Turn up when you can and do what you can – that’s the motto for the new hands-on Rotary Satellite Club of Southland chartered on March 12.

Club spokesperson Sharon Hamilton says the club meets once a month and the Facebook shows they are “project hands on.”.

There is no guest speaker, no sergeant’s session, no three-minute talks or raffles.

“We meet to discuss our upcoming projects, review how the club is running, what should we change and check everyone is happy with our current format - we are a work in progress,” she says.

“Prior to chartering in March, we met regularly face to face on a social basis to discuss our identity. Some of the items we needed to consider were things like: What was our mission statement, what service organisations do we want to align ourselves with, what are our aims, how often and where should we meet, what means of communication should we use and what shall we call ourselves. We were also aware that who we are now will probably be not who we are in say a year’s time. We will learn from both our mistakes and successes.

“There are no weekly meetings and we quickly became aware effective communication would play a vital role. The most successful and effective form of communication is our private messenger page. It has become an excellent means for our members to have their say, feel comfortable to voice their opinions and for us to make quick-fire decisions without calling a meeting. It often entails members engaging in light-hearted banter and hardly a day goes by without some form of chat. I believe this makes our members feel connected, engaged and valued.

“Email messages are used for formal, longer or educational posts.

“Our Facebook went live at the start of July when we felt we had some momentum building. We now have 254 likes and 271 followers and monitor this monthly.

“Our motto is turn up when you can and do what you can. Family and work commitments must come first. One of our main goals though is to have fun. Hands-on projects create a great opportunity for comradery and a chance to get to know each other in what feels a very relaxed way – even the aches and pains feel worthwhile after doing something like a section tidy-up!,” she says.

The Club is made up of Sharon and three existing Rotary members who transferred to Satellite, two members are returning alumni and three are totally new to Rotary.

“Initially I wondered if not meeting in person on a weekly basis would work. I am pleased to report that it does!

“So where to from here and future growth? We believe our future growth will not come from members of existing Rotary clubs. It will come from members of the public who see us “doing stuff” in the community, having fun whilst making a difference to those less fortunate. We have had five or six people say “give me a call when you are doing your next hands-on project” and we will!"