Rotary Club of Gympie Inc

31/10/2026

🏆🎉 WE DID IT! 🎉🏆

We are absolutely thrilled, incredibly proud and beyond grateful to announce that GYMPIE ROTARY has won the Gympie Chamber of Commerce Not For Profit Award for 2026! 💛💙

What a wonderful honour to receive at this evening’s awards dinner! 🥂✨

A huge THANK YOU to the Gympie Chamber of Commerce for recognising the contribution of our local not-for-profit organisations, and to the wonderful judges who dedicated so much time to sitting through interviews and learning about the amazing work being done across our community. 👏💐

Congratulations also to all the other finalists. You are all winners in our eyes, and we are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many passionate people and organisations who work tirelessly to make Gympie a better place. ❤️

But most importantly, this award belongs to our WONDERFUL GYMPIE COMMUNITY! 🥰🙌

Thank you for supporting our events, turning up, getting involved, digging deep, buying raffle tickets, making donations and helping us achieve our fundraising goals. Every bit of support makes a difference! 💰🎟️❤️

It is because of YOU that Gympie Rotary can continue giving back to our community in so many varied and meaningful ways. Whether it's supporting local organisations, helping those doing it tough, investing in our youth, supporting community initiatives or lending a hand wherever it's needed, we are proud to be able to make a difference. 🤝🌟

This award is recognition of what can be achieved when a community comes together with a shared passion for helping others.

We are proud to be part of Gympie. We are proud to serve. And we are so grateful for every person who supports what we do. 💛💙

WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY! ❤️

Here's to continuing to make a difference, one project, one fundraiser and one act of kindness at a time! 🥂🎉

💛💙🏆

11/10/2026

🚗💙 ROTARY CLUB OF GYMPIE SUPPORTS ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION! 💙🚗

🛣️🚦 Last Friday, the Rotary Club of Gympie was proud to assist in facilitating the second RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) Workshop for 2026, in partnership with Road Safety Education (RSE)! 🙌👏

🎓👩‍🎓👨‍🎓 The workshop brought together 86 Year 10 and 11 students and 6 teachers from three local schools:
🏫 Kilkivan State School
🏫 Cooloola Christian College
🏫 Victory College

The aim of RYDA is to help young people develop greater awareness of road safety, responsibility and the choices they make as they prepare to become licensed drivers. 🚘💡

🤝 The day was facilitated by 8 RSE personnel, supported by 7 Rotary Club of Gympie volunteers. The RSE team also included local police, crash investigators and road trauma victims, who shared valuable insights and real-life experiences. 👮‍♂️🚔❤️

💡 RYDA IS ABOUT CHOICES, NOT JUST RULES! 💡

The workshop wasn't about delivering one big lecture or frightening students into doing the right thing. Instead, it focused on the everyday decisions we all make when we're in, on or around vehicles - whether we're drivers or passengers. 🚗🚌

⚠️ Most serious crashes don't happen because someone doesn't know the road rules. They can happen because of everyday decisions, peer pressure, assumptions or thinking, "It'll be fine."

❤️ At the heart of the day was a simple but powerful message.

💬 "Drive safe."

We've all heard those words as we head out the door. But what they really mean is:

❤️ "I care about you, and I want you home." ❤️

RYDA helps young people turn those words into a motto to live by, giving them practical tools to make safer choices and look out for themselves and others. 🙏🛣️

📚 Some of the engaging sessions included:
🚘 Drive S.O.S.
🧠 Mind Matters
👤 The "I" in Drive
🛣️ Road Choices
🔎 Crash Investigations
🏎️ Speed and Stopping

One of the highlights was the Speed and Stopping live demonstration! 🚗💨 Students watched professional drivers demonstrate how speed affects a vehicle's ability to stop safely. They had the opportunity to estimate stopping distances and then assess the results, exploring the factors that influence stopping distance. 🛑👀

An excellent hands-on way to reinforce just how important speed, awareness and safe decision-making are on our roads! 👏🚦

💙 A BIG THANK YOU! 💙

🙏 Thank you to Road Safety Education (RSE) for delivering such an important and engaging workshop, and to our dedicated Rotary Club of Gympie volunteers who helped make the day a success:

👏 Spencer Slatter
👏 Patti West
👏 Lynne Turner
👏 Petra Van Beek
👏 Brian Maher
👏 Brian Samson

🌟 By working together, we can help equip young people with the knowledge, confidence and awareness to make safer choices and become responsible road users.

🚗💙 Because getting home safely is what matters most! 💙🚗

🚦❤️🙌

01/10/2026

💜💜 Making a difference, one community at a time 💜💜

Cindy Buchan and Wendy Bowman attended the monthly meeting of R4MH (Rotarians for Mental Health) with the Sunshine Coast Rotary Clubs this week. 💜🤝

There’s some really meaningful work happening in our communities - including businesses getting behind Purple Friday to raise awareness of Domestic and Family Violence. 💜👕🫶

Through the Love Bites program in schools, high school students are learning about respect, healthy relationships and treating others with care. 💜🏫❤️

Even more encouraging, Bendigo Bank in NSW has funded a $375,000 study following students who have completed the program, over the next 10 years helping document the long-term impact. 📚🔎💜

Rotary has always taken the long view. 🌱

If we can work together to eradicate polio, perhaps we can work towards the same kind of long-term change with Domestic and Family Violence. 💜🕊️

Cindy and Wendy then stayed on for Cooroy Rotary’s meeting, where they heard about the wonderful work Cooroy and Noosa Rotary Clubs have been doing in their local communities. 👏💜🌏

Very impressive to hear just how much is happening - and it was also fantastic to see District Governor Ian Hope and Assistant Governor Tex Pipke in attendance. 🙌💜

Small steps. Big hearts. Long-term change. 🌱💜
That’s Rotary at its best. 🤝✨

💜🫶🌏

01/10/2026

🌭 HAPPY NATIONAL SAUSAGE DAY! 🌭

October 1st is a day practically made for Australian Rotary clubs! 😂
We’ve cooked hundreds of thousands, if not millions of sausages, we have perfected the Bunnings BBQ and turned the humble snag into serious fundraising dollars for our communities.

But remember… there’s more to Rotary than great sausages!
We create change, support communities, bring people together and make a difference! although sometimes we do it while holding a pair of BBQ tongs. 🌭🔥

So come for the sausage. Stay for the service.

30/09/2026

🍹✨ What a lovely evening for our first Gympie Rotary drinks catch-up, at The Jockey Club! 🥂😊

We all enjoyed a delicious meal 🍽️, wonderful company 🥰, plenty of laughs 😂 and great conversations 💬❤️.

It was fantastic to get together, relax and enjoy each other’s company. 🤗🌟

Here’s to many more Rotary catch-ups, friendship and fun! 🥂🎉💙💛

🥂🍷🍻✨

26/09/2026

🎉🏆 A HUGE ROTARY CONGRATULATIONS! 🏆🎉

The Rotary Club of Gympie is incredibly proud to award Honorary Membership to two truly outstanding members of our club - Garry Davison and Karen Gresham! 💙💛👏

🌟 This special recognition is our way of saying THANK YOU for the incredible dedication, generosity and commitment you have both shown to the Gympie community. 🙏❤️

Through your countless contributions, caring hearts and willingness to always lend a hand, you have made a real and lasting difference to the lives of so many people. 🤝🌈✨

Your passion for community service is exactly what Rotary is all about - people coming together to make a difference. 🌍💙💛

👏 Please join us in congratulating Garry and Karen on this very well-deserved honour!

💙💛🌟

24/09/2026

🏡✨ A big thank you to our fantastic guest speakers, Bernie and Will McGovern! 👏😊

We were delighted to have Bernie and Will along to speak to our members about their family business, Horizon Living. 🏡👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Their exciting Over-50s development is really starting to come together, with the first house about to be built! 🔨🏠🎉 They’re aiming to have one house built every week, which is an incredible milestone. 🚧🏡🏡🏡

And the location is fantastic! 🌟 The development is situated near the Aquatic Centre and very close to the town centre, making it wonderfully convenient for residents. 🏊‍♀️🛍️☕️🚶‍♀️

And wait until you hear about the clubhouse! 🤩🎉 It’s going to be an amazing space with something for everyone, including:

🏊‍♀️ Swimming pool
🏓 Pickleball
⛳ Golf simulator
🧘‍♀️ Yoga
📚 Library
🎉 And much, much more!

It was fantastic hearing about their vision and seeing how this exciting development is progressing. 👏👏 The first house going up is a very exciting step forward! 🏠🔨🎊

If you’d like to find out more, pop in and see Bernie and Will at their office in Condies Arcade, 163 Mary Street, and have a chat. 😊👋

🌐 Find out more about Horizon Living:
Horizon Living Gympie

Thank you again, Bernie and Will, for taking the time to come along and share your story, your family business and your exciting plans with us! 🙏❤️

We’re looking forward to watching Horizon Living continue to take shape! 🏡✨🥳

23/09/2026

Gympie Gold Rush Festival are looking for volunteers - please contact them if you can help.

Gympie Gold Rush needs volunteers.

We’re looking for community-minded people to help bring the Gold Rush Parade and Party in the Park to life.

If you can spare a few hours, we’d love your help with things like event setup, parade support, crowd guidance, information points, pack down and general festival assistance.

You don’t need special experience, just a friendly attitude, a willingness to help, and a love for seeing Gympie shine.

Volunteering is a great way to be part of the action, meet people, support your community and help make this year’s Gold Rush a success.

Keen to help?

Gympie Gold Rush
Saturday 17 October 2026