Chris Beech was inducted as the new president for the Rotary Club of Newlands for the 2016/2017 year at a gala dinner on Friday June 24.
Outgoing president Colin Burke handed over the president’s chain to Mr Beech at the ceremony.
The new president is ready and excited to take on his duties, and he shared his goals for the year with the guests.
Early childhood development (ECD) and entrepreneurship development will be two key focus areas for him this year.
“It is all about leveraging off the Rotarian skill set and transferring knowledge so that we can strive to be a society of excellence.
“It is about working with the communities in which we live and work and living up to the Rotary ethos of ‘service before self’,” he said.
“This also aligns very well to the Rotary theme for the year of Rotary serving humanity.”
He said Mr Burke had had a very successful year, especially with the donation of the emergency fire and disaster vehicle and the handover of the ECD centre in Masiphumelele.
“It is important that we keep the momentum and enthusiasm going with all of the initiatives that we are involved with,” Mr Beech said.
“This coming year, we will continue with our established projects, which include the Cape Town Cycle Tour, the NSRI wine auction, Rotary Family Health Days, Books for the World, One to One and the Dragon Boat Races. We are also always looking for more and interesting projects.”
During the evening, several Newlands Rotarians received accolades for their hard work and service during the year.
Mr Burke received a double sapphire Paul Harris recognition award for his contribution to Rotary with the donation of the emergency fire vehicle, while Regine le Roux received a double Paul Harris Fellow award for her contribution to the public image portfolio of Rotary.
Paul Harris Fellows were also awarded to Jenny Howard for her contribution to youth services, Brian Pickup for community services and Jenny Ibbotson for vocational and international development. Nora See also recieved an award.
The Rotary Club of Newlands meets at the Western Province Cricket Club, in Avenue de Mist, every Monday at 6.15pm, except on the first Monday of the month when the meetings start at 7pm.
Visit www.newlands.org or join the group on Facebook for more information.