2019-20 Highlights

This page gives a summary of some of the things we achieved in the Rotary year ended 30th June 2020.

Supporting Hambleton Foodshare - June 2020

At the start of the Covid crisis we agreed to pledge £1000 to Hambleton Foodshare to assist them over the period of the lockdown and beyond, as we expected demand to increase and stay high for some time to come.  The first call off against that pledge was a shop for items to meet current shortages  at the time. Here are some of the things we bought being delivered to the Foodshare premises.

Lockdown Photographic Competition Presentation - 26th May 2020

It was good to be able to visit Northdale, with suitable social distancing of course, to make a presentation of the proceeds of our competition and learn something more about what Northdale are doing during these difficult times. Currently all Northdale service users are isolated at home and the £200 raised will be used to fund activity boxes which are being delivered to them, and which contain pencils, colouring books and the like to keep them occupied. Simon Cross, Northdale Manager said "We are very grateful to Northallerton Mowbray Rotary Club and the donation will help us support our clients at home to keep safe and keep busy". Alison Ballard who is running the scheme said “From feedback, the packs are helpful for carers as well as isolating clients as they help to give some structure to their days.”

The picture shows an activity box and some of the early artwork returned as part of the initiative. Left to Right: Simon Cross, Manager of Northdale; Alison Ballard, Activity box scheme organiser; Alan Miller, competition organiser; Anne Wall, Northallerton Mowbray Rotary Club President

A Donation to Martin House Children's Hospice

We were sad but not surprised when the decision was taken that the 2020 Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) week could not go ahead this summer.  We decided that the money saved on the fee should go to a good cause aimed at young people, and chose to give this to Martin House Children's Hospice. 

Lockdown Photographic Competition - May 2020

The results are in for our Lockdown Photographic Competition. We had entries from thirteen members of the Club, representatives from six other Rotary Clubs, including five entries from members of Northallerton Rotary Club, and half a dozen from friends of members .

The competition was judged independently by Ali and Phil Bird. Alli isa key worker in these troubled times and a Staff Nurse at the Friarage, and we are grateful to them for acting as our judges and the though they gave to the images.

The monies raised is to be donated to Northdale, a worthy charity providing training and work-based activities for adults with learning and/or physical disabilities. As all Northdale clients are currently isolated at home they are sending out activity boxes containing pencils, colouring books and the like to keep them occupied.The Manager Simon cross said "We are very grateful to Northallerton Mowbray Rotary Club and the donation will help us support our clients at home to keep safe and keep busy". Northdale will be receiving £200 from our efforts as all three winnerskindly donated their prizes back to the Charity, which is very kind of them. 

In first place was Pauline Kirby, wife of the President of Richmond Rotary Club. Pauline's entry is captioned "Sixty days off-the-wall", and the judges comment was "Very creative and tells a surreal story of lockdown and mixed emotions".

Second place goes to our President Anne Wall with an entry captioned "Awaiting the return of the grand-children playmates". The judges comment was "Very poignant showing just how important family really is".

 In third place is Susan Rogers, our Assistant District Governor North) and from Wensleydale Rotary Club.. Her entry was captioned "Sunday dinner with friends". Comment from the judges was "A timely reminder of those home alone as indicated by one place setting. Technology at it's best". 

Thanks also go to everyone else who took part in such a good cause, and to Alan for organising the event. 

Support for our NHS staff at the Friarage Hospital.

As the lockdown got underway and approaches to providing care at the Hospital changed there was a call for items that would assist staff who were having to work longer than normal shifts or stay over at the Hospital, including toiletries and other items for the rest rooms.  Club members collected a range of things to help in that initiative.  We also decided, with Easter coming, that Easter Eggs would lift spirits so a large number were bought so that one could be given to each of the wards and departments.

Monies for Rotary Foundation

Over the course of each year the Club holds a variety of events and fundraising initiatives for our own Charity "The Rotary Foundation" and for one of the most important initiatives run through the Foundation which supports the Rotary campaign to eradicate polio across the globe. So although some opportunities in the latter part of the year were regretably not able to be pursued, we have sent off our donations for 2019-20.  £608 for the polio campaign and another £495 for general Foundation funds 

Technology Tournament held at Catterick Garrison - 10th March 2020

As usual the Club, working with the Rotary Clubs of Northallerton, Thirsk, Richmond and Wensleydale put on the annual Schools Technology Tournament at Catterick with the assistance of 1st Close Support Battalion of REME. 70 students from 6 schools took part in the event which had teams entering at different age groups in Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced level tasks which challenged the team to design, build and test a model of a self propelled vehicle.  Two teams from the two companies in the REME Battalion also took part in the Advanced level test. Some very clever designs were developed by the teams and a great time was had by all.  As usual this event proved to be one of the most satisfying projects of the Rotary year. It was great to provide a really stimulating and fun day for the students, whilst also being great fun for the Rotarians supporting the event, and an excellent opportunity for fellowship across the 5 clubs and REME.

Pancake Event Proceeds presented to Youth Space - March 2020

All the teams and participants who entered this year'sadults event paid an entry fee, and the proceeds went to Youth Space in Northallerton. So a good fun event, but also something to help one of the much valued charities in town. It hosts activity sessions for young people in the Town Hall on Friday evenings. The picture shows members of the BID team who organised the event making a presentation of the £96 raised to Youth Space.

Another Shelterbox - this time to assist with the crisis in Syria - March 2020

The Club agreed to send monies for a second Shelterbox of the year following the urgent appeal by Shelterbox for help with aid to those affected by the latest campaigns around Idlib in the North of Syria.  We sent £590, enough for another fully equipped Shelterbox including tent and other emergency items.

An Afternoon Tea hosted by the Friends of Chernobyl's Children - 8th March 2020

As one of the many organisations supporting the Friends of Chernobyl's Children we were invited to an afternoon tea celebration in thanks to all the families, individuals and organisations who work together to make these annual visits of children from Belarus such a success.  It was a pleasure to join this event. 

For many years we have supported the group to take the Children either ten-pin bowling, or to the Rotary Kids Out day.

Our President Anne was able to report that we had once again promised funds for this year.

We hope that the Coronavirus measures will not get in the way of the visit - but if it does we will have to look forward to 2021.

Yorkits Day at York Minster - 5th March 2020

Three of our members joined many other volunteers from the area at a Yorkits workshop making washable feminine hygiene kits for girls in develoiping countries.  Due to poverty many girls have no sanitary provision and can't go to school during menstruation, therefore missing out on large parts of their education.

Our pictures show Kate and Carole hard at work in the morning session, and at the end of the afternoon session all the kits made that day were ready to be collected and Anne is pictured with the outcome of a very succesful day.

Working with Ghana Outlook to provide Clean Water - February 2020

We were pleased to hear that Ghana Outlook have been able to install the Aquabox paid for by our Club donation.

The feed back and pictures from the Ghana Ouitlook team whilst in Ghana says it all:

"We went to Dulingou today. A very remote community of 1,100 in north Ghana. Felix a young student spoke of his and his community's concern about their water. The river bed is dry for at least four months and they dig scoop holes to find water. They regularly suffer severe bouts of sickness and diarrhoea  which can be fatal. Ghana Outlook with Northallerton Mowbray Rotary Club has provided an aqua filter box which cleans the water and makes it safe to drink. There was much delight when clean water became available. Our next job is to provide a water borehole."

"Flipping Heck"! - 25th February 2020

Two members formed a Rotary Club team in the Town Pancake race, proudly sporting our Rotary Aprons - and President Anne was the first lady home. Many congratulations to her. The secret to her success? "I decided to do one flip of the pancake and run". Meanwhile our other entrant Geoff was making a flipping mess of it down the course and did not trouble the winners enclosure!

Great fun was had by all on a cold but bright day.

And the added bonus was that both Look North with a camera crew, and Radio York with their morning show were at the event so the Club was able to get some good publicity as part of the coverage, with Anne on live radio.

Our pictures show Anne in action on the course as well as the line up of winners of the women's, mens, and three-legged casses.

"Bannocks and Blood" - A Shetland Afternoon Tea Murder Mystery - 23rd February 2020

We based a fun afternoon round a scenario written by Ann Cleeves - author of the Shetland series of crime novels. This set a challenge to the more than 100 people who attended the afternoon to step into the shoes of Jimmy Perez and decide who did it and why! Great fun was had by all and a good proportion of those present chose the correct killer, with some very inventive reasons given! Ann's scenario was based on the tragic event happening at a Shetland Afternoon Tea.  A range of recipes were provided as part of the scenario pack and members of the Club had great fun recreating these as part of the tea we served on the day.  With a very succesful raffle and a book stall of pre-loved crime fiction we were able to raise over £800 to be split between Herriot Hospice Homecare and the Rotary Polio Plus Campaign.

Rotary Young Chef - Update February 2020

Following the Club rounds it was time for the winners of those events to move to the next stage, which for our Club meant joining with the Knaresborough Club for the "North Group Cook Off".  This was held at Bedale High School with the two top placed candidates from our Club rounds at Bedale and Northallerton being joined by the winner of the Knaresborough Club round held at Queen Ethelburga's School.  Another excellent event ensued with high standards from all those taking part.  Only one of the participants was able to progress to the next round - The District Final.  This was George Bramley from Bedale High School.

Our picture shows our Club President Anne with all the participants at the North Group Cook Off.

George enjoyed his afternoon at the District Final at Betty's and like all the students there he put on an excellent performance.  But only one person was able to progress to the Regional final and this was the student from the Wakefield area. Our picture shows George and his meal, and also the candidates with District Governor Manoj.

We were pleased to be able to attend the Assembly at Bedale High School on 26th February to share the success of the two participants with other pupils and staff at the school and to make the official presentation of certificates and a cook book as a memento of their efforts.

Rotary Shoebox Collection - January 2020

Members of the Club have been busy collecting and filling shoeboxes as part of the Rotary Shoebox Scheme. The boxes which can be filled with appropriate items for babies, boys or girls at different ages, or with household items, are then collected by the Charity for distribution to Eastern Europe, mainly Ukraine and Romania.  It was good fun deciding what to put in to our boxes, and all in a great cause.

Hands on Rotary - Helping with the polio vaccination campaign in India - January 2020

Two of our members Janet and Diane took part in the polio vaccination programme in Amritsar, India as part of a rotary group from District 1040. They had a warm Indian welcome and our second picture shows Janet giving one of the vaccine doses.

A Fellowship Evening at York Pantomime - January 8th 2020

A group of us went to York to see the Pantomime at the Theatre Royal -Sleeping Beauty.  Oh no you didn't - Oh yes we did!  And an enjoyable time was had by all.  We started early with a meal at Carluccios before going to the show.  Those of you who know the York Panto will recall that it has been a tradition for many many years for special Wagon Wheels to be thrown into the audience.  This year our seats must have been very carefully chosen, as two members of our party were the proud recipients of same!

We all had a great night out.

A "Bit of Fun" before Christmas - 9th December 2019

To get in the Christmas spirit the Club had a fun evening creating some decorated biscuits.  Whilst it is rumoured that some made it to the tree as a suitable festive decoration we believe most were eaten!

Our picture shows the members present displaying their craftwork!

Santa Collections - December 2019

This year the Club did not take Santa out in his Sleigh round Northallerton, but he did visit the Stages Rally at Croft Cicuit where a magnificent £276 was raised over the lunchtime period in aid of St Theresa's Hospice in Darlington.  This was a welcome addition to the total for our key fundraising target this year for local hospices.

We also welcomed Santa to a number of store collections.  Thanks to Tesco, Marks and Spencer and B&M for their support. Overall £1,165 was raised. This will assist in the main in funding our youth related projects in the year ahead.

Thank you to all who gave so generously.

Rotary Young Chef 2019/20 - Club Rounds held this December

The Young Chef competition for the year got off to a flying start with Club rounds held at Bedale High School and Northallerton School and 6th Form College.  The two top placed students from each of these rounds will join the winner from the Knaresborough Club competition held at Queen Ethelburga's School in the next round which is the "North Group Cook Off" to be held at Bedale High School in late January.

Northallerton Schools and 6th Form College Awards Evening - 4th December 2019

The Club is pleased to be able to sponsor an award each year for th School, and President Anne attended the Awards Evening on 4th December to present the Northallerton Mowbray Rotary Club Award for Outstanding Achievement at A2 level to Henry Grainge.  Well done to Henry and all the other pupils honoured with awards this year.

Santa Sunday - 1st December 2019

The Club was pleased to help escort Santa on his arrival in Northallerton on Santa Sunday.  The sun shone, the band played, the camels and the 3 Wise Men were in attendance and lots of people turned out for this great community event. 

A Gala Night at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate for Dinner and a performance of "Chicago" - 30th November 2019

Ten members and friends attended this great night out.  The Rotary Club of Knaresborough, working with the Collegiate, had arranged this excellent event with around 200 people at the Dinner. We had a great meal in a marquee dressed very appropriately for the evening.  After our starters and mains we adjourned to the Theatre for Act 1 of the production of the musical "Chicago", with our desert being taken in the interval.  The show was enjoyed by all - with great performances from all the students involved. As an added bonus a considerable sum was raised for the brain tumour charity the PPR Foundation, and for the projects for young people sponsored by Knaresborough Rotary Club.   Our picture shows the Dinner side of the evening.  Unfortunately no photos were allowed of the show so we are not able to show you the excellent and evocative sets, costumes and actors.

A Fellowship Visit to Reubens - 27th November 2019

The Club was very sorry to see one of the longstanding members of the team at our Club meeting place leave to work at pastures new.  But it provided a great excuse for a number of Club Members to see how she is getting on in her new role at the Reubens Hotel in Leeming Bar, and we joined Louise and her daughter Brooke for a pleasant afternoon catching up on recent events and partaking of the excellent seasonal afternoon tea being served as part of the hotel's festive offer this year. Everyone gave this a five star rating.

Bonfire Night Fireworks in Northallerton - 5th November 2019

The Club has for many year's assisted with the bucket collection at Northallerton Town Fireworks to raise money towards the next year's event. Here we are again! And in spite of the miserable weather during this period we are pleased to say it was dry and clear.  A very large crowd turned out to see a magnificent display of fireworks, and for those nearer the action to get nicely warmed up by the fire. The club helped to raise a magnificent £3,288 for next year's event. 

Bedale Book and Postcard Fair - 27th October 2019 

The Club has just taken over the organisation and running of this long established Fair.  We will hold this twice a year to raise funds for Rotary projects.

The Fair was a great success, with monies raised by the event itself, and also our tea room.  In all we made around £1,100 for our club projects.

We were pleased to receive a visit from the Mayor of Bedale Andrew Hallett to see how we were getting on.

Project Update - October 2019

With over a quarter of the year gone it seems a good time to summarise what we have been doing in terms of our service projects so far this year.

We have sent money to Shelterbox (£590) to meet the cost of one of their boxes to help out when required following a natural disaster.

We have sent £200 to each of Herriot Hospice Homecare and Martin House Children's Hospice from monies raised at the raffle and other donations at our Charter Dinner

We have sent £300 to Ghana Outlook to enable them to take an Aquabox to a village school in Ghana on their next visit in the new year.

We have "invested" £250 in our new venture to set up a Microloan Scheme working with Lendwithcare.  Our first loans go to village groups in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.  These groups are seeking to make a difference to the lives of themselves, their families and communities by developing sustainable businesses.

25th Charter Dinner - 19th October 2019

A night of glitz and glamour at our Silver Anniversary Charter Night celebrating our 25 years of Service above Self.  It was great to welcome so many guests and representatives from Rotary Clubs throughout Yorkshire and beyond, as well as family and friends. Our excellent speaker was also a Rotarian, Jan Long of the Rotary Club of Ledbury, who gave a fascinating talk on our local heroine Gertrude Bell. Our picture shows Club President Anne with members of the Club.

Our raffle and donations from the night will mean we are able to support both Herriott Hospice Homecare and Martin House Children's Hospice with donations of £200 each, in support of DG Manoj's theme for this Rotary year of all Clubs across the District providing assistance to the Hospice movement which provides such a vital resource in our communities. The great level of attendance also means we will have made a surplus on running the event as well and the Club has agreed that this should go towards one of President Anne's other priorities. Following a trip to Ghana last year which highlighted the level of need in that country, we will be pleased to assist in a scheme to bring clean water to a school in the north-west of the country by donating funds for an AquaBox to be delivered through the Charity Ghana Outlook.  We will now look at ways in which we might assist in raising funds for a borehole at the school to provide a longer term sustainable solution.

RYLA Feedback Evening - 14th October 2019

It was our turn to host the RYLA feedback evening this year on behalf of our Club and the Northallerton Club, each of which sponsors a student on this very worthwhile activity, consisting of a week of leadership development based around an outdoor centre near Hebden Bridge. Laura and Jack gave excellent presentations on their time there and what they had learnt.  As usual the message coming back was one of a challenging and enjoyable week that had developed their leadership skills and self confidence.  It was great to meet their familiies and some of the rotarians involved in putting on this event.

Raising the profile of the Club at a Volunteering Event in Northallerton - 16th October 2019

We were able to take part in a large volunteering event put on by Hambleton Community Action in the Golden Lion. Alongside many other organisations serving the town and the local area this provided a showcase of our work and the opportunities to join in. 

A Fellowship Evening in Yarm - 13th October 2019

A number of us from the Club attended an excellent Bollywood Evening at Yarm, where we were taken through the many festivals of India across the year with different dances and stunning costumes.  A great evening that was rounded off by a meal at an excellent Italian Restaurant CENA on Yarm High Street. Thanks to Sandhya for making the arrangements.

District Conference in Scarborough - 12th to 13th October 2019

Seven members of the Club were able to make the trip over to Scarborough for this year's Conference. Some went for the day on Saturday, whilst others were able to stay for the weekend. We all agreed it was an inspiring event with a number of excellent speakers and a good range of stalls in the Rotary Showcase, as well as an opportunity to meet old friends and make some new ones. And with a range of entertainment laid on as well it was the perfect recipe for a great weekend.

A number of years ago we did some work at the Clervaux project in Croft, limewashing some of their straw bale buildings.  It was quite a surprise to find that a photo of Anne at this event, liberally spattered with limewash, had found it's way onto a District pull-up at some point.Truly one of our more memorable pieces of "Hands on Rotary"!

A night out in Ripon for their Charter Dinner - 9th October 2019

A group of us were pleased to be able to support Ripon Rotary Club at their Charter Dinner. A good meal and good company, and an interesting speaker Malcolm the Weaver. Duncan Davison from the Northallerton Club with his wife Jan were also on our table. Top marks to Duncan for remembering to bring his scarf from Manoj!

An evening to celebrate Dussehra - 28th September 2019

As a thank you for the support Club members gave to Jaya and Muttu on their sponsored walk in India a few months ago, and to celebrate the Hindu Festival of Dussehra, we had a very pleasant evening with some excellent Indian cuisine, and an opportunity to hear more about the background to this Festival and how it fits into Hindu beliefs.  It was most interesting to hear how the same story of the triumph of good over evil is told in different ways, and with different emphases, in different parts of India, with Jaya, Anand and Adhip giving us the variations that exist in their home States.

Our Presidential Theme for the Year - Youth and their Achievements - Hannah Russell - 23rd September 2019

President Anne has chosen youth as one of her main themes for the year, and in particular those young people who have achieved a lot in their young lives.  A great example of this is Hannah Russell who came to talk to the Club at our weekly meeting.  She has had great success as the author of the Little Alf books, and she told us how the out-of-the-blue gift of a minature Shetland pony was the inspiration for an international publishing phenomenon. She has gone on to start other businesses in her home town of Leyburn. She is pictured here with our host for the evening Sue O'Grady.

A visit from DG Manoj - 20th September 2019

We had a most enjoyable lunchtime get together involving our Club, and the Northallerton and Thirsk Clubs, when we had a visit fro District Governor Manoj, accompanied by his wife and daughter to a joint meeting of our Clubs.  One of Manoj's key messages is the need to publicise what Rotary achieves if we are to grow our membership.  The decoration of his vehicle is certainly eye-catching and we all felt a little ashamed of our small window stickers!

Our picture shows Manoj with Club Presidents Duncan, Anne and Andy standing near the said vehicle. Manoj is giving each Club President a special Rotary scarf on his visits - and very smart they are too - worn with pride.

Raising awareness of Rotary to the people of Bedale - 14th September 2019

An event was held in bedale in the newly refurbished and re- modelled Methodist Church.  This was aimed at raising the awareness of the people in the town and area to the various volunteering organisations who took part in the event. With the Rotary Clubs of Northallerton and Wensleydale we hosted a stall showcasing the work done in the three clubs. Whilst unfortunately the event was not that well attended we were able to share our message with a number of people and we were also able to meet and swap notes with lots of other charities and community organisations active in the area.

We welcome our second new Member of the year - Paul Woodvine - 2nd September 2019

We were very pleased to welcome Paul Woodvine as our newest Member. He is seen here with his sponsor Ian and President Anne.

We welcome back Carole Ford as a Member of the Club - 5th August 2019

We were pleased to welcome back Carole Ford as a member of our Club, and since August is membership month it seemed a good opportunity to have a group photo of everyone at the meeting that evening. We look forward to Carole's company and for all her ideas and input into our projects in the future.

A Trip to Hambleton Ales - 29th July 2019

Another week another social event! We visited Hambleton Ales Brewery in Melmerby to hear from founder Nick Stafford how he had set up the business.  We also had a tour round the brewery to see how the beer is made and to understand some of the practical sides of the business. Oh, and did I mention that we also had an opportunity to sample some of the beers, and very nice they were too! 

We rounded off a very pleasant evening with a meal at the George and Dragon in Melmerby.

Our Annual Treasure Hunt - 22nd July 2019

This year our Treasure Hunt took us to Thornton Le Beans, and as is usually the case on these events we learnt lots about the village which seemed to have passed us by on previous visits. We rounded off the evening with a meal at the Crosby Inn. The winning team - "The Confused Four" - now look forward to enjoying their prize which is, of course, the honour of setting the clues for our 2020 event!

A Concert by the Children from Chernobyl - 10th July 2019

In June the Club hosted a very enjoyable day out for the Group Ten Pin Bowling at Teeside Park.  We were pleased to be invited to the Farewell Concert put on by the Children as a thank you to everyone involved in making their stay enjoyable.  This included the host families as well as groups such as Rotary who had sponsored days out. 

Whilst we had been with the Group we thought it would be a great idea to get them to decorate some plates on the theme of the World Cycling Championships which are to be held in Yorkshire in September, with the Elite Men Time Trial starting in Northallerton. It was also a great link to the Rotary Theme in 2019-20 - "Rotary Connects the World". The plates will form part of the decoration of the Forum in September. President Anne is shown with the group enthusiastically showing their artwork to the audience!  There are some very talented artists in the the group, and they had all enjoyed the challenge.

Club Handover - July 2019

This proved to be an event of many parts. Because of personal commitments we were not able to achieve this at one event.  But we finally managed to get the new team together for a photo at our weekly meeting on 8th July. Anne Wall takes over as President for the year, supported by Malcolm Warne as our President Elect. After a year as our President for 2018-19, Janet Crampton returns to the role of Club Secretary. Tony Wood continues as our Treasurer.

Congratulations to them all, and we look forward to a great year under their leadership.

An Afternoon Tea Party to Welcome in the New Rotary Year - 7th July 2019

The beginning of a new Rotary year always seems to be a good excuse for a party! So as a "Hail and Farewell" to welcome Anne into her new role and say thank you to Janet for her year we had an afternoon tea party on a lovely sunny afternoon at Anne and Geoff's house.  

District Handover at Bradford - 6th July 2019

6 members from the Club had a very enjoyable evening at the Banqueting Suite of the Aagrah Restaurant in Bradford to mark the handover to our new District Governor Manoj Joshi. There was an excellent turnout of 350 rotarians and their guests on the theme "West Meets East".  As well as an excellent Indian Banquet meal of many courses, we were entertained by a range of different musical and dance offerings: a choir from Bradford Academy, Indian Classical Dance from a very talented young dancer who was still only 9 years old, some scottish bagpipe music and some African Drumming. It was great to see such a talented group of young people.  We were also able to meet old friends and make some new ones.  Truly a showcase linked to this year's Rotary Motto "Rotary Connects the World". Our picture shows our incoming President Anne with incoming District Governor Manoj, both proudly wearing their newly presented chains of office for the new Rotary year.