"Service Before Self"

This is the motto of Rotary International and the members of Bathavon Rotary Club endeavour to follow this philosophy:

Community Service:

Peggy Dodds - On a couple of occasions during the year we put on our painting gear and re-decorate public rooms in this local old persons day care centre, or help to maintain the gardens.

Twerton School - Once a week during term times we take it in turns to spend 90 minutes listening to children reading. The help is encouraged and appreciated by the school, and is proven to make a difference to the childrens' reading ability.

Kids Out - Every June we provide transport to Longleat for children with special needs from a couple of local schools. The event is organized by a local Rotary district committee and enjoyed by more than 800 children on the day.

Young Chef - Pupils from local secondary schools are invited to enter a national Rotary cooking competition. Bathavon organizes the area heat with the help of a local school who make their kitchen facilities available. The successful competitor goes on to participate in regional and national finals.

Youth Speaks - Each year members of the club organize a Public Speaking competion for pupils from local junior schools. Teams of three pupils make their presentation to a panel of judges who at the end of the day award a prize to the best team.

International:

The International and Foundation Committee has run three overseas projects in the last four years.

2011/2012

We provided 50 toilets to communities in the North East of Sri Lanka. The communities were returning refugees after the end of the civil war with the Tamil Tigers. The project was carried out in partnership with the Rotary Club of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka). The total value of the project was £12000.

2012/2013

We provided 10 community wells to the same communities as the previous project. The project was carried out in partnership with the Rotary Club of Trincomalee and the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge. The total value of the project was £13000.

2014/2015

We provided spoken English classes for thirty children from remote villages in Southern Sri Lanka. The project was carried out in partnership with the Rotary Club of Hambantota. The total value of the project was £1000. We hope to run the project again in 2015/2016.

2010/2013 and 2015/2018

The club funded the secondary education of five talented girls at school in Kenya who would otherwise have had no opportunity to continue at school. They are all now successfully studying at Kenyan universties. We are now funding the education in Nairobi of another girl from 2015 to 2018.

Fellowship:

We enjoy ourselves and have regular outings, wine tastings, quiz nights, etc . Partners are occasionally invited to these events and to our normal meetings when a speaker is arranged. We recently visited the SS Great Britain in Bristol and are due to visit a local National Trust property next month.