We welcomed James Wood as our guest speaker from the Tasmanian Seed Safe Program. This program was initiated because one-fifth of plants are at risk of extinction and in Australia. The Seed Safe program allows plants to colonise in new areas and last thousands of years in storage. It started in Tasmania in 2005 and is a non-funded program but supported by the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Our guest speaker tonight was Grant Herring who is employed by the Salvation Army to run programs associated with the justice system.  The Salvos have a strong sense of responsibility to guide those with addictions such as drugs, alcohol and gambling.  Risdon Prison’s “Breaking the Cycle” campaign is ambitious as it is a 10 year plan supported by the state government.  However it will bring change to how the community think about justice.  Most people are unaware that 1 prisoner = $260/day + $90,000 to get them there in the first place and the community don’t get much back from that money at the moment.  ” Breaking the Cycle” is working toward making the community more aware of justice issues and bridging the gap.

Tonight’s guest speaker was our District Governor Peter Murfett. He spoke about Kalyan Banerjee who is our International President and the Rotary Theme for 2011/12 is “reach within to embrace humanity” including three principles: Family, Continuity and Change. He emphasised Rotary Foundation and how we in Tasmania benefit from our contributions to it. Peter Murfett also gave us a several dates for Rotary events coming up.
22 October: Rotary Leadership Institute
4 February: Tasmania’s biggest BBQ with the theme of “all about your community”
26 February: Family of Rotary Day at Ross
25-27 May: District Conference at Grand Chancellor.

Tonight’s guest speaker were Anjie Penneyston and Angela Woodward from BlueLine Employment. They specialise in supporting people with disabilities to gain and maintain employment. They help people gain the skills and the confidence needed to gain and keep employment. They are constantly looking for employers who are willing to take on someone with a disability.

Tonight’s guest speaker was Carmen Jenkinson from Diabetes Tasmania. She spoke on what diabetes is, what are the risks, how to reduce your risk factors, and how to better protect yourself from the damage it causes.

Lola Cowle from the Tasmanian Community Fund spoke about the grants they offer. $55.5 million has been given to 1600 projects since 2000. Types of projects/organisations that receive grants are Rotary, Rotaract, Lions, Lionesses, Apex, Salvation Army, Lifeline, Mission Australia, Literacy programs for women’s shelters, PCYC, Scouts, Guides, Churches, Diabetes Tasmania and many more. The programs have to be not for profit, incorporated organisations and projects based in Tassie. There are 5 categories; Children and young people, Community participation and recreation, Community well being and life skills, Connecting communities, and Culture, arts and heritage. They do not fund ongoing operating costs, one off events, expos, forums etc, projects with private benefits, already happening or completed projects, individual or for profit organisations or anyone who has become reliant on grants. There are 2 grant rounds; one for less than $10 000, and one for greater than $10 000. 80% of grants are for less than $50 000. For more information contact admin@tascomfund.org or www.tascomfund.org.

Tonight’s guest speaker was Robert McCafferty from the Ron Barwick Minimum Security Prison at Risdon. In an effort to reduce the prisoner recidivism rates that around 40% the prison is developing programs with the community to help the prisoners find meaningful skills and outlook on life when they are released. He mentioned quiet a few existing programs but he is interested in reaching out to community organisations such as Rotary to see if there are more projects that they could be involved in.