2015-16 Highlights

This page will be updated over the course of the year to provide a record of what we have been doing in the Club.

Photographic Competition - 27 June 2016

Once again the Club held it's end of year photographic competition where members submitted photos taken during the rotary year across three themes.

The winners were as follows:

People Watching - Geoff Wall with a picture taken at Chatsworth Country Fair

Mystery Object - Geoff Wall with a picture that proved to be an interesting shape in a rotting fence post. 

Yorkshire - Sandhya Nadgir with a shot of Bluebells taken at Gilling West

A Bowling Day with the Children of Chernobyl - 20 June 2016

Slightly different dates for the annual visit from the group from Chernobyl meant we had this event twice in one rotary year.  Once again an enjoyable day was spent with the group with plenty of competition on the bowling lanes, and a meal and ice cream to enjoy between the two sessions.

Visit to Markenfield Hall - 19 June 2016

Members and guests enjoyed a visit to Markenfield Hall.

Visit to the York Mystery Plays - 8 June 2016

As one of our fellowship events a group of club members and guests attended the Mystery Plays that were staged this year in York Minster. An excellent evening, with strong performances from all the cast and superb staging.  This made up in the most part for it being rather longer than anticipated and on rather hard seats!  The staging of the creation of the planets, photo below, and the story of Noah's Ark play were particular highlights.

Becoming a Dementia Friendly Club - May 2016 

Following a training session, many of the members of the Club have become Dementia Friends, and others who were not able to attend will be attending the training as opportunities arise.  The Club has agreed that it will become a Dementia Friendly Club as part of the Scheme run by the Hambleton Dementia Action Alliance. For more information on the alliance please follow the link to their website.  The Club has prepared an action plan for things we need to do to ensure we are effective in meeting the needs of those with Dementia. Our plan can be read here  

Wheelchair update - May 2016

As well as continuing to collect bar codes, further cash donations mean we have now reached the funding target for 3 wheelchairs.

All those Cuppas lead to the first 2 wheelchairs! - 21st March 2016

We were pleased to have a meeting at which Rotarian Milton Frary was able to tell us more about the charity we have been supporting through our collection of Yorkshire Tea Bar Codes.  Taylors of Harrogate are supporting the Wheelchair Foundation UK by turning these back into cash. This means wheelchairs can be built and then distibuted to people in need around the world.  Our first collection was worth almost enough to get 2 of these wheelchairs and we topped the barcodes up with a cash donation to reach that initial target.

Collection efforts continue, and we would like to thank all those individuals and organisations - mostly local cafes or tea rooms - who have helped in the project so far.

Technology Tournament - 1st March 2016

Once again the Club was pleased to be involved in organising the annual Schools Technology Tournament held at the Leisure Centre at Catterick Garrison. We had a good turnout from local schools and teams at Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced level were set an increasingly more complex challenge based on a working vehicle capable of moving debris in a pipeline.

The pupils once again showed their ingenuity in tackling this, with lots of different solutions developed over the course of the day.  The tournament is an excellent way for teams to practise their team building skills in solving a design and technology problem as well as practising oral, written and graphical communication skills.

Well done everyone.

The winning team at Foundation level came from Barnard Castle School

The winning team at Intermediate level came from Richmond School

The winning team at Advanced level came from Barnard Castle School

"Castaways" from the Club share some of their Desert Island Discs - 29th February 2016

A social evening based on the theme of Desert Island Discs proved a great success.  Five of our members shared two pieces of music, a choice of book and a luxury to take to their Desert Island.  As in the Radio 4 series this led to us learning some hitherto unknown facts about our fellow members, as well as hearing an ecletic mix of musical offerings

Carole Ford chose "Butterfly Lovers", a piece of chinese music, and a "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procul Harum as her music choices, with "The Velveteen Rabbit" as her book, and an umbrella as her luxury.

Basil Bosomworth chose "Daddy sings Bass" by Johnny Cash and Nina Smone's version of "Please do not let me be Misunderstood" as his music choices, with "John Halifax:Gentleman" by Mrs Craik as his book, and a shotgun and endless supplies of cartridges as his luxury.

Anne Ash chose "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller and "Climb Every Mountain" from the soundtrack of The Sound of Music for her music choices, with the complete works of Dickens as her book, and an endless supply of the full range of Moulton and Brown products as her luxury.

Graham Bell chose Brunhilde's immolation scene from Wagner's Gotterdamerung, and "Close Your Eyes" by Doris Day with Andre Previn as his music choices, with Harold Evan's autobiography "My Paperchase" as his book, and a bike and turbo trainer as his luxury.

Sue Adsett chose Pachabel's canon , and "Farewell to Stromness" by Peter Maxwell Davies as her music choices, with the very apt ""What to Eat when your Life Depends on It" by Bear Ghrylls as her book.  Her luxury item was a Tempura Mattress.

As well as enjoying hearing the choices of others it was interesting to watch the faces of our members and guests - many were obviously pondering on what their own choices might have been, and the reasons why.

Awards Evening for Northallerton School and 6th Form College - 16 December 2015

Each year the Club sponsors awards, and since the amalgamation of the schools, these were both awarded at the Awards Evening held on 16th December when President Alan was pleased to present an award for the Highest Achievement at AS Level - which went jointly to James Martin, Katherine Sanders and Nicholas Yates, and an award aimed at younger pupils the "Youth Award" - which went to Christopher Barley.

The speaker at this year's event was Professor Robert Allison - an old boy of the school - but also the son of one of our former members Gordon Allison who moved away some time ago to live nearer to Robert in Loughborough.  

Bringing some Christmas Cheer to the Residents at the Women's Refuge - December 2015

The Club has been collecting toiletries to make up boxes to give as Christmas gifts to residents at the Northallerton Women's Refuge, and has also presented funds to help the families have a trip to the pantomime in town next January - "Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates"

Santa and his Helpers Come to Town - December 2015

We completed our Santa Collections round the stores in town and also out and about round the streets in our Santa Sleigh.

The proceeds of the collections are used to fund our activities and projects aimed at Young People in the year ahead.

So thanks to everyone in the community who give most generously at this time of year.

Christmas Tree Festival at Ainderby Steeple Church - 7th and 8th December 2015

Once again the club decided to enter a "tree" into the festival based on the year's Rotary Theme.  This year it is "Be a Gift to the World".  We were able to interpret this as shown on the photo below, with links to many of the international and local initiatives we have been involved in through our Club.

Santa arrives in Northallerton 27th November 2015

Once again the Club provided some helpers to see Santa safely into the High Street and then to his Grotto in the Town Hall.

A presentation from the students we supported on RYLA in 2015 - 9th November 2015

One of our favourite nights of the year - hearing feedback from our participants Ellie and Chloe in the 2015 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. This is an excellent programme promoting the development of leadership skills in young people through attendance at a challenging outdoor course. A joint meeting was held between our club and the Rotary Club of Northallerton, as we had each sponsored one of the students from Northallerton School and 6th Form College to this event.  We were joined by parents, partners and friends, as well as Rotarian Richard Raistrick from the Rotary Club of Calverly who acted as a mentor on the course. Everyone had a most enjoyable evening.  Well done Ellie and Chloe!

Helping with the Bucket Collection at Firework Night - 5th November 2015

Northallerton Bonfire and Fireworks is a free event - but to raise money for next year's event the usual bucket collection was made, and the Club was pleased to provide a large party to help encourage those attending to put their hands in their pockets to ensure this succesful event can continue.

The evening ended with the traditional warming Indian Meal at the Red Chilli

Peace Seminar at Bradford - 30th and 31st October 2015

A number of Members were able to attend the 2015 Peace Seminar at Bradford, with some of us also attending the Dinner on the previous evening.  This was an excellent evening of fellowship and an opportunity to meet and speak to a number of the Peace Scholars.  At the Seminar itself we heard from the cohort of Schoalrs who are finishing their course, and in particular abour their experiences on their course placement, and some of their plans for the future.  We also heard something of the background and aspirations of the group of Scholars who are just starting the course.  Part of the day was given by a panel of people who had been touched in some way by conflict, and ways in which resolutions had or needed to be found.  These contributions were thought provoking in many different ways.

Presentation of the money raised at our Charter Dinner for the Friarage MRI Scanner - October 2015

The Rotary Club of Northallerton Mowbray held its 21st Charter Dinner on Saturday 10 October 2015 to celebrate the founding of the Club in 1995. A raffle was held at the event and Club President Alan Miller chose the Friarage Hospital MRI Scanner Appeal as the recipient. President Alan says "My wife was recently admitted to the Friarage Hospital as an emergency admission, and it was only through a number of scans that the problem was discovered. I chose the Friarage Hospital MRI Scanner Appeal in the hope that others will be as lucky and benefit from the equipment." Pictured are President Alan presenting a cheque for £333 to the hospital's Community Fundraiser, Judith Masterman.

Charter Dinner - 10 October 2015

This year our Club is 20 year's old and as we had a Dinner to launch the Club all those years ago, this was our 21st Charter Dinner, which happily coincided with President Alan's birthday as well. 

An excellent evening included a fascinating insight from The Lord Crathorne on his time as Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire.

As well as Club members and their partners and guests we were pleased to welcome District Governor Hazel Haas, Assistant Governor David Baxter, and friends from other Rotary Clubs and Inner Wheel.

Our double celebration called for a cake, of course, and our picture shows President Alan doing the honours!

We also held a raffle which raised the magnificent sum of £333 for the Friarage MRI Scanner Appeal.

Setting out our Stall at the Forum - 11th September 2015

As part of our publicity drive for the project we are undertaking to raise funds for the Wheelchair Foundation UK, by collecting barcodes from packets of Yorkshire Tea, Members attended an event at the Forum Northallerton, where the speaker was the well known food writer and critic Jay Rayner.  An ideal opportunity for us to spread the message on our project, and raise the profile of Rotary more generally.

Induction of our new Member Janet Crampton - 7th September 2015

Our second new Member of the Rotary year is Janet Crampton, and we were pleased to induct her into the Club, on an evening when we also had an excellent presentation from John Proud and Duncan Davison on the Rotary project to bring IT equipment and internet access to schools in villages in Nepal.

Induction of our new Member Anne Ash - 10th August 2015

We were pleased to be able to induct Anne Ash as our first new member of the Rotary year.  This was on the evening that our new District Governor Hazel Haas joined us on her programme of visits round all the Club's in the District as part of her Presidential year.

The picture shows Anne with our President Alan, and DG Hazel.

Having Fun! - Summer 2015

During the summer months, bearing in mind we are supposed to have good weather(!), the Club organises some events for fun and fellowship. As July turned to August we have had two such events.  On 27th July we had a Treasure Hunt which was enjoyed by all, and won by Kevin and Val Hardisty. On the 2nd August many members of the Club with partners and guests were able to enjoy a BBQ at the home of one of our members.  A cloud burst at the time the cooking started was perhaps inevitable, but did not interupt proceeedings and a great time was had by everyone attending. We used the event as a launch of one of our 2015/16 projects - collecting bar codes off packets of "Yorkshire Tea".  This will help to raise funds for The Wheelchair Foundation, a charity which provides wheelchairs to individuals in need of mobility in more than 155 countries around the world. 

A Visit to the Former Northallerton Prison - 17th July 2015

A good turnout of members and guests were lucky to have the chance to look round the former prison site and learn something of it's history. 

Ten Pin Bowling with the Children of Chernobyl - 7th July 2015

Each year the local branch of the charity The Friends of Chernobyl's Children arrange for a month long stay for 12 children from the Chernobyl area, which still has a legacy of problems from the nuclear power plant accident some years ago.  The Club has for a number of year's arranged a day out for the children as part of their activities, and once again we went to Teeside Park for a couple of games of 10 pin bowling each side of an excellent burger lunch.  It was a pleasure to meet up again with some of the group, many of whom were in last year's party as well.  This showed in the scores, with Rotarians failing to be competitive on the scoreboard this time round!

Northallerton Carnival - 5th July 2015

The Club was busy on two counts on Carnival day this year.

As a fundraiser for our Youth activities we were pleased to be able to borrow the "Speed Tunnel" from Middlesborough Football Club.  This allowed budding David Beckhams to see whether they could kick the ball fastest over the course of the afternoon in one of 4 age categories.  It was very competitive, and this helped us raise £120 over the course of the afternoon.

Club members also assisted in marshalling the Carnival Parade from the Applegarth as it did a circular route along the High Street. Marching bands led the way and also brought up the rear of the procession, before returning to the field to produce excellent displays as part of a full programme enjoyed by many visitors to the event.

Handover to our new President Alan Miller - 29th June 2015

As the new Rotary year starts it is time to handover roles.  At the end of our last meeting in June, 2014-15 President Mark Williams handed over the Presidential Chain to our new President Alan Miller. 

Congratulations Alan - and best wishes from everyone in the Club for a great year ahead.  Alan presented Mark with his Past Presidents Jewel, and welcomed Anand Nadgir to his role as President Elect for the new year.