Club Speakers 2025/2026

        Club Speakers 2025/26       

Club Speakers

Mon 14th July  - Guide Dogs Charity
Mon 11th Aug Keith Joplin -  Park Runs
Mon 1st Sept - Support Dogs Charity.
Mon 8th Sept - Lilly Waite Wright - Scout Jamboree South Korea
Mon 20th Oct Stephen Woodcock - Shoebox
Mon 27th Oct  Carolyne Kenzitt - Bumpy
Mon 3rd Nov Val Howe - Coats4Kids
Mon 15th Dec David Philips - Cars 50s / 60s.
Mon 27th Jan - 2 Batley Food Banks.
Mon 2nd Feb - Arif Ahmed and Mosque Inman
Mon 16th Mar - Birstall in Bloom/Birstall Library
Mon 30th Mar - Cleckheaton Town Hall
Mon 1st April - Birstall Shops
Mon 20th April - Local Batley Dewsbury MP Iqbal Mahamed
Mon 20th April - J Arther Rank - Rotarian Mary Wallace

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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Speaker Guide Dogs for the Blind
Mon 14th July




LINK
Link to Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Charity
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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Park Runs and 5K "Your Way" 11th Aug.


President David pictured with Keith. (Keith gave permission to show photo)

Dewsbury Reporter article of Oakwell Halls first Parkrun.

5K Your Way - Move against Cancer

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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Support Dogs Charity. 1st Sept



President David with David Maltby from Support Dogs Charity.
(David gave photo permission)

LINKS
  Support Dogs Charity

Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites

Club Speaker Carolyne Kenzitt from Bumpy

Carolyne Kenzitt, from the Bumpy charity which is based at Howden Clough. The charity is a motorcycle, activity and training centre, who were set up and registered in 1989.

(pic from Jeremy)
President Dave with Carolyne
BUMPY (Birstall Urban Motorcycle Project for Youth) is an esteemed registered charity (#702335), established in 1989 as a training, testing and skills centre aimed at young motorcyclists causing a nuisance on wasteland.
(see Bumpy web site).

Website link: bumpy.org.uk

Please also visit our FACEBOOK site for late information.

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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Zoom speaker for Coats4Kids Charity

On Mon 3rd Nov Rotarian Paul Barns set up a Zoom meeting at Batley Community Centre, using the Community Centres new screen and Tech system with Val Howe 
from the eClub in area 1070 for the Coats4Kids Charity.
Val explained the system they have to identify and supply new winter coats for children aged 4 to 14

See the web site for Coats4Kids Charity for more info.





LINK eClub District 1070
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Please also visit our FACEBOOK site for late information.
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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Batley Food Bank and Birstall Community Partnerships update

At a recent club meeting we were pleased to welcome representatives from both Batley Food Bank and Birstall Community Partnership - Food share. Both groups gave our members details of how they work within the communities of Batley and Birstall. Although the Food bank and Food share work in different ways, they both provide a vital service for those in need of support in our area.

We were delighted to be able to donate £500 to each organisation from the monies collected at Tesco Batley during December.

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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Club Speakers 
Mon 2 Feb
speaker Arif Ahmed and Mosque
Inman 

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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Club Speakers Rotarian Ian and Joanna.

Ian and Joanna pictured with President David.
Min 16th March.
Joanna started the talk talking about Birstall in Bloom which she started 18 years ago when they
went around Birstall looking for grot spots..
She talked about Birstall in Bloom getting a silver award from
Yorkshire in Bloom Competition in 2013. There now being 12 gardeners.

Ian then continued the talk by explaining how in 2015 Kirklees decided to sell off the
Birstall Library and Community Centre.
Ian talked in 2017-19 they got a 2 year lease and how they developed the Community Centre 
with financial help from PPG and members of the Community trustees and over the years making it completely refurbished and now running  very successfully, booked up most days.
The library is well used and staffed by volunteers

A very big well done to Ian and Joanna both working on successive Thursdays for Birstall in  Bloom and for Ian managing the Community Centre.
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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Cleckheaton Town Hall.
The Cleckheaton Town Hall was closed 2 years ago.
On Mon 30th March 2 members of the Cleckheaton Town Hall Pressure Group, formed to
reopen and rescue Cleckheaton Town Hall, gave a talk.

Chairman Chris Moore and Group Sec Francesca Whittlestone gave a detailed talk about their business plans submitted to to Kirklees Council.
Question and answer followed their talk and President David thanked the group for their talk and wished them well in the future.
Below Chris Moore Pressure Group Chairman.


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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
100 years of Birstall Shops.
Rotarian Ian gave a talk about 100 years of Birstall Shops.
He started his "stroll" beginning at the Low Lane junction with Church Street.and progressed along Low Lane. through Marketplace to the Junction with Huddersfield Road, Looking at shops on the left of the road.
Ian's stroll came back along Low Lane again looking at shops on the left.
Ian was able to talk about the ownership of the shops through the years and the different uses of the shops.
He showed how a Town Hall was planned to be built close to the Market Place but was never built.
He showed where 3 abattoirs were and many butchers shops and Fish and Chip shops including one owned by a Belgian family.
Also the Co-op (Birstall Industrial Co-operative Society 1928) shop was on two levels and was a non-food store. 
Rotarians Nigel, Jeremy, Jerry and Caroline with Ian were able to give their own memories of past
Birstall shops.

.


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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Speaker MP Iqbal Mahamed.
MP for Dewsbury and Batley.

Iqbal came to the club and gave a talk about his life and the life of an MP in Westminster.
Iqbal gave a interesting talk about his politics and the inter politics with main parties and with the independent MPs group of MPs in Parliament.

Luddites top table on left Pres Elect Nigel , President David, Iqbal and minutes sec Mary.


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Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Club Speaker Mary Wallace J Arthur Rank

Rotarian Mary is a proud Hull Hullensian and Mary gave a talk on important people from Hull.
She gave a list of people, William Wilberforce, Philip Larkin, Tom Courtney. But Mary Mary picked another famous Hull person J Arthur Rank.
He was Born in Hull to a wealthy flour miller, he was a deeply religious Methodist, which influenced his initial entry into film (producing Sunday school films).

He was a Film Industry Leader: He financed and produced films during the "golden era" of British cinema, including The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus.
 His companyThe Rank Organisation

His company The Rank Organisation founded in 1937 expanded into leisure and entertainment, famous for the iconic "Gongman" opening logo
He is widely regarded as one of the most significant figures in British entertainment history. .
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