Presidents Dinner

Trowbridge Rotary Club President Mike Paul welcomed more than 70 guests, including District Governor Tony Quinn and his wife Linda, to the annual President's Dinner which was held at the Civic Hall in Trowbridge.

Following the meal, Mike introduced Richard Angwin, the "weatherman" of BBC Points West who was the evening's guest speaker. Richard's very  entertaining and humorous talk described his career as a meteorologist and how weather forecasting has developed from a very basic overview of potential storms expected in the shipping lanes around our country to a highly evolved computerised system, whose forecasts are used for many different purposes. The promise of a hot  "barbecue summer" means that supermarkets need to stock extra salad stuffs and bottled water; rain followed by freezing temperatures in early spring is a concern for farmers who must protect new born lambs;  heavy rain or snow warnings alert local authorities to the need for additional flood defences or extra salt for gritting roads, and anyone with a summer fete, wedding or outside event will avidly check the weather forecast for days ahead in hopes that their special day will be fine.

Following Richard's talk, President Mike presented him with a donation from Trowbridge Rotary Club for Macmillan Cancer Support. Richard is an enthusiastic fundraiser for  this UK-wide charity which works to improve the lives of people affected by cancer and to provide expert treatment and care through specialist Macmillan nurses and doctors.