Digital Bulletin No 74

July 2024

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July 2024

Club Council 2024-25

A line-up of men and women

Bob Booker (Treasurer), Graham Furnival (1st Vice President), Jenny Black (Secretary), Francis Whitbread (President), Anne Moriaty (2nd Vice President and District Governor), Keith Dabbs (Elected Member¹) and David Axon (Elected Member¹). Not present: Geoff Dickman (Elected Member¹).

¹ Elected Members will serve until 31 December 2024.

From the editor’s desk

With the start of a new Rotary year and the introduction of a new UK government I should really be thinking about the future. Instead I have been thinking about the past.

That is due to one of our members ordering a glass of port at one of our recent meetings. It reminded me of my Uncle Len, who died in the 1970s, and the only piece of advice I can recall him giving me, “Never get drunk on port.” That comment could only have come from personal experience. I have always felt safe ignoring it as I have never been inclined to drink that many glasses of port.

How about you? Do you remember any of the advice given to you by your “elders and betters”? If so, why has it stuck in your memory? Have you followed it? Could it be applied to Rotary?

Words from the President

June 6

Today’s meeting was a business meeting. We had some more good discussion about the arrangements for the next Rotary year and the charitable projects we will undertake. One thing we need to decide is which will be the nominated charity for the 2024-25 Rotary year; a final decision will be made at the Club Assembly on 20 June 2024.

It was very nice to have Mr Mumtaz Ahmed of the Sahiwal Rotary Club, with whom we have undertaken various projects over the years, join us for the meeting, together with Mr Shamshad Ali and Mr Shahzad Ali, who had driven them to Chelmsford from Rochdale.

June 13

Our meeting this week was a visit to the farm of Ian Metson at Abbess Roding. Ian gave our New Year Message at the beginning of the year and kindly invited us to see some of the farm he runs in partnership with his wife Beth.

We started off with tea, coffee and cakes served by Ian’s parents Chris and Jo, who previously ran the farm, before looking at the wheat crop Ian is growing on part of the farm this year. This is a special variety which needs much less fertiliser and spray, which is something Ian favours to maintain the quality of the soil. Something else he does is to put the fields down to grass ley on a rotational basis for a two- or three-year period and graze his flock of approximately 250 ewes. In addition, Ian operates a separate business called “Hedge Life” which replants hedges for farmers. As someone remarked to me recently, after the Second World War farmers were encouraged to remove hedges and trees to provide more land for cultivation but their descendants are now receiving subsidy payments to replant them!

We travelled to another part of the farm where the sheep are currently grazing. This was in a field that looks a bit overgrown at the moment, but Ian told us the sheep will reduce the grass to a much lower level within a couple of weeks.

The visit lasted about two hours and we then went for an excellent lunch at Bretts restaurant at the farm shop at White Roding. It was suggested we should try to go there for another meal at some stage.

June 20

This was our Club Assembly, where the incoming President and the various service committee chairs set out their plans and proposals for the coming Rotary year. This year is different for our Club, as we have made the decision to do away with service committees, so all the plans and proposals were given by me, as the incoming, or continuing, as you prefer, President. We were joined by our Assistant Governor, Rotarian Keith Harman from Witham Rotary Club.

If anyone wants to read my full report, please let me know and I will be happy to provide a copy. To summarise, the projects will continue to be those we have run successfully for a number of years, but we will also be doing one new one, which is joining Sanctus’s Centurion Club, which will require us to donate £100 each month. We should also be open to new projects, particularly those where we can join with other groups and organisations.

Increasing our membership of course remains a major priority and I hope that attending at least some of the networking events Sanctus will hold through their Centurion Club will provide some opportunities to meet potential new members and or Friends of Rotary.

It was agreed that the nominated charity for the next Rotary year will be Kids Inspire and I hope we might be able to raise funds for something specific that might then enable us to get a matching district grant.

June 27

Our speaker was Debbie de Boltz from Farleigh Hospice, which was our nominated charity for the Rotary year ending 30 June 2024. Debbie gave us an informative and interesting update on Farleigh’s work and financial position.

As far as the services provided are concerned, these extend far beyond end-of-life care, but where the focus was originally entirely on cancer sufferers, this now accounts for only about fifty per cent. MND and dementia are just two of the conditions covered by the end-of-life care Farleigh now provides. The range of other services provided is wide and includes bereavement counselling and training in palliative care for care home assistants.

I was very pleased to be able to tell Debbie that we would be making a donation of £2,000 to Farleigh, which is of course a charity which many of our current and past members have a connection with. Unfortunately, I also had to acknowledge that the donation represents a very small contribution towards Farleigh’s anticipated deficit for the current year, which Debbie advised us will be in the region of £1,000,000.

June 29

Two ladies standing behind a serving hatch Along with a number of other members, I attended the annual Summer Party we hold for some of the more senior residents of Chelmsford. By accident rather than design, all our guests this year were ladies. It was lovely to see them enjoying their afternoon tea, the musical entertainment was provided as usual by Steve and Pippa, and the quiz devised by Steve. Steve and Pippa are very much an essential part of the event, and my sincere thanks to both of them for again providing such lovely singing; the selection of songs was just right and clearly strikes a chord with our guests.

Table display of white flowers My thanks to all the members who helped on the day, either at the event, or in transporting our guests to and from the Chapter House. I must make particular mention of Alison Moses for taking charge of this year’s Summer Party and also Phil Goodman for the organisational work he did in advance, including sending out invitations and scheduling drivers. We know from the comments we receive from our guests how much they enjoy the party; for some it is a rare occasion to get out and meet other people.

The perils of tea

I realised how dangerous tea drinking is last night. I had been enjoying some quiet beers in a local pub with my friends. We stayed there quite happily until the barman suggested that we had all had enough to drink and ought to go home.

I had left my wife at home watching telly and drinking tea. I don’t know how many cups she got through but you should have seen how angry and violent she was when I opened the door at midnight!

I peacefully trotted off to bed but she came up as well, shouting and gesticulating. She kept it up all night when I just wanted to sleep.

Please, ladies. If you can’t handle your tea just don’t drink it.

Thoughts for the Day

June 20, Angela Dickman
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.
John Steinbeck

June 27, Colin Murphy
Do the best you can until you know better.
Then, when you know better, do better.
Maya Angelou

July 4, Angela Dickman
Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.

Going abroad this year?

A cup-shaped collection box for Mary's Meals If you are going overseas, whether for business or pleasure, you may well come back with some unused foreign currency.

Well, there is a use for it. You can donate it to Mary’s Meals by putting it in the collection cup you may have seen at Club meetings. Both notes and coins are welcome.

Mary’s Meals serves nutritious school meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest countries. The promise of a good meal attracts these hungry children into the classroom, giving them the energy to learn and hope for a better future. They are already feeding more than 2,400,000 children every school day. With the help of our donations, they can reach the next hungry child waiting for one of their meals.

District Handover

Anne Moriaty

This year’s District Handover Lunch took place at Little Channels on Sunday, 30 June. As incoming District Governor it fell to me to organise the event and I was delighted that 59 Rotarians and partners from all over Essex were able to attend. It was lovely to have support from Chelmsford in the form of Bob and Jean Booker, Jenny and Richard Black, Maureen Benson and Mo Sadiq and I was sorry that Peter Kemp was stricken with Covid and unable to come.

In keeping with this year’s theme, The Magic of Rotary, we had a magician, Adrian Fox, doing close-up magic before and during the meal. He had us all completely baffled even when the tricks were performed literally in front of our eyes.

After lunch it was time for David Willis to hand over the chain of office. My name had already been engraved on it so it was too late to back out! The official chain is heavy and requires pinning at the shoulders to make it sit properly when being worn. Happily there is a lighter ribbon version for less formal occasions.I’m feeling very encouraged by the lovely messages I’ve received from across the District and in particular I’d like to thank everyone in the Club for their support on this journey.

A gentleman and a lady wearing a chain of office People sitting around a dining table A group of people