Club Bulletin for April 2023

                                                   Rotary Club of Cheltenham North

                                                                     April 2023 Bulletin

Thoughts for April:

Life has its ups and downs – we call them squats.

" Spring is the time of plans and projects." — Leo Tolstoy.

Love our Turf Richard Purdon

Cheltenham Festival 14th to 17th March and 100 years of the Gold Cup

Yes, they were off!!

4 days of World Class Racing, over the Jumps and Hurdles with a prize fund of around £4 million.

The Love our Turf Initiative was new to the Festival, although it had been trialled for 1 day in the November meeting previously.

About 40 Wayfinders were recruited to welcome the crowd into the track, and to help them find their bearings on the way out- this proved not to be such an easy task!! Many happy punters had come by coach. But most could not remember which of the 3 coach parks, around the track they had been dropped at on arrival.

Most were extremely well behaved and only a few clearly has had a Guinness or 2 too many.

The Jockey Club had hired more toilets along the main routes from the South of the course. More waste bins emptying took place. And generally the scheme was welcomed by the local Residents who had gardens and properties along the main routes. Numbers of complaints about anti-social behaviour were well down on previous years.

I would like to thank President Janet; DGE Anne and David Hearle who did 1 shift each. This meant arriving on site at 9.15 a.m. and leaving about 7 .15 p.m. We were given free parking ; vouchers to contribute to food in our break; and free tickets which allowed us to watch 3 or 4 races per day.

On the Jockey Club website there are details of the support being given over the next 18 months towards the Celebration of the 100 years of running the Gold Cup. Funds raised will be allocated to worthy applications from any club; charity; and societies who can apply for £500 - £2500. All applicants have to have a base in 1 of the 5 GL50 postal codes.

The link is :- https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham – festival/gold-cup-100/community – grant – initiative/

President Janet has more details. Suffice to say it is a golden opportunity for Rotarians to network with our contacts to encourage them to apply for these grants. National Star College and Open Door are obvious examples of this.

Visit to the Star College Anne Wilson

On Tuesday March 21st a group of 21members visited the College.

The morning started with Coffee and an introductory talk tracing the history of the college which opened 21years ago.

Now with the medical advances that are being made more young people with complex disabilities are surviving to live fulfilling lives .They are making their own choices and doing things that other young people may take for granted .

As a group we were taken on a conducted tour of the grounds and very impressive facilities and were able to view the building work on the new accommodation block due to be opened in September. The visited concluded with lunch in the Bistro Cafe .

Our grateful thanks to Sally for arranging such an interesting visit to the College.

Mark Your Calendar

Rotary District 1100 Assembly and Workshops

WHEN: April 22nd, 2023, 09:00 – 12:45

WHERE: Holiday Inn, Crest Way, Barnwood,

Gloucester GL4 3RX

WHAT: You will not want to miss this event which has something for everyone. A great opportunity to meet up with your friends across the district, hear what our future leaders have to say during their panel discussion as well as hear our guest speaker, Philip Dyer

WHO: Our guest speaker was the producer of the Together Talks series of conversations with Nicki Scott, Dave King, and Luke Addison, broadcast over the pandemic period. A creation of over 30 interviews with thought leaders from across the globe. Phil’s dynamic style of presenting is well known and is sure to provide us with an entertaining and unique presentation.

HOW: You can participate in the workshops of your choice and hear from leaders and fellow Rotarians on a wealth of topics of interest to all our clubs.

Space is limited so please register early:

Email on: secretary@rotary1100.org

Giving you Name, Club and Club role (if any) for 2023/24 and email.

EXTRAS: If you would like to arrive and eat breakfast before the event, must be pre-booked and paid in advance direct to the Hotel to get a discounted full English breakfast (£11).

Must be booked and paid for by 20th April.

To reserve your breakfast, call the hotel on 01452 6502

Pendyrus Male Voice Choir

Your support is required for this event on Saturday 22 April at Leckhampton High School at 7.30pm. Fundraising is quite difficult post Covid and the rising cost of living but we do need to sell more tickets to make this a success. Please ask friends and family. Tickets are £15 and are available online at https://buytickets.at/rccn

If we could all sell an extra 2 tickets it would make a huge difference.

There will a raffle at this event and any prizes you may be able to donate will be extremely welcome. Please bring them on the 6th or 20th April and give to Beth or John.

Rotary Leaflet

Our thanks to Tony Pawley who has worked extremely hard to produce a two-sided information / promotional leaflet about our club and rotary in general. The aim is to give this out at any of our events. Our membership has gone down over the last year and we need to start recruiting new members. If you have anyone in mind you may like to give them one of these flyers. We could also send them to various businesses around Cheltenham as part of a recruitment drive.

Tony is also keen to get a Friends of RCCN group going, targeting people who may not wish to join but who are happy to support events and club activities. Please inform Tony if you know anyone who would fit this group.

Gardeners Question Evening

Following on from previous very successful events, Beth is organising another Gardeners Question Evening on Thursday 18th May at Leckhampton High School. The panel consists of Duncan Coombes – retired lecturer and plant collector, Lottie Allen – head gardener at Hidcote Manor, Chris Evans - Dundry Nursery and the Butterfly Garden and Richard Chapman - horticulturist. Flyers are now available from Beth or Janet.

There will also be a raffle and a sale of cakes, botanical prints and greetings cards. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets are £10 and are available on line at https://buytickets.at/rccn/874395 or from Beth on 07932 102566.

School in a Bag

The latest news from SIAB is that they will be delivering school bags to disadvantaged children Mongolia

Future Programme Clive O’Gorman

Thu, Apr 6th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker Sally Ferrers Sally will give a talk on "Dr Edward Thomas

Wilson." Host Nigel Gilhead

________________________________________________________________________________________

Thu, Apr 20th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club Club Meeting with Guest Speaker Tim Powell Tim will give a talk on "A passage to India.....and Back" Host Roger Grimshaw _______________________________________________________________________________________ Sat, Apr 22nd 2023 at 9:00 am - 12:45 pm District 1100 Assembly and Workshops A District 1100 Assembly will be held. See "Details" for more information. ________________________________________________________________________________ Sat, Apr 22nd 2023 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Pendyrus Male Voice Choir Concert The Cheltenham North Rotary Club is organising a Concert that features the Pendyrus Male Voice Choir To be held at the Leckhampton High School on 22nd April 2022 at 7PM. See Website for more information and Ticket Sales. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Thu, May 4th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Club AGM plus Club Assembly at the New Club Club AGM and Club Assembly for 2023/24 plus a representative from District Host Janet Keenan _______________________________________________________________________________________ Mon, May 15th 2023 at 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Visit to the Everyman Theatre A visit to the Everyman Theatre to see the Mousetrap See "Details for more information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thu, May 18th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Club Meeting Cancelled as Club Event The Club Meeting is cancelled as there is the Club Event Gardeners Questions Evening on same night. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Thu, May 18th 2023 at 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Gardeners Questions Evening A Gardeners Questions Evening is to be held at Leckhampton High School on 18th May 2023 See Website" for the latest information. _________________________________________________________________________________ Thu, Jun 1st 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club

A Club Meeting plus Guest Speaker at the New Club The guest Speaker is Caroline Meller who will talk on "Destination Gloucester from 18th Century Jamaica" Host Kevin Gwilliam. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Thu, Jun 15th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Club Meeting with Guest Speaker at the New Club Club Meeting with Guest Speaker. Details TBA Host Sue Jenkins ________________________________________________________________________________________Mon, Jun 26th 2023 at 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm District Handover Meeting The District 1100 Handover Meeting will be held at the Hatherley Manor. Details to follow. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Thu, Jun 29th 2023 at 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Club Meeting and Handover plus Partners and Guest Speaker. A Club Handover Meeting with Partners and Guest Speaker Details TBA Location TBA Host Elizabeth Jones -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------