Bulletin for January 2026

                                                Rotary Club of Cheltenham North

                                                          January 2026 Bulletin

Christmas Concert Gill Rouse

A huge thank you to everyone who helped with the Christmas Concert on Tuesday 16th December at Cheltenham Ladies College. The final figures are not yet available but I would estimate that the event has raised £5k for local charities. This includes a grant of £1,000 from Uncle Bill’s Trust, £250 from Midshires Co-op (procured buy Janet) and several payments for advertising. I will let you have a full breakdown of the figures in due course.

Imogen and Harriet, our two soprano soloists, proved very popular once again. Sadly this is the last year they will be part of our concert as they will have moved on to pastures new by this time next year. Their support and that of Emma Bowen, Imogen’s mother, has been amazing.

There was no doubting that the young people present thought The Flukes were extremely entertaining – they were dancing around and joining in the singing.

Mark Cummings is now such a regular compere at our concert that it would not be the samw without him and Tim Ingold provided the accompaniment to our soloists as well as playing the organ.

Where would we be without Leckhampton Junior School? As always the children were immaculately behaved and sang beautifully. I have been asked why each choir only sings two items - please believe me when I say we have tried to persuade the to sing more but the staff say two is enough for them to learn well. We are very lucky and grateful to have their support.

We are facing a problem with our concert in 2026. The event staff at CLC have already booked our regular date for someone else – I am assuming it is the candlelight carol concert. Our proposed soloist for 2026 cannot sing on the Wednesday as that is Dean Close Carol Concert. I am waiting to hear from Leckhampton School whether the Monday or Wednesday would suit them best but I am upset with CLC who have let us down

David Rust RIP Gwynne Tucker-Brown

David sadly passed away on Saturday November 29th. in GRH after a short, acute illness. He was a past member of Cheltenham North Rotary Club and had resigned a few years ago due to health reasons, prior to that he had also been an active member of Cheltenham Rotary club. He enjoyed Rotary meetings and participated fully in fund raising events. He was also a member of Probus and latterly 41 Club.

David lived in Cheltenham for most of his life and was educated at Cheltenham College. He worked for many years as a much respected solicitor for one of Cheltenham’s oldest Legal firms.

He loved all aspects of culture especially music. He was an accomplished violinist and played for the CODS in Cheltenham. He also enjoyed playing tennis in his youth !

He was a true gentleman and a gentle man who was always such pleasure to talk to as he had such a wide range of knowledge on a variety of subjects especially History. I feel privileged to have known him. He also enjoyed travelling, more so if historical sites were part of the holiday.

He will be sadly missed by Mary Ann and their daughters Philippa and Vicky and son Andrew and all his Rotarian friends.

Recent Grants awarded by RCCN President David

The following grants have been awarded:

1st Woodmancote Scout Group £500

Cheltenham Ladies College girls for funding an electric car £250

Explorer Scouts for helping at the Wine Festival £500

Since July there have been 21 applications.

Nigel would like the Club to make a donation to Sue Ryder, with this in mind

Nigel and Ann are going to visit them in January.

Changes in Membership

Welcome to Solomon and Loveth Nwaka who recently joined our club. They are keen to help with rotary events and we look forward to working with them. I know you will all make them both feel very welcom

Farewell to Sue Jenkins who has transferred to Cheltenham Future Club as from 1st January 2026. Sue came to us from Monmouth Club and did a huge amount of work organising the planting of100 trees. We send her all good wishes and look forward to seeing her again soon.

Rotary Young Chef Competition Rosanne Cole

Our heat was held at Balcarras School in their extensively equipped Food Technology

Department. This year there were three contestants, Toby, Chloe and Evie. Two of the

young chefs were from Balacarras School and the other from Leckhampton High School.

The theme of the menus had to be ‘Healthy’.

The chefs were given a budget of £15 for their menu. They had to list their ingredients,

show the weight of each item and their cost. They were judged by Mr. Edward Bowron

and myself. Marks were awarded for taste, menu selection, working methodology and

cleanliness. All three chefs produced their meals on time.

The winner was Toby who worked with amazing efficiency and tidiness. Interestingly

after the competition he was going home for supper which he had prepared the

previous day. He is certainly a chef to watch.

Snowdrop refreshments Gill and Vivien

RCCN has been offered the opportunity to provide the refreshments for the Snowdrop day on Saturday 14th February 2026 (A different charity is doing Sunday 15th)

This year the event starts at 11am so we have been asked to provide items such as sausage rolls, scotch eggs, quiche etc as well as cakes for tea.

Vivien estimates that we will need 50 cakes but they need to be of different varieties - we could do with a good selection.

The scouts have agreed to help with the washing up and perhaps some of the clearing up – the finer details have not yet been worked out.

I realise this means more baking for everyone but it is a good opportunity to raise funds to support local charities as well as enjoying the snowdrops.

I will be sending a board round on Monday but pleased can you keep Saturday 14th free . It will be a long day as we will need cover from 10am until 4.30pm.

Future programme Clive O’Gorman

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

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with Speaker our own Tony Pawley Tony will give a Talk on "The BBC its first 50 years -Part Two.". Host Kevin Gwilliam Menu TBA

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Mon, Jan 19th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speakers

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker. The Speaker is Kate Peake who will show films one on “Wines of Gloucestershire” and our October Wine Festival See website for more information Menu TBA Host Anne Bartholomew

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Mon, Feb 2nd 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker Ed Tucker Brown (Son of Gwynne) who will give a talk on "Tourism in Madagascar" Menu TBA Host Liz Jones

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Sat, Feb 14th 2026 at 10:00 am - 4:30 pm

Teas for Snowdrops at Colesbourne Gardens Colesbourne Park.

Cheltenham North Rotarians are providing Refreshments at Colesbourne Gardens in the Snowdrops season. Proceeds raised in support of Rotary Charities. See website for location etc.

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Mon, Feb 16th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club meeting with a Guest Speaker. Host Michael Jones Menu TBA

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Mon, Mar 2nd 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with a Guest Speaker Rachel Nelson who will talk on " Applying to American Universities: What it takes to cross the Pond" See website for more info. Host Janet Keenan Menu TBA

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Tue, Mar 10th 2026 at 11:00 am - Sat, Mar 14th 2026 - 7:00 pm

Cheltenham Racing Festival Volunteers needed

Volunteers required for "Love Thy Turf" to act as Stewards at the Cheltenham Racing Festival. Contact Richard Purdon for Details.

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Mon, Mar 16th 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Club Meeting with Partners and Guests and Guest Speaker

A Club Meeting with Partners and Guests and a Guest Speaker. Paul Murphy will speak on “The life and times of Neil Sedaka”. Paul is a regular speaker at our Club and a fellow Rotarian being a member of Cheltenham Rotary Club. Host Steven Mills Menu TBA

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

Club Meeting Cancelled BANK HOLIDAY