Rushden and Leicester, are in the early stages of formation and it is likely that they will be inaugurated in the next Rotary year. There is a new kid on the block, Interact,

which seems to be taking off with the formation of two new Clubs and several more in the pipeline likely to be formed when the new school year starts. We have had to work hard to maintain our membership levels, gaining over one hundred new members so far, but this has been badly affected by losses in the high eighties. A “retention of membership” seminar was held this month which gained a good audience and several good ideas were suggested. Just think where we would have been without those efforts.

February saw the District finals of the Young Chef and Youth Speaks Competitions and the standards achieved by the young people were remarkable and they seem to improve year on year. The organisation of the Events was first class and reflects well on the organisers and the District. I attended some nine Charters, including Market Harborough’s fiftieth; people were most kind and hospitable. A most successful Rotary day was held with the assistance of the local press and much valuable PR was obtained, building on the national publicity obtained by RIBI throughout this last year and we intend to build on the relationship with the press at a District level.

March is when the planning really starts for the next Rotary year with PETS to be followed in May by District Assembly. We had a good start with PETS, being well planned and well received by the incoming Presidents and the momentum for next year is beginning to build up. I hope that you will support my good friend Iain as well as you have supported me. March is also Literacy month and the District hosted a RI seminar, as well as encouraging Clubs to supply dictionaries to Schools. Our GSE team has now left for Germany and we look forward to welcoming the German team in mid April.

This month I attended six Charters, including Kettering Huxloe’s twenty-fifth and enjoyed good fellowship and hospitality. It’s surprising how different some of them are.

And so, I’m coming to the end of my tenure as District Governor. I’d like to remind Presidents that there is still three months of Rotary Shares before we Make Dreams Real, so let’s make the most of our special year and ensure that next year’s team gets off to a flyer! It has been an honour and privilege to have been the DG of what is acknowledged to be one of the leading Districts in RIBI and I would like to thank the District Team, one and all, for the effort that you have put in to achieve this.

Tony Martin

District Governor, Rotary District 1070,

30^th March 2008

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Tony (and Mary) Martin

District Governor 2007-8

Rotary District 1070

Following a career with a major International Insurance Company, which culminated in a Senior Management position, Tony took voluntary redundancy in 1992 and set up his own insurance intermediary business which traded successfully for six years when he then sold out and retired. He has always been interested in sport, principally Golf, Squash and Rugby (playing in his younger days) and has involved himself in the community through Rotary in the support of local initiatives.

Tony joined the Rotary Club of Beverley (the best part of Yorkshire!) in 1973, transferring to The Deepings in late 1974 and was briefly a member of the Boston club in 1985-6. He has held most offices within the Club, being elected President in 1991-2 and was named a Paul Harris Fellow in 1998. He has served three years as Assistant Governor and in that time was involved with the Community & Vocational, Communications, Membership Services and Conference Committees. He was District Team Development Officer for two years and was elected District Governor Nominee in 2005, District Governor Elect in 2006 and District Governor in 2007. He believes strongly in the need for Rotary to Recruit and Retain Quality Membership, the Evolution of a less formal structure to meet with modern needs and Effective Succession Planning.

Tony and Mary have two sons and four grandchildren. Mary works as a part-time Service Improvement Manager in the NHS, is a Past President of the Inner Wheel Club of the Deepings and is currently Secretary. They both enjoy Golf, Travel and Holidays and Tony finds time for the garden as well as serving on the boards of a Registered Social Landlord and a Timeshare Association.

Tony Martin

E-mail tony@deeping-gate.fsnet.co.uk

District Governor’s Diary Dates Feb-Apr 2008. (A = “A” visit)

APRIL

~~2nd District Team~~

~~4th~~ ~~P Lutterworth Wycliff Charter~~

~~10th-13th RIBI Conference~~

~~14th Northampton Charter~~

~~15th Biggleswade Charter~~

~~16th District Exec~~

~~17th~~ ~~P Ashby-de-la-Zouch Charter~~

~~19th~~ ~~P GSE Party~~