'Istanbul or Bust', Robert Menzies

There were two presentations to the Club on 7 January.

The first was an account of the activities of Capability Scotland and an appeal for support for their January 'Bags of Support' campaign which seeks to collect discarded clothing and other suitable items. We heard from Lauren Pluss, Digital Marketing Co-ordinator and also a member of Edinburgh Rotaract, and Julie Spence, Community Fund Raising Manager.

Capability Scotland campaigns and provides education, employment and care services for disabled children and adults. It provides an advice line, pre-school services to support families and nurseries and two special schools; and for adults it provides day and residential centres. Julie showed a short film indicating the range of activities and services provided by Capability Scotland designed to develop independence, participation and achievement as well as providing entertainment and fun.

The aim of the 'Bags of Support' campaign is to collect 10,000 bags with an average value of £20  or £25 with the benefit of gift aid. 

The request for support from our Club has been considered and approved by Council.

The second presentation came from the Club's own Past President Robert Menzies.

With the title 'Istanbul or Bust' Robert gave an account of his journey by car to Istanbul and back via Germany, Slovakia and Hungary and on the return Greece, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia, Italy and France. In total he covered 6,000 miles across 20 countries in 50 days. For parts of the expedition he was accompanied by friends, including Past Presidents Roy Stirrat and Jim West on one section, but at other times he travelled alone. 

He had no major problems but many interesting experiences, including an occasion with Roy and Jim, when their search for a monastery led them instead to a nudist colony. If only they'd learned the language! Robert's biggest difficulty in preparing for the trip was ensuring that he had appropriate insurance. For countries like Albania the advice was that the insurance could only be purchased at the border on entering the country - which was fine if there was someone there at the border. He did succeed in getting the necessary documentation and just hoped it would serve its purpose if needed!

It was a fascinating account and in his vote of thanks Graham Low summed up the reaction of most of the members, saying this was the sort of thing we might dream of doing - but Robert actually did it.

Report by Mike Rowe