PRESIDENT'S BLOG - OCTOBER

October ‘24

The outstanding highlight of the past month has to be attending the official opening of Byrchall High School’s brand new carbon net zero school building, also attended by the The Rt Hon Josh Simmons, MP for Ashton-in-Makerfield, and The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

There has, for some years, been a connection between the school and Rotary; former Head Teacher, Kenneth Allen, was the Founder President of the Rotary Club of Ashton-in-Makerfield with Haydock, sadly now disbanded. We will be restoring and presenting to the school the rose bowl that was dedicated to Ken’s memory and was presented annually to a Rotarian who had made a significant impact on the work of Rotary during the year.

We were treated to light refreshments and a guided tour of the new school building. A big thank you to current Headteacher, Alan Birchall, and Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Angela Finch for their kind invitation in recognition of Rotary’s association with the school, both past and present.

We continue to share a common interest with our partner school – Newclare Primary School – in South Africa as we work together to support education there. You can read more about Newclare in the ‘Menu > What We Do > international 24/25’ section of this website.

We hosted our annual John Vardy awards on 17 September, awarding the achievements of students from two of our local High Schools – Golborne High School and Hope Academy - who, post-GCSE, have progressed to advanced education.

We had just one guest speaker in September; visiting the UK from Newfoundland, Canada, Dr. Kathy Hodgkinson gave an excellent presentation about genetic research into sudden cardiac death leading to developments in treatment and improvement in life expectancy.

At the end of the month we visited Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral where our guides, Robbie and Colin, gave us an interesting and informative tour of this magnificent building. There is so much to see that we didn’t see everything. Our tour was followed by an excellent buffet lunch provided by their in-house caterer.

Remember . . . If you like what you see, and feel that you would like to be involved in some way, please do get in touch at secretary.nlewrotary@gmail.com ; we’d love to hear from you!

President Ray