About Victoria Quay
The Beginning
David Nicholas and Lesley Amm joined South Perth Sayers Toastmasters in March, 1995. They liked Toastmasters but weren’t happy with the atmosphere of the then Fremantle Toastmasters Club, so they decided to start a new club in Fremantle. It met on Victoria Quay on the Fremantle wharf on the second Wednesday evening of April, 1995, so when it chartered in November, 1995, the members named it Victoria Quay.
Early years
The club was immediately very successful. This was due to three main elements:
- The Officers studied TMI’s Manuals and adopted the principles and practices they found there
- Internally, a policy of mutual support was adopted with no competitive awards for best speaker, best evaluator etc
- Externally, the Club devised a Club Success Plan to be the top club in District 73.
The Top Club in District 73
1996/1997, its first full year since Charter, Victoria Quay won the District’s Top Club Competition.
1997/1998, Victoria Quay was Top Club again, the first Club to win back to back awards.
1998/1999, the Club did it again, and became the first club to win the award three times.
In 1999/2000 TMI changed its club awards system from points based to Goals. There are now 10 possible Goals, with the highest Club award of President’s Distinguished Club for 9 Goals achieved, along with membership of 20 or more.
1999/2000, Victoria Quay was the first Club in the District to reach President’s Distinguished, and also to attain all 10 Goals.
2000/2001, Victoria Quay became the first club amongst about 8,500 through the world to reach President’s Distinguished. Due to the way TMI registers the Goal for Club Returns, the earliest possible date any club can reach 9 Goals and President’s Distinguished is the end of October. Victoria Quay made it on October 31, with three clubs in California, Oregon and the Phillipines close behind with 8 Goals.
2001/2002, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2001 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
2002/2003, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2002 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
2003/2004, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2003 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
2004/2005, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2004 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
2005/2006, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2005 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
2006/2007, Victoria Quay again reached 9 Goals at the earliest possible moment, at the end of October, 2006 and 10 Goals at the earliest possible moment.
Distinguished Toastmasters
Club members are encouraged to pursue personal excellence through Toastmasters awards. The highest award possible is DTM - Distinguished Toastmaster. Our two Founders led the way in the Club and District 73.
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Lesley Amm February 1999 Lesley was the first in District 73 to receive the award through the current system. |
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David Nicholas was second in the Club and District 73. He currently has 5 DTMs. DTM 1 April 1999. DTM 2 February, 2000 DTM 3 April, 2003 DTM 4 August, 2005 DTM 5 March, 2008 |
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| Glenis Nicholas August 1999 July, 2007 |
Peter Nichols December 1999 |
David Nicholas June, 2000 |
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Alan Smith November, 2002 |
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| David Nicholas April, 2003 |
Lisa Cluett February, 2004 |
David Nicholas August, 2005 |
Betty Hart November, 2006 |
Glenis Nicholas July, 2007 |
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| David Nicholas March, 2008 |
Mark Richards April, 2008 |
Sponsoring New Clubs
By 1998 Victoria Quay was bursting at the seams with enthusiastic members, pursuing personal excellence through speeches from the CTM and Advanced Manuals. It was difficult to fit everybody into the program, so we set about founding a new club in Fremantle. There was definitely an opportunity because Fremantle Toastmasters closed down in 1997. Victoria Quay adopted a proposition from David Nicholas to found a second Fremantle Club.
Gateway Toastmasters, October 1998
Peter Nichols and Jan Ford ran a Speechcraft course for six weeks. in July and August, 1998. At the last meeting, the group decided to continue on, and recruit more members. The Club quickly got to Charter strength. Victoria Quay was the Sponsor Club, Peter Nichols and Jan Ford were Founders, and David Nicholas and Glenn Wright were Mentors.
Western Founders, April 1999
David and Glenis Nicholas worked for over a year to establish this Advanced Club, the first in Western Australia. At Charter it had members from 12 different clubs in Perth. Victoria Quay and Gateway were Sponsor Clubs, David Nicholas and Glenis Nicholas were Founders, and Alan Smith was Mentor.
Mandjar, July 1999
David Nicholas encouraged two members who lived in Mandurah, 50 kms south of Fremantle, and attended Victoria Quay and Gateway each week, to set up a local club in their home town. A Demonstration Meeting was run in April, 1999. David Nicholas and Peter Nichols visited the club for alternate meetings and it grew steadily to charter strength. Victoria Quay and Gateway were Sponsor Clubs, Carol Grainger from Victoria Quay and Sonja Davalos from Gateway were Founders, and Terry Quinn from Victoria Quay and Liz Sheridan from Gateway were Mentors.
Durack, July 1999
Kevin Siu, the then District 73 Lieutenant Governor Education & Training, suggested to David Nicholas in April 1999 that a Club could be set up at SKM Consulting Engineers in Perth, along the same lines as the Club he had established at SKM in Melbourne. Kevin gave David an introduction to a key person at SKM. He ran a Demonstration Meeting at SKM in May, 1999 and the club grew rapidly. St Georges and Sunrise, two breakfast clubs in Perth, were the Sponsor Clubs, Peter Nichols from Western Founders, Gateway and Victoria Quay and Hugh Cunningham, first from Victoria Quay but then from Gateway were Sponsors, and David Nicholas and Brian Natta from St Georges were Mentors.
Terrace, March 2000
Durack was so successful that the membership very rapidly climbed over 30. With fortnightly meetings, which ran from 7 am to 8.15 am, it was difficult for members to progress throught their CTM program. So David Nicholas suggested to Durack that it should sponsor a new club meeting in the same venue on a different morning. There was a lot of apprehension amongst Officers and members that this might split the club, but a special Executive meeting attended by 17 club members adopted the proposal. A Demonstration Meeting was run on January 28, 2000 and the Club chartered on March 4, 2000. Durack and Western Founders were the Sponsor Clubs, David Nicholas and Mee Chan Wong from Western Founders were the Founders and Jenny Mills from Victoria Quay and Western Founders and Mike Clarke from Western Founders and St Georges were the Mentors.
West End, January 2002
Rhonda Broad, from Banyandah Club, contacted David Nicholas about starting a Club where she worked, at Transport. A Demonstration Meeting was first held at Fremantle Transport in February, 2001. Then two further Demonstration Meetings were held - the first at the Murray Street headquarters of Transport in Perth in July, 2001, and the second at the East Perth Terminal, in August 2001. David Nicholas and Jeff Oliver worked at setting up a new Club in these two locations, with help from Kaye Hastings and Gigi Boudville. In January, 2002 the Club chartered in a quite unique way. There is one Club which meets weekly at two different locations. Murray Street meets on Tuesday lunchtimes and Trackside (East Perth) on Wednesday mornings. David and Jeff were the Founders. Kaye (at Murray Street) and Gigi (at Trackside) are the Mentors. The Sponsor Clubs were Victoria Quay and Western Founders.
Trackside, May 2002
Cliff Boer and Lisa Cluett from Victoria Quay joined Trackside and it chartered in May, 2002 with Founders David Nicholas and Cliff Boer, and Mentor Lisa Cluett. The Sponsors were again Victoria Quay and Western Founders.
Subiaco Early Birds, September 2002
Meechan Wong, from Western Founders, worked in association with David Nicholas over a long period to get approval to set up a Toastmasters Club at Princess Margaret Hospital. When finally the official approval came, the club was quickly formed. Meechan and David were the Sponsors, with Judy Recher as Mentor. The Sponsor Clubs were again Victoria Quay and Western Founders.
Corporate Express, June 2006
Howard Steinberg was a former District 74 Governor in South Africa and an International Director. When he migrated to Perth he met David and later when he was working for Corporate Express in Kewdale, he saw the opportunity for a new Club at the business. He introduced David to the CEO, Heidi Moore-Halliday, who invited him to address a meeting of her managers. Subsequently there was a very successful Demonstration Meeting and the new club chartered very quickly, with Heidi as one of the members. David and Howard were the Sponsors, while Glenis Nicholas and Pascale Amberville-Colby were the Mentors. The Sponsor Clubs were Victoria Quay and Western Founders.
WA Governors, November 2007
David Nicholas saw the possibility of a leadership group being formed to energise the formation of new clubs in WA. With the support of District Governor, Mike Helm, he organised a Demonstration Meeting held at Michael Malone’s home in Mt Lawley on October 18th, 2007. The 20 members were quickly signed up and the Advanced Club was chartered on November 24th. The Sponsor Clubs were Victoria Quay and Western Founders and the Founders were David Nicholas and Mike Helm. The Mentors are Alan Smith and Mark Richards, both from Victoria Quay.
District, Division and Area Participation
From early on, Founders David Nicholas and Lesley Amm saw that it was important to involve the Club and members in the wider Toastmaster community.
1997/98 The Club provided three of the five Area Governors in Western Division
- Area W10 Lesley Amm
- Area W13 David Nicholas - President’s Distinguished Area
- Area W21 Kay McDougall - Distinguished Area
1998/99 The Club provided the Division Governor and two of the five Area Governors
- Western Division Governor David Nicholas - President’s Distinguished Division
- Area W13 - Lesley Amm
- Area W21 Glenis Nicholas - President’s Distinguished Area
1999/00 The Club provided the Division Governor and one Area Governor
- Western Division Governor Lesley Amm - Distinguished Division and District Governor of the Year
- Area W21 John Baker - President’s Distinguished Area
2000/01 The Club provided one Area Governor and a District Marketing Officer
- Public Relations and Marketing Officer (Western) David Nicholas
- Area W21 Jenny Mills - Distinguished Area
2001/02 The Club provided three Area Governors and a District Marketing Officer
- Public Relations and Marketing Officer (Western) David Nicholas
- Area W13 Jeff Oliver - President’s Distinguished Area
- Area W21 Alan Smith - Select Distinguished Area
- Area W28 David Nicholas - President’s Distinguished Area and District Area Governor of the year
2002/03 The Club provided one Area Governor and a District Marketing Officer
- Public Relations and Marketing Officer (Western) David Nicholas and District Officer of the Year
- Area W28 Lisa Cluett
2003/04 The Club provided one Area Governor and the District Lt Governor Education & Training
- Lt Governor Education & Training David Nicholas
- Area W13 Paul Staite
2004/05 The Club provided the Western Division Governor and the W21 Area Governor
- Western Division Governor Lisa Cluett
- Area W21 Betty Hart
2005/06 The Club provided the District Lt Governor Education & Training, the Western Division Governor, the W21 Area Governor and the Marketing Officer
- Lt Governor Education & Training Lisa Cluett
- Western Division Governor Betty Hart - President’s Distinguished Division
- Area W21 David Nicholas - President’s Distinguished Area
- Western Division Marketing Officer Pascale Amberville-Colby
2006/07 The Club is providing the P10 Area Governor, the W21 Area Governor, the WA Webmaster and the WA Marketing Officer (Western Division has been split into two Divisions - Perth and Western - as a result of the work of Betty Hart.)
- Area P10 Glenis Nicholas
- Area W21 Mark Richards
- WA Webmaster David Nicholas
- WA Marketing Officer Pascale Amberville-Colby
2007/08 The Club is providing the Western Division Governor, the W10 Area Governor, the WA Webmaster and the District 73 Parliamentarian.
- Western Division Governor Mark Richards
- Area W10 David Nicholas
- WA Webmaster David Nicholas
- District 73 Parliamentarian David Nicholas
Social Activities
Victoria Quay runs an active social program, to balance the intense educational emphasis in the club.
Summer barbeque. We hold a February barbeque meeting, in the open air. In 2002 it was at the Shelley Foreshore Reserve.In 2003 it was at Wireless Hill in Booragoon. In 2004 it was at member Geraldine’s house and in 2005 it was at members Glenis and David’s house.
Winter Social. The last meeting in June or the first in July is a Social. It used to be held at a restaurant but our current meeting site is well set up for catering, so we hold it at the Fremantle Bowling Club.
Rottnest or Dwellingup Weekend. Rottnest is a small island 15 kms off the coast at Fremantle, used exclusively for tourist accomodation. We hire a large house there and usually have about 12-15 members and families there for the weekend in September or October. In 2004 we went to Banksia Springs in Dwellingup, and again in 2005.
Christmas Social. This is our last meeting of the year, in December, and we live it up, usually with contributions from former members.
Outstanding Speakers
Of course a club like Victoria Quay has had many fine speakers, several of whom have won competitions at Area, Division and District level.
In 2001/02, then President Cliff Boer won the District 73 International Speech Contest, but was unable to go to Miami to compete in the world final.
In 2002/03, Cliff won the District Contest again. He won the Inter District Final at Atlanta on August 19, 2003 and competed in the World Championship of Public Speaking on August 23.
A Final Word about Victoria Quay Toastmasters
We believe that we have an extraordinary club. Our weekly meetings are lively and entertaining, as well as solidly grounded in the Toastmasters ethic of personal growth and improvement. We meet from 6 to 7.30 pm every Wednesday night, except for a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year. After the meeting, members and visitors share tea/coffee and biscuits for about 30-45 minutes. This regular social session after each meeting is probably the special ingredient we have which keeps us a tightly bonded group who welcome visitors to join and take part.
Visit us if you get the chance. Meeting details are on our website or you can contact David Nicholas, on +61 8 9457 6468 or email him at davidnic@iinet.net.au
