Clubs and members are at the core of the Regionalisation Pilot and we are starting to implement some of the exciting opportunities the Pilot is testing.

We strongly encourage you to actively discuss what opportunities your club would like to explore. It is not about taking club activities or projects away, but the Pilot is a chance to expand your reach and increase your impact.

Members of the Steering Group and Pilot Establishment Team leads recently hosted a series of webinars to share information about the Regional Council elections and Rotary Community groups.

We see new club development as a vital part of growing Rotary, along with attracting and retaining members in our existing clubs. New style clubs in particular are essential for reaching new demographics that our traditional clubs may be unable to attract and retain.

As part of the Regionalisation Pilot, Rotary and Rotaract clubs in participating districts across Zone 8 will soon elect a Regional Council to represent and support them at a regional level. Expressions of Interest for positions on the Regional Council are now open.

The Pilot’s main goal is to find ways to more effectively and efficiently support you and your club to increase impact, grow membership, and adapt to changing volunteer needs and expectations.

In this update there are two key changes where you and your club have the opportunity to have an active voice.  

In July, the Steering Group hosted a series of webinars to share information about the work currently happening in the Pilot. Watch the recording and download the slides to share with your Club and members.

As the pilot heads towards commencement on 1 January 2024 and changes will start to impact clubs, we know members will have questions. These changes may seem difficult at first but by tweaking what is great about Rotary we are building a sustainable and future focused organisation.

Between 12 - 18 June 2023, Rotary and Rotaract Clubs in District 9620 voted a second time on whether to participate in the Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot. To be successful, 67% of clubs in the district needed to support the vote. Unfortunately the threshold was not achieved at this time.

Following financial approval from the Rotary International Board, the Regionalisation Pilot Establishment teams are now heading full speed towards pilot establishment. You can now read the Executive Summary that was provided to the RI Board as part of the business case.

Following financial approval from the Rotary International Board, the Regionalisation Pilot Establishment teams are now heading full speed towards pilot establishment. You can now read the Executive Summary that was provided to the RI Board as part of the business case.

The Business Case was presented to the Rotary International Board of Directors in March 2023 to seek financial commitment to commence the Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot.

We are pleased to advise that the RI Board received the regional pilot proposal for Zone 8 and approved funding subject to annual review.

Since our last update in December, the Regionalisation Pilot Project Team has been working hard behind the scenes on various aspects of the Regionalisation Pilot.

The last several years have been focused on planning but fast forward to now and we are into the pilot implementation phase.

Thank you to all clubs who cast their vote in the Zone 8 Regionalisation pilot ballot. We were delighted with the result with more than 89% of clubs across the zone expressing a YES vote.

Following the lead of RI leaders, we urge all members to vote in favour of this unique opportunity to work together to develop, test and evaluate a new model that best suits our region.

We need to use this opportunity to find ways to make it simpler and easier to be part of Rotary. As leaders of Rotary in our region, I know each of us wants Rotary to survive and thrive and be relevant for generations to come. Unchanged on our current trajectory, this will not occur.