Greetings from sunny Surrey, I trust the frosts I have been hearing about in Alex are just rumours. But I am pleased I drained the water before I left. 

 

Our trip here has been about family as Bron and I try and play a role as grandparents for our two English grandchildren, there is such joy in that and of course, like Rotary, the more you put in, the more you get out. We want to be a significant part of their life, as we do for our other grandchildren, and if we have to travel to the other side if the world to achieve it, so be it. 

 

Surrey is a gorgeous part of the UK, delightful winding hedgerow country lanes linking old quaint villages (and classic country pubs) just 40 minutes by train from downtown London. We have also squeezed in a few days in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Someone has to do it. 

 

The community is well served by service clubs with both Rotary and Lions prominent, the Lions provide the Santa and Sledge (see picture below) excitement for our grand kids who still believe in the magic of Christmas, long may that continue. 

 

The changeover to the new Rotary website is happening faster than I thought, so for those of you who haven’t got your head around Club Runner, relax, you will have a brand new one to use soon which will of course be easier, more intuitive, and a greater head scratcher.

 

Another initiative from Rotary is Community Groups, a new way of grouping clubs together to create greater cohesion and collaboration between clubs. Our new region is a pilot for this approach which will begin soon, further information to follow on my return. 

 

Last word:  We are all aware of the pressure our health system is under, so too do the Brits with their NHS rarely out of the news for the wrong reasons. Well, we know the NHS is magnificent as Bron used their surgical services for an emergency hernia operation a couple of weeks ago. Could not fault it, thank you NHS. 

 

John. 

 

It was sad to hear that Bill has pulled the pin on his membership of Alexandra Rotary due to personal family considerations.

 

Bill, I believe had the longest continuous record of Alexandra Rotary club involvement of our current membership at the time of his resignation,

 

Bill joined Rotary in 1979, was President of our club in 1988/89, has held many club roles, and was made a Paul Harris Fellow in 2005.

Bill’s love of motor sport was also shared by his good friend, business competitor and former Alexandra Rotarian Grant Ward. They combined their talents in that sport on many occasions.

 

The good news is that although we will miss his regular company at tea meetings Bill plans to attend on occasions in the future and be involved with some of the clubs’ activities when time permits.

 

Bill is now an Honorary member of the Alexandra Club, this is to recognise Bill’s distinguished service over many years.

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of May, Tony and I packed up our bikes and flew directly from Auckland to Seoul. We pre-booked the first two nights to make it easier to go directly from the airport to our accommodation to put our bikes together and ensure there was no damage in transit. Fortunately, everything worked so on day 3 we caught a ferry across to the mainland and started our 660 km journey (see map below).

 

Over 6 days we cycled a paved path from Seoul to Busan. The biking was relatively easy however the adventure came in booking accommodation daily, finding places to eat and making ourselves understood in a country where there was little English. We found the people very friendly, the country extremely modern and no sign of poverty.

 

We were surprised at how little English there was but using our own version of sign language and google translate nothing was a problem.

 

From Busan we flew to Jeju Island to circumnavigate the 230kms. The highlight here was seeing the woman divers in action. I wanted to go there after reading 'The Island of Sea Woman' by Lisa See.

 

Once again, we returned to Seoul to be tourists. Sky towers, race courses and Temples. If you ever go there definitely hire the costume to wander around the Kings Palace.

We loved our 18 days and would highly recommend it as a country to visit.

 

 

 

 

Gordon was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh and at the University of Dundee, where he earned his graduate degree in dental surgery. He operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh until 2016. Gordon was chair of the East of Scotland branch of the British Paedodontic Society and has held various academic positions.

He has also served as a presbytery elder, chair of the Queensferry parish congregational board, and commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland.

 

Gordon joined Rotary in 1984 at age 26. A member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, he has served as president and vice president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI). He has also served RI as a director and on several committees, including as an adviser to the 2022 Houston Convention Committee and chair of the Operations Review Committee.

 

Gordon says he looks forward to working with members to build new Rotary clubs and groups. “My vision is that Rotary should exist everywhere in a style to suit everyone who has the desire to be part of us and to help us do good in the world.”

 

Gordon is a patron of the UK-based nonprofit Hope and Homes for Children and led a partnership between that organization and RIBI to support children in Rwanda who had been orphaned in the genocide there. He is a patron of Trade-Aid, an initiative of the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England, that provides sustainable humanitarian aid to individuals, families, and businesses in the developing world. He is also an ambassador for Bipolar UK, a national mental health organisation.

 

In his free time, Gordon enjoys rugby, good food and wine, and stick dressing, the traditional Scottish craft of making walking sticks.

 

Gordon describes The Rotary Foundation as “the fuel that provides the energy to do Rotary service.” He and his spouse, Heather, also a Rotarian, are Paul Harris Fellows, as well as Major Donors, and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society.

 

Gordon wishes to dedicate his presidency to making the world a better place for his granddaughters, Ivy and Florence, to live and thrive.

 

In his 2023/2024 year as RI President, Gordon will encourage clubs and districts to undertake activities that: