Free Portland News Entry

What is Rotary doing at present?

I start by thanking all of those who supported the Table Top Sale his month in aid of I.C.A. –this was because Read Easy South Dorset had difficulties with their suggested date and so swapped with I.C.A.   Unfortunately I did not find out until it was too late to inform F.P.N. readers.  These sales are of course there to raise money for given charities, but also to give some publicity to that particular charity and, perhaps most importantly of all, to allow members of the public the opportunity to meet those involved and ask any questions they may have in order to learn more about the actual workings of that charity.

On 8th. April the beneficiaries will be the Friends of Victoria Gardens.  The 13th. May will now be for Read Easy, and on 10th, June we will be supporting the Community Fridge.  Our efforts in July will be in aid of St. John Ambulance and there will be no T.T. in August (as usual). September brings the return of the T.T. Sales with the proceeds going to Portland Carers’ Support Group.  The October Sale is dedicated to a Hedgehog Friendly Portland, and the last one of the year is on 11th. November for Julia’s House.   As you see, we cover a wide variety of charities on the island, and all are held at the Community 2000 Hall in Easton.  At the time of writing we have a few spare tables available if anyone, or any organisation wants to sell goods.  It is possible that we may still have a spare slot in next year’s programme if an organisation wants to be a beneficiary of the proceeds.  In any case, why not come along and have a look to see what happens|?  Who knows?  You may well find bargains to buy, or meet new friends, of learn more about what is going on on Portland.  See you whenever?

Now, it wouldn’t be a Rotary report if I did not throw in a comment about polio eradication would it?  In spite of all that is going on in the world, at the time of writing this article, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus has announced that there has been NO case of wild polio anywhere in the world since last September.  I do not think that we have ever had a six month spell with no cases and so am feeling quite hopeful.  Having said that I have to temper my comments by saying that it is, at the moment, the low season for polio virus transmission, and the high season has yet to come.  But I remain an optimist!  Some of you may have heard that we had polio virus in the water in the London area last year (and, actually, one infectious case in New York) which only goes to show the need to keep all children fully vaccinated.  I keep on preaching that polio is only a plane-ride away, but I can tell you that, if the polio virus can find any child who has not been vaccinated against polio, that child and, possibly its siblings , friends and neighbours could all be at risk as well.

From the club’s point of view, our President, Mark, has just returned from Nepal where he has been checking up on our project there to provide water on tap to the isolated villages that are dotted around that country.  It is reassuring to note that the money collected has been well spent, the systems that have been installed are working satisfactorily, and the villagers are delighted with all our efforts.

F.P.N. readers might also be interested to know that we actually have a body of Rotarians, called the Cadre, with members all over the world whose job it is to check that the projects financed by our clubs, Rotarians, and donors actually exist, are being run properly, that the monies raised have been carefully and properly spent, and that proper audits are being carried out, All these “checkers” are, of course, funded by Rotary International (or the volunteers themselves), and NOT from funds raised for charity – just in case anyone was curious!

Two weeks ago one of our members went to eat in Rona, the Turkish Restaurant in Weymouth. He asked if it would be possible to hold a fund-raising event there in aid of those affected by the recent earthquake.  The answer was rapid and in the affirmative, resulting, two weeks ago, in a most enjoyable evening for a wide variety of people who wished to show their support for the Turkish people following that disaster.  Thank you to all at Rona.