President’s Message: On Saturday the Club carried out the presentations  re River of Stories at the Albury Library.  Barry has done some great work over the years – 10 to be exact – regarding the apparently seamlessly  run project on the Clubs behalf, and is to be congratulated on such devoted work. The River of Stories started off with 5 Schols from Albury – Wodonga and that has now increased to 14, and also includes a poetry section, which has proved to be highly popular. Barry would be the first to state that he has received great assistance over the ten years from Katrina Clement and Tracey Piltz   of Albury Library and the trio have made it the success it now is. Interesting to see that many of the award winners this year came from  Wodonga schools. My thanks to all Rotary club members who attended the presentations too, and again to Julie who took many photographs of individual winners. Just as well as the photographer from the Border Mail didn’t materialise as had been arranged. Efforts are now being made to have all the winning stories printed . Councillor Patricia Gould who was in attendance at the presentation has stated it is a project the Albury City Council Junior Council can undertake and I understand that will be followed up. Thankyou again to those club members who were able to attend. I understand all winners’ photographs will be appearing on our own website in the near future. Also  thankyou to the BBQ team keeping the Rotary till rolling over at the Applause Festival. All very much appreciated.

Guest Speaker: Ian Thomas from the Rotary Club of Eltham gave us an interesting presentation on the successes and challenges of the Aquabox programme and provided details of setting up and continuing this worthwhile venture. Aquabox provides emergency relief to people affected by disaster by sending essential provisions to devastated areas around the world. These boxes provide people in need with the basic humanitarian aid and, most importantly, clean, drinking water. Aquabox Beginnings: Aquabox was founded by the Rotary Club of Wirksworth UK, which was involved in providing assistance to disaster areas by dispatching plywood boxes filled with emergency supplies. In 1990, the club identified an opportunity to extend the use of the relief boxes by constructing them out of stronger materials. In addition to its original packaging purpose, the new, plastic box could be also used by disaster‐affected communities for storage, furniture, etc. and, with the addition of a tap and purification system, it could be used to create drinking water from polluted supplies. The Aquabox was finally launched in October 1992 and now operates in UK, Australia and Canada to provide emergency relief around the world. Since then, tens of thousands of boxes have been despatched to areas affected by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods etc., as well as war‐torn countries. Aquabox Australia:  In 1999, on a visit to the UK, an Australian Rotary member learnt of the Aquabox project and was inspired to establish a similar charity in Australia. The Rotary Club of Eltham took up the cause and established Aquabox Australia. Initially, Aquabox Australia used the boxes designed by the Rotary Club of Wirksworth but have since developed, in conjunction with AusAID, an Aquabox more suited to our region. Aquabox (Australia) is a project of the Rotary Club of Eltham and exists with the generous support of Rotary Clubs, individuals, private and public organisations and groups. Only through much‐needed donations has Aquabox (Australia) has been able to expand its efforts and help more people around the world. However, the need for emergency aid continues to grow and demand is outstripping current resources. You can help, sponsor Aquabox and extend a helping hand to those in need. For more information visit www.aquabox.com.au