November 2017

PRESIDENT Nicki Quayle

SECRETARY Mike McNally

THEBORDERER

NOVEMBER 2017

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

‘Well that’s another fine mess we gotten into’ 

A few intrepid members and myself attended the 71^st Penrith Charter Night on Friday 20^th October.  The guest speaker was Roger Parnell who talked about Laurel & Hardy and this was particularly significant because Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston and so a Cumbrian lad.  It’s long time since I’ve watched a Laurel & Hardy film but slapstick comedy never fails to amuse.

On Remembrance Day I was hugely honoured to lay a wreath on the cenotaph at the Town Hall Square in Carlisle on behalf of our Rotary Club.  It was a moving occasion.  We take for granted so much our freedom and the world we live in today and we are indebted to those who laid down their lives for us.

Sadly this is not true throughout the whole world as we heard when Sarah Wilson spoke to us about her experiences in the Calais refugee jungle.

I would like to draw your attention to the links to the Rotary Policies printed in The Borderer.  This follows a request by Rotary GB&I that all members are aware of the policies and their content so I would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to have a look at them.   

I will be AWOL (again you say!) for the next couple of weeks trying to find some sun.  I am sorry to miss Keith Twentyman’s talk on Brexit next week but I don’t suppose much will be changed by the time I return.

NICKI QUAYLE

PRESIDENT

JOE WATT

Joe has moved from Parkend

and his new address is:

22 Millcroft

CARLISLE

CA3 0HX

His phone number and email address are unchanged

HOSPICE VISIT

A group of our members visited the Eden Valley Hospice to see the results of our £5,500 donation following The Cabaret Night organised by Marian Reed and others.

 This picture shows President Nicky on the throne in an amazing wet room where both the toilet and the hand basin could be moved up and down to suit the varying needs of their patients.

This picture shows Marian Reed presenting a cheque for £3,000, half the proceeds from the Great Ferret Race, which she organised in May 2017

YOUTH SPEAKS

Seven teams entered this year’s Youth Speaks competition resulting in a wide range of topics; “The unknown truth of Ballet, Referendums- Political Change, Power of the Imagination, Robbie on Robbie: the Pressure of Fame, Would changing our education system in the UK so that children learn a foreign language from an early age be beneficial to us? Jihad myth or Reality, and finally, Was the British Empire good or bad?”

The schools represented were Austin Friars Carlisle, Caldew School Dalston and Trinity School Carlisle.

Judging was in the capable hands of three members of the Carlisle and District Speakers Club and their task was made all the more difficult due to the very high standard of this year’s teams.

During the interval Team members, Teachers and Supporters were able to relax and enjoy the excellent buffet provided by the Shepherds Inn, this also allowed interaction with members of the Rotary Club of Carlisle who were responsible for organising the competition under the guidance of Stephen Higgs.

And now the results:

President Nicki on behalf of the Rotary Club of Carlisle congratulated all those who had taken part recognising the work of the organising committee, the teachers and the support given by The Shepherds Inn, Carlisle Embroidery and Carlisle and District Speakers Club.

 Head judge John Barrie from the Speakers club spoke of the very high standard of this year’s contestants and of the Judges difficulty in selecting an outright winner, it was that close. His helpful observations would be taken on board by all who took part, especially the Rotarians charged with asking the questions! 

In second place Team 3 Trinity School “Power of the imagination”

Chairperson Sophie Simpson   Speaker Lucja Soboleska    Vote of thanks Alex  Graham  .

Winners Team1 Trinity School “The Unknown Truth of ballet”

Chairperson Jasmine Metherell   Speaker Jessica Crowther   Vote of thanks Harry Mossop.

Congratulations to the winners who will now go forward to the District Finals to be held in the New Year.

DONALD EDGAR

THE TRINITY SCHOOL TEAMS
MY TIME IN THE JUNGLE - AT CALAIS

Sarah Wilson Wednesday 8^th November 2017

The refugee Crisis is a Global Issue

It doesn’t make sense;

It is not illegal to claim asylum in the UK

It is not legal to enter the UK in order to seek asylum

Definitions-

Asylum seeker:  A person fleeing from persecution in another country who has made themselves known to the authorities and exercised their legal right to apply for asylum.

Refugee: A person whose application for asylum has been successful and who is allowed to stay in another country having proved they would face persecution in their own country. They have the same rights as permanent members of that country.

Migrant: A person who moves from one country to another for the primary purpose of work or study whether permanently or temporarily.

As a result of the current conflict there are estimated to be 11 million Syrian refugees, the UK has agreed to take in some 20 thousand of which 300 will be settled in Cumbria over a three year period. They will be housed, offered school places, be able to work and receive benefits.

Refugees do not just come from Syria but from many countries where there is conflict and oppression.

Sarah has been involved in human resources for some time and came to Cumbria 8 years ago and became involved with Carlisle Refugee Action Group. The group had for some time been making regular visits to France taking much needed supplies and expertise especially in building shelters.

One of her tasks was to tow a caravan to a refugee camp near Calais no easy task as she could only drive in a forward direction being unable to do any reversing. But she got there and what did she find?   To start with it did not seem to make sense there were some 1000 persons in the camp, the Border with the UK was closed and in the main the inhabitant’s main occupation was self-preservation.

From there she moved to a small town near Dunkirk with a population of 20,000. The town had for some time coexisted with some 50 squatters who had set up camp on what could best be described as the town green. But that was soon to change and in the space of three months the numbers had raised to 2000, with the influx of refugees from several countries the townsfolk did not know how to react.

They adopted a humanitarian response” Everyone deserves a roof, food and a sense of belonging” but it was not easy the winter conditions were severe,  the place was a sea of mud, and bureaucracy prevented the laying down of pallets to raise the tents off the mud. The local Mayor said that no one will go hungry or cold, easier said than done, as the town received no outside help or financial support until MSF arrived to find a desperate people in a desperate situation.

The Humanitarian response and resilience was amazing. Difficulties, much of it red tape, were overcome, people from both sides worked together and finally with Government support better housing was provided and the camp evolved and the people from both sides came together through unity and understanding.

Sarah was responsible for setting up the Dunkirk Adult learning centre run out of a refugee shelter on the Dunkirk camp with the aim of supporting men and women with basic French and English skills. They also have a chance to socialise and develop their self-esteem.

Sadly there was not to be a happy ending as in April 2017 fighting broke out between certain groups, a fire started, the people were evacuated. The camp was destroyed resulting in Government closure and the inhabitants dispersed.

But no doubt the work of volunteers will continue by visiting and bringing aid and support to those in need.

DONALD EDGAR

TALKING NEWSPAPER

Part 2 - How does it work?

Every Monday, mail bags of returned recordings are collected from the Post Office and taken to our studio where they are sorted out in readiness for that evening’s team.  There are 7 teams – each with around 7 or 8 members - who produce the weekly tape for up to 120 listeners.  These teams are provided by The Rotary Club of Carlisle (2 teams), The Rotary Club of Carlisle South, The Rotary Club of Brampton & Longtown, Soroptimists, Carlisle Society for the Blind and Wigton Road Methodist Church. 

The teams divide into two groups.  In one room we have the digital recording equipment – a big mixer desk where “Sparks” sits with the headphones on and records the 3 or 4 readers who are seated round a table with a microphone each, reading out selected articles from the previous week’s  News & Star and Cumberland News.  The recording runs for 60 minutes or so, with the inevitable stops and starts – and sometimes slightly hysterical laughter..

In the meantime, the other part of the team prepare the USB sticks for the new recording - emptying the returned pouches, erasing the sticks and checking  each address label.  Once the recording is complete, the master memory stick is copied onto the other memory sticks – 16 at a time – and inserted into the labelled pouches ready to go out again.  The whole process takes about 2 ½ to 3 hours.

In addition to the weekly newspaper tape, we also produce what we call a Magazine tape.  This is recorded by a different group of people, once a month and is a longer, 90 minute tape.  This time, rather than newsy articles from the weekly newspapers, the tape includes more “chatty” and editorial articles from publications such as the Dalesman and Cumbria Life and anything else as long as we cover copy right laws.

It was about five years ago that we switched to recording digitally, i.e. using USB sticks rather than the trusty tape cassette and this has given a clearer recording . Obviously we had to ensure that all listeners had USB players and were comfortable with using them.  They needed to be plain and simple in its operation for someone who can’t see which way round it is facing.

 The cost of the transfer to the new system was substantial but we were fortunate in that bequests, donations and our own fundraising over the years meant that these costs could be met from our funds.   

There is no cost involved to the recipient.  For 34 years CTN has managed to provide a recording to each recipient, 50 out of 52 weeks of the year plus 12 magazine tapes a year free of charge.

In the 30 or so years I have been associated with the organisation I am aware of only a handful of times when the tapes were not sent out as planned –a great tribute to the teams of volunteers who do their utmost to get the recordings out week after week and to Andrew Meggs, our technical genius.  Many of the volunteers have been involved for decades, most notably Harry and Gwyn Graham who many of you will know as recipients of Paul Harris Fellowships from The Rotary Club of Carlisle. 

We are aware that we must keep up with technological advances and so will consider publishing our recordings to the web in due course and will try to take CTN forward in a way that will be most beneficial to those whom we are trying to help.

Jenny MacLeod

Secretary, Carlisle Talking Newspaper

Doctors for Nepal

Norman, ably assisted by his technical whizz Pauline, showed a most interesting and moving film about the difficulties that the very poor village people of Nepal have in accessing medical facilities.

Nepal is a beautifully picturesque country with a population who are friendly and largely cheerful but, from some of the most isolated villages, they may have to walk for 6 to 8 days to reach the nearest hospital. The charity, Doctors for Nepal, is currently sponsoring eight student doctors, plus additional nurses, who will return to these villages when trained.

Bearing in mind that it costs £30 K to train a doctor and the average wage in Nepal is only £1 per day, it is obvious that outside assistance from wealthy countries is required.

Is this a situation where our Club may help?

Norman raised £70 on the evening by selling all of his charity cards.

Namaste – I bow to the God within you.

DAVID HOGGARD

NFU & BREXIT

The fog that is BREXIT is slow to clear to say the least ! So much still to be resolved.

It was therefore refreshing to have some detail from Rotarian Keith Twentyman when he explained to us at our recent luncheon the issues facing Cumbrian farmers as The National Farmers Union endeavours to negotiate with the UK Government a way ahead.

The principal issues worrying the Industry surround future trade with our continental competitors and the likely effects of possible tariffs upon goods produced in Britain.

Equally the large number of European workers now engaged on our farms has made the industry highly dependent upon such labour from Eastern Europe in particular and their security remains unclear.

At least our Government has shown some indication of support in the short term by saying that the current EC support arrangements are likely to continue under Brexit which, if this materialises, should keep farmers in business and equally provide some food price stability within our shops and supermarkets.

Our thanks to Keith for a most interesting presentation.

NICK UTTING

Jacqui Dankworth & Charlie Wood 

The Buccleugh Centre, Langholm – Saturday 4^th November

It is fair to say the concert was a sheer delight.

Jacqui Dankworth,  the daughter of Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, is known primarily as a jazz singer.  However, it was soon evident she is so comfortable across the whole range of balads, folk, soul and blues, adding her own twist on the ‘standards’ of Cole Porter and Oscar Peterson through to Carol King, James Taylor and the Beatles.  Her husband Charlie Wood is a singer songwriter, incredible pianist and arranger from Memphis who in his own right is a world renowned musical entertainer.

Together they took us through an evening of well known songs including Charlie’s arrangement of Georgia On My Mind (not quite Ray Charles but good enough!) and the James Taylor hit ‘You’ve Got a Friend In Me’. There was a stunning performance from Jacqui of the Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger classic ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ and a wonderful arrangement of Michel Legrand’s ‘Windmills of Your Mind’ (for those who remember the Steve Mc.Queen film ’The Thomas Crown Affair’).

There were many more and whether a jazz fan or not this was pretty special entertainment.

BRIAN EDMUNDSON

Fellowship and Sport Committee

PS The meal at The Buccleuch Centre before the concert was excellent!

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors not his equals.

Anon

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

I dreamt Death came the other night and Heaven's gate swung wide

With kindly grace an Angel came and ushered me inside.

And there, to my astonishment, stood folk I'd known on earth,

Some I had judged as quite unfit or of but little worth

Indignant words rose to my lips, but never were set free,

For every face showed stunned surprise.....No one expected me!!

LIFEBOAT COLLECTION

Many of our members were involved in an RLNI lifeboat collection at Sainsburys and together with funds collected at a garden party attended by President Nicki, a total of £1,675 was raised for the charity.

POETS’     CORNER

BEAUTIFUL SOUP

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!

Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?

Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!

Lewis Carroll  1832-98

FACEBOOK -

IT’S AMAZING!!

Having made an appeal for people to like our Facebook site, I am truly amazed that people are looking at it in their hundreds!!

The picture of President Nicki sitting in the refurbished bathroom was viewed 320 times!

You too can look at it by clicking here

DAVID MORTON

MISSING TABARDS

Michael Pearson is looking for missing Rotary Tabards. Please have a search in your house, garden or car and return them to Michael. The Borderer staff are prepared to organise an anonymous ‘tabard amnesty’

WISHING WELL

The current charity is The Food Bank in the lead up to Christmas

Future charities are

3 January 2018  Animal Rescue

7 February  2018  RABI

7 March 2018  Hospice at Home

4 April 2018  Blood Bikes

Membership Challenge

Let’s keep the momentum going !!

This is not an onerous challenge and only requires you to bring one potential member to one meeting in the year.

ROTARY WEBPAGES

Rotary Magazine – current & previous editions

https://issuu.com/rotaryingbi/docs 

EDITOR’S NOTE – The Borderer uses the free version of the same ‘issuu’ website!

Rotary Policies

Rotary GB&I Compliance Statement – 2017/18

Our Club President or Secretary have been asked to confirm that our Club has read and adopted the following Rotary GB&I documents:

 Rotary GB&I Equality and Diversity Policy

 Rotary GB&I Health and Safety Policy

 Rotary GB&I Safeguarding (Children) Policy

 Rotary GB&I Safeguarding (Vulnerable Adults) Policy

 Rotary GB&I Data Protection Policy Statement

With grateful thanks to the Rotary Club of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire (a long way from the Brecon Beacons - according to our Welsh Correspondent!)

Rotary Central

https://my.rotary.org/en

To delve into the detailed Rotary statistics you may need a username and password

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CHARTER NIGHT

Wednesday 29^th November

Our main formal night of the year with guest speaker Peter McCall, Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner. The menu is in the circulation folder and we look to supporting President Nicki with a good turn-out for what will be a very pleasant evening.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Wednesday 13^th December at Shepherds Inn

Our final get-together for members and guests in 2017 so please make sure the date is on the kitchen diary at home.  Always a good ‘Do’ – with the odd surprise or two!

SANTA SLEIGH – WE NOW HAVE A TOW PERSON

Friday 15^th & Sunday 24^th December

JOHN PEEL SUPPER

Wednesday 31^st January 2018

Watch this space.

CARDS NIGHT

Friday 9^th February 2018

CURLING AT LOCKERBIE

14^th March 2018

DISTRICT CONFERENCE

Saturday 17^st March 2018

North Lakes Gateway. Conference fee £25 includes bacon butties & lunch

CHARITY GOLF DAY

18^th May 2018

RECEPTION DESK FOR CLUB MEETINGS

November  22            

                29             CHARTER NIGHT         

December  6              Stephen Higgs

                13             David Morton

                20             NO MEETING

                27             NO MEETING

January     3             

                10            

                17            

                24            

                31            

February    7             

Club Council Meetings

Club Meetings Programme