2011 to 2012

Club news from 2011 - 2012

31 May 2012: Annabel King visits Chilton Foliat Primary School Open Day: See her photo taken with some of the children and the building blocks given by our club.

2-5 Jun 2012: Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations: A weekend of splendid celebrations in Hungerford. Hungerford Rotary assisted with many events over the weekend, including the Big Tea and other events in The Croft on Saturday afternoon, and the Jubilee Beacon.

26 May 2012: Crewing the Bruce boat "Hannah": Members of Hungerford Rotary often help crew one of the Bruce boats, giving less advantaged people a splendid day out on the Kennet and Avon canal.7 May 2012: Update on the Kagiso Project: Allan Snook presented a PowerPoint talk on the Kagisp Project - our joint project in Limpopo to provide a creche and classroom at an Early Childhood Development Centre in a very poor rural area in South Africa. Follow this link for more.

15 May 2012: New Member: We are delighted to welcome Amanda May, a local solicitor, as a member of the Rotary Club of Hungerford. She was inducted into the club by Junior Vice President Annabel King. This brings the club membership to 35 (including 2 Honorary Members).

9 May 2012: 200 Club Draw winners: The following contributors to the "200 Club" won 25 each in this month's draw: Ginge Galliver, Willy & Zdenka Bauer, Andrew James, Robert Walker (2), Mike Fletcher, June Rowland, Eric Smith, Joan Robinson and George Morris. [Thanks to James Brown, Eric Smith, Ron Rowland and the late Denis Robinson who kindly encouraged these people to contribute 12 per annum per membership in this year's scheme].

8 May 2012: Appointments for the coming Rotary year (starting 1 July 2012): The new Council for 2012/2013 was approved by the club i.e.
President Nick Fritz,
Vice President/Membership Annabel King,
Jnr. Vice President/Youth - James Podger,
Community Services - David Heather,
Foundation & International Llyn Robins,
Secretary Mike Dorward,
Treasurer Graeme Sleeman,
Programme Allan Snook.  
In addition the following have agreed to continue in their current roles:
Website Hugh Pihlens,
Publicity James Brown,
Shop & Archives Bill Brown,
200 Club & H & S Barry Kempton

8 May 2012: Membership: Ray Stebbings and Ron Rowland have been voted in as Honorary Members for the coming year.

1 May 2012: Membership: We are sorry to announce that Dr Jerry Bray has resigned from the club for personal reasons. Membership now stands at 34.

14 Apr 2012: Ray Stebbings' 95th Birthday: Club Member Ray Stebbings is 95 today! He has been sent a letter of congratulation from President of Rotary International, Kalyan Banerjee.

10 Apr 2012: 25th Anniversary Presentation Gift from our Mother Club of Newbury: At the Club Meeting on 10 April 2012, Linda York, President of our Mother Club of Newbury, kindly presented our President David Wallis with a gift from Newbury - a new Visitors' Book. Linda York was, of course, the first to sign the new book!

24 Mar 2012: Antiques Roadshow: The Antiques Roadshow was a great success! All 110 tickets were sold quickly, and it was great to have "Sold out!" notices well before the event! Follow this link for more

16-18 Mar 2012: District 1090 Conference at Bournemouth: Eight Rotarians and their spouses attended an excellent District Conference. Splendid speakers, splendid entertainment and splendid organisation. Follow this link for more

28 Feb 2012: Games Night at the Royal British Legion: Over 40 members and partners enjoyed a thoroughly good evening, witih a variety of games, and a Fish (or Chicken!) and Chip supper.

21 Feb 2012: New Member - Ellie Dickins: We are delighted to welcome a returning past member of the club - Ellie Dickins, of Ellie Dickins Shoes, High Street, Hungerford. This brings our club membership to 35.

9 Feb 2012: Helping Chilton Foliat Primary School: Hungerford Rotary Club has given 250 to Chilton Foliat Primary School to help with the provision of addition outside play and learning equipment. Annabel King, Chair of the Youth Service Committee presented the cheque at the school assembly on 9 Feb.

28 Jan 2012: Group Photograph. As part of our preparation for the 25th Anniversary of Charter, a group photograph of the current members was arranged in Hungerford Corn Exchange on 15 Jan 2012. All but three members were present.

21 Jan 2012: Our 25th Anniversary Charter Dinner at the Elcot Park Hotel was an excellent and enjoyable evening.

21 Jan 2012: David Howard receives Paul Harris Award.

20 Jan 2012: Hungerford Rotary presents 200 to Hungerford Rugby Club Juniors to help organise the District Primary Schools' Rugby Tournament.

18 Jan 2012: Polio Eradication Program: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have just given a further $50 million to this excellent project, started by Rotary in 1985.The Gates Foundation have been major sponsors of Polio Eradication, and have already given $355 million to the scheme, in return for Rotary itself finding $200 million. As that has been achieved earlier than expected, the Gates Foundation has offered a further $50 million (without any requirement for Rotary to find more).

The announcement was made at Rotary's International Assembly in San Diego

Since 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99 percent, from about 350,000 infections annually to fewer than 650 cases reported so far for 2011. The wild poliovirus now remains endemic meaning its transmission has never been stopped in only four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. However, India on Jan. 13 marked a full calendar year without a case, paving the way for its imminent removal from the endemic list.But other countries also remain at risk for polio cases imported from the endemic countries. In Africa in 2011, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo had significant outbreaks. Also in 2011, a small cluster of polio cases in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was attributable to a virus from Pakistan.

To date, Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than $1 billion toward the eradication of polio, a cause Rotary took on in 1985. In 1988, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined Rotary as spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. More recently, the Gates Foundation has become a major supporter. In November 2007, the Gates Foundation gave Rotary a $100 million challenge grant for polio eradication, increasing it to $355 million in 2009. Rotary agreed to raise $200 million in matching funds by June 30, 2012.

Reaching children with the oral polio vaccine in the diseases remaining strongholds is labor and resource -intensive due to a host of challenges, including poor infrastructure, geographical isolation, armed conflict and cultural misunderstanding about the eradication campaign.

18 Jan 2012: How big is Rotary? Rotary is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.2 million members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary members are men and women who are business, professional and community leaders with a shared commitment to make the world a better place through humanitarian service. Rotarys top priority is the global eradication of polio.

17 Jan 2012: Progress at The Kasigo Project: Alan Snook has just heard that the new creche at the Kasigo project in South Africa (which our Rotary Club 50% funded) is up and running and in full use. Follow this link for more