Club Blog - July 2015

At the beginning of July, President Julia attended an Oasis Academy Longmeadow assembly to present the primary school with 16 Usborne Illustrated Dictionaries. This is the second time we have made a donation to this school, the original dictionaries have been so well used, replacements were required!  President Julia will present a further 16 dictionaries to Castle Mead School in the Autumn term. The Dictionary 4 Life  Rotary project is part of the Rotary literacy campaign, promoting British English and encouraging children to widen their vocabularies and improve their life chances.

On 8th July, Annie from Alzheimer's Support joined our meeting to explain what the group does and how volunteers may help. Alzheimer's Support started in Trowbridge in 1990 and now supports people living with all types of dementia and their family carers across East & West Wiltshire. Some of our members are interested in the possibility of volunteering on a regular basis and hope to go along to some of the sessions shortly.

On 8th July Caroline, David and Liz attended St Augustine's Catholic College to assist with career week. Our role was to conduct mock job interviews with Year 10 students, giving feedback on the application form completion, student personal presentation and question responses. We all found the experience very rewarding, albeit tiring, and feedback from the students indicates they found it a very positive and beneficial experience.

The third Monday was a member organised evening organised by David and Alan. A walking treasure hunt around the centre of Trowbridge, starting and finishing at the Lamb was enjoyed by all, and particularly enjoyed by the two organisers the week before when they devised the trail, fortified with plenty of the local brew! Congratulations to Andrew, Ann & Liz who won with an impressive 29/30 score.

Our Business Meal meeting took place on the final Monday of the month and we were delighted to be joined by a number of guests. Andy Barlow, soon to be new member, along with District Governor Bob Acland and Rtn. David Pottow from Mendip Rotary Club, and one of the 'fathers' of Wessex Mead, Nick Plant from Chinon Rotary.

Nick Plant and Mike Webb were the driving force that created Wessex Mead Rotary Club back in 2001/2. They were our mentors, guiding us along the Rotary path, but like all good fathers they allowed us to find our own direction to become the club we are today. On retirement, Nick & his wife Pat relocated to the French town of Chinon, and Nick continues to share his knowledge & commitment to Rotary with the Chinon Rotary Club, whilst enjoying many glasses of the local wine!

District Governor Bob is on his 'getting to know you tour' of the clubs in District 1200. Bob gave us some background on and a message, "Be a gift to the world", from Rotary International President K.R.Ravindran, before talking a little about his own background, family and where he believes Rotary needs to go. Bob  complimented TWM on how we operate and all we achieve, it was great to hear that as a club we are punching way above our weight!