Club News Archive 2014

Archive of News Reports Posted During 2014

24 December 2014: Christmas Eve Street Collection Raises a Generous £1127 

On Christmas Eve Rotarians held a street "bucket" collection in Marlborough and Pewsey in aid of Naomi House Children's Hospice and other charities supported by Marlborough & District Rotary. As usual the collection was generously supported by the kind citizens of Marlborough and Pewsey and a total of £1127 was achieved.

Rotarians braved the early morning shopping rush (and the cold) to start the day early and as may be seen from the photos thoroughly       enjoyed the experience (well two out of three photographed did - see photo below!). 

After working in shifts to man the collection buckets throughout the day the Rotarians noticed that by early afternoon the citizens had decided that they had shopped enough for Christmas and were returning home to enjoy the start of Christmas with their families and friends. Rotarians were left to count the donations and take home the buckets and boards, satisfied that their efforts had once again been rewarded by the generosity of the donations.

We would like to thank all those who donated to our collection and

wish all the citizens of Marlborough, Pewsey and surrounding villages a

Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2015

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19 December 2014: Rotary Christmas Party

Rotarians, partners and friends gathered at the Marlborough Golf Club for their Christmas Dinner last Monday. The evening had been organised with their usual efficiency by Peter Waine and his social committee. As well as the excellent meal the evening featured a grand raffle and after dinner entertainment by local singing group 'Mother's Jam'.

David Hunter had produced the Club Christmas card, featuring the increasingly famous "Rotary Elves", (see report of 21 November for photo) for each Rotarian and through its sale  £125 was collected for charities supported by Marlborough Rotary, specifically the Salvation Army. 

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8 December 2014: Rotarians learn of "High Command" 

Major General Chris Elliott gave the talk to Rotarians at their meeting last Monday. He explained that he retired from the British Army in 2002  and had subsequently worked in private industry and as a research fellow at the Universities of Oxford and Reading. During this latter period he wrote his book "High Command"  which examines what led the British Military to make some poor judgments in 2000-2010 during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He described several of the issues covered by the book and by the end of his talk it was evident to the listeners that while the men in the front line always gave of their best often the decision-making and machinations of the higher echelons and in particular the Ministry of Defence were pure "Yes Minister" material.

During the Q&A session Rotarians tried to probe deeper into the subjects but  unfortunately the Secrecy Acts did limit some of the answers provided. Ron Wright gave the Vote of Thanks to what had been an entertaining and stimulating talk

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6 December 2014:  Street Collection for Naomi House Nets £587

On Saturday 6th December Rotarians braved the bitterly cold  weather to collect in Marlborough High Street where  £587 22p was raised for The Naomi House Children's Hospice.  The club are extremely grateful to the general public for their generosity throughout the day.

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23 November 2014: Club Learns of Future Plans for Prospect Hospice

The club were pleased to welcome guest speakers Sheryl Crouch and Debbie Ho to the meeting on Monday 24th November to talk about the Prospect Hospice care in Wroughton and their intention of bringing and outpatients Centre at Savernake Hospital during 2015. The plan is for the centre to be staffed by Prospect Hospice nurses and therapists, aided by trained volunteers who will provide services to build the confidence of patients who have been diagnosed with life-limiting illness.  During the talk both Sheryl and Debby paid tribute to the amount of money that the Club had raised in support of Prospect Hospice and in particular the money accrued during the Avebury Rocks events. 

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21 November 2014: Marlborough & District Rotary Club step up for Santa!

Rotarians from the Marlborough & District Club are no strangers to organising a festive Christmas tree for the High Street, but this year the club was also delighted to arrange a visit from Santa to the Town Hall during the town's Christmas lights switch-on and ensure all who visited were fully immersed in the fun of the evening!

Erecting the Christmas tree in the High Street was first and reported in our previous news item. Next came some urgent emails to Santa and an immediate response saying that he would coming and bringing his elves too!

With no time to lose, Rotarians and their partners set to work organising the Town Hall, creating a Christmas Cafe, Santa's grotto and elves' present distribution centre! The Grotto had been beautifully designed and erected by Jenny Larrson while the present area had been delightfully decorated under the guidance of June Oades. With the Christmas Cafe offering tea/coffee, mulled wine, mince pies and cakes, all served on tables with lovely flower displays made by Bev Luxford, it was easy to see why so many people dropped in! The atmosphere was delightful, with children eagerly sharing the story books Santa's elves had given them with their parents at the brightly decorated cafe tables.

Santa's grotto was a great success on the night, with 196 children passing through its sparklingly lit interior with toy-studded seating! Children and parents enjoyed a story first, followed by Santa asking what they hoped for on Christmas day and of course that all important photo call. Parents commented afterwards on how lovely the experience had been, with great warmth shown by Santa although his elves were another matter, with a definite show of mischief!  And the fun didn't stop there. Under the guidance of Sally Wolfenden, enthusiastic RotaKids from St.Peter's Primary School set up a face painting area, supported by a pupil from St. John's Academy working towards her Duke of Edinburgh award.

Any event like this needs effective marshalling on the street, to ensure the safety of all attending and the Christmas lights switch-on evening was no exception, especially with Santa riding down the High Street on his sleigh! With long experience in this area, the Rotary Club was delighted to provide Cedric Hollingsworth as chief marshall to organise the team made up of councilors and fellow Rotarians to organize what seemed like thousands of people who lined the streets

The Rotary Club has set itself a goal of raising £2,000 for The Naomi House Children's Hospice before Christmas Day where it will be used to refurbish children's rooms. All profit raised by the Rotary activities during Santa's visit are going towards this goal.  Rotary will be holding street collections in Marlborough High on the 6th and 24th December, and with the usual generosity of donations, Rotarians hope to achieve this goal. 

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22 November 2014: Belated News of Rotary Christmas Tree

Earlier this month, on Sunday morning 16th November and under a leaden sky, twelve Rotarians ably assisted by  the T. H. Whites driver with his cherry picker erected the Rotary Christmas tree in the centre of Marlborough High Street. Organised by Jack Torrens, who had recently broken his foot and could only act as technical adviser, the elegant tree was erected fairly swiftly and then adorned with the new Rotary banner  around the base. The tree will form a central point for the town's Christmas lights.

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20 November 2014: Father Christmas Visit Bookings exceed 100

Over 100 children in Marlborough are booked to see Father Christmas and his elves in their Grotto in the Town Hall on 21 November, when Father Christmas takes time out from his annual duties to visit Marlborough. He will also be helping to turn on the town's Christmas lights from a location near the Christmas Tree provided by Marlborough & District Rotary Club.

Rotary Club President Gerry Hooper, said that he was pleased that Marlborough Rotary had been able to organise the visit and with the public support shown so far. He confirmed that all profits from the visit fee will be given to children's hospice Naomi House, our special Christmas charity, and to other charities supported by Marlborough Rotary.    Booking closes at 11:00pm tonight, but there are plenty of spaces available at most times and he encouraged parents to bring their children along to see Father Christmas and everything possible would be done to accommodate their prefered time.  

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19 November 2014:  Marlborough Rotary Skittles Team Puts up Brave Fight

To take their minds off their forthcoming task of supporting Father Christmas' visit to Marlborough next Friday, eight Rotarians plus two ladies represented our Club at Avebury Sports Club, our new home venue, for our first skittles match in the Rotary Club Winter League. The match was against Swindon Rotary Club, who started slowly while we, having won the toss, proceeded to an excellent start thanks to top scorer  Dave Frampton. Unfortunately our team could not keep up the standard set by Dave and succumbed to the pressure exerted by Swindon thus posting a defeat for our first skittles result of the season.  Afterwards, whilst enjoying some refreshments Swindon congratulated the Marlborough team on their excellent sportsmanship and efforts making them fight all the way. 

Our next match is away to Swindon North Rotary Club on Thursday, 27th November. Marlborough can take heart from their performance which bodes well for a good performance against a team who have strength in depth.

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11 November 2014: First Booking for Father Christmas

Our website for booking a visit to see Father Christmas and his elves at the Town Hall on 21 November went live on 10 November and received it's first booking today. This is a new venture for Marlborough and District Rotary Club and has entailed much preparation for this important visit.  As well as seeing the children of Marlborough Father Christmas will be touring Marlborough High Street in his sleigh and will assist with switching on the Christmas Lights. 

Rotarians are also helping to marshall the crowds, which are expected to be similar or larger than last year's record attendance of  3,500.

The website for booking a visit to Father Christmas is:   https://rotarysanta.eventbrite.co.uk/

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10 November 2014: Rotarian Edward Ferguson and his Life in the Military Police

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9 November 2014:  Rotary President Lays Wreath at War Memorial

Marlborough & District Rotary Club President Gerry Hooper laid the Rotary wreath at the Marlborough War Memorial  on Remembrance  Sunday.  

Veteran Rotarian Peter Mansfield commented that in all the years he had attended the ceremony he had never seen so many people, which made his task as Rotary official photographer quite difficult to get in the right positions to take  photographs.

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27 October 2014: The History and Development of Nuclear Submarines

The speaker on Monday evening 27th October 2014 was Lt. Commander Cliff Fiander (retired) an ex-submariner and now a Rotarian at the Chippenham Club. He was introduced by Terry Krill and gave a most interesting and informative talk (as far as the Secrecy Acts allowed) on the development of the Nuclear Submarine from their conception in the Yards to their launch and subsequent performance. 

Evidently service rivalry continues well beyond retirement as when our official photographer, Peter Mansfield, took our speaker's photograph he immediately spotted Peter's Royal marine tie and exclaimed "Never trust a Royal Marine with a camera!"

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20 October 2014: Barry Smith talks to Rotary about Vision Aid

Rotarian Barry Smith started his talk with an amusing story concerning the past lives of three other eminent Rotarians before getting on to the more serious side of his talk, the explanation of the works of Vision Aid Overseas. 

He explained that 10% of the world's population is unnecessarily vision impaired because of the lack of spectacles caused by lack of opticians and the high cost of spectacles. Originally Barry's company, Haine and Smith, collected spectacles that were sent to the recipient countries where the best fit spectacles were given to those in need. However now it is more effective for the spectacles to be recycled in UK where precious metals and other useful components can be extracted from them and the money received go to fund local spectacle manufacture and specialist eye care services in developing countries.  He encouraged Rotarians to think of supporting the charity remarking that for the sum of only £5 someone could receive an eye test and a pair of spectacles that would change their lives.  

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13 October 2014: Rotarians Learn about Bobby Van Trust

Rotarian Sally Wolfenden met Rod Law of the Bobby Van Trust during a recent presentation at the Marlborough Town Hall and decided that Rotary would provide an ideal forum for his talk given the support Rotary had given to the Trust in past years and also the age profile of its members and their families and friends.

The Bobby Van Trust was established in 1998 with the objective of supporting people over the age of 60 who had been victims of crime, particularly burglary. The Trust gives advice on home security and fits appropriate locks to doors and windows helping to make these more elderly members of society feel more secure in their own homes.  Recently the scope of the Trust has been expanded to include helping the disadvantaged and the disabled with security products designed to make their lives easier and to the victims of domestic violence who often require additional security in their homes.  Rod described the various activities commonly used by criminals to access people's homes, especially the distraction crimes used to gain access to bedrooms and other rooms where valuables are often kept.

Rotarians learned that the Duchess of Cornwall is Patron of the Trust having been along term supporter since its inception. The Wiltshire Trust is one of fourteen established in the UK, the original target being one for each of the 43 police force areas. The local Trust has two vans, one based in Swindon and one in Salisbury and costs about £200,000 per year to operate. Each van deals with about 15 visits a week and since its foundation 17,000 visits have been completed. Fund raising is important and several large local events are regulars on the fundraising calendar including the Oare steam fair and open house of famous people and supporters, such as Nick Mason of the pop group Queen. Businesses and councils also donate to this worthy cause.

Tony Spranger gave the vote of thanks to round off a successful and interesting evening. Having been encouraged by the excellent talk Rotarians then proceeded to buy various security items, such as shed alarms! 

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3-5 October 2014:  RNLI College Visit Weekend Great Success

Last Friday, twenty seven Rotarians, partners and friends joined President Gerry Hooper at the RNLI College in Poole for a weekend of entertainment.  President Gerry had organized everything down to the last detail and naturally proceedings commenced with a sunset drink in the Slipway Bar before heading off to the Harbour View Room for our evening buffet.  It became evident to the more restrained amongst the group that the early attendees at the buffet (not necessarily Jeremy and Stella!) had helped themselves to more than their fair share of the chicken thighs but all was not lost as the RNLI caterers soon came to the rescue with duck legs, which being aquatic birds somehow seemed more appropriate.

As may be seen from the photos a good time was had by all and indeed Cedric was flying by the end of the evening. Strangely, we did seem to have a couple of "teenagers" amongst us who found their mobile phones irresistible, but when they joined later seemed to be enjoying more adult activities.  It was remarked on more than one occasion that it was just as well the "sergeant at arms" was not present and taking notes.

President Gerry saw all off to bed with strict instructions to present ourselves promptly at ten the next morning for the next activity.  Dawn broke - for those that noticed - to dark clouds and rain and this continued during the morning so after a sumptuous breakfast and armed with waterproofs and umbrellas we boarded the coach for Compton Acres, a lovely garden a few miles away.  Fortunately it did not rain too hard so a pleasant if damp viewing of the many facets of the gardens was enjoyed by all before arriving at the cafe for lunch and, for many, a welcome sit down. 

Tour organizer Gerry soon had us on our way for the next phase of his programme, a boat trip around Poole Harbour. By now the weather had cleared and as we boarded the Dorset Queen the sun shone warmly despite the rather cool breeze, which became rather more apparent once we got under way.  The morning's rain had cleared the air so visibility was perfect and the two hour trip passed quickly as the skipper pointed out notable aspects of the harbour and its four islands, the entrance, Studland Bay and Millionaire's Row at Sandbanks.  Back at the quay the coach took the trippers back to the RNLI although a few decided a stretch of legs would be preferable and walked back.  By the time they arrived the usual suspects were ensconced in the bar sampling the local "Seafarer" beer while others found a cup of tea more appropriate! 

A change of clothes into black tie and posh frocks later found the team once again assembled in the Slipway bar for an aperitif prior to ascending the stairs to dinner in the Harbour View.  

An excellent dinner and some very nice wine preceded entertainment by Trisha Lewis, who reminded many of us of the life in the nineteen fifties with her clever and most amusing cabaret act.  Gerry's programme of events stated, Midnight - Retire to Rooms Happy! - and in this he was entirely accurate. The ladies took with them an individual  flower arrangement, each part of the table decorations which had been expertly made by Alison Zabell.

A rather later start on Sunday and a leisurely breakfast allowed us all to be ready for the tour of the training facilities led by two volunteer guides.  For some this was the highlight of the weekend, especially driving a lifeboat through rough seas to rescue sailors from a burning oil tanker.  Fortunately for the sailors it was all done in the simulator otherwise a maritime incident could have escalated quickly in to a maritime disaster with the potential headline of "Elderly Crew in Lifeboat Run Down Survivors".  On through the deep pool area where storm conditions can be realistically simulated and then to classrooms and desk based training facilities. All in all an excellent introduction to the RNLI and we all left having been very impressed with the facilities.

It was then farewell as some departed immediately while others took the more leisurely route through the Slipway bar - but this time for coffee, before the drive home.  All agreed that President Gerry had laid on and organized an excellent weekend. Thank You. 

More photographs of the weekend may be seen in Photo Galleries at the top of the page. 

Rotarians may also access by clicking HERE

1 October 2014: Rotarians Prepare for Visit to RNLI College at Poole

On 3rd October M&DRC Rotarians will set out for Poole and the RNLI College for a weekend organised by President Gerry Hooper. The programme promises a busy and entertaining weekend with visits to local gardens, a trip round Poole Harbour a "black tie" dinner with entertainment and a tour of the RNLI training facilities.  A full report will be posted on this website after the weekend - at least those bits that get past the censor.

Details of the trip are available to members through the Programme section.

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29 September 2014: Alan Nix MBE Describes being an Evacuee during World War 11

Swindon Thamesdown Rotarian Alan Nix MBE , accompanied by his wife Valerie, entertained Marlborough Rotarians and many of their partners at our meeting on Monday 29th September through his talk entitled 'Evacuees'.

Alan's talk was about the 3,500,000 children who were rehoused through the British Government's Pied Piper programme, designed to evacuate children from the areas in danger from enemy bombing in the United Kingdom during World War 11.  Alan was evacuated to mid Wales in the early years of the war, initially having a bad experience with a family who seemed to take evacuees solely for the money paid to them by the government. Fortunately after a time he was moved to a much more caring couple, Mr & Mrs Francis, where he spent several happy years before being returned to his parents at the end of the war..  Gas was one of the big threats in the early days of the war and Alan brought along a gas mask for us to inspect. He also showed pictures of cramped underground stations in London and the damp and crowded interiors of Anderson shelters, dug into many gardens for protection during air raids.

Alan explained that in several occasions while giving the talk parents had questioned the wisdom of evacuating the children away for such long periods and had opined that they would not. Alan turned the question to the audience to mull upon during the course of the evening.

During a short discussion many of the Rotarians present said they had memories of the gas masks and could relate to many of the other aspects of the war and its immediate aftermath described by Alan in his interesting and entertaining talk.

Paul Cowan gave a very thoughtful Vote of Thanks and answered the question posed by Alan of "would YOU send your children away?" with the response that under the circumstances and in the knowledge of the potential dangers that evacuating your children was the right thing to do.  

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22 September 2014: Peter Wells Talks of his Experiences of Polio and of Fundraising

At our meeting last Monday we were joined by 10 members from Chippenham Rotary Club, led by their President Sylvia Gibson. They selected their night well as they were privileged to hear Rotarian Peter Wells giving a very interesting talk about Polio, including his personal experiences of suffering polio as a child in the 1950's and then of the progress made in its worldwide eradication to the present day.

Peter recalled that in1955 he was admitted to Guys hospital with the symptoms of tonsillitis and of flu. But Polio was diagnosed and now paralyzed he went to Park hospital for six months for recovery treatment of physiotherapy and other various less pleasant experiences meant to help.  Peter was one of the lucky ones that recovered and went home to lead a full life, but many died at that time when the knowledge of the illness and the treatment were very limited.

Peter then continued with history of Rotary's involvement with polio, which stretches back to 1913 when the Rotarians of Syracuse in New York state, of which Paul Harris was a member, decided to make the assistance to polio sufferers one of their charities.  The main Rotary fund raising for "End Polio Now" started in 1985 and Paul gave us the impressive figure of $1.2bn that Rotary has collected in the period to date as well as the sums donated by other charities, in particular the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the $9bn allocated by donor governments. This has helped protrct more than 2 billion children from poliovirus in 122 countries.

Peter explained that currently there are only three countries that have never stopped transmission of the poliovirus, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria and while the total number of cases in these countries is relatively low (450 in 2013) compared to the 1980's when the world saw about 1000 cases per day, nonetheless to prevent a resurgence these countries need to eliminate polio completely.  Rotary has decided to make a new and hopefully final push and District 1100 is asked to play its part by pledging to raise $100k (£60k), with each club contributing $1.5k (£1000). This sum will treble as the Gates Foundation has pledged to donate $2 for every $1 raised by Rotary until 2018 (up to $35m per year).  So the value of D1100 fundraising would increase to $300k or £180k. Peter challenged us all to play our part in making this venture a resounding success.

Sally Wolfenden gave the Vote of Thanks for this inspirational talk and Rotarians left the meeting with a renewed sense of purpose.

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15 September 2014: Past President Paul Cowan Donates £2000 to his Charities

Past President Paul Cowan had the pleasure of introducing two guests at our meeting last night who represented the two charities he had selected for his presidential year of 2013/14, Prospect Hospice and CALM (Children's Cancer and Leukemia Movement). Each was presented with a cheque for £1000.  

Gifty Tawiah, Community Fundrasier for Prospect Hospice, thanked Rotary for the donation and went on to give an interesting account of Prospect Hospice's current work. We learned that it serves a population of three hundred thousand in an area bounded by Fairford in the north to Pewsey in the south, to Calne in the west and Hungerford in the east. Although the charity is best known for its 16 bed hospice at Wroughton the majority of its work is in providing help and advice to patients in their own homes and at any one time over 550 people are receiving that assistance. The charity also provides a palliative care team in Great Western Hospital.  A major recent addition to their facilities had been the construction of lodges in the hospice grounds to allow relatives to stay when patients were in critical phases of their care.  Gifty emphasized that the charity could not exist without generous donations such as the one from Rotary but equally important are the nine hundred dedicated volunteers who freely gave their time and support.  To learn more visit the charitys website at: www.prospect-hospice.net

In thanking Rotary for their donation Richard Crowley, chairman of CALM, explained that the charity had been formed by parents of children with cancer or leukemia thirty years ago with the purpose of providing e a support network for those families affected by this challenging situation in the Swindon and Marlborough area.  All members of CALM are unpaid volunteers and are parents who have had personal experience of the traumas that families go through when the condition is first diagnosed and the subsequent issues that need to be overcome. Although treatments have significantly improved since the formation of the charity such that the success rate is now about 80%, nonetheless the support is just as important and there are fifteen to twenty children on treatment at any one time.  To learn more visit the charity's website at: www.calmchrity.org

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8 September 2014:  Rotarian Jenny Larsson Tells of her Varied and Exciting Career

M&D Rotarians were entertained at this evening's meeting by a "Job Talk" given by recently joined Rotarian Jenny Larsson.  Jenny had taken a lot of time to prepare her presentation with many photographs, video clips, and musical accompanyment and it was with great disappointment that she found an incompatability between her computer software and the club projector. Not to be daunted by this seeming setback she had Rotarians sitting around her table looking at her laptop screen through their strongest glasses, while she kept up a vivid account of her life from childhood to the current time. 

The meeting heard of her happy childhood in several different homes in Wales and England, her first foreign teaching post in Gibralter followed by others in Germany and Kenya and Sweden. Her thrill at riding horses with the Berbers in Morocco, sking in Germany, the Kenyan game parks and best of all the climb to the summit of Mount Kenya (5199m). She found time to get married and produce two children before returning to England and a headship in a small school in Devon.  Larger schools and more challenging posts followed before she eventually became an educational adviser and Offsted inspector, with several trips abroad to schools in the Middle East.  Her contribution to eduction was recognised by her appointment as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  In her retirement Jenny is very active and retains her adventurous spirit, her current ambition is to do a "wing walk".   The audience was left realising that it has an intrepid and formidable Rotarian in our number. 

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5 September 2014: Professional from Swindon wins Annual Golf Tournament

In a rather small field of four Rotarian Cyril Mannion ex member of M&DRC and now of Swindon eClub ran away with the large cash prize being offered this year instead of the usual trophy. Throughout the afternoon Cyril maintained that he had not played for a year and even showed a golf ticket to try to prove it.  But the MDRC players were not fooled and were constantly in awe and, given the handicap he claimed, suspicious of Cyril's consistent play throughout the 18 holes. He even achieved the win despite the fact that his electric trolley broke down after 12 holes and required pushing thereafter.  

Home team member Rob Mitchenall started well and was leading after 9 holes but the tension obviously got to him and he blew up on the second nine and just managed to limp home in second place, closely followed by Martin Couchman who had handicapped his chances of winning by a poor first few holes.   Mike Reeder, being chauffered round by Jeremy Zabell, had flashes of brilliance during the afternoon but these were not enough to catch the rest of the field, however he did have the honour of buying the drinks for the prize giving and detailed match analysis in the bar afterwards.

President Gerry Hooper had come to start of the match and take these photos; but unfortunately could not be present for the prize giving.  But all in all an excellent afternoon was had by the players despite the diminished numbers and at the end, after the extensive analysis, it was agreed that had Cyril won because he had played best.  

Next year's event is already being planned to include other Rotary Clubs in Zone 1100 so if there are any other Rotarians in Zone reading this who would like to bring themselves or a team to Marlborough please get in touch now.

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1 September 2014: New Rotarian for MDRC and Presentations by RYLA Students

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30 August 2014:  Rotary "Barbequed" in Boules Match at Barley Corn Inn 

Blessed by a day of sunshine, courtesy of a benign Hurricane Christobal, Marlborough & District Rotary Club fielded a scratch boules team who took on the might of the Barley Corn Inn. Despite employing all their skills and wiles to get the games to go their way the team nonertheless had to succumb to superior competition and finished the match being 3 games to 1 game. The photograph shows Rotarians and their supporters together with some of the host team.

Afterwards the Barley Corn Inn team hosted an excellent BBQ where games were analysed and played all over again. The Rotarians thanked the Barley Corn Inn team and there were even mutterings of a return matche after some intensive practice.

In the meantime M&DRC is now looking forward to the Rotary District skittles league which is due to begin in October.

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11 August 2014: Scatter Evening 

Due to the Golf Club being unavailable tonight is designated a "scatter evening" when Rotarians arrange to attend other clubs in the district.

For those that did not manage to arrange anything this picture of last week's meeting, supplied by Tony Green, will remind them of what they are missing. 

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6 August 2014: Horseless Steeplechase Run in Perfect Conditions

On Sunday 4 August, ninety seven intrepid runners assembled on a glorious summer day in the stunning setting of the Barbury International Eventing course, on the Barbury Estate, for the third running of the Horseless Steeplechases, in aid of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, and Greatwood, the disadvantaged children's charity.

The 2.5 and 5 mile courses remained , but this year a new event the 10 mile Cross Country Challenge was added incorporating a 5 mile cross country run up to Barbury Castle and back , sandwiched between two circuits of the eventing course, a true test of stamina, for seriously fit cross country athletes. From the comments on the way round, several wished that they had opted for the novices race, as they claimed the fences were growing before their eyes.

The 5 mile race was the most popular attracting 47 starters, who were soon spread out climbing the incline to the top of the eventing course, before weaving around the great natural amphitheatre for two circuits,  each one incorporating 12 fences.

When the last race started at 12 .45, the 2.5 mile  Novices,  the sun was strong, and three intrepid  Swindon Phoenix Rotarians , including their President started off in fancy dress, but soon discarded the legging elements, all swearing it sounded a good idea but .., as they crawled over the finishing line to rapturous applause from the watching throng. 

Rotarians and their partners from Marlborough and District , and Swindon Phoenix combining talents to organise the event, and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Rotary Club assisted with the marshalling, a great team effort demonstrating typical Rotary friendship and co-operation.

The whole event is only possible due to the support of Nigel Bunter, owner of the Barbury Estate, who kindly presented the prizes to the winning athletes. The event was sponsored by a number of local companies, and in excess of £2500 will be presented to the two charities.

See also the Swindon Advertiser article at:

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11386816.Horsing_around_for_horseless_steeplechase/

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5 August 2014: Past President Dick Richardson visists Marlborough Rotary Club

Past President Dick Richardson joined our meeting on 4th August and met many old friends and new Rotarians, he said that it felt as if he had never been away. Disk was appointed President for 1997/8 but resigned part way through his year to take up the appointment of Pensions Officer for the Cayman Islands. 

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30 July 2014:  Despite Doubles Wins Marlborough Boules Team Lose Yet Again

A sunny evening saw M&DRC boules team arrive at the Red Bull Inn, Malmsbury full of optimism for a win in this their final game of the summer league. The team photo shows Captain Martin Luxford, his team, Terry Krill, Mike Reeder and Rob Mitchenall accompanied by team manager Edward Ferguson and official cheerleader and umpire President Gerry Hooper. 

The match quickly started against opponents Cotswold A with a singles and a triples match. Rob unsucessfully tried to hold his expert opponent in the singles but the match was quickly over, unlike the triples where Marlborrough traded points at every end, sadly losing after a very long, tense match. The doubles matches showed Marlborough at their best with long hard fought matches, so much so that pullovers came out to guard against the the evening chill. Martin and Mike won one of their doubles and not to be outdone M&DRC's last pair, Rob and Terry, battled away as the sun set and gloom descended such that the floodlights were almost needed. However to avoid that and to get to the bar before the remaining team members had eaten all the chips they pulled out all stops and finished off the match with two exceptional ends.

Despite these efforts the final reckoning showed that South Cotswold A won 7 match points to 4 with overall points in their favour of 67 to 46.  

As usual the evening concluded in the bar with refreshments and convivial debate on the merits of the match

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28 July 2014: David Uttley appointed Honorary Member

At our meeting on 28 July President Gerry Hooper had the pleasure of inducting David Uttley as an Honorary Member for the year 2014/15. David is no stranger to Marlborough Rotary as he is our Past President for 2009/10 and he told us that looks forward once again to supporting Rotary events and attending our meetings.

The evening had commenced with much chiding of our (new) President Gerry who omitted to wear his chain of office at the meeting. Fortunately for him the Sergeant-of Arms was away on holiday so the omission may well go unpunished. (In the photo President Gerry is the shorter one - if he had his chain of office there would have been no need to mention this fact) 

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25 July 2014:  Downpour Fails to Dampen Rotary Bowls Event

Despite a very heavy shower which had Rotarians and partners cowering in their cars unable to run to the Pewsey Bowls Club without getting soaked the bowls evening got off to a good start with minimal delay. The twenty four players, mainly novices with sprinkling of people that thought they knew what they were doing were randomly divided into eight teams of three for competition by organiser Jack Torrrens. Fortunately Pewsey Club bowlers were on hand to give guidance and to adjudicate on any questionable tactics being employed.

After two enjoyable hours play was called to a close and the team of Tony Green, Hanne-Lore Small and Peter Waine was revealed as having the highest score. This was despite the fact that Peter also had the onerous task of being temporary official photograher. 

After thanking Pewsey for their hospitality the teams repaired to the Royal Oak for refereshments, supper and match analysis. 

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24 July 2014:  Malborough Rotary Boules Team Goes Down Fighting

On a beautiful balmy summers evening Marlborough took on the might of the Divisional leaders and although the score does not do justice to the efforts of the Marlburian team the opposition had to fight hard for every point. After some two hours and twenty minutes of play the score finished 11 match points to 0.

Afterwards, whilst enjoying some refreshments S Cotswold B congratulated the Marlborough team on their efforts and excellent sportsmanship and conceded that the match had been no walk-over. Marlborough's final match is next Wednesday 30th July against S Cotswold A. The Marlborough team will take heart from their performance tonight which bodes well for a stand out performance against a team who have already been beaten this season.

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23 July 2013: A Very Pleasant Walk in Lacock

It all started at the National Trust tea rooms where the group of thirteen Rotarian walkers, including one spouse and Sally's dog, assembled for coffee before being led out by local man and Marlborough Rotarian Terry Krill for a walk around Lacock. on a lovely English summer's day.  

Terry soon got into his stride explaining the village features, the film set locations for Cranford, Harry Potter and several other films which used its "Oldie Worldie" charm to good effect. We visited several old building in which Terry displayed his knowledge of the history of the locality before the group headed out into the country.

We passed houses of famous people, saw a canal which had started its refurbishment with Lottery grants and waked past Lacock Abbey before returning for very welcome refreshments at the Red Lion to quench the thirsts and the appetites which had been built up.

Thanks to Terry for an excellent day and hopefully one to be repeated in and around another village by another Rotarian walker/historian.  

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21 June 2014: The Making of Lark Rise to Candleford

43 Rotarians, guests and partners were treated to a fascinating talk by Rotarian Mike Pope on how the BBC converted his farm near Bath into Candleford for the TV series and what it was like living in the midst of a film set for over four years.  Acccompanied by many photographs Mike talked the audience through the process from the time the first workers appeared on site to erect the scaffold pole frames of the "old" farm cottages through how the modern parts of his farm were disguised and the power lines running across his fields were blotted out.

The stars of the show were a commmon sight walking around the farm and sets at all hours and all weathers. We were also shown the secret of making all the scenes look sunny - a very large tower mounted floodlight!  

Gerry Lane proposed the Vote of Thanks.

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20 June 2014: Jazz Festival Parking shows Rotary Perseverance!

It was a typical English summer day, with almost every type of weather from thunder and lightning to blazing sun,  but nothing deters Marlborough Rotarians , when car parking has to be managed.

Effective strategic positioning of the Presidents new Gazebo assisted with the bucket collections, by providing shelter and a rest area for weary Rotarians, while at the same time acting like a toll booth. The president was seen leaping across the road to accost festival goers who were trying to by-pass the bucket collectors. 

It was the first time out for our new parking signage, good mallet practice was had in the hard ground . Future car parking venues will be easier to manage ,and good news, fewer Rotarians to achieve the same end result.

Overall about  400 cars were parked, and 480, added to the Charity account .

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16 July 2014: Marlborough Rotary Boules Team Tie on Points but lose Match

Despite scoring 64 points to equal to the points scored by opponents Swindon Rotary Club Marlborough disappointingly lost the match 8 games to 3. Marlborough put this perverse result mainly down to lady luck not being on their side and to a small degree a lack of consistency. Nonetheless Swindon are to be congratulated on their win and for participating in what was an exciting match and an enjoyable evening which culminated in refreshments in the bar and post match analysis in the spirit of Rotary. 

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14 July 2014:  Rotarian Gerry Lane tells his Life Story & the Sergeant-at-Arms exerts his Power.

Rotarian Gerry Lane gave an interesting and entertaining 'Job Talk' to his fellow Rotarians about his life as an Agronomist.  Following obtaining degrees in agriculture at Cambridge Gerry took his first paid employment with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and was posted to Exmoor followed by a spell in Dorset.  Finding that the life of a civil servant did not suit he soon left and joined ICI where he spent 20 years selling fertilizers amd other products to the agricultural sector until ICI closed the company. After a brief spell with a local agricultural company Gerry joined the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester in 1990 where he happily spent the remainder of his career helping the college expand in size and scope, both as a principal lecturer managing agriculture programmes and latterly in crop research programmes.  

He gave the audience two pieces of information, firstly that the only times he had seen the Royal Agriculture College tie being worn outside the college were firstly by Prince Charles (president of the college) and Basil Fawlty (no known links). The second tip was that quad biking is great fun and should an opportunity arise Rotarians should leap at it.

Gerry finished the talk on a more serious note saying that recently he had started to help the Samaritans. After some intensive training he helps with this valuable emotional support service on a weekly basis, which sometimes involved night shifts manning the phones at their Swindon centre staring at 01:30. He explained that this was the reason he sometimes left Rotary meetings quickly to get home to get a few hours sleep. 

Barry Smith gave the Vote of Thanks and Rotarians expressed their appreciation in the time-honoutred manner of loud applause.

The meeting also saw the Sergeant at Arms, John Robins, in action for the first time fining members for assorted misdemeanors. The major transgressor for the evening was the President Gerry Hooper.  

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12 July 2014: Avebury Rocks supported by Rotarians

The third Avebury Rocks concert was held this year in aid of Prospect Hospice and enjoyed fine weather and a relaxing style. Marlborough Rotarians supported the event by organising the car parking. 

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8 July 2014: Rotary Team Beaten Despite Match Winning Performance

Sadly Marlborough &District Rotary Club's unbeaten record was lost when our match versus Cirencester Rotary Club result was 8 match points to 3. After losing our triples game 13 to 4 before properly warming up we then won the next two games and thought that as well as skill we had lady luck on our side. This was not to be as we lost the next following three matches despite heroic performances by the team which performed under the watchful eye of sports officer Edward Ferguson.  From the video enable post match analysis he confirmed that the Marlborough team should be proud of their fighting spirit.

After the hostilities both teams retired to the bar of the host pub and enjoyed refreshments and friendly chat.

Marlborough players are looking forward to our next match versus South Cotswold Rotary Club. Team and tactic details will be announced by the Sports Officer in due course.

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7 July 2014: Geoff Harrison is our Rotarian of the Year

At our meeting of 30 June  President Paul announced his choice for Rotarian of the Year to be Geoff Harrison for his long service to the Club and its members, his actions exemplifying "service above self" and specifically for the support and advice he had given President Paul during the past Rotary Year. Because Geoff had been absent at that meeting (now Past) President Paul made the award to Geoff at this evening's meeting. He remarked that there had been two outstanding candidates and that the final selection had been extremely difficult and he did not envy President Gerry's task next year.

This fine annual award trophy had been made and donated by Rotarian Jeremy Zabell, who was unfortunately not present for its initial presentation. 

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5/6 July 2014: Fund raising at Barbary Castle International Horse Trials

Marlborough and District Rotary Club, assisted by two of the Swindon Rotary Clubs organised the car parking at this prestigous two day event in the rolling Marlborough Downs. Hundreds of cars were parked successfully and many programmes were sold such that after expenses just over 1300 was raised for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and other charities supported by Marlborough Rotary.

Some pictures of Rotarians and their partners working 

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30 June 2014:  President Gerry Hooper and his new team take over for 2014/15

The meeting on 30 June was the handover meeting which saw the passing of the reins of Marlborough and District Rotary Club (M&DRC) from President Paul Cowan to new President Gerry Hooper. The meeting which ushers in the new Rotary Year also saw the appointment of Rex Sandbach as President Elect and Sally Wolfenden as President Nominee together with new members of council, the main committee chairmen and the members of their committees.

At the Club Assembly meeting of 16 June, reported on this page, President Elect Gerry Hooper had outlined his objectives for the new Rotary Year 2014/15, as had the incoming committee chairman. Now it was outgoing President Paul Cowans turn to summarize the outgoing year 2013/14.  The full text of his speech may be read in the members area; the following is a summary of its key elements.

President Paul reviewed the many events with which M&DRC had been involved with during the year and the associated fundraising opportunities, specifically highlighting the collection for the Philippines disaster fund that topped an astonishing 6000.  The recipients of the total funds collected included our regular charities such as Shelterbox, Naomi House, etc., as well as the aforementioned Philippines fund.  M&DRC support of local community organizations continued sometimes by holding events in association with other local Rotary Clubs. Marlborough members had made much of opportunities to visit other Rotary Clubs both near and far. 

Our educational support projects with local schools move from strength to strength including events such as mock interviews and Young Photographer/Chef/Writer competitions and the addition this year of RotaKids.   The sports and social scenes were active with events ranging from interclub boules matches to visits to La Boheme and a trip to Germany that included Presidents night.  President Paul regretted that membership had remained essentially static and encouraged a more proactive approach be adopted in the future. 

President Paul thanked council for their support as well as all members and their spouses/partners/friends. He made specific mention of the fine contribution made by Peter Mansfield in singlehandedly producing the club magazine Spoke for many years, but which has now ceased with the final June issue.

He concluded his review by announcing his choice for Rotarian of the Year to be Geoff Harrison for his unfailing support to President Paul and to fellow Rotarians at all times.

New President Gerry Hooper thanked outgoing President Paul for all his work during the past year and for the advice and he had given to help smooth the transition. President Gerry looked forward to working with all Rotarians to make the forthcoming year successful and enjoyable

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25 June 2014:  Club Boules Team warming up for District Competition

On a balmy summer evening ten members of our boules team, supported by several wives, played a practice match versus the Barley Mow Inn (Collingbourne Kingston) Boules team. Suitably refreshed following an initial visit to the bar we entered battle on two rinks with the opposition and after some tight games we finished with a draw, demonstrating increasing prowess at this excellent game. Our star player of the evening was undoubtably one of our team captain's Jeremy Zabell who throwing last consistently turned games around at the last minute.

Retiring to the bar once again we were treated to excellent hospitality with good food and banter and discussion on the potential outcome of our return match and BBQ scheduled for Saturday 30 August starting 11:30. 

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23 June 2014: President Paul's Last Meeting has Superb Talk (but no Chain of Office)

A lovely mid-Summer Day evening saw President Paul hosting 33 Rotarians, partners and guests for his last full meeting in charge of proceedings - he hands over to President Elect Gerry Hooper at the next meeting on 30 June.  President Paul was obviously so excited by the prospect that he forgot to bring his chain of office, a fact pointed out to him by most of the Rotarians present and luckily for the President the Sargeant at Arms has not yet been appointed. The picture here shows the "Naked President"  

The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Malcolm Wells from the Pulborough club in West Sussex to talk about his full time involvement with the charity 'Canine Partners'.  Malcolm entertained us with a thoroughly informative yet amusing talk about the training, capabilities and experience of these very special dogs that are used to support disabled people. 2013 saw the Charity partner a further 67 disabled people with assistance dogs, taking the total across the UK to 260.

Malcolm described how the dogs can be trained to open and close 

doors, help people out of bed, dress them, fetch and carry many household items and even load washing machines, turn them on and later remove the washing ready for it to be hung out to dry.  They are trained to operate pedestrian crossings and assist with shopping expeditions amongst many other surprisingly complicated tasks. Many questions were asked by the enthralled audience before Howard Small gave the the Vote of Thanks, which was followed by prolonged applause for the speaker.  

Later, several wives were heard to remark that perhaps they could swap their husband for an assistance dog.  

More details of the charity can be found on

caninepartners.org.uk

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23 June 2014: Lucky Rotarians win in 100 Club Draw

• 1st Prize      100   Don Ross
• 2nd Prize       75   Rex Sandbach
• 3rd Prize        50   Trevor Thorogood
• 4th Prize        25   Terence Tovey

Some members are still waiting at the bar to share in the winners good fortune.

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19 June 2014: Kids Out Trip to Longleat a Great Success

Once again Marlborough Rotarians were delighted to support Rotarys day out for children with special needs. 

The weather forecast didnt disappoint and with the sun shining, our children were guaranteed   a day of fun and laughter while visiting at the many attractions at Longleat.  Thirty three children from primary schools in Marlborough and Pewsey, together with some twelve adult support helpers, were taken by coach to Longleat. Here they were entertained by clowns jugglers, Postman Pat, and face painters in addition to boat and train rides and a much loved meeting with Longleats Meercats!  

Ice cream, soft drinks and lunch were provided for the children who were later treated to a close encounter with lions and tigers as the coach drove slowly through the Safari Park before returning home.

Marlborough Rotarians are grateful to the small committee of eight, from the Rotary Clubs of Frome, Bath, and Warminster, who organised our Kids Out event, for not just our children, but for some 750 others from neighbouring areas; they too had a wonderful time!

For more information about Kids Out go to  

http://www.kidsout.org.uk/day-out-introduction/introduction   

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16 June 2014: Club Assembly Hears Plans for the New Rotary Year

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15 June 2014: Sun Shines on Grand End of Year Party

Last Sunday 15th June, Marlborough & District Rotary Club held their Grand End of Year Party, an event for all members and their families, kindly hosted by Peter and Nesta Waine at their house in Pewsey.  The day was perfect as the sun shone on the thirty plus partygoers.

Drinks flowed in the run up to lunch with Peter assiduously undertaking his bar duties while the rest of us chatted away.  Lunch drew near and while Paul and Jack did their barbeque chef act

Nesta organised the ladies who had kindly brought salads and desserts to accompany the excellent filet beef and roasted vegetables, all eaten at tables under the marquees set up in fine style by Rotarians earlier that morning.

A fine day was had by all, Gerry Hooper ran the raffle with its generous display of prizes, some people even won four of them and thanks were made to Peter and Nesta for hosting us, Paul and Jack for their culinary skills and the Ladies for their salad and dessert supporting role.

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11 June 2014:  Marlborough Rotary Make History with Great Boules Win

On On 11^th June Marlborough & District Rotary Club won their first match ever in the inter-club boules completion for district 1100. Gerry Hooper led the team against Royal Wootton Basset Rotary on the boules rinks at Red Bull, Malmesbury and won 6 points to 5 points. His team of Terry Krill, Jack Torrens, David Hunter and Richard Dewey played magnificently and were a credit to Team Coach, Edward Ferguson.  The team celebrated their famous victory in the bar while sharing refreshments and commiserations with their opponents.

M&DRC next match is home to Swindon (Red Bull, Malmesbury) on Wednesday 25 June 2014, Commencing 1830hrs. Supporters will be welcome. Match details will be sent to the players picked for the team. 

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10 June 2014:  Report of Rotary German Visit Now Available.

After careful vetting and editing the story of the recent trip by 30 Rotarians and partners can now be revealed to all. Unfortunately due to technical reasons and possible legal action it is not possible to print the full story and pictures on these pages however it may be read on the following link to our secret archives.

REPORT 

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9 June 2014:  Rotary Presents 400 Cheque to Jubilee Centre

At our meeting of 9th June a cheque for 400 was presented to Carole Walker, the Marlborough Jubilee Centre Manager, in aid of their Meals on Wheels programme.  Carole thanked the club and explained that the money will go towards special boxes and other items necessary for the transport of the meals.

Carole described the Meals on Wheels service that makes mealtimes easier for those people who have difficulties in preparing and cooking for themselves. She asked Rotarians to let her know if they knew of someone who would benefit from the programme.   

For more information to set up the service either for yourself, parents, friends or neighbours telephone the Jubilee Centre on 01672 513087.

VOLUNTEERS DRIVERS ARE NEEDED FOR MEALS DELIVERY 

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4 June 2014:  Rotarians Visit Submariner Museum

A group of fourteen, comprising Rotarians and their wives, travelled down to Gosport on Wednesday 4th June to visit the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Atrocious weather on the way down eventually gave way to dry and sunny periods once we arrived at the venue.

At midday we entered the submarine HMS Alliance which is in dry dock and where we were greeted by retired sub mariners who detailed the working of the submarine as we navigated the narrow passage ways through the boat. HMS Alliance has been recently restored after a 7m refit and is the only remaining WW2 era British ocean going submarine.  We would learn about the crew, the torpedoes and what life was like in the cramped quarters within the vessel whilst at sea.  Interestingly, the crew of sixty five were fed throughout the day from a galley the size of a broom cupboard.

After touring the boat we made our way to the extensive museum where we could go onboard the very first Royal Navy submarine Holland 1, built in 1901 crewed by only 8 men and 3 mice.  Further discoveries in the excellent museum detailed aspects of submarines in a graphic display to include viewing Portsmouth harbour through a submarine telescope.

An excellent day full of interest and one which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Our thanks are extended to those retired submariners who work at the museum to include Peter Mansfields school pal retired Chief Petty Office Dennis (Tubby) Wade and his chum Leading Hand Dennis King, together with all the submariners who made our day so interesting.

 

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26 May 2014: Successful Bank Holiday Boot Sale raises nearly 800

Marlborough Rotary Club held its regular May Bank Holiday Monday boot sale on Marlborough Common for the first time. The usual thorough planning found the first wave of hardy Rotarians arriving at six o'clock, bleary eyed but raring to set up the catering tent and all its cooking and food preparation equipment together with the newly commissioned publicity gazebo. At the same time, despite a published start time of 08:00am, the first of the booters arrived together with the professional buyers looking for those bargains before the general public arrived.

By 08:00 when your reporter arrived for his stint of duty the sale was in full swing.  Most of the 52 sellers had arrived and were displaying their wares to an ever increasingly large crowd of buyers. The refreshment tent was in full swing with Rotarians and wives working hard and producing enticing smells of coffee and bacon and sausage rolls filled the nostrils of all those in the vicinity. Your reporter can certainly attest to their excellence.  

Crowds continued to increase during the morning as the remainder of the town got up to a rather dull morning and obviously decided that a car boot sale would be a good way to spend an hour or so. Most of them arrived by car and were generous in their donations to the buckets being wielded by the Rotarians in charge of parking. Thank you to you all.  

Unfortunately at about 11 o'clock, with an hour to go, a gentle but persistent rain started which caused many of the stall holders to start packing their cars and vans to go before all their wares got wet. Shortly the sale was over and Rotarians and wives commenced the task of clearing up and dismantling the tents.

After taking account of all expenses the net total for the morning was just under 800 which will go the our Charity Account. 

A big thank you to all who supported the event.  

The next Rotary Boot Sale is on August Bank Holiday, please put a note in your diary.

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14 April 2014: Marlborough Rotary Achieves Second Female Club Member

At our meeting of 14 April President Paul Cowan was pleased to induct Jenny Larsson, our second female Rotarian, into Marlborough & Disytrict Rotary Club. Geoff Oades introduced Jenny to the Rotarians explaining that she had been in education for most of her life working in posts ranging from teacher to Ofsted inspector and in countries as diverse as UK, Kenya and Abu Dhabi.  

In response Jenny said that following her retirement in 2013 she had sought out ways to serve the community and following the lead of her father decided that Rotary would be an excellent way to do so. She said she had been very pleased with the welcome given to her and looked forward to many years of supportive and enjoyable membership.  

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 April 2014: Know Your Blood Pressure Day in Marlborough

On Saturday 5 April the Jubilee Centre on Marlborough's famous High Street was the centre for measuring the blood pressure of many residents and visitors to Marlborough. Throughout the day Rotarians persuaded many "willing victims" to enter for this measurement which was all part of a wider campaign called "Know Your Blood Pressure" organised by the Stroke Association.  Qualified medical staff were on hand to support and guide the Rotarians as well as being on hand to answer any questions from the "willing victims"

Rotary Clubs throughout the country support this important campaign and with all the results being sent (anonymously) to the Stroke Association for further analysis helping tp form awider picture of the prevelence of the condition.   

This event built on the success of the first one which was held in 2013. Although numbers were down this year, possibly because many people were suffering high blood pressure awaiting the result of their bet on the Grand National, it was considered a successful day.

Rotary would like to thank all people concerned and we hope that the event helps to increase the awareness of the importance of regular blood testing, particularly where the risk of stroke is concerned.

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17 & 24 March 2014: Childrens Hospices supported by Marlborough Rotary

For several years two of the charities supported by Marlborough and District Rotary have been Helen and Douglas House and Naomi House, both hospices for children and young people providing a valuable service to the community.  These homes had been the charities nominated for our Christmas 2013 street collections and it was with great pleasure that we hosted presentation of cheques to a total value of 2250 to the representatives of the two organisations

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28 January 2014:  MDRC Quiz Team Fails to Realise its Potential

The Quiz team captain sent this report to the Club News Desk from the training camp in Pewsey  "The Marlborough and District Rotary Quiz Team travelled to Malmesbury on the 28th January to face teams from Swindon and South Cotswold Rotary Clubs. Right from the start it was obvious that Marlborough was the best team and we quickly leapt into the lead. .......However, by the second round we had suffered set backs caused principally by being given the wrong kind of questions. Also, for some unaccountable reason the question master, one Peter Hayman showed signs of being a little exasperated with comments from our Team Captain!  

Despite the adversity our team had a most enjoyable evening with plenty of laughs and good fellowship. Oh and by the way, we came third."

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20 January 2014 : Jane Walker tells Rotary about her Philippines Charity

Jane Walker, MBE is the founder and CEO of the Philippine Community Fund. It is a charity which she established to help the children in Manila who scavenged the municipal dump for items they could be sold in order to buy food.  Jane felt very strongly about this and that she should do something about rectifying the situation so to begin with and in order to experience just how the children felt she joined them at weekends amongst the rubbish.  Eventually after much hard work learning about organising acharity and gaining experience of fund raising she was able to open a day centre and later a school  for them.  Children were often unable to attend the school because they still needed to scavenge to earn money to buy food so to overcome the problem Jane provided food for the children and later extended that service to their families. 

Over the years the school has prospered and in fact many of the children have gone on to higher education.  Family members are now involved making trinkets, bracelets, and handbags etc. from re-cycled tins, plastic bottles and pull rings etc. which all help to raise funds for the charity.

For the full story follow this link to Spokemagazine 

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21 January 2014: Young Photograher reaches National Final

Eight pupils from Wellington Academy and three from Pewsey Vale  School entered the Marlborough and District heat of the Rotary National Competition in the senior age category, held on 17 January.   Entries were of a very high standard and were judged by three judges, led by David Uttley, (a professional photographer) supported by Anthony Green, and Peter Mansfield, our Club expert photographer.  All agreed that there was an outstanding clear winner, but deliberations over second and third place took nearly an hour.

The winner was Aimee Williams from Wellington Academy, who has now gone on to win the Regional  Final, which is a tremendous accolade for her and her Academy. Her entry will now go forward to the National Final, to be held in May 2014.  All the young photographers received a critique of their entries from the judges and encouragement to enter more competitions of this type.

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20 January 2014: Cook- off determines winner of Young Chef Competition

Fifteen pupils from St Johns and Pewsey Vale schools entered the Rotary Young Chef Competition demonstrating the growing interest in this annual event. The calibre of the competitors this year was such that Marlborough and District Rotary Club had to organise a cook-off between the top two pupils from each school to determine who would represent them in the Zone Final.  After a close run cook-off Pewsey Vale pupil Jade Dickson emerged triumphant.

The picture shows some of the top competitors with judge Alison Jump

Jade journeyed to Bourton on the Water for the Zone final on 11 January but unfortunately came up against extremely strong competition, including last years Regional winner, and was not able to repeat her local success.

Our thanks go professional chef Alison Jump for judging the competition and who said I was extremely pleased to be able to participate, the young people showed amazing skill and talent  and to Brigid Sparkes, and Sue Watson , the teachers from Pewsey Vale and St Johns for supporting the competition.  

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13 January 2014: Edward Ferguson joins Marlborough Rotary

Jack Torrens introduced Edward to the Club at the meeting on Monday. He explained that Edward had been a Military Policemen for many years eventually retiring in 1988 with the rank of major. He then became Town Clerk for Malmsbury for sixteen years beore moving to the less demanding post of Parish Clerk for Wilcot and Huish, where Jack first met him.  

Edward thanked the Club and commented that he had found everyone very welcoming and he looked forward to many years in Rotary.

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7 January 2014: Skittles Team just loses to Royal Wootton Bassett & District 

6 January 2014: Christmas Collection raises over 2200 

The final count revealed that the Christmas street collections on 7th & 24th December in Marlborough and Pewsey had raised a total of 2247, which greatly exceeds the expected  sum of 1500 - see previous report. The funds will be donated to local hospices for children and young adults.