It’s been a very busy and productive couple of weeks since the last District Dispatch.
District Assembly followed by President Elect Training was held in Whanganui at the beautiful Quaker Settlement. It was an interesting weekend with lots of good discussion and fellowship happening ably led by PDG John Prendergast.
There were some informative presentations including IPDG Jocelyn giving us an animated talk about Foundation (yes, it can be done!) and Irina talking to the Presidents about how the grants are put together. We had Barbara Mifsud from RISPPO in Sydney talking about membership and excellent talks from Adrian Gregory, Helen Algar and Graham Evans covering Governance and District Finance which are all very topical with the new club constitutions and Trust rules that will affect all clubs.
As he won’t be at District Changeover, we took the opportunity to present Adrian Gregory a PHF with a Sapphire pin for his enormous contribution to the district as District Executive Secretary for the last 6 years as well as establishing Mana Tangata and being its inaugural President. Well deserved.
Adrian Gregory being presented the Paul Harris Fellowship by DG Carol
On April 28th, DGN Chris Eales, and I attended Petone Clubs 75th celebrations. It was a memorable evening. The next evening Chris went with DGE Brent to the Taranaki North PHF dinner. In the meantime, I went to the presentation of an ambulance to Samoa from the Port Nicholson club, another joyous occasion.
On Saturday I chaired my last board meeting as DG. We covered a lot of business and are delighted that we are getting two new Satellite clubs in the district. Breezeway, led by IPDG Jocelyn Hogg, has 12 members, not all from New Zealand. Their sponsor club is Mana Tangata and their main project is helping Rongdal school in Vanuatu. PDG Gillian Jones is establishing a satellite club based around literacy. Their sponsor club is the Wellington club.
Yesterday, I helped our club (Mount Victoria) deliver flowers for Mother’s Day. It was a long day from 9am to 4pm but worth seeing the delight (and tears) from several mothers as we fronted up with beautiful bouquets of flowers. Our club (Mount Victoria) supplied 3 lots of drivers and deliverers for Saturday and Sunday. We had a lovely encounter with Allan Nichols and his wife Barbara at Summerset Village as we had a parcel to deliver to her. We didn’t know where to find them, but they saw our Rotary vests and asked who we were looking for. It just happened to be them! Allan told us he has been a Rotarian for 30 years in June. I hope all the Rotary mothers had a good day and got duly indulged.
Thanks to all the clubs doing good work in your communities.
Picture the incredible power of every club in the South Pacific coming together, each taking on a project that ignites their passion, all on the same day! Imagine the energy as we unite to make a difference and reveal Rotary’s true impact within our communities.
How it Works
In 2025, Rotarians, Rotaractors, and community partners from five continents, eight countries, twenty states, fifty-seven districts, and 539 clubs joined forces in 613 projects, with 6,557 volunteers serving together.
Nine of those clubs were in Rotary South Pacific—just think how much greater our impact will be if we step up even further in 2026. The possibilities are limitless, and the ripple effect of our service can inspire real, lasting change.
Get involved!
Save the Date: 16 May 2026 - Epic Day of Service
Do a project you’re already doing, just do it on 16 May 2026 and leverage the power of Rotary for global impact. Take this to your clubs, have a think about one of your current projects that you could action on the Epic Day of Service.
New Zealand is facing a cost-of-living crisis with the number of New Zealanders needing to access food banks dramatically increasing. 14% of New Zealand’s population is considered to be in need of assistance to provide food for their families each week.
Rotary has a long history of supporting community initiatives within New Zealand, our service dates back over 100 years and we are recognised as people of action.
Rotary Clubs across Aotearoa New Zealand are joining together to help fight food poverty in our local communities.
We are aiming to collect 1 million cans or non-perishable food items during June. This will be the largest ever food collection campaign in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The food collected will be distributed to local food banks or equivalent to help feed hungry families.
Objectives:
To collect 1 million cans or non-perishable food items
To partner with local food banks, maraes and charities to distribute the food items
To partner with local schools, retirement villages, community groups and businesses to act as collections sites
Raise awareness of the pressing need to continuously support food banks across New Zealand
This campaign will run from Monday 1th June to Sunday 8th June 2026
A webinar hosted by Zone Director Jennifer Scott and Andrew Best from RISPPO is available here explaining the principles behind the Redistricting and how the proposals for the new districts have come about.
For webinar is available in this link and runs for 60 minutes:
The new Northern region district will merge Districts 9910/9920/9930 (Pacific Islands, Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, East Coast and Hawkes Bay). It will have 2,800 members.
The new Southern region district will include Districts 9940 and 9999 (Taranaki, Rangitikei, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Kapiti/Horowhenua, Wellington and the South Island). It will have 2,560 members.
For NZ/PI, the Working Group considered a single district, 2 districts and 3 districts as possible options. The 2 district option was chosen as it gave it us the best possible member split for two stronger districts, enabled the Pacific Islands to retain their strong links with the northern clubs/districts and enabled the southern part of New Zealand to form a contiguous merged district with much stronger membership numbers.
While not cast in stone and feedback can be sent to brent.gerrard@outlook.com, it is expected that this recommendation will be presented to the RI Board at the RI Board meeting at the end of June 2026. In order to make the Board meeting, the proposal needs to be in the RI Board papers by the middle of May. Time for feedback is closing fast and any submissions received past the end of this week are unlikely to be considered.
Applications are now open for the 2027 Rotary Peace Fellowships until 15 May. Rotary invites club presidents, district officers, and members to help promote peace by encouraging leaders in their communities to apply for this prestigious, fully funded opportunity.
Each year, Rotary awards up to 170 Peace Fellowships to dedicated peacebuilders from diverse backgrounds. This includes 50 fellows selected for master’s degree programs at partner universities across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, and 120 fellows for professional development certificate programs at Makerere University (Uganda), Bahçeşehir University (Türkiye), and the new Rotary Peace Center at Symbiosis International University (India).
Rotary Peace Fellows use their training to strengthen peacebuilding efforts at local, regional, and global levels. Rotary and Rotaract members are encouraged to identify potential candidates within their networks and community organizations and refer them using Rotary’s simple referral form, helping ensure more changemakers learn about and apply for this life-changing fellowship.
This Trust was established by Rotary International Past President Harold Thomas, (Rotary Club of Auckland) in 1973.
In 1985 the Trust received a magnificent gift from Past District Governor Bernie Ross (Rotary Club of Manurewa) and his wife, which added greatly to the capital of the Trust. The Trust has available approx. $100,000 for distribution each year to Rotary Clubs and considers applications for grants as soon as received.
Assistance to Rotary Clubs is usually limited to 50% of the cost of the project up to a maximum of $10,000 for each project.
The objects of the Trust are to:
Assist financially any child, resident in the Pacific Islands who is in need of medical treatment or care in New Zealand, including fares and related costs.
Provide medical assistance for children in New Zealand or elsewhere.
For medical research.
For charitable purposes as defined in the Charities Act 2005.
Grant applications by Email are preferred and there is no specific application form. Applications are considered as soon as they are received.
For further information or assistance please contact:
Adrian Gregory being presented the Paul Harris Fellowship by DG Carol 
up even further in 2026. The possibilities are limitless, and the ripple effect of our service can inspire real, lasting change.
