November 2021

Following on from our personation to St Marys Hospice on November 2^nd we are delighted that a further £205 has been sent bringing the final total raised from our Pink 5K & Martin’s Swim Challenge to a magnificent £ 2,706. Very many thanks to all concerned!

On Saturday 20^th November anyone walking along Vicarage Road to Rothay Park might have been somewhat surprised to see a number of ‘bottoms in the air’ on the verges opposite the school! ‘What are you doing?’ was a frequently asked question! The answer was we were planting 4000 Crocus Bulbs for our End Polio Now Campaign.

We were very grateful to have the help of Luke who kindly strimmed the grass ready for our planting, and it was such a joy to have other than Rotary members coming along to help with the planting. Thank you also to Ambleside Parish Centre who provided much needed hot drinks & cakes, despite being very busy running a Craft Fair.

We look forward to seeing lots of Purple Crocuses in the Spring – a reminder of the Purple4Polio crocus planting to raise awareness for ‘End Polio Now’ Rotary’s global campaign to eradicate polio across the world.

On a very wet Saturday members were out on the streets of Ambleside selling poppies and raising awareness of the RBL Poppy Appeal, raising just over £700.  It is always a privilege to be part of the Street Collections for this appeal. On Remembrance Sunday members attended the annual Remembrance Service at St Marys Church followed by President Val laying one of many wreaths at the War Memorial where the 94 Ambleside men who lost their lives in Service were remembered

Members met via zoom to hear a very interesting talk from David Kozlowski from the MS Society. David, a council member of MS, works with the staff team in England, as well as with local groups, to raise awareness and promote improved treatments and care for those with MS. David lives in Windermere and was originally diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS but transitioned to secondary progressive MS in 2013.  At that point he had to stop working and gave details of the first-hand impact MS can have on employability and the dramatic effect it can have on families. His voluntary work involves pushing for improvements in medicine, diagnostics, treatment and care of those affected by MS. A donation of £100 was made to the Society.

November’s get together was a very enjoyable Fish & Chip Supper at The Lamplighter in Windermere. Many thanks to all at the Lamplighter for making our evening so comfortable and hospitable.

What a great positive month for AK!