The guest speaker for the meeting on 3/11/2025 was Bill Charkow of Howick Rotary Club.
Bill has been a long term member and involved with the running of RYLA courses for about 20 years.In recent years it has been difficult to get Rotary Clubs involvement in overseeing the courses and a recent decision by Defence Force senior management not to officially support the project placed the project in jeopardy of having to close.However with the help of long term Rotary members support a plan to run it on a similar line to Trees for Survival with a business model was developed and 5 Directors elected to put the project on a more solid footing.
With help from the Commercial Business Community and continuing Rotary support the Courses were able to continue to run and now RYLA is a successful event with funding and the support of members of the Defence Force who assist by attending in attire not related to their army employment.Without these people offering to volunteer for this role it would have been extremely difficult to find a group with the right background and experience to replace them.
While Rotary still has a major role in the RYLA courses there is considerable support now from the Commercial world with other Directors appointed to the board who are from this area.
The courses are run in June or July each year with an average of 60% female attendees and candidates nominated by Rotary Clubs totalling about 40%.
