Canberra's young people are pulling out all the stops to save the ACT's ageing Rotary clubs, as enrolments in their youth wing, Rotaract, soared over the last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Until 18 months ago, the ACT had not had a Rotaract club in three decades. Now it has three and almost 100 members.
Emma Bell founded the Rotaract Club of University of Canberra in March this year and now has 15 young people working to raise money for charitable causes.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ms Bell and three other club members were scrubbing bins at EPIC markets to raise money for elephant conservation efforts in Cambodia.
''I just love Rotary, love what it stands for and love what it does for the community,'' she said. ''Rotaract is a great way for young leaders to express themselves within their community and within the world.''
This week, Canberra has welcomed more than 470 Rotarians from across the world, as the capital hosted this year's Rotary Institute.
Each year, the institute meets to discuss new directions for Rotary and update leaders on progress over the previous year.
According to Rotary, there are currently 563 Rotarians in the ACT in 21 different clubs. The organisation says it has about 33,000 members nationwide.
But some clubs in Canberra are not doing as well as their youth counterparts. Rotary Club of Canberra City president Walter Schoning said although he has a steady membership of about 50, he is concerned for the future.
''We've got certain problems with ageing and we've got very few young people,'' he said. ''I think that's pretty common in the area and pretty common throughout Rotary.''
Mr Schoning was worried that without new members his club's fund-raising work might suffer, such as the St Vinnies Kitchen and swags for the homeless in winter.
''Because people are older, they're not always as mobile and as healthy to do certain work … We find it more and more difficult to find people to help,'' he said.
Rotary Club of Tuggeranong president Paul LeMesurier said although his club was still strong and growing, Canberra clubs needed to continue updating themselves to stay relevant.
''We're changing internationally, so we as clubs need to follow their lead and change with the community,'' Mr LeMesurier said. ''We need to be adaptable.''
