Community Projects

Karrinyup Rotary's winter support for the homeless commecnced several years ago with collecting warm socks. Later this was expanded to gathering other warm items of clothing and preparing backpacks for the homeless. This year the club also donated sleeping bags. Following a recent busy bee preparing these for distribution, they were delivered to the Perth City Homeless Support Group. Karrinyup Rotary club members Beth, Tess and Jane are seen here working away on packing day. Karrinyup Rotary's donations were set for distribution on Tuesday, 9th May.

The Salvation Army in Australia helps someone in need every seventeen seconds. This help is only made possible through the generosity of those who support the Red Shield Appeal. For many years our Rotary Club has assisted the Salvation Army with the Annual Red Shield Appeal, as part of our service to the Community. In previous years a team of volunteers from RC Karrinyup took turns over several days at the collection desk at the local shopping centre. More recently, however, it has been more appropriate to orgainse a community stall at our Stirling Farmers Market. Our member Nchima Nsanje and his daughter Mwende braved a very cold early start on the first shift, followed by the rest of the team - Carolyn Prunster, Vic Dennis, Ross Dwynnyth Daniel and Neville and Lesley Pollard. The Salvos provided an EFTPOS machine for cashless donations and the morning was very successful.

Recently the Wadjak Northside Community Group hosted a tour of Lake Gwelup Mooro Country for members of our club, as a thank you for the seating facility. The tour started with an introduction at the Lake Gwelup seating facility showing us the Lake Gwelup Reserve from a traditional Aboriginal perspective. On a perfect autumn day, members shared a truly delightful morning with the lovely Wadjak, people concluding with a delicious morning tea featuring produce from the Australian bush. 

At the 2023 Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, the Karrinyup Rotary delegation responded to a request for Rotary to supply hygiene kits to assist in educating at risk children in the Goldfields in how to avoid trachoma and other diseases. A team of volunteers worked hard to source and prepare the first shipment of one hundred bags, which have now been delivered to the Goldfields Trachoma Team. Plans are underway to provide further hygiene kits. Any contributions from clubs or individuals would be most welcome. Please contact Sandra McGuire.

The City of Stirling in partnership with Karrinyup Rotary will construct its first Story Trail to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary. This will be the Club's Golden Project. To gain a deeper understanding of how the community engages with Lake Gwelup in developing the Story Trail, to support the project and bring the local community together, a barbeque and Walkshop event was held recently at Lake Gwelup Regional Open Space. The community is invited get involved and help shape the next chapter in the Lake Gwelup story.

RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) is a weekend camp for 14 to 17 year olds, with a focus on “Fun with a Purpose”. Develop skills around team work, communication, goal setting, problem solving. Participants are encouraged to push their boundaries and challenge themselves in a safe and supportive environment. Karrinyup Rotary is keen to fund this program again. The next RYPEN camp is from 15th - 17th September 2023. Contact Youth Director Trish Lynch for further information.

“My Home” is an extraordinary and immediate response to the housing crisis. Eighteen small low impact homes in Fremantle have now been completed to the 'Lock up' stage with vulnerable residents due to move in in May 2023. They will house women over 55, who would otherwise be homeless. Recently this amazing project received some well deserved media coverage on the evening news. Karrinyup Rotary has made significant contributions to the project. View the news segment..

This week a dream has become a reality with an Open Day in North Fremantle. The “My Home” houses are nearing completion and, by the end of the month, eighteen formerly homeless women aged 55+ will have a fully-equipped, high quality home - a forever home. The scale, scope and impact is a breath-taking display of philanthropic endeavour. Rotary Supporting 'My Home' showcases what can be achieved by Rotarians working together and engaging with other community groups. Karrinyup Rotary has played a big part in the journey.

Peter Durrant introduced guest speakers Jerry Pilcher (RC Scarborough) and Warwick Smith (RC Heirisson) to give an update on Australian Rotary Health (ARH), one of the largest independent funders of mental health research within Australia. ARH aims to support healthier minds, bodies and communities through research, awareness and education. It also provides funding towards research grants, fellowships and PhD scholarships, which are focussed on finding preventative and curative solutions for mental illness in young Australians. Karrinyup Rotary has long been a supporter of Australian Rotary Health through our community service funding.

Camp Quality gives kids facing cancer the chance to be kids again, providing a support network and a range of non-medical support services for children living with cancer and their families. RC Karrinyup has been a strong supporter of the program over many years. Along with our substantial donation this year, a team from Karrinyup Rotary provided hands on support and assistance for Camp Quality volunteers at 'Kids Only Time,' a Family Camp held recently in Guildford.

Mens Talk completed a major weekend for Male Mental Health on 26th - 27th November, when they hosted the annual Swim For Life at Scarborough Beach Pool. This event is a key pillar in the mental health and wellness calendar, not just for participants and organisers but the entire community. The Rotary Club of Scarborough and the Rotary Club of Karrinyup collaborated to provide substantial sponsorship support to this worthwhile community service project.

The architect created a proposal including concept drawings for a Trailhead at Lake Gwelup, as part of the planned Golden Project. This was presented to the City of Stirling and seemed to be positively viewed by a Director and a little cautiously by a Senior Officer. While the Senior Officer likes our proposed location, he came back with questions and concerns regarding the building materials to be used and suggested modifications to the concept drawings. While this was a bit disappointing, the Committee will discuss, review, plan a follow up course of action and report back.

Members of the Karrinyup Rotary Homeless Working Group and friends recently prepared food and distributed it to the homeless through the Perth Homeless Support Group. On Friday they met at the Perth Homeless Support centre in Bayswater and prepared sandwiches, desserts and packed cakes ready for distribution on Sunday, when the team met at the homeless hub to distribute food, clothing, toiletries and books. This is a very streamlined operation with team leaders organising all aspects of the day. The Perth Homeless Support Group can always use assistance and anyone can volunteer.

Project Manager Peter Polain brought us up to date on developments with the RC Karrinyup Golden Project at Lake Gwellup. Following the presentation of a proposal to the City of Stirling previously, President Jenni, Peter Durrant and Peter Polain met with two Councillors and the two key City of Stirling directors in late August. They came away feeling that the mood was positive and the meeting productive with the City looking at the project commencing in the 2023 - 2024 financial year. The club is now 'under the pump' to pull the planning together before the end of this calendar year.

For several weeks members of our Homeless Support Group have been collecting items and preparing backpacks for the homeless. Recently these were delivered for distribution by the Perth City Homeless Support Group. Karrinyup Rotary's Sandra McGuire and Jane Wake, seen here with Perth City Homeless Support Group's Volunteer Coordinator Jed Fay, were most interested to learn about the work of the group. Karrinyup Rotary's donations of backpacks were set for delivery on Tuesday, 19th July. 

Ken Foggo introduced Sam Moyle and Luke Hallam, two of the co-founders of Ocean Heroes, a Western Australia based charity that aims to improve the wellbeing of those living with Autism and their families through surfing. Since 2016, Ocean Heroes has shared the thrill and wonder of surfing with over four thousand members of the Autism community, enabling them to build self-confidence in a supportive and fun environment. 

Last year, the club's Winter Woollies project team hosted a community stall at the Stirling Farmers Market to collect warm garments for the homeless. This led to a lovely knitting group, who were very excited to help, making contact with us. These wonderful ladies from the Wembley Church knitting group have already started off our winter appeal with beanies and scarves, as well as helping wheelchair for kids with blankets and toys.

There are a significant number of Ukrainian Displaced Persons in WA requiring our care and assistance. Stallholders at Karrinyup Rotary's Stirling Farmers Market stepped up and donated produce to be distributed to families, who have fled the war to our city. From this connection with the Ukrainian Community in Perth and with seed funding from the Greenlight Foundation, the Rotary Club of Karrinyup has established a larger project with RAWCS to support new arrivals fleeing the war in Ukraine with their settlement in Western Australia. If you would like to help, tax-deductible donations can be made by following this link.

Passages Resource Centre is a referral service for homeless or street present young people between the ages of 12 and 25. RC Karrinyup was again proud to support the Rotary Club of Perth’s recent fundraiser for this service, the Ramelius Resources Passages Race Day. In addition, the members and friends, who attended at their own expense, had a most enjoyable day. All funds raised were directed towards assisting street present young people through information, programs and referrals.

Karrinyup Rotary members were proud to attend the renaming ceremony for RDA Carine - Dandjoo Koorliny. The Dandjoo Koorliny Walking Together Social Impact Project is designed and led by Aboriginal leaders to help us all walk together towards the future. Karrinyup Rotary has supported RDA Carine for eighteen years and was integral in converting their need for an all weather facility into a proposal that could be submitted for approval and funding. The facility, which opened in 2019, is now beautifully decorated by local indigenous artists.

Last weekend the RC Karrinyup celebrated ten fabulous years of the Stirling Farmers Market. As well as being a reliable source of income for all our many charity projects, this event has established our club as a visual presence in the local community. Market patrons continue to praise the wonderful friendly atmosphere, which prevails each Sunday morning at the market and our club members on duty each week are responsible for perpetuating this.

The birthday had a wonderful festive atmosphere with bunting on the stalls and lots of free entertainment for all including pony rides for the children, face painting, eco fairies and of course cake for everyone! Thanks go also to our wonderful stall holders but most especially to Market Manager Heather Leaney and her market team, who do so much behind the scenes. Happy Birthday to us! 

Rotary Club of Karrinyup members were proud to attend the opening of a fantastic new undercover arena at RDA Carine. Led by our resident builder Ross and one of our many engineers Stuart, the club was integral in providing the leadership, advice, consultancy and technical expertise to convert RDA's need into a proposal that could be submitted for both approval and funding. Enter the City of Stirling, Lotterywest and AE Hoskins Building Services and the dream has now became a reality. Watch a video of the opening ceremony here.

On 24 October Peter Polain attended the twenty fifth anniversary celebration of Foodbank in WA. RC Karrinyup has had a long association with Foodbank WA having been involved since its inception. 25 years later, Foodbank WA is still focused on a vision of ending hunger in WA. To help celebrate this special milestone, a history book 'The Giving Pantry' has been released in both hard and soft copy, which may be downloaded free of charge in pdf format.

Homeless people struggle to find clean dry socks to wear. As a result they can develop trench foot and other problems. The best treatment is prevention and the best prevention is to wear clean dry socks. Inspired by a presentation at the recent Joint Bi District Conference, RC Karrinyup member Sandra McGuire initiated a drive to support the Socks in the City project of the RC Heirisson to supply warm socks to homeless people in Perth. Sandra and her team collected both socks and money at club meetings and at the Stirling Farmers Market over several weeks. The results were amazing!

It has been three years in the making and the committee is now coordinating with thirteen Rotary clubs and several other service clubs to bring together the 'My Home' project and Rotary’s pledge to make the house a home. So far $65,000 has been raised. The Rotary Clubs of Karrinyup and Osborne Park collaborated to secure a District grant of $5000. The committee found it a pleasure dealing with the Rotary clubs both 9455 and 9465.

The committee is currently seeking to purchase four tanks to decrease costs. If anyone knows a business that can help, please contact Kay.