BRITAIN RAIL TRIP:

Phil Godfrey, who is an Ambassador for the life threatening disease, APS, visited Castle Douglas Rotary Club as part of his Round Britain Rail Trip. Phil talked about promoting greater awareness of APS which affects some 600,000 people in the UK yet is not well understood and often misdiagnosed. Phil's wife, Christine, suffered from the illness for 40 years before her untimely death.  Phil has raised over £80,000 for APS Support UK which develops on line Continuous Professional Development Programmes for GP's and other health professionals.

President George presented Phil with a cheque for £250 to suport the work of APS Support UK before Phil set off on the next stage of his journey.

SANTA VISITS CASTLE DOUGLAS:

The Rotary Club of Castle Douglas once again teamed up with local businessmen "Rocking Raymondo" and Jock Armstrong to ensure that Santa was able to tour around the town and bring joy to a great number of local children for Christmas 2021.

Santa managed to fit this into his busy schedule and ensured local children had prepared their lists for the big day.During two evenings, Santa and his helpers did everything they could to ensure they visited most of the town to see as many children as possible. George Dickson, Vice President of Rotary Club of Castle Douglas said "Santa’s Sleigh trip around the town is something which many people look forward to as part of the run up to Christmas each year and the Rotary Club would like to thank Raymond and Jock for giving up their time to entertain everyone and enhance the experience for all. We would also like to thank everyone who donated to the Rotary Club during the event and I can confirm £435.00 was raised. This money will be used to support local charities and good causes as well as go towards supplementing our necessary charitable work throughout the world."

The photo below shows delighted children meeting Santa in Whitelaw Drive, Castle Douglas.

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CASTLE DOUGLAS CO-OP HAPPY TO HELP LOCAL ROTARY CLUB:

Castle Douglas Co-op has kindly offered to support the fundraising efforts of Castle Douglas Rotary Club by donating the income from their community book stall for the nexttwo months.  Ruth Maxwell, the Community Champion for the store said that the store is keen to assist the local community at this difficult time.  Like all community groups, Rotary has had to to become more creative in their fundraising efforts and is extremely grateful for tjhe backing which they are receiving.  The Club is still very active and welcomes requests for help from local groups. The picture shows Ruth Maxwell with Cliff Robertson at the book stall in the Co-op.

CD ROTARY SUPPORTS LOCAL MEALS INITIATIVE:

With the unprecedented disruption being caused to local people’s lives around Castle Douglas due to the Corona Virus, Castle Douglas Rotary Club has been looking for ways in which it can actively help the community.  Castle Douglas Development Forum already operates a food bank delivery service and this is now being expanded to produce 500 ready meals per week for distribution to those who are unable to cook for themselves. Neil Walker, proprietor of the Mad Hatter Café and an active member of CDDF has, with time on his hands due to the closure of his café, kindly taken on the task of producing the meals. With the income from the CDDF charity shop having dried up through closure of all non-essential shops, CDDF were facing a challenge to fund the ingredients for the meals. Rotary President James Robertson decided that this was an area where Rotary could support the local community in a positive way.  With the support of all the members of the Club, Treasurer Geoff Monk presented CDDF member Sarah-Jane Allsopp with a cheque for £1500.  Sarah-Jane was taking a brief time out from delivering food parcels around the area to receive the cheque. James commented that Rotary was very aware that it raised much of its funding from the local community and here was an opportunity to support a local initiative providing an essential service in difficult times.  He added that while Rotary was not meeting during the current crisis it was still active and doing things both locally and internationally. The attached photo shows Sarah-Jane Allsopp receiving the cheque from Rotary Treasurer Geoff Monk while obeying all the personal space advice! 

VISIT TO VETERANS' GARDEN IN DUMFRIES:

Club members recently visited the Veterans' Garden now located at the Crichton Nursery.  This is a community garden which has been developed by ex-servicemen most of whom have suffered mental and physical health problems as a result of their military service. It offers a tranquil yet supportive environment where the veterans can achieve and enjoy the company of others.

The veterans also run a monthly Breakfast Club where present and past servicemen can socialise and enjoy a good meal.

Some of the new beds in development.

One of the original Crichton greenhouses which are now being refurbished by the veterans.

Alan Murray presenting Mark Harper with a cheque from Castle Douglas Rotary Club to support the work of the Veterans Garden.

The tribute built by the veterans to mark the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1.

CD ROTARY SUPPORTS THREAVE ROVERS YOUTH TEAM:

Like all Rotary Clubs, Castle Douglas is very committed to offering young people opportunities to unlock their potential, develop new skills and broaden their horizons.  The Club enjoys working with young people and seeing their development.  Thus, this year, they have provided £400 funding to Threave Rovers Youth Team to help in their drive to make the Birkland ground much more environmentally friendly.  Mark Geddes who runs the Threave Youth Squad commented that, after a game at the Birkland ground, there is a large amount of plastic waste left behind and which has to be cleared up and disposed of. This is an environmental issue.  The money from Rotary will enable Threave Youth to install a new potable water supply from which supporters can fill their reusable containers. In addition, tea and coffee will now be served in reusable mugs.  Thus the Birkland ground will become more environmentally friendly, the waste needing to be recycled or going to landfill will be completely avoided and the Youth Team will be more environmentally aware for the future.

Race Night 2018

Saturday night saw our Rotarians and friends enjoy the Annual Race Night in Castle Douglas Town Hall. We were able to bet on 6 races which had all been sponsored by local business folk and individuals. The seventh race saw individuals in the audience bid to sponsor and name the horse - the money raised from this race was donated to Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes. All other money raised on the night will go towards local Youth and Community projects. A huge thanks to everyone who sponsored a race or a horse and to our members for producing such great prizes and buffet. A great night.

Anyone who wishes to have information about Rotary is welcome to come along to any meeting on a Thursday evening or contact us through this website.

SANTA SLEIGH 2017 RAISES OVER £2000:

Castle Douglas Rotary Club have now parked their sleigh for another year and allowed Santa a well deserved rest following their trips around the streets of the town in the lead up to Christmas.

George Dickson, Vice-President of the Club said "We are delighted to have raised £2155.41 from the Santa Sleigh Project and would like to thank everyone who donated to enable us to raise such a superb total.  The money will ensure that the Club continues to make a difference in our local community as well as being able to support international projects such as the work towards eradicating Polio worldwide among other vital work."

The Club would particularly like to thank the following people and organisations who very kindly gave up their time to help with the collection.  Staff and senior pupils from Castle Douglas High School, Staff from the Boots Pharmacy in the town and staff from the local branch of the Royal bank of Scotland.  Robert Wallace of Craigley Farm at Gelston, who supplied the tractors and drivers for the nights of the collection and enabled Santa to be transported around the town safely.

Anyone who wants information about Rotary is welcomer to come along to any of our meetings or can contact us through this website.

JOHN HEUCHAN REPRESENTS SCOTLAND!

John Heuchan wins gold medal on his Scotland debut. John attended the recent Rotary meeting to update us on his rowing career and particularly his target of representing Scotland at rowing. Castle Douglas Rotary Club have sponsored John to develop his talent and help him achieve his goals. John was selected for the Scottish Rowing Team for the Home International Regatta held in Cork this year and raced in the Lightweight Double Class along with his partner, Ben Parsonage. To their delight they won the race by an impressive four lengths. John brought along his winners medal together win his Scotland Squad kit. President George Dickson is seen congratulating John for his achievements and the difficulties which he has overcome to achieve such sporting prowess. John is next off to Australia to spend a year coaching rowing.

ROTARY RIDE 2017:

As usual this event took place on Father's Day, June 18th and a collection of riders set off in warm sunny weather.  There was a choice of 15, 30 and 45 mile routes with most of the riders opting for the more challenging 45 mile route.