2026-2027 Dave John's Year

President David John, formerly of the Rotherham Rotary club

16/07/26 – Notts Fraud & Cyber Protect – Shaun Douglas

An update on Clive Rees said that he was back home after a fall and visit to A & E. Rob provided Information about our ‘Litter picking’ exercise in Bingham on the 23^rd;; 3 teams meeting at 4pm. Max, Daniel and Mike Twells were presented with their medals for their Swimathon performances.

Shaun then started his presentation, saying that Fraud Protect was set up 6 or 7 years ago, under ‘Operation Signature’; whilst he had joined the Police in April 1989 and had various roles since then. Victims of Fraud generally do not like reporting fraud as they feel somewhat embarrassed, but they should consider it as ‘theft with deception’. 46% of ALL reported crime is fraud and they can be split into different categories:

Courier Fraud (impersonation) they should not consider themselves victims of ‘ignorance’, but victims of ‘circumstances. The Police, Banks or HMRC do not normally call you, end the call and phone them back on the number on your card.  If it’s an appointment that has been made, ALWAYS check their ID. Shaun then showed us a video demonstrating such circumstances. He mentioned an example where someone had purchased 12 Rolex watches! Next came Romance Fraud, a growing sector, but if images are involved there are two internet sites that can help: Google images and Tineye.com, which could show same image with a number of different names. Basically: never respond to requests for money; never give out your bank details; never transfer any money. Watch out for the ‘sob story’. A surprising example here was a lady in north Notts who thought she had been in a relationship with William, the Prince of Wales! There is an organisation called Notts Victim Care Support for such sensitive issues. Missed delivery scam, never press on a link, report any unwanted texts, scams free to 7726 so your mobile phone supplier can flag potential scams. Remove your name from the OPEN Electoral Register, watch out for Rogue Trader Fraud. Investment fraud: beware unexpected contact, offers of bonuses and pressure dates, unrealistic returns; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is! Watch out for KRYPTO Currency scams and Money Mules (receiving money into your account from a criminal, then transferring it to another account {money laundering}; it can be quite tempting for young people). CIFAS is an organisation that deals with fraud prevention. Shaun’s final gesture was to give us all some very useful leaflets.

Rob gave the vote of thanks explaining that he had been involved in fraud investigation with the NHS (Dental) and found that most major organisations lose between 6 to 10% through some form of fraud and individuals are even more vulnerable He thanked Shaun for his excellent and comprehensive presentation reminding us all to be vigilant at all times and asked the members to join him in an appreciative round of applause.              AR

2/07/26 – Annual Boules Event – Alan Folwell

Again, courtesy of Alan F at his home in Aslockton where he had organised Hot Dogs and Onions followed by Lidl Cornetto ice cream. Worked well, so thanks to Alan.

The teams were announced by Alan and they all wondered off to their ‘pitch’ (again there were various complaints about the Quality of the pitches, with boules bouncing in all directions due to the dry conditions and hard, lumpy lawns). We were given about 30 minutes for a ‘champion from each team to be announced. Gerry Thompson, Jim Gostick (apparently who could only see out of one eye and holding his beer in the other hand!), David Valentine, Doug and David Eldridge. This final between the Team Winners was on a knock out basis, with Jim falling out first, then David V, followed by David E; the final pairing of Gerry T and Doug was all over in seconds.  A shame really as Gerry could have become our first lady Boules Champ, but we all know what Doug’s winning desires are.

The food followed with 2 excellent Clive Lancaster Sausages in the hot dogs, with a choice of Maggie’s onions with Balsamic vinegar, Jim’s well-done offerings or Jane’s ‘medium rare’, all very tasty and accompanied with a variety of sauces. We were hoping to take pictures of last year’s champion presenting to Doug, but we couldn’t remember who won last year, so it’s Doug in his Safari gear with his bottle of Fizz prize.

No formal vote of thanks to Alan, but everyone thanked him for a splendid evening of good food with fun and games in the sunshine                 AR

9/07/26 – Vale Clearances – Chris Spibey

Another new venue on trial at The Royal Oak, East Bridgford, which seemed to fit the bill, although not sure how the skittles Alley will be in the depth of Winter. Information was circulated about our ‘Litter picking’ exercise in Bingham on the 23^rd. Karen was presented with her certificate and medal for her Swimathon performance. Roy Mortledge was then re-inducted (recycled!) into our membership again; welcome back Roy, we are all glad to see you back in the fold.

Chris the started his presentation, saying that he was born in Bingham, but joined the Army as a 16-year-old, which seems to have set him up as a successful man with excellent ideals towards his community. He did 7 years as a ‘Gardener’, which he really enjoyed, but then with his partner, a nurse, they decided to set up a business to help the local community, where they saw a ‘need’. 5 years later they have a workforce of 30, both young and old (including their 2 sons) They have helped 3500 people and re-furnished 126 houses. They have shipped stuff to the Ukraine, worked in Holland and Ireland, worked with Local Authorities, Framework, The Friary, Beaumond House and created a ‘transparent compassionate and respectful service’ that means zero landfill with thousands of items donated to charities and local families. He related a number of examples from ‘2 chairs for Christmas’ in Bottesford, working with Eric Morcambe’s son together with many of the amusing items they have encountered: false teeth, fake eyes, prosthetics under a bed, ammunition, knives and various weapons. The range was unbelievable from 175 Playboy magazines to a pickled cobra.  Another story involved a family in Mapperley Park, who offered all their furniture in a clearance, which enabled Chris to give them £11500 from the sales his company made. He would like to see similar services all over the country, but as was pointed out to him, it takes someone very special, with a passion, positivity and commitment to be able to offer such a Clearance and Home removal’s service! 

An indication of the qualities of this man that having heard about our work in recovering medical equipment and hearing the 4 principles of Rotary during Roy’s induction, he made a donation to our Charity fund of £100.  Karen did the Vote of Thanks, saying that Chris had put over a complex task that he had made into a successful straight forward operation, she really appreciated the ethos behind his service, thanked him for sharing it with us and wished him and his team the best of luck for the coming year in continuing their work in “The Vale Way”; members joined in with an enthusiastic round of applause.                    AR