RAWCS honours Distinguished Service

Over the past 12 months there have been significant changes to the leadership team at RAWCS. The company has come through the challenges and disruptions of COVID in good shape and, with the return of volunteer teams travelling to overseas projects and the completion of some domestic government sponsored national projects, RAWCS is well placed to continue facilitating and supporting the projects of Australian Rotary clubs.

Over the past five years, RAWCS has received an annual average of AU$22 million in project funds (> $110 million) and sourced more than $40 million in external support for Rotary projects.

This outstanding result would not have been possible without the substantial volunteer work and dedication of long-standing RAWCS directors. So, RAWCS Distinguished Service Awards were recently presented to Mike Whitehouse OAM, Michael Perkins OAM, Hank De Smit and Keith Roffey. Each of these Rotarians served on the Board of RAWCS for more than two terms as director (more than six years).

Mike, as national treasurer, oversaw the establishment of the RAWCS National Secretariat and centralised accounting functions, contributing his professional services to developing the company’s financial systems and overseeing the accounting and audit. Michael served on the RAWCS Executive in the roles of company secretary and chairman; Hank represented the Western Region before taking on the role of company secretary; and Keith as national Donations in Kind manager oversaw the implementation of professional standards in this important program.

In July, RAWCS long-standing chairman John McLaren handed over to Dave Pearson, while remaining on the Executive as the immediate past chair. John and Dave were delighted to be able to recognise the significant contributions of their colleagues to making RAWCS the organisation it is today.