Rotary’s role in protecting a species on the brink. Rotarians swapped boardrooms for bushland in the Barrington Tops, rolling up their sleeves to support Aussie Ark’s mission to protect the endangered Tasmanian Devil through hands-on conservation work.

Rotary in action took on a distinctly hands-on and slightly muddy form recently, as District 9660 Governor Evan Burrell joined fellow Rotarians for a working weekend in the wild, with a visit to Aussie Ark in the Barrington Tops of New South Wales.

Accompanied by District 9660 Governor Nominee Peter Comino and members from the Rotary Clubs of Morisset and East Maitland, they stepped well outside the traditional Rotary setting of meetings and formalities or slinging sausages. Instead, the group immersed themselves in practical conservation work, contributing directly to one of Australia’s most significant wildlife protection initiatives.

From an interview with Helena that has been edited

We sell collectables like books, chinaware, records and sheet music.

I run a stall at the Bentleigh market and it is still there. That market has been around for forty years, and it’s an incredibly important local institution.

Helena’s Curiosity Shop is an extension of what I was – and am – doing there. My nana was always collecting, so I think that it is in our blood. It is a shared love, and we have always sold a bit of everything.

Since we have been here the arcade has changed quite a lot.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Botany Downs, NZ, the Walk the Talk fundraising project has proven that when a community comes together with purpose, meaningful change follows. Through the power of connection and collective action, the initiative brought people together to raise funds for girls who face barriers to education and wellbeing.

Funds raised will be used to provide Days for Girls hygiene kits for girls in Fiji and New Zealand. These kits are more than just practical items: they are life-changing resources that help girls stay in school, maintain dignity and build confidence in their daily lives.

The Rotary Club of Milawa Oxley is helping local families rebuild hope and normality by gifting new bikes to children impacted by recent bushfires.

The Rotary Club of Milawa Oxley, Vic, has brought a sense of joy and renewed freedom to four local young people whose families were impacted by the recent bushfires, through the donation of brand-new bush bikes.

Recognising the challenges faced by families who lost their homes, the club identified an opportunity to support young people in a meaningful and uplifting way. The bikes were presented to students from Sacred Heart Primary School and Yea Primary and Secondary College.