Rotary Club of Yass, NSW

12/04/2026

Rotary Lookout Progress Update🌅

As we navigate the challenges to deliver this project, we thank Yass Valley Council for their support and the HumeLink East Community Grants Program for its funding, and appreciate About Regional’s coverage keeping the community informed on the progress of the Rotary Lookout.

Transgrid
Yass Valley Council

https://www.facebook.com/share/1784J6PFUr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A Capital country council will take over an infrastructure project set to showcase the

03/04/2026

💙 Making Waves in Our Community 💙

Thanks to the support of Rotary District 9705 and The Rotary Foundation, along with contributions from the Rotary Club of Yass, our Learn to Swim program has made a real difference across local schools.

Students who may not have otherwise had the opportunity were able to take part in swimming lessons, building confidence, improving water safety skills, and joining in school activities like swimming carnivals. From funding lessons and transport, to supporting intensive swim programs in our smaller communities, the impact has been far-reaching.

Beyond the pool, this program has helped strengthen connections between Rotary, our schools, and local families—supporting wellbeing, inclusion, and active lifestyles for our young people.

We’re proud to play a part in creating safer, more confident swimmers in our community 🌊




Binalong Public School
Berinba Public School
Yass Public School P&C Association
Mt Carmel School Yass
Yass High School

15/03/2026

🚑 Free Health Checks in Yass!

The Rotary Men’s Health Education Rural Van (MHERV) is coming to Yass, offering free, quick health checks for the community.

📍 Yass Rotary Street Stall
📅 Thurs 19 & Fri 20 March
⏰ 9:30am – 4:15pm

In about 10 minutes, a registered nurse can check your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol — key indicators that often show no symptoms.

While focused on men’s health, everyone is welcome and no one will be turned away.

💙 A quick check today could help prevent a heart attack or stroke tomorrow.

08/03/2026

🚑 Free Health Checks in Yass!

The Rotary Club of Yass is proud to host the Rotary Men’s Health Education Rural Van (MHERV) in our community.

📍 Location: Yass Rotary Street Stall
📅 Dates: Thursday 19 & Friday 20 March
⏰ Time: 9:30am – 4:15pm

The MHERV has been travelling regional and rural NSW for over six years, providing free health checks to people who may not have seen a doctor in quite some time. In just a short visit, a registered nurse can check your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels — important indicators that often show no symptoms until it’s too late.

While the program focuses on men’s health (because blokes aren’t always the best at looking after themselves!), everyone is welcome and no one is turned away.

✔️ Quick and free
✔️ Friendly, relaxed and confidential
✔️ Takes only about 10 minutes

A quick check today could help prevent a heart attack or stroke tomorrow.

💙 Drop by while you’re in town and take the opportunity to look after your health — or encourage someone you care about to come along.

27/02/2026

Meeting at Murrumbateman with RC Hall and RC Ginninderra. Special guest speaker, the Ambassador from Ecuador. A toast to our Clubs from our District Governor, Robert Shore.

27/01/2026

Australia Day 2026 🇦🇺

After a rather warm Sunday, we woke to beautifully pleasant weather for our Australia Day Awards. Our diligent team of Rotarians began arriving from 6am with BBQ trailers and groceries, prepping for the wonderful crowd of locals who started wandering in from around 8am.

We were honoured to welcome Wendy Tuckerman MP, along with a strong lineup of dignitaries including the Mayor of Queanbeyan, Kendrick Wi******er; our Mayor, Jasmin Jones; Deputy Mayor, Kirsten Butler; CEO Gayleen Burley, Director; Peta Gardiner, Cr Flannery; and Cr Charry. Special tributes were paid to Cr Cecil Burgess and Cr Allan McGrath, recognising their decades of dedicated service to our local government.

Our very dapper MC, Peter Gibbs, did an outstanding job keeping the program running smoothly. Jane Southwell opened the ceremony with an Acknowledgement of Country, and her words were very fitting.

Ambassadors Ben and Marina Maguire were perfect representatives —respectively AO and OAM recipients, and well known for giving back to the community. Ben spoke about how people are increasingly turning to rural and regional life, drawing on lessons and deep connection to country, and how these influences help shape what it means to be a proud Australian.

Our clever sound guru, Mick Newling, had two new recruits under his wing—and they absolutely nailed it!

A huge congratulations to all award recipients and nominees. Special congratulations to our Youth Recipient, Lily Chatwin. Lily was our RYPEN Scholarship recipient back in 2023—keep up the amazing work!

Congratulations also to the Yass Swim Club for taking home Community Group of the Year—very well deserved.

The highlight of the morning, however, was our duck friends, who happily waddled through the crowd all morning long 🦆.

Happy Australia Day 🇦🇺

22/01/2026

Australia Day at Coronation Park, Yass 🇦🇺

Come along and enjoy a free community breakfast — on us! It’s our way of saying thank you for your support throughout the year.

🗓 Monday 26 January
🥓 Breakfast from 7:30am
🎖 Ceremony commences at 8:30am
📍 Coronation Park, 259 Comur Street

Everyone welcome — we’d love to see you there!

17/01/2026

🇦🇺 Australia Day at Coronation Park 🇦🇺

Since the 1980s, the Rotary Club of Yass has proudly provided a free community breakfast at the Australia Day Awards Ceremony. It’s our way of thanking the community for its continued support of our fundraising efforts and community initiatives throughout the year.

🌟 This year is especially meaningful for us, as we’re proud to share that the Rotary Club of Yass has been nominated for Community Group of the Year. We’re incredibly grateful for the nomination and proud of what we’ve achieved — not just in the past 12 months, but across more than 70 years of serving our community.

Please come along and enjoy a delicious breakfast with us on Australia Day,

📅 Monday, 26 January 2026
⏰ from 7:30AM
📍 Coronation Park, 259 Comur Street Yass

We’d love to see you there!

31/12/2025

2025 in Review 🌟

As we say goodbye to 2025, we’re incredibly proud of what our Club has achieved in a year themed Unite for Good.

From camping rough for ShelterBox (raising over $10,000), to the Travis Collins flood-benefit concert, our Volunteer & Community Expo, and countless BBQ’s, raffles and fundraising stalls, our community showed up again and again — thank you 💛

Our Peaceful Walk against domestic and family violence was powerfully supported, reminding us why standing together matters. We were honoured to recognise outstanding local volunteers Geoff Frost, Jean Frost and Cheryl Mongan with Paul Harris Fellowships, and to support Yass Hospital Auxiliary, YassFM and Can Assist with community grants.

We celebrated youth programs, including Youth Exchange, school swimming grants, NYSF support, and science and creative arts initiatives. We welcomed new members, farewelled dear friends, recited poetry at Yazz Bar, coordinated Australia Day Awards, and kept our meetings engaging thanks to an amazing Programs Committee.

Behind the scenes, years of work paid off with the Rotary Lookout project winning the Humelink Community Investments & Benefits Program — with more updates to come in 2026!

It’s hard to imagine topping this year — but we’ll try. Thank you to every member, volunteer and supporter who made 2025 unforgettable. Onwards in 2026! 🎉

19/12/2025

Exciting News for the Rotary Club of Yass – Rotary Lookout Project

We’re delighted to share that the Rotary Club of Yass has been successful in securing $82,000 through Transgrid’s HumeLink East Community Investment and Benefits Program for our Rotary Lookout on Irvine Drive.

The parcel of land on Irvine Drive was designated for community use during the development around 2002, but has remained locked and unused ever since. This project will finally see the space opened and transformed into a lookout for the whole community to enjoy.

Long-standing Rotarian Mick Newling began the initial planning stages in 2023, coordinating concept plans, quotes and council approvals to bring the vision to life. When Mick heard the news, he said, “Now the real work starts!” He is absolutely over the moon about the successful grant and will continue working with our community partners to get the project underway.

We’re proud to be one of just 17 community organisations awarded funding in the first round, sharing in $1.8 million invested into projects delivering lasting social, economic and environmental benefits across the region.

We’ll be posting regular updates, so keep an eye out in the New Year as work begins on this exciting community project.

Yass Valley Council Rotary District 9705

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1432900122174268&id=100063628825433

18/12/2025

Last night marked our final meeting for 2025, and we were pleased to welcome two special final guests — our Global Youth Exchange student, Austin Millar, and our National Youth Science Forum scholarship recipient, Jasmine Terron.
Jasmine spoke about her varied interests in music, sport, and leadership, in addition to her strong interest in STEM, and shared the valuable broader experience she has gained through her involvement in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Austin will be flying to Germany on January 17 to join his host family in Bad Oldesloe. He is very excited about the exchange and is looking forward to putting his years of German language study into practice, as well as continuing his love of heavy metal — especially his own drumming!

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Yass, we wish Austin wonderful adventures filled with new friendships, learning, and unforgettable experiences. We also wish Jasmine a rewarding and inspiring forum, with a return visit to us to share her revelations.

Rotary District 9705
National Youth Science Forum (NYSF)
Youth Exchange

12/12/2025

What an amazing way to wrap up the year! 🎉

We’ve just finished back-to-back BBQs supporting the Combined Churches Christmas Carols and the YVC Christmas on Comur — and what a turnout!

Our team worked like a well-oiled machine on the BBQ and at the service counter 🔥🌭

A big thank you and congratulations to all the organisations involved in bringing these events together. It’s a huge job to coordinate, and we truly appreciate the time, effort, and passion that go into making these community celebrations happen. 🙌

As we start winding down for the year, there’s still one more exciting thing to come…

Keep an eye out for our next post! 👀✨

Yass Valley Council