The new Rotary Almanac year always starts on 1 July. Our activities themselves have been built on a multi-year strategy and plan for some time now, so changes in operational activities are relatively minor.
The guiding principles for the coming year will come from Rotary International and will be implemented at district, regional and club level. This will help us to keep clubs active and close to their community of practice. This is extremely important because it is at club level that the essential good work is done.
UNITE FOR GOOD is the theme for the year. In Finnish it could be Let’s do good together!
What does it mean in practice ? Our common values and doing good is part of every club’s programme. Sometimes we face situations where we can’t do it alone or we don’t have enough members, so it’s good to bring a friend along. A neighbourhood club, a neighbouring area or even more than one. Then we are more likely to succeed. There are excellent examples of this and many good success stories. We have also encouraged this in previous years, for example during the DG Aaro, Mikko and Anita’s seasons. Joint projects such as Peace Work, Homeless Night, participation in SuomiAreena and the OKRA Fair are good examples of successes. I hope that we will continue along these lines, as my predecessor DG Ilkka did.
Our membership has now stabilised well, but is not yet growing. This is one of our goals for the future. The attractiveness of the clubs and regional cooperation are key to this. For this reason, we made a small redistribution in our regions for the beginning of the year, with a slight reshuffling of the regions of the assistant governors, with the aim of improving the proximity of the clubs and opportunities for cooperation in the Salo region, Satakunta and the Turku area, among others. We worked together to plan through the experience of previous governors and we believe we are on the right track. To develop our membership, we will launch a new campaign in the autumn.
Peace work, the Foundation’s support for it and the final eradication of polio remain our top priorities. We have now invested in this and will start the new year with renewed ambition. More news on this at the Autumn Seminar on 13 September at the Forum Marinum. The District’s first Peace Pole has been put in place. Our environmental programme is looking for new opportunities. We are exploring Global Grant cooperation and are also investing in regional activities such as beach clean-ups, blue-green algae monitoring and we will continue to give the Water backpack to schools. We are also introducing a climate calculator, which will allow us Rotarians to think about our own climate footprint and how we can reduce it. This is work for the future, for our children and grandchildren.
Internationally, we have also decided to commit to a number of Global Grant projects in support of Rotary’s main focus areas of health and clean water, peace, environment and education. These are also open to clubs who wish to participate through district support. I believe that this year will be a good continuation of the previous years. I hope that we will all look to the future with an open mind, for the good of the community as a whole, to get our activities on an active growth path, in our clubs, in our regions, in our District and in Finland as a whole. We already had a good start when the interviews conducted during our 120th anniversary celebrations received a lot of media coverage.
At this point I would like to thank each and every one of you, for every gesture, minute or donation you have made. And also to all of you who have pledged your time and resources for the common good as club and district officers.
UNITE FOR GOOD! Let’s unite for good!
Have a great summer and relax with your loved ones this July and August!
See you in September at the Autumn Seminar on 13.9.2025 at Forum Marinum in Turku and at numerous club visits during the autumn. We welcome you to join us for discussions.
With best wishes for the summer
DG Matti
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