winchester rotary · which was compared by talented magician ben hart with style and humour....
TRANSCRIPT
Winchester is one of the largest, oldest and most diverse Rotary
Clubs in the South with a turnover of some £50,000. With ninety
men and women members from a wide variety of professional
backgrounds, it provides support for organisations in and
around Winchester as well as good causes overseas.
WINCHESTER ROTARY
Annual Report 2013-14
A YEAR OF WORKING WITH WINCHESTER AND THE WIDER WORLD
Highlight of the year was raising £1,500 as a major contribution
to the memorial to the two million men who passed through
Morn Hill Camp during WWI. The campaign to Honour a
Promise was lead by Deputy Lieutenant Brig. David Harrison. A
production based on diaries, archive photographs and topical
songs told the stories of local families who Did Their Bit. The
demand for seats lead to a third performance which also raised
money for the forces charity SSAFA.
Ernest Vickers, born in Morn Hill Camp in 1920, at the memorial outside The Great Hall, Winchester
Swimathon 2014 Recording local events
WORKING WITH WINCHESTER
Stroke Club
Reminiscence Group
Carol Singing
Winchester University
Our biggest event was the Clarendon Way Marathon which we
organised with the Rotary Club of Salisbury for a second year. The
turnover was £35,000 which, after costs, generated some £20,000 for
charities. Over 1,000 runners took part. The event was only made
possible through the help of 250 volunteers on the day.
The annual Swimathon took place in Winchester College
Swimming Pool on April 12. A total of 82 swimmers took part and
between them swam 3533 lengths (25 metre) which equates to
almost 55 miles! £6,000 was raised for many charities.
Links with the Royal Hampshire County Hospital have been
strengthened with the addition of the WOW awards won by Julie
Adams who manages the chemotherapy ward. The Nursing Award
in June was won by Victoria Ward managed by Carla Jacobs. This
strengthens the link with the League of Friends chaired by a Rotarian
and with Hospital Radio which is managed by another Winchester
Rotary Member.
Winchester Rotary is proud of its close links to the Mayoralty in the
city with three former Mayors as members. Last year’s Mayor -
Ernie Jeffs – attended many Rotary events including ‘Kids Out’ and
the ‘Senior Citizens Party’. Winchester City Council organised a
cycle fest and Criterium with Rotary support offering safety tests for
young cyclists and helping to marshal the race through the city’s
streets.
Relations with the University of Winchester continue to mature
with the Pro-Vice chancellor as a member of the club. Rotary
provided speakers again for the Common Purpose Front Runner
course which last year was the first step in establishing Rotaract at
the University. Their Hub manager Lucy Walsh was one of the lunch
time speakers.
The needs of our ageing society were recognised with the support
offered to the Stroke Club, now in its 26th year, the Reminiscence
Group organised by the Alzheimer’s Society and the Senior
Citizens Party organised annually by Rotary with the invaluable
help from Members of Inner Wheel who provide a fabulous tea at
the Itchen Abbas Village Hall.
Winter would not be the same without the Round Table Fireworks
which Rotary supports, Carol Singing at the Buttercross over three
days and a Christmas Dinner at the Officers Mess of the Worthy
Down Garrison.
The Environmental issues have been focused on the Hampshire and
Isle of Wight Wild Life Trust ‘Cool Rivers’ project with the
management of the banks of the river Itchen.
Senior Citizens Party
Cool Rivers Project
Worthy Down Garrison
Hospital Nursing Award
‘Celebration of Youth’
Organised every three years, this event at the Theatre Royal
recognises the talent of the Young People of Winchester.
The Osborne School 'Rubicks Cube' Band stole the show from the
first moment. Dance, song and drama made a memorable evening
which was compared by talented magician Ben Hart with style and
humour. £1,000 was raised for ‘Advocates for Children’.
Specialist Musicians
Helping in Uganda
Ben Hart
Our support for Peter
Symonds College continues
both for their geography and
music departments. Twenty
four students were helped with
their annual work with two
villages in the Embabazi
project in south-west Uganda.
Three summer lunchtime
recitals at Peter Symonds
College were sponsored for
the Specialist Music Group,
who also performed a
concert to a full audience in
their Recital Room.
Rotary also works with secondary school students.
Mock interviews were conducted for a second year
with 10 and 11 Year pupils at The Henry Beaufort
School. Fourteen Rotarians and four co-opted friends
interviewed 120 students who got the opportunity to
talk about their futures with someone other than a
parent or teacher.
District Events
Winchester is one of 78 clubs in the Wessex District
of Rotary. They organise a number of larger scale
events, such as Kids Out where some 1,300 children
with special educational needs are escorted to
Paulton’s Park. Winchester took pupils from Osborne
School with help from Rotaract for a day that –
untypically – was not interrupted by rain!
493 Shoeboxes were collected in 2013 as
Winchester’s contribution to the District appeal which
resulted in some 25,000 boxes being sent to: Albania,
Montenegro, and Moldova. The Philippines have
been added to the recipient countries for shoeboxes in
the wake of their devastating hurricane.
Four teams were entered for the District Debating
competition - Youth Speaks which was held at The
Henry Beaufort School in Round 1. Two teams
performed well in Round 2, held at St. Swithun’s
School, but did not qualify for the semi-finals.
Winchester Young Carers, who give invaluable
support to family members, were given a day sailing
with three yachts, skippered by Rotarians, taking
them across to the Isle of Wight.
Support for the Winchester Goalball, which grew
out of the 2012 Olympics, continues helping the
teams flourish and are organised into novice,
intermediate and elite groups. Adam Knott, founding
UK player, spoke brilliantly at the Rotary District
Conference in Plymouth.
The Georgia Scholarship programme offers a GAP
year experience at an American university. We were
delighted that two Peter Symonds students were
selected in the face of fierce competition across
Europe.
CHANCES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Shoebox Scheme
Winchester Goalball
Youth Speaks
Kids Out
Georgia Scholars
Young Carers Sailing
Mock Interviews
ShelterBox – in action
School Books - Uganda
Aquabox in action
Jane Walker - Philippines
Rotary working with the World Health Organisation and the
Bill Gates Foundation is still striving to eliminate polio
through mass immunisation – a project close to the heart of
President Elect Gill Russell who is herself a polio survivor.
The situation in Syria has caused a setback with new cases
appearing in the chaos of that country.
The devastating hurricane in the Philippines triggered a
massive response through the appeal for ShelterBoxes.
They cost £600 each and can house and cater for twelve
people. In addition to the necessities like a stove and
cooking pots is a bag of children’s toys. It was gratifying
that 11 ShelterBoxes and 6 Aquaboxes were bought by
public donations and individual gifts, which included one
bought by Venture Scout Alex King from money that he
had raised.
The club’s major project is the continuing support for schools in the Kasese
District of Uganda - International Rotary Global Grant 1415765. ‘Books
For Schools’ in the Kasese District Uganda is a two year project with 22
primary schools who will have books, libraries and trained teachers in basic
literacy by December 2015. It also saw the first sponsorship of a Vocational
Training Team of six expert educationalists working intensively with those
schools for a month and half in the Spring.
A grand total of $56,970 dollars was raised through a Global Grant under
Future Vision – another District first. Winchester’s initial $8,026, which
included a legacy, was augmented by donations from our twin clubs
Oberhausen, Le Havre & Calcutta, with further help from Jersey Rotary and
Kasese Rotary, Uganda itself. This triggered a matching grant of $23,750.
WORK IN THE WIDER WORLD
John Eade is the first Winchester Rotarian to be District Governor
since the 1960s. As District Governor Elect, he attended the RI
Assembly in San Diego and set himself the aim of visiting all 78
clubs in the district which includes five in the Channel Islands and
eight on the Isle of Wight. He felt it was the right of each club to
expect it and the only way that he could judge the state of each club
and the feelings of its members. A car and driver were provided by
Winchester for the many visits he undertook.
The District Conference at Plymouth saw as many as forty
Winchester Rotarians involved and some Winchester projects being
highlighted which included the club’s long standing support of
‘Wells for India’, the ‘Winchester Street Pastors’ and a
presentation and open discussion on Membership, which has been a
high priority for Winchester. John Eade is pictured right addressing
Conference.
During the year John sent out 120 letters of welcome to new
members. He has been involved in on-going discussions about
recruitment, the need to attract younger members and – despite
potential opposition – to consider change which is a potential key to
survival.
Though many Rotarians give their allegiance to their club rather than
the district, there is a recognition that much of what Rotary achieves
is done on a bigger scale than a single club can manage. He is quick
to remind Rotarians that those that undertake District roles are, at the
end of the day, ordinary members of their own clubs and all
volunteers to boot.
In 2013-14 John also attended the Rotary International Convention
in Lisbon and the Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland
Conference in Birmingham.
Tripartite links
Ambassadorial Scholar
Wells for India
District Conference
Street Pastors
Membership Discussion
Lisbon Convention
DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S YEAR
Links with the Philippines have been close. Jane Walker, British
founder of the Philippine Community Fund, spoke at a joint meeting
with Inner Wheel in July 2013.
In support of Rotary International’s campaign the ‘End Polio Now’
collection raised over £400 - which with Gift Aid reached to £500.
Oberhausen Rotary was this year’s hosts for the Tripartite weekend
in May which was held in historic Munster. Winchester will host
Oberhausen and Le Havre Rotary in 2015.
Adam Leemans, a most impressive Ambassadorial Scholar from
West Point, United States, has been studying at Southampton
University and made a presentation to Winchester Rotary. The
Youth Exchange scheme saw the return of Catherine Huntingdon
from Pennsylvania to Winchester after twenty years.
End Polio Now Collection
WINCHESTER ROTARACT
[email protected] winchesterrotary.ning.com winchesterrotaract.co.uk
Luke Addison - Winchester Rotaract's founder
President - with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at
‘PeaceJam’ for which Luke is now working.
We are proud to have set up a Rotaract Club at the University
strengthening our links with the latter even further. Rotaract is a service
organisation for young people aged 18-30 run along similar lines to Rotary
although a little more informal. They were formed at the beginning of the
academic year and comprise 30 or so mainly from the University but some
from the local Community who were formally chartered at the end of
November. They have assisted Rotary in a number of their projects- End
Polio Now, Cyclefest, Marathon, Carol Singing, Fireworks and Kids Out
as well as set up their own "Backpack Project" to assist the Homeless in
Winchester. They have also been involved with the Education Uganda
Project and are twinned with the Rotaract Club of Kasese".