Events

Please come to our first official meeting at the Northern Club on the 5th of February to hear more about what ideas are in the pipeline regarding major fumdraising projects and continued improvements to the way we operate as a Club.

Fundraising Director David Graham, Membership Director and Immediate Past President Gill Johnston and member James Billing will each do a brief presentation on their topic followed by an open Q&A session.

This is an important meeting to learn about & participate in the future plans of our Club. 

Adina Thorn is a highly experienced lawyer in the areas of commercial and property litigation and disputes resolution

With a particular focus on disputes in construction, property and trust litigation, Adina has acted for clients in all levels of Court in New Zealand and has been involved in hundreds of mediations, arbitrations and adjudications. 

Adina Thorn Lawyers, is also the firm leading one of the biggest leaky buildings product liability claims ever seen in New Zealand.  The funded class action against the James Hardie group of companies is seeking $250 million in damages arising from defects in that company’s plaster cladding products. 

Adina is frequently contacted for media commentary in relation to property and construction related issues due to her wealth of knowledge and experience in this area.

Outside the law, Adina is also a Board Member of the Winstone Churchill Memorial Trust and Board of Cadastral Surveyors

Stephen is the Group FInance and Aftercare Manager at Automotive Holdings Group Ltd. He is married with 3 adult children and lives on the North Shore. Life was pretty good for this fit and active 54 year old when in May 2018, he suffered a heart attack at work. Having survivied, he has a different outlook on life and has a message to share about "Men's Health" which is something we all need to be reminded about regularly. 

Research has uncovered indicators, from early childhood on, which can predispose people towards developing dementia.

Dementia currently affects over 60,000 New Zealanders, a number likely to triple by 2050.

Research indicates there are some ways in which we may be able to prevent dementia developing.

Books written by Angela available to purchase –

“Dealing Daily With Dementia”

“How To Communicate With Someone Who Has Dementia”

Michael Graham is the author of "Secret SAS Missions in Africa" and now works full time as the head of security at Foodstuffs HQ in Mt. Roskill. His book is thought to be the first to tell the story of the little known C Squadron of the Special Air Service.

Operating in Africa, the Squadron was involved in counter communist terrorist operations from 1968-1980. "In the unstable final stages of British colonial and white rule, the Squadron was never short of action. African nationalist movements, backed by Russia s and China s direct and indirect support posed a constant and deadly threat to the existing regimes. Small highly trained detachments of the SAS with highly developed bush warfare skills proved devastatingly effective and achieved results out of all proportion to their size. Often their enemies believed that they were facing rival factions and turned on each other". (www.boomerangbooks.com)

Much of the SAS' actions are highly classified, and not commented on by the British government or the Ministry of Defence.

Come hear Michael share his personal life experiences with us.

Professor Sally J. Rogers is a developmental psychologist, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of Training and Mentoring at the MIND Institute, University of California Davis.  Her current research focuses on developing effective interventions for infants and toddlers with autism that families and professionals can deliver.  In addition to research, she is also a clinician, providing evaluation, treatment, and consultation to infants, children and adults with autism and their families. The empirically supported early intervention model that she developed with Geri Dawson and other colleagues - the Early Start Denver Model - is internationally known and was recognised by Time.com and Autism Speaks as one of the 10 main medical breakthroughs of 2012 and its materials have been translated into 15 languages.

Professor Rogers will present a historical overview of autism spectrum disorder leading up to modern day advances including the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) that she has co-developed in the United States.  She will also discuss the relevance of international research to the New Zealand context.

In lieu of a guest speaker, we have a number of activities planned for the 26th March meeting.

Come and get to know Susan Benedek and Matthew Orange who will become Downtown Rotarians a our new member induction.

Find out the final status of Mal's Challenge; hear a short 5-min presentation on Mindfulness from Tony Keegan and a quick update on Battle of the Suits from Gill Johnston.

Participate and share your thoughts about our Club Strategy & Structure around our key Social Causes. We want to hear how things are working and will use the feedback in next year's annual planning.

A group brainstorming session will be facilitated to work through the following questions:

Regarding our Club's Strategy to focus on the 7+1 Caustes and the alignment of members based on their interest and passion...

1) What has worked well?

2) What can be improved?

3) What tools or resources do you think are necessary for members or Champions to increase their effectiveness?

4) Are the goals the right ones for the Causes? Should the goals also incorporate non-monetary goals such as activities, relationship building, longer-term outcomes?

Please come show your support of our newest members and share your thoughts on how we can continue to learn and grow as a Club. Your feedback is important and enables us to stay relevant and vibrant. 

Brian Mayo-Smith, Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, FCA (ICAEW), MA (Oxon)

After graduating from Oxford in Economics and Engineering, Brian trained as an accountant in the UK before moving to New Zealand where he has been a partner with BDO Auckland and predecessor firms since 1982. He retired as a partner at the end of 2016 and remains a consultant to that firm.

His experience is wide-ranging, including the areas of assurance, insolvency, investigations and corporate reconstructions. He has been regularly involved in due diligence projects on behalf of investment companies and high net worth individuals. Brian has acted as an expert witness in a variety of cases.

Brian’s insolvency assignments have included TV3, Yarrows The Bakers, Lane Walker Rudkin and Blacktop Construction. Along with Andrew Bethell, he was appointed liquidator of Mainzeal in 2013.

Brian has been a director of K1W1 since 2000.  K1W1 is Sir Stephen Tindall’s investment vehicle supporting an extensive range of start-ups in the technology sector.

Topic: Mainzeal’s Liquidators litigation against the directors

-Background to the case

-Why Litigation Funding

-Section 135 Companies Act – Reckless Trading

-Section 136 Companies Act – Duty in relation to obligations

-Assessing Quantum of damages

-Restructurings shortly before receivership/liquidation

-Does the High Court decision create new obligations on directors?