• 19^th February Peace Pole 3 of 100 unveiled at Mawson Primary School
• 22^nd February Small ceremony to remember the Christchurch earthquake
• 10^th March A Peace Pole was donated jointly by the Rotary Club of Ulladulla and Canberra Burley Griffin to the Dunn Lewis Centre Ulladulla to mark the final conference for Rotary District 9710
• 14^th March Lantern Festival Cancelled
• 15^th March Christchurch Vigil remembering the Christchurch attack was held with limited numbers. The NZ High Commissioner Dame Annette King addressed the gathering
• 21^st March Harmony Day cancelled with Multicultural forum
• 22^nd March Walk Run Ride for Peace cancelled. Event conducted
• 18^th May the Rotary 100 Downunder project to recognise 100 years of Rotary in Australia launched Nationally. This project includes the goal to see 100 Peace Poles donated by rotary to Schools and Public places around Australia. This is a project originating from the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell.
• 1^st June braving very cold weather the Peace bell was struck by the Rotary District Governor Peter Ford to recognise Reconciliation day.
• 9^th July a special ceremony was held at the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell to recognise the South Sudan National Day. the ceremony was attended by a small group of south Sudanese people including around 40 young students.
• 9^th August a small ceremony was held to remember Nagasaki and Hiroshima on the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. The ceremony was addressed by His excellency Ambassador Mr Reichiro Takahashi
• 8 September The special octagonal Peace Pole donated to the University of Queensland. This is where the Rotary International Peace Scholars’ study
• 15^th September Ceremonies held at Peace Poles around the country by schools that have received their Peace Poles to recognise World Peace Day
• 16^th September Ceremony for World Peace day held at St Joseph’s Primary School Aranda ACT
• 21^st September World Peace day ceremony at the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell with around 90 people in attendance. Key note speaker Mr Tim Wicks. Mr David Savage received Chief Minister’s Rotary Peace Prize
• 24^th 25^th October Rain disrupted attempts to make the striker available in place of the Candle Festival which was cancelled due to COVID-19
• 31^st October Weather again saw the cancelation of the special ringing for the Women’s League for Peace and Freedom planned to recognise the 220^th anniversary of UUNSCR 1325
• 10^th December Plans still underway to conduct an event to ring the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell for all women killed through Domestic Violence in Australia. All welcome to attend.

Canberra Rotary Peace Bell Review 2019 and Plans 2020

• There were 23 Special events conducted at the Canberra Rotary Peace bell during 2019 with over 4132 people attending.

• The most significant event was the Vigil for Christchurch when approx. 3,000 people attended. The Peace bell was struck 50 times in honour of those killed in Christchurch.

• Significant Japanese events included a ringing for the Great Eastern Japanese Earthquake and a ringing to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, the planned Candle Festival event did not proceed due to the cancelation of the event.

• The Chief Minister’s Rotary Peace Prize was again awarded at the World Peace Day event on the 21^st This year’s recipient was Robyn Martin from Beryl Women Inc.

• The second ringing for those Women killed in Australia through Domestic Violence was again held on the 10^th December, International Human Rights Day. In 2019 the Peace Bell was rung 53 times for each of those women killed.

• In addition, the Rotary Club conducted 18 School tours through Lennox Gardens, including visits to the Grove of trees planted by Pen International, Beijing Gardens, Nara Peace park, The Hanoi Friendship Tree, the Chief Minister’s Peace Prize wall finishing at the Peace Bell. Each student attending, all 694, had the opportunity to personally ring the Peace Bell.

• During 2019 there were 80 posts to the Canberra World Peace Bell Facebook page. The total number of views of those posts was 35,588 or an average of 445 per post.

There is currently a program called Rotary 100 to recognise 100 years of Rotary Service in Australia which is due in April 2021. The Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin is offering to see a Peace Pole donated to each School that makes a tour of Lennox Gardens and the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell. So far, we have been speaking with 36 Schools from around Australia. The gaol is to see 100 Peace Poles placed in 100 Schools by 2021. To date 5 ACT Schools have become involved in the program and we would welcome more ACT Schools taking up this opportunity. Schools receiving Peace Poles have ranged from North Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales country and the ACT.

The Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin would appreciate assistance for the Japan Earthquake event and also the Hiroshima event from the various groups connected to Japan. Maybe a meeting could be convened to discuss details.

The Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin also would welcome any community group arranging their own events and ringing’s at the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell.

The World Peace Bell Association had its beginnings with a donation of the first Peace Bell and housing to the United Nations by Chiyoji Nakagawa in 1954, following the Second World War, as a token of Peace. The United Nations Bell is rung twice a year to mark World Peace day on the 21st September each year and on the opening day of the United Nations general assembly. There are now over twenty Peace Bells located around the World. Peace bells are respected and stand as a symbol where people unite in a prayer for peace and to remind all of the cruelty of war and the preciousness of peace for the generations to come. The bells are mostly made from melted down coins donated through the United Nations.