Deadline October 2024

Shoeboxes to Ukraine

Boxes of Christmas gifts for displaced children in Ukraine are now on their way to their destination, as a result of a local collection co-ordinated by Alton Rotary.

A total of 168 shoebox-sized boxes were donated in the Alton and Bordon area.  The boxes contain a range of new items suitable for boys and girls of various ages from one to 15 years, including educational books, toys, games, jigsaws, drawing materials, hats, gloves, scarves and socks. Also included are toiletry items - soap, flannels, toothbrushes and hair accessories.  Items are packed into the boxes, with a child receiving one box as a gift. But the boxes do not contain war-related items such as toy guns or religious or political books.

Many of the boxes were gifts from pupils at Oakmoor Secondary School in Bordon, as well as from villagers in Holybourne and from Ukrainians who have settled in the Alton area.  Across the Wessex region, several thousand boxes have been collected by Rotary clubs and are being shipped to Ukraine in time for Christmas.

The collection in Alton was organised by Rotary member Lisa Hillan, who said she was delighted by the response this year, with the number of boxes tripled.  She said, "We are so grateful to those who provided a box - these gifts will mean a great deal to children who have suffered so much as a result of the conflict in Ukraine."

Deadline September 2024

Working Together

A new partnership between Alton Rotary and a group of local schools is already yielding dividends.

Alton Rotary is donating £5,000 to back the work of two outreach workers who provide family support for pupils in twelve local schools to deal with the problem of poor attendance post-Covid.

And the help is also at a practical level, with Rotary members joining parish councillors to decorate a room at St Mary's School in Bentworth which will be used as a sensory room - a quiet space when pupils need a break from classrom pressures.

The outreach workers will support both parents and children with home visits, small group training and calming activities for pupils.

The head of St Mary's, Jo Ayres, explained to a Rotary meeting that a resource centre will provide a variety of tools: special cushions to help children eat at a dinner table, fidget toys to keep anxious hands busy while travelling to school, a white noise machine or weighted blanket to help with sleep and a library to help deal with issues such as bereavement or divorce.  It's also hoped to run courses on issues such as child worries, additional needs and single parent concerns.

Jo quoted one single parent's comments about the help given by one outreach worker, "She is like an angel - when I get overwhelmed, when I get another call, email from the NHS or the housing department, she is thereAlton Rotary President, Rosemary Arrowsmith-Oliver, said there was overwhelming support among members for this project across the Alton Schools Group. She added, "As the project develops our Rotary members hope to be able to volunteer their services, offering time and any expertise they can.

Already a team from Alton Rotary and Bentworth Parish Council have donned their painting overalls and made swift work of redecorating a room at the local school to become a sensory room.

Neal Day, who is parish council chairman and a Rotary member, explained that the provision of a sensory room was identified as a priority. He added, "Rotary has a desire to support children with special needs and to offer assistance to parents who may be struggling to find the right support for their chidren."

Deadline August 2024

Painting Party

A team of five from Alton Rotary and Bentworth Parish Council donnned their painting overalls and made swift work of redecorating a room at the local primary school.

The aim is to provide a sensory room at St Mary's Bentworth. The room will be a quiet space when pupils need a break from classroom pressures, and will be of particular benefit to children with special needs.

The project was the result of a meeting between Alton Rotary members and Bentworth headteacher Jo Ayres.  Neal Day, who is parish council chairman and a Rotary member, explained that the provision of a sensory room was identified as a priority. He added, "Rotary has a desire to support children with special needs and to offer assistance to parents who may be struggling to find the right support for their chidren."

A team of five volunteers agreed as a first step to paint the proposed sensory room in the summer holidays, and were able to give the walls two coats of paint in a few hours on a Saturday morning.  The team were Neal, Tris Tristram and Mike Sanders from Alton Rotary, and parish councillors Veronica Parker and Simon Lane.

Neal Day said, "A few hours of hard work saw the walls of the room well covered and looking clean and tidy."

Aiming High

A Four Marks student, Lucy Williams, is aiming for the top in her sport of judo, as she made clear when recounting her sporting prowess to Alton Rotary members.

Lucy's journey began twelve years ago when she achieved a red belt and a yellow belt in an under-12s competition for Hampshire schools.  Within three years she was an orange belt and then a green belt, and competing in the British Schools Championship.  Over the next two years she progressed through the blue belt and brown belt levels, and became a judo black belt at the age of 16.

As a result, she was offered a judo scholarhip to study sport science at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.  During her time at university she won medals at the British and Commonwealth Championships, and also at the English and Welsh open competitions.

The Covid crisis interrupted judo competitions, because of the close body contact involved.  But since then Lucy has won gold medals at the English open and the Welsh open.  She has competed in the European Universities Games in Poland and Croatia in the past two years, and also completed her undergraduate studies by securing a first class honours degree.  This year she has won another gold medal at the British Universities and Colleges competition, and also medals in Commonwealth and European Universities contests, as well as making appearances on radio and television.  Her bedroom wall is now decorated with a total of 124 medals.

She is now training for a number of competitions in the coming year, including the World University Games, as well as English, Welsh, British and European championships.

Lucy said that judo skills are of value to all involved in sporting activities, in that it teaches individuals how to fall while minimising the risk of injury.

Lending to the World

Alton Rotary has just completed another round of lending to small businesses world-wide. The micro-loans - 277 loans in total - have led to the creation of 481 jobs in the developing world, and support the livelihoods of 3,600 people.

Among those supported in this round of lending were three farmers in Ecuador, who grow passion fruit and avocados as well as beans, peas and tomatoes, as well as two farming families in Cambodia who grow cassava and rice. Other borrowers were a beef farmer in Vietnam, a grocer in the Philippines, a women's collective in Togo who run a food store and a rickshaw delivery service in Pakistan.

The lending is through the Lend with Care scheme organised by the  charity, Care International UK, which operates in 14 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Deadline June 2024

On Prescription

A new and innovative local approach to healthcare through 'social prescribing' was outlined to Alton Rotary members recently.

The aim is to supplement the traditional prescribing by GPs of medicines for physical ailments with a social prescription, which might involve putting patients in touch with local community groups, online services and appropriate support groups. It recognises that a patient's illness can be a result of social issues and problems as well as being caused by physical factors.

A team of four social prescribers has been established to work with the GP practices in the Alton area, and a member of the team, Chrissy Humphrey, explained the new approach to Rotary members.

She said that social prescribing was a way of giving patients more time and space to talk about their issues and problems than was possible in a normal GP appointment.  The intention was to empower patients to take control of their health and wellbeing, by connecting them to community groups and support networks. To that end the social prescriber team has worked with Alton Town Council and the Alton Health and Wellbeing Forum to produce a database of organisations and services that can provide support, whether dealing with medical and disability problems, mental health issues, elderly care or support for families and young children.  The database is also available as a 32-page booklet, which provides contact details for financial and benefit support, accessibility information, community transport, community groups and details of many volunteering opportunities.

Chrissy gave examples of situations where social prescribing had been of value.  One example was how a single mother and child had been assisted in moving from an unsatisfactory flat to better accommodation, and also put in touch with various support organisations such as Citizens Advice.  

The aim of the team of social prescribers now is to create a better support nework for those who need help in and around Alton, as well as organising events and walk-in social prescribing clinics.  The team can be contacted on 07311 303796.

Deadline May 2024

Chilling Out

Alton Rotary members recently enjoyed a 'refloxology evening' with practitioner Lisa Haynes, who is based at Holybourne.  Lisa explained that reflexology is based on the theory that different points on the feet, leg, hands, face or ears correspond with different areas of the body.  She said that applying gentle pressure to these points could improve circulation and induce relaxation, and could activate the body's own healing sytems and prevent ill-health.

She said that reflexology could help to reduce stress, anxiety and pain, as well as lifting an individual's mood and improving general well-being.  Reflexology treatment could aid sleep, improve blood flow and reduce high blood pressure.

Lisa demonstrated her techniques on Past President Mike Sanders, who seemed relaxed to the point of slumber when his session ended.

A Century of Service

Two members of Alton Rotary have recently received awards recognising their many years of service to Rotary.  Richard Bendall's long service award was for 35 years of work with Rotary, including a number of years as Treasurer of Alton Rotary. Len Smith's award recognised an amazing 65 years in Rotary, including service as national President of Rotary in Britain and Ireland.

Richard Bendall and Len Smith

Deadline April 2024

'End Polio Now'

'Polio is close to being totally eradicated world-wide' was the message for Alton Rotary members recently from Rotary International officer Reg Ling.  He outlined both progress and recent setbacks to the total elimination of polio.

Polio has been eradicated in India and throughout South Asia for ten years, and most of the world now has a high level of polio immunity.  But the Covid pandemic has led to greater community isolation and a reduction in polio immunisation because of the urgent need to develop and deliver Covid vaccines.

Reg said that now polio immunisation was resuming in many countries, with better surveillance and additional test laboratories to monitor any outbreaks. But the resumption of international travel post-Covid had led to the transmission of the polio virus to some cities and international travel hubs.  He said that total polio eradication was very close, but an extensive immunisation programme needs to continue in countries with an infection risk.  In these countries there are 68 million new births each year, with each baby needing three vaccinations.  Access to rural communities is a problem. as is some vaccine refusals.

Rotary International hopes to raise $50 million dollars a year to fund its global 'End Polio Now' campaign, which is supported generously by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which double-matches Rotary's contribution to this campaign.

Alton Rotary President Lisa Hillan chaired Reg's presentation.

Deadline January 2024

Lighting Up Africa

Alton Rotary has just helped fund two solar energy schemes to light up rural communities in Africa.  It's part of a larger project to provide solar-powered lighting to 10,000 homes in 20 villages in Malawi.

Each village will receive 500 solar kits - one for each home - to provide one solar panel and a battery hub for each household.  That will be sufficient to power three lights and a smartphone charger.  It's hoped the scheme will bring safety benefits by reducing the use of candles and dangerous kerosene lamps, and will also have an educational benefit by enabling chidren to do homework after dark.

In the two villages in central Malawi supported by Alton Rotary, teams of 20 women will organise the distribution and installation of the panels.  Householders will pay for the installation over a two-year period using the savings produced by using solar energy.  Installation will begin in the next few weeks.

Alton Rotary is working with the 'Lend with Care' programme of the international development charity Care International.  The club has now made development loans totalling more than £10,000 to small businesses and individuals in 14 countries across three continents.  These loans have helped support 631 entrepreneurs and create 376 jobs in the developing world.

The lending is on a crowd-funding basis, with many individuals and Rotary clubs in this country contributing to the loans.

Other businesses supported by Alton Rotary's loans in recent weeks include a rice farmer in Cambodia, a forester in Vietnam, two farmers in Thailand, two retailers in Rwanda, five farmers and growers in Ecuador, a fishing family in Vietnam, a tailor in Thailand and a fish retailer and a cafe owner in the Philippines.  The loans have been used for various purposes - to buy additional livestock, fishing nets, larger premises and other equipment for their businesses.

Alton Rotary members select new borrowers to support several times a year, using financial contributions and repayments received from previous lending.  The scheme's club co-ordinator, Roy Roberts, said, "We feel this is a very practical way to support economic development in many countries around the world." 

Deadline December 2023

Charity Needs Help

An Alton charity which supports local young families says its service is at risk because of funding difficulties.

This warning was delivered by representatives of Bushy Leaze Family Support at a meeting of Alton Rotary, which has been a supporter of the charity in recent years.

The Chair of Trustees of Bushy Leaze, Dawn Murphy, and the Family Support Manager, Jess Anton, explained that securing funding was increasingly more difficult, and that the charity was now launching an urgent fund-raising initiative to ensure the continuity of its services for families.

The Family Support team offers help to families with young children who are facing many challenges in order to make lasting differences to their lives. This is achieved through one-to-one advice sessions for families and ongoing weekly contact.  The team also runs a programme of weekly group sessions for 110 families dealing with issues such as the problems of first-time parents, families with children with special needs, budgeting support and developing parenting skills.

The Bushy Leaze charity was formed seven years ago by a group of volunteers when public funding through the Sure Start programme was withdrawn and family support services were threatened.  It's argued that today the services have never been needed more in the community, and the charity continues to raise funds to pay for a qualified and experienced team delivering comprehensive and vital services to families with children under five.

The charity is already supported by various community organisations such as Alton Town Council, the Victorian Cricket Festival and Alton Rotary. Now Bushy Leaze Family Support is asking the whole community in the Alton area "to dig deep to help ensure families in the area can continue to receive vital support".

Dawn Murphy and Jess Anton with Alton Rotary President Lisa Hillan

Deadline November 2023

Survival in a Box...

A West Country charity has now shipped more than 23,000 survival crates to areas around the world affected by disasters.  The charity - Water Survival Box - has sent boxes to 86 disaster zones in 43 different countries since it was founded by a Rotary club 18 years ago.

The boxes contain a range of household items such as bandages, toiletries and utensils such as saucepans, plates and cutlery. Also in the boxes are shelter needs such as tarpaulins, nails and tools. The key item in the boxes is a water purification pump that can produce enough pure filtered water to meet the needs of a family of five for up to five years, with the box used as a water tank.

This year the boxes have been sent to Ukraine,to Turkey, Syria and Morocco following earthquakes, and to Somalia and Sudan as a reponse to drought.

One of the charity's trustees, Tony Quinn, explained to Alton Rotary members that the boxes were assembled by volunteers at a base in Midsomer Norton in Somerset. Each box costs £150 to produce, and the costs are met by supporters' donations, which have totalled £2.5million to date. Each of the distinctive red boxes carries the Rotary logo.  Alton Rotary is planning to sponsor some Water Survival Boxes.