Club Chronicle

31 October 2024: Joint Clubs Dinner

It was the turn of the Rotary Club of Chelmsford Phoenix to organise this evening’s Joint Clubs Dinner for all the Chelmsford Rotary Clubs. It was held at the Ivy Hill Hotel. It was very well attended and included not only members and guests from the five Chelmsford Clubs but four from the Rotary Club of Shenfield and District as well. The photograph shows our President Francis and Rhys Tilsley from our corporate member, Backhouse Solicitors, during a lull in proceedings.

We all enjoyed an excellent meal and excellent company. After dining, we had a presentation from Anthony North of City of Chelmsford Mencap (“CCM”). He explained that this is affiliated with but not part of the national Mencap. CCM is a separate charity with its own trustees, finances and activities. CCM supports those with learning disabilities and their families.

There is a distinction between learning disabilities and learning difficulties. A learning disability is a medical condition or illness which affects the way someone’s brain works and makes it harder for him or her to learn, understand or do things like making new friends. It includes conditions such as autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Learning difficulties have more to do with the way information is processed. They include conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia.

CCM’s Outreach Academy runs a variety of courses aimed at those with learning disabilities over the age of 19. Different courses are run on different days of the week. When a new person comes to them for help they start by assessing which courses would best suit that individual.

On Tuesday evenings CCM runs Gateway Junior, aimed at those aged between 16 and 25. This provides a variety of activities, including sports and dance workshops, quizzes and theatre visits.

At one point CCM asked those using its services how they would like to be referred to. They decided that, as many of them were taking courses, they would like to to be known as students, so this is the description used.

The number and range of questions Anthony was asked after his talk was evidence of the interest his talk had engendered. He was duly thanked. Thanks are also due to Janet Littlewood and her fellow members of Phoenix for organising the evening.

President’s bike ride

Report by President Francis

28 August 2024

At 9:45 am, in the company of three cycling friends who rode with me for the first eighteen miles, I set off on the first leg of my two-day Rotary Cycle Challenge, to ride from Debenham to Chelmsford. There I would stay overnight, attend the weekly meeting the next day, and then pedal back to Debenham. The first part of the route, through some quiet and lovely Suffolk and Essex countryside, was very enjoyable, despite quite a few hills. The final dozen or so miles, first alongside the A12, then through Hatfield Peverel and Boreham, and finally along cycle tracks, was less enjoyable, more of a means to an end.

Through the wonders of modern technology, I was able to keep Jenny informed of my progress by using the location function on WhatsApp. I made good progress and arrived in Central Park at 5 pm, to enjoy a relaxing coffee and chat with the various Rotarians who had kindly turned out to greet me. My legs had done well to that point, but soon felt leaden when I sat down, a precursor to quite a bit of cramp later in the evening.

29 August 2024

I had an early start the next morning, as I had arranged to meet Pam Scammell at 9 am on Springfield Green, from where she was setting off on her ride to Edinburgh. John Watkins kindly came along as well and took some photos for me. Pam’s cycling companion for the day, Ron, who had come from Ilford and was riding a small wheeled Brompton bike, was also sporting a Rotary snood, sold to him by John, on his head. I was pleased to hear from Pam later in the day that she and Ron had safely made it to their first overnight stop at Whittlesford, in Cambridgeshire, and that she now realised Essex wasn’t as flat as it is made out to be!

I left the Club’s lunchtime meeting around 2:15 pm for my return ride in a positive frame of mind after the discussion. It was good to get the noise of the A12 out of my ears when I reached Kelvedon, and the rest of the ride was a delight, as the weather was perfect for cycling, a few degrees cooler than the previous day and a gentle south westerly breeze to help push me home. The route was largely the same as the previous day, except that when I crossed the border into Suffolk at Bures, rather than following the Stour valley to Nayland, I headed north-east, to Assington and Boxford, then Kersey, where I paused for some refreshment.

That included a couple of bananas; when I had mentioned the attacks of cramp to Jenny, she had suggested I eat some bananas as the potassium would help and they seemed to do the trick, as I had no cramp after I got home. I had the warmth of the sun on my back until around 7.30 pm, when it fell low in the sky, but I was near to home by then, so did not need extra clothing, although I did put my lights on for the last couple of miles. The church clock said 7.45 pm when I passed by, so I made it home just as the sun was setting for the day.

Some more detailed reflections of the ride can be found here.

Senior Guests’ Summer Party

Our Senior Guests’ Summer Party took place on the afternoon of Saturday, 29 June 2024, in the Chelmsford Cathedral Chapter House as usual. We fed and entertained 25 guests of mature years. In many cases we also collected them from their homes and took them back afterwards.

As each guest arrived they were handed a glass of sparkling elderflower cordial with a strawberry at the bottom. We had a number of tables set up for them.

The afternoon started with entertainment provided by Steve Moriaty, the husband of our member and District Governor Elect Anne Moriaty, and their daughter Pippa. They sang a variety of songs which would have been well known to those attending.

They then took a break while we served the guests with sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes and other light refreshments. The kitchen was staffed by some of our lady members and they and other members made sure all the guests had something to eat.

When everyone had eaten their fill we held a quiz while the tables were cleared. Steve Moriaty set the questions and Graham Furnival acted as Question Master. The winner managed to get a very creditable sixteen questions right out of twenty. There were prizes for her and for the next two places. Three guests shared third place.

After that Steve and Pippa took the stage for more songs, inviting the guests to join in the more familiar ones. The afternoon ended just before 16:30 with the final song that has become traditional on these occasions, “We’ll Meet Again”.

Our thanks to Alison Moses for acting as organiser this year, to all the Club members who helped on the day in various ways, and to the Cathedral vergers for getting everything ready for us.

Spring Jumble Sale 2024

We held our annual Spring Jumble Sale on Saturday, 20 April 2024 - at the Danbury Village Hall as usual. Members attended in the morning to sort out the jumble into categories and set up the tables and the auction for the more valuable items. The photograph shows the hall when this work had been completed.

The jumble sale itself took place in the afternoon, manned by volunteers from our Club and from the Village Hall. The total sales came to £517.20, an excellent result. Our thanks to all who helped on the day setting-up, helping on the stalls and clearing up afterwards. It was a very successful day.

Rotary Young Musician District Final