Visit to District 1010 Scotland – 30th May to 12th June 2024
In 2019 we started planning for a Rotary Friendship Exchange with Scotland. This was to take place in 2020 but Covid interrupted plans and the visit was postponed until 2024.
The team was
Wendy Scarlett & Charles Warrell Banora Tweed
Janette Glynn Banora Tweed
Stephen and Gabriele Behn Iluka Woombah
Graeme and Anne Lockyer Iluka Woombah
Geoff and Kathy Smith Jimboomba and Beaudesert
Ron and Allison Borland Mermaid Beach
We met in person and on Zoom many times before departure to plan our gifts, power point presentation, personal travel, expenses and the return visit. Planning is the key to the success of any RFE and our team members all took on various jobs to work as a team.
From the welcome function which was attended by many of our hosts and district RFE committee to our farewell, we had an amazing time.
The hospitality of the hosts who drove and acted as tour guides was fantastic. The Scots went out of their way to show us their part of the world. We stayed in 4 areas – Angus Glens which is north of Dundee, Aberdeen, Forres and East Sutherland in the north east of the country.
Some of the itinerary included visiting castles, vodka distillery, Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, St Andrews, mystery bus tour to raise funds for toilets in 3 schools in Nepal, day trip to Plockton on the far west coast, golf at Royal Dornoch golf club for 3 team members and many historical sites and museums to learn about the way of life for early inhabitants. We certainly saw a lot in 2 weeks.
The team attended 4 Rotary meetings and were guest speakers at 3 of these. The highlight of the exchange was meeting so many wonderful hosts and learning about their way of life and club projects. Many ideas were shared over lunches and dinners at local restaurants and Rotarians homes. A team of Rotarians from D1010 will visit our District in October to enjoy learning about our area and will be hosted by the outbound team and other Rotarians from their clubs.
Rotary Friendship Exchange is a wonderful way to make friends all over the world and enjoy another country from a different perspective, not as a tourist, but as a friend of a local. It is also a great way to get to know other Rotarians in our district.
Wendy Scarlett
Team Leader
RFE Scotland
Team in Dundee
Team and hosts at a barbecue in Forres
Team and hosts at Plockton
Team member, Geoff Smith who was shown how to wear a kilt at Culloden.
