Bulletin for August 2026

                                                 Rotary Club of Cheltenham North

                                                            August 2026 Bulletin

From our President Anne Bartholomew

Welcome to the new Rotary Year 2026-2027, where my Club theme is ‘Serving our Communities’. I am confident that the Club will certainly achieve this, for example, with under 100 days now to our Wine Festival, which is one of our main fund raisers.

Thank you to Solomon and Lovell for their excellent promotion on Facebook, which we need to share with the other Clubs in both the Area and then wider afield. Of course, other events are being planned, and I know our members always join in to make these a real success.

Being Club President is certainly very different from being District Governor, but I am very appreciative of the Club Council for steering me in the right direction, if I am unsure about what to do.

When planning ahead, Nigel and John being joint Presidents for 2027-2028 is certainly a way forward and is now being adopted by other Clubs in the District. This approach spreads the workload and utilises the skills of each individual. My philosophy of a team approach has always worked so perhaps we may consider a joint Club Presidency in the future. I see Nigel and John as our role models, so no pressure!

We also need a Club Treasurer, as Linda agreed to continue till the end of my Presidency year. Jane continues to work behind the scenes, supporting Linda and others, which I am appreciative of. Over the next few months, I will have to use my powers of persuasion and talent spot!

The variation of Club speakers continues to impress me, so thank you David for your hard work in this area. I know Nick Gazzard thoroughly enjoyed talking to our Club on Monday and we are now arranging a donation of £100 to MBIMB. In the longer term, involvement in primary schools in Cheltenham, would be amazing.

Thank you to Clive for his hard work with keeping the Club website up to date. It is always encouraging to hear from our Community Grant Recipients, for example, James Plimmer and Ladies of Cheltenham Ladies College who will speak on their Greenpower Electric Car and Kurt Doyle (a Severn Vale Rotary Member) will speak on the Cheltenham Primary Schools Football Association. Clear examples of collaboration in our local Community, and prior to these our own Gill and Michael Rouse, with their talk, on "Rotary Trees around Cheltenham", so increasing our awareness of ‘Serving in our local Community.’

Foundation Richard Purdon

For those who haven’t heard, Richard is now Foundation Chair & Acting AG for Area 5 and Sybarite

So, we are well into a new Rotary Year and much has been happening.

1. The Foundation Committee has had dialogue. This is now 3 times the size of 2 years ago!!

We thought it might be useful to update the members on the role of the Rotary Foundation.

· It is OUR CHARITY. It focuses on 7 Areas of Focus- Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention. Basic Education and Literacy. Maternal and Child Health. Protecting the Environment. Disease Prevention and Treatment. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Community Economic Development.

· It has a Charity Navigator Score of 100%, putting it in the top 1% of charities in the world.

· Within Disease Prevention and Treatment, it has been able to vaccinate over 2.5 billion children for immunisation against polio.

· Donations can be made on- line or via RFUK in Alcester.

· Examples of donations- £80 for cataract operation for 3 people. Clean water for 1 person - £20. Polio Vaccine for 100 children – only £10.

· In addition, 350,000 scholarships have been awarded to students from around the world.

The Club has a policy for allowing individuals to make donations to the Annual Fund which is used to create finance to support the 7 Areas of focus.

The Club used to support the End Polio Now campaign but has not done so for some years.

The club has received 4 District Grants, since 2016/17 – 1 for Belmont School for I pads. 2 for School in the Bag. And the last 1 in 20/21 as part of the funding for the Community Connections vehicle.

To apply for such grants, the Club is required to attend an annual meeting to qualify. This has been done for 2026/27.

The Community Service and International Chairs have been asked to consider if they have suitable projects which could be supported by the D1100 District Gant.

In a practical sense, this might be reconsidered now for 2027/28 Rotary Year.

So, the Foundation Committee are there to offer advice if necessary.

And, if the Members and the Council would like some specific activity, which could be for donation to the Rotary Foundation, you have a dynamic trio to aid to work on some ideas.

2. The First AG 5 meeting of 2026/27 held on Wednesday 22/7/26.

I am delighted to thank President Anne, President Elect Nigel and Membership Chair for attending the above. It was a great support to me for my first such meeting for over 12 years!!

The main general topic was a new approach to developing all the 3 areas of Membership Growth.

And, in addition, it was an opportunity to hear how the other 6 clubs are doing, and how Rotarians can support clubs in need.

Clearly, President Anne will brief the Council if any of the content was relevant to our club.

And hopefully, this will be passed on to the full membership.

3. The Summer Event at Bowbury House on Sunday 26th July.

The rain held off, the sun shone and amazingly the temperature was a little cooler.

Thanks go to the pudding makers and the chair suppliers.

Donation to Sue Ryder Nigel Gilhead

Rotary Clubs work under the umbrella of Rotary International, with a series of protocols and policies to which we adhere. However, every Club retains a degree of autonomy. Each year the President of Cheltenham North asks if the members would support a nominated charity.

Nereide, my wife, was diagnosed with a spinal cord infection and moved to the Leckhampton Sue Ryder Hospice. The interaction my son and I had achieved with the busy hospital consultants and staff, was excellent;

but the ward environment, did not seem set up for end-of-life care. At Sue Ryder, things changed; we processed her situation, in a calm and supportive environment, she was so well looked after, nothing was too much trouble. During Nereide's last days she was medicated and peaceful. In the hope that others will be able to receive such support, I nominated the Hospice, the Club wholeheartedly supported it. So, our members could identify with a specific need, the Sue Ryder staff asked for a Bladder Scanner.

A visit to the Seaside Janet Keenan

The weather had been very hot but the forecast for Weston Super Mare was a bit cooler with a gentle breeze and the decision had been taken, we were going.

I arrived at Rowanfield at 8:15 to find the Year 3 classrooms full of children buzzing with excitement. Even the habitually late were there, clutching their backpacks and water bottles. The briefing meeting held and I was given the names of the five children in my charge, all lovely children whom I knew well. The buses were already there and being loaded with several borrowed awnings, to give some shade, and a big box on wheels full of buckets and spades. The children lined up in twos, Class 10 lead the way to the buses and we were soon off. The journey took a bit over an hour and there was some asking of ‘ are we nearly there yet?’, but mostly there was just steady chatter. There was a cheer when we first saw the sea. About half the year group had never seen it before. We were soon out of the bus and lining up to go to our designated patch of sand, marked out for us by cones. The children had to remain on this patch and were very good about doing so.

My group set about digging a big sand castle. The proposed size was enormous but I managed to scale it down a bit and the moat was dug with a harbour for the boats which the inhabitants of the castle were going to sail on it. There was a bridge over the moat and turrets on the castle and other children came to admire and help. Again, it was the first sand castle many of them had ever dug.

A whistle made us pause and the arrival of ice cream was announced. There were Magnums for every child and they were hugely enjoyed. These had been provided from the Community Committee’s funds with help from the Rotary Holidays for Children’s Trust. We did this because last year the ‘ice creams’ were part of the package from Weston and were small purple lollies which did not taste very nice and the children were very disappointed. This year they were very happy. They were obviously told to thank me for the treat and I think every child did, some of them more than once. I had lots of thank you cards for days afterwards.

After this we went down to the sea in classes, starting with class 10, including my group. They had been told that they could paddle up to their knees and several of the staff were standing in the sea to make sure no-one strayed. The sea was lukewarm, having come in a long way over hot sand. As anticipated the children stared to ’fall o ver’ and soon they were all soaking wet and shrieking with laughter. There was quite a lot of bladderwrack sea weed in small pieces, which was good for the little boys to throw at each other and also small shells to collect ( mainly by the girls). All too soon it was time for Class 11’s turn and we went back to our castle, collecting more shells on the way. The children had all been told to bring a change of clothes and most of them changed, though some just dried off in the sun. The castle had been messed about with in our absence, and needed the harbour re-making and the turrets replacing. Then it was lunch time, which we had in the shade under the awnings. The children had all brought packed lunches, and there were fish and chips for the adults and chips for the children.

Then it was time for a walk to the pier. We had a look round but had little time to spend any money because all too soon it was time to walk back to the buses. The way back to school was a bit quieter and some children fell asleep. We were back by four and were met by the parents waiting to take a bunch of very happy children home.

We are going to do it all again next year, including one of the highlights of the day – the ice creams.

Tea in a Tent 19th July Nigel Gilhead

Our strong relationship with Cheltenham Future was reinforced the other weekend, when several of us helped at their very successful Tea in a Tent event in Chris and Sue's Garden. With 55 people attending they raised £2,254 for ShelterBox and local charities, allocating £1,200 of that to ShelterBox.. Man y of the participants were from the Civic Society and Rotary Clubs in the Cheltenham area, along with their guests and Sue's former landscaping students. Throughout the sunny afternoon, there was a happy vibe, the constant conversation only broken by forays to the bar and the wonderful array of sandwiches, scones and cakes.

Lunch Party at The Purdons

A lovely event to thank David & Gail for all their support and hard work during his Presidential year. The sun shone, there was a bit of a breeze and the garden looked magnificent, despite the drought. Helen & Richard had done the catering with help from some members with the desserts. It was all delicious. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed.

News from Cheltenham Future Rotary Club Tony Pawley

The Club organised a show for 150 pupils at Oakwood School on 10th June, with a splendid magician and entertainer. It was a great success. It was funded by a £750 grant from Kid’s Fun Day (the successor to Kids Out).

Nigel’s report in this Bulletin on Tea in a Tent on 19th July highlights the benefit of inviting many people (and their dogs!) from outside the Rotary family, of all ages and backgrounds. The event raised useful funds, promoted

the Rotary image and could result in new members. Safeguarding issues precluded help from Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees, but Future and RCCN members worked tirelessly together to meet all needs.

Ladies who lunch tea party!

Paddy is kindly hosting a tea party on Wednesday 5th August at Home Farm 3pm – 5pm

Please contact Rosanne if you wish to attend.

Future Programme Clive O’Gorman

Mon, Aug 3rd 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker Dr Toby Jones FSA. He will speak on "The Newport Mary Rose Ship" better known as the Newport Medieval Ship Project. Partners and Guests Welcome. Menu TBA Host Beth Phillip

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Wed Aug 5th 2026 at 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Ladies who Lunch (Afternoon Tea)

The Ladies who Lunch are organising an Afternoon Tea at Home Farm Tredington for a Tea and Cake Details to follow

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Mon, Aug 17th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with Speakers our own Gill and Michael Rouse . Their talk is on "Rotary Trees around Cheltenham". Partners and Guests Welcome. Menu TBA Host Anne Bartholomew

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Mon, Sep 7th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speakers James Plimmer and Ladies of Cheltenham Ladies College who will speak on their Greenpower Electric Car ( A Community Grant Payment). Partners and Guests Welcome. Menu TBA Host Mary Ann Rust

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Mon, Sep 21st 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with Guest Speaker the Speaker Kurt Doyle (A Severn Vale Rotary Member) will speak on the Cheltenham Primary Schools Football Association (A Community Grants Recipient) Menu TBA Partners and Guests are welcome Host Jane Setton

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Wed, Sep 23rd 2026 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

District 1100 Forum

A District 1100 Forum via Zoom

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Mon, Oct 5th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker Partners and Guests Welcome Menu TBA Host Gwynne Tucker Brown AB Away

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Mon, Oct 19th 2026 at 12:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker. at Cotswold Hills Golf Club. NOTE THIS IS A LUNCH TIME MEETING Partners and Guests Welcome. Menu TBA Host Stephen Wood

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Wed, Oct 21st 2026 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Area 5 Meeting

An Area 5 meeting at the Tithe Barn Bishops Cleeve