The induction of a new and passionate leader at the helm of ART85 bodes well for the service club’s future.
Vincent Tutt was elected chairman at an induction dinner at the end of February after serving as vice-chairman last year.
“I joined Round Table in 2012 to get more involved with the community and help the less fortunate,” said Vincent, who was born in Volksrust and attended Volksrust High School.
His goals as chairman are to ensure that Amanzimtoti Round Table has a solid foundation in the community. “We want the community to have a clear understanding of who we are and what we stand for. We are here to uplift needy families and organisations in our community.
In order for us to meet our goals and provide that upliftment, we rely on the generosity of individuals and businesses for additional support. Without the assistance of civic-minded individuals, we would not be able to serve those in the community every year.
We would like to see our community stand together and help the less fortunate.”
Vincent said he will focus on making Amanzimtoti Round Table more visible in the community by doing what they do best – helping others who can’t help themselves.
“We would like to look at assisting needy families and organisations that fall through the cracks and don’t receive sponsorship from Lotto and large corporations,” he said.
Vincent, who moved to Toti five years ago, married his high school sweetheart Amy last year. Besides helping those less fortunate, he lists his interests as gym and golf.
A worrying trend for civic organisations nowadays is dwindling membership. Vincent said instead of chasing membership numbers, they prefer to look for members who want to make a change.
“We would rather have 10 or 12 dedicated, hard working men than 20 members who don’t accomplish much. We are confident that once the community sees what we do and what we plan to achieve, we will have such dedicated men beg to be part of this wonderful organisation.
The one thing I believe that needs changing in Round Table is exposure. Round Table as an organisation does so much with so little, but the local communities usually don’t know about us or what we do.
Joining Round Table will give you new experiences and activities, you will make new friends and contacts, gain new life skills to help your personal and professional development, and offer new opportunities to really contribute to our community.
Ask 10 members why they joined and you will get 10 different answers. It is initially the social aspect of getting out of the house and doing something different once a fortnight.
The real attraction of Round Table, however goes beyond this, because once you’re involved, there is a combination of respect, banter, belonging and upliftment which does not exist any where else.”
