News & Events pre 19 March 2011

This page contains news and links to articles that record events and projects that have taken place some time ago.

On Saturday the 12th March 2011 Anna Lee of Rosebery School our Club's District Young Chef winner, competed in the Regional final of the competition, where 8 very talented chefs went head to head.  Anna produced some great food, but there could only be one overall winner on the day to go through to the National Final.  While Anna did not win the final she found the experience very rewarding, being among the best young chefs in the region and the pictures above show Anna with her finished courses and with her certificate and presentation from the competition sponsors. Since the final Anna has also taken up the offer of Sean and Joyce Mooney to have some work experience at The Canopy Restaurant in Epsom.

On Saturday the 26th February 2011 Epsom, Ewell and Banstead Rotary Clubs joined together in the Ashley Centre Epsom to mark the 106th birthday of Rotary, by collecting for the Rotary International Thanks For Life campaign, designed to raise money for the complete eradication of polio in the world, a goal that Rotary has set. 20p buys one vaccination for polio and although it's a thing of the past in most parts of the world, the disease still exists in places such as India, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The clubs collected 274, which will pay for over 1300 vaccinations. Our grateful thanks go to the generosity of Epsom's shoppers and to The Ashley Centre. The 4 photos above show the clubs together collecting and giving out literature about the Rotary polio eradication Thanks For Life campaign, plus a video of some of our collectors.

On Saturday 12th February 2011 the Rotary District final of Young Chef 2011 took place at South Thames College. 12 competitors took part from Rotary clubs across the District and Anna Lee of Rosebery School, the winner of our local heat as detailed below won second prize and will now go forward to the Regional Final on the 12th March, where Anna will be competing against winners from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Tony Axelrod Vice President of our club said "We are delighted for Anna and all her hard work and attention to detail really paid off. Our thanks go to the organisers at Rotary, the judges and Mrs Hanly the Head of Design Technology at Rosebery School for all her help and support in this competition and best of luck Anna for the Regional Final!". The pictures above show on the left Anna being presented with her prize, in the centre Anna with her certificate with Councillor Oonagh Moulton the Mayor of Merton who made the presentation and the judges, John Shearn Head Chef in the Education Sector and Bernadette Byrne Chief Lecturer, Assessor and Verifier at South Thames College and on the right Anna.

On the 4th February 2011 members of our club attended the Nescot Higher Education Awards Ceremony at Epsom Downs Racecourse, where Pro-Chancellor the Rt Hon Baroness Bottomley conferred degrees, certificates and diplomas to graduates from both Nescot and Surrey University.  At the end of the ceremony the Raj Amodia Trophy and Prize sponsored by our club was given to Denise Portman for her outstanding achievement for HNC Business and we wish Denise well in her future career.  Denise was bowled over to receive this honour and the pictures above show her both receiving the award and proudly displaying the cup.

On the 24th January 2011 we again ran a joint club heat of Rotary "Youth Speaks" with Ewell and Banstead Rotary Clubs and we had a total of 12 teams 6 in each age group competing from Epsom College, Blenheim High School, Epsom and Ewell High School, The Beacon School and Aberdour School.  Topics ranged from "Is family life doomed" to "How will future generations remember us".  With over a 100 parents, guests and supporters, we had a great time and the Presidents of Ewell and Banstead clubs were on hand to present certificates, cups and prizes.  The success of the event was in great measure due to the hospitality and support of Epsom College, who hosted the event and provided refreshments for us all and our 3 independent judges, who had the most difficult job on the night in selecting the winners.  Our thanks go to our judges and to Angela Drew (Deputy Head Epsom College) for all her help and support in organising event and making it such a success. 

All the teams were excellent and the winning team on the night in the Senior category was Blenheim High School, with Mahmoud Mahmoud in the Chair, Charlotte Ojinnaka Speaker on the subject of "Feminism" and Chloe Wall proposer.  In this group Mahmoud won best Chair, Charlie Edwards in another Blenheim team won best Proposer and Matthew Chen of Epsom College won the best Speaker prizes.  In the Intermediate category Epsom College were the winning team, with Stephanie Boote in the Chair, Hannah Taylor Speaker on the subject of "Teen Dilemmas of a Technology" and Alexander Shishkin Proposer.  In this group Oliver Noble of Aberdour School won best Chair, Brett Taylor of Epsom and Ewell High School won best Speaker and Ellie Lee of another Epsom College team won the best Proposer prizes.  The photos above show on the left the winning senior team being presented with their cup by the chairman of the Judges, in the centre the team being presented with their certificates by Margaret Martin, President of Ewell Rotary club and on the right the winning Intermediate team being presented with their individual prizes by Mike Bowen, President of Banstead Rotary Club.  The winning teams in both the intermediate and senior categories from Blenheim High School and Epsom College went through to the intermediate heat, which took place at Surrey Heath Borough Council Chamber.

On the 18th January 2011 our local heat of Young Chef 2011 took place at Rosebery School.  Sponsored by our club and with the support of Mrs Jan Hanly, Head of Design and Technology, the competitors prepared a 3 course healthy meal for 2 people costing no  more than 15, with a setting up time allowance of 30 minutes and cooking time of 2 hours.  The competitors each produced their detailed working sheet and list of ingredients and costings for the judges Sean and Joyce Mooney, the proprietors of the Canopy Restaurant in central Epsom, who were both extremely impressed at the very high standards.  All the competitors put in a tremendous amount of work and preparation for the event.  The winner who will go forward to our District final to be held at Merton College on the 12th February was Anna Lee, whose menu comprised Seafood Basket, followed by Itali-Anna Chicken and Fresh Fruit Brulee.  Anna received a 50 voucher to spend at Lakeland and Hannah Sawbridge and Sophie Henderson received vouchers for 20 and 10 respectively for 2nd and 3rd place. The photos above show Anna at work, receiving her prize from our President Elect Colin Peel and the judges, and the prizewinners with the judges, members of our club and Mrs Hanly.

Our club started 2011 celebrating with a ball at Denbies Vineyard, Dorking. This event was held over from just before Christmas due to adverse weather conditions, but we were happy to enjoy celebrating the start of the new year in style. Above are some pictures of our members, partners and guests enjoying themselves.

At our club meetings on the 28th October and 4th November 2010, our President Richard Harris had the pleasure of presenting certificates of long service to Rotary to respectively Past President Dick Bradley (photo above left), who has been a Rotarian since 1966 and to Past President Owen Rowe (photo above right), who has been a Rotarian since 1962. This is a truly fantastic achievement and our club thanks them both for their service, continued contributions and support.

When Chief Executive of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, Frances Rutter, gave a talk to Epsom Rotary Club on 29th October 2010, she probably didn't realise the company would include a former Chief Executive and a former Deputy Chief Executive.  Former Chief Executive of EEBC, David Smith, is a member of the Club, as is the current President Richard Harris, who acted as Deputy Chief Executive of EEBC for many years.  Mrs Rutter spoke to members about the role of the Chief Executive, touching on the problems faced by the local authority' particularly in the wake of the government's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Busking for Thanks for Life on the 9th October 2010

On the 9th October members of Ewell Rotary Club and our members came together to support Primrose Drake a member of Ewell Club who sang solidly for 2 hours in the Ashley Centre, Epsom, to support Thanks for Life and a fantastic sum of 287.11p was collected from Epsom shoppers. Many thanks to Primrose, the Ashley Centre and Epsom shoppers for their generosity.


At our evening meeting on the 30th September 2010 at the Reigate Manor Hotel, we were delighted to welcome Frank Blake as a new member of Rotary and our club. Frank has a keen interest in both community and international work and we very much look forward to working with him on projects.  Below Frank is being inducted and welcomed into our club by our President Richard Harris.

                                 

On 4th September 2010, Epsom Rotary Club presented Jason Barnett with his award for Most Supportive Team Manager at the Surrey Youth Games.  The trophy wasn't quite ready at the end of the Games, hence a delay in presentation. Past President Harry Corben our Vocational Service committee chairman met up with Jason at Alexandra Recreation Ground, where Jason's tennis career really began. Tennis was a new sport at the Surrey Youth Games for 2010 and a Team Manager was needed.  After struggling to find a coach, Jason stepped up to the challenge.  His tennis pathway began when he joined the Tennis For Free scheme at Alexandra Recreation Ground.  Since then he has gone on to gain his Tennis Level 1 Coaching Certificate.  Jason enthused all the tennis participants with his infectious personality and motivation and on the day of the Games his team won a bronze medal.  All the team members went away having had a great time at the Surrey Youth Games.

At our meeting on the 26th August 2010 we were delighted to welcome Carol Caiger as a new member of our club and present to John Goddard a certificate of Rotary service, marking forty years a member, a truly great achievement. Below are photo's of our President Richard Harris making the presentations.

 

On Saturday the 14th August 2010 with the help of Epsom Rotaract Club, Ewell Rotary Club and our supporters, we collected 1183 in the Ashley Centre shopping mall for the Pakistan flood Relief fund and work being undertaken by Rotary charities including Shelterbox, whose web site can be accessed via this link and Water Survival Boxes. Many thanks to the Ashley Centre shoppers for your support and thanks also to the Ashley Centre.


 
Following the collection the funds raised went toward supplying 2500 LifeStraw Family Units, which are special water filter units, each one providing a minimum of 18,000 litres of safe drinking water for up to three years.  The LifeStraw units were distributed by British and Pakistani Rotarians working in the disaster area.  They filter out 98% of bacteria and other unwanted particles, are easy to maintain and require no electricity. Rotarians have overall provided enough Lifestraw units to provide flood victims with 108,000,000 litres of safe drinking water.  More information on LifeStraw and Rotary's involvement can be found by clicking here.  Please contact Tony Axelrod for more information about Epsom Rotary on 07986 947974.

Supporting the troops in Afghanistan.  Following an appeal by a Chaplin serving in Afghanistan and spearheaded by Doug Wooldridge and Vernon Goulding, in 2010 our Club used the proceeds of a raffle to purchase sweets, which with paperbacks were packed up into 50 parcels by Doug and sent out free to help the troops. Many thanks go to Doug for all his hard work on this project and please click herefor a copy of the letters of thanks we received.

Derek Hockin a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship.  Click here to read an article about Derek and his receipt of this award on the 1st July 2010 with some photos of the event.

St Ebbas Garden Project

In May 2010 we completed the restoration of the wildlife garden at St Ebbas Hospital for patients and their families. Originally built as a sensory garden in 1995 it had suffered neglect until restoration begun in October 2009. Epsom Rotary and Rotaract Club members, with fantastic help from supporters cut their way into the garden and began the long process of restoration.   Paths were rediscovered, structures repaired and painted, and hospital users made bird boxes and feeders, seats and tables.The Mayor of Epsom & Ewell, Cllr Jan Mason, officially opened the garden on Sunday 16th May 2010.



John Davis who was project manager, said "It was very much a labour of love and developed into a joint project between Rotary and St Ebba's. Hopefully it's now a haven of peace and tranquility and will probably just need an annual maintenance session which our Club is happy to organise." On the 17th July we carried out some additional planting and filled the ponds and on 2nd October 2010 we returned to carry out maintenance and set the garden up for winter 2010/11.

International Curry Evening 2010. On the 18th May we held our International Curry Evening at the Shehnai, Craddocks Parade, Ashtead. With fantastic support from the proprietor of Shenai and neighbouring clubs of Banstead, Ewell and Reigate Hill we had a great evening raisong 650, to which our club added 350 to purchase 2 Shelterboxes. Our thanks to International Chairman Terry Maggs, for organisng the event. The Shehnai web site can be accessed via this link and the Shelterbox web site can be accessed via this link.
 
Haiti Appeal.  In January 2010 our club collected in excess of 3000 at the Ashley Centre for ShelterBoxes and with donations from our club, families and supporters the total raised came to 5,761.25. We had a fantastic response from Epsom residents, the Ashley Centre and from Epsom Council in speeding through the licence. Thanks to everyone involved and an article that appeared in the Epsom Guardian on January 21st about our collection and the efforts of other local charities can be accessed by clicking this link. 

David Smith a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship.  Click here to read an article about David and his receipt of this award last year with some photos of the event.

On the 11th June 2009 Madam Mayor, Cllr. Jan Mason unveiled the first of the plaques for a "Heritage Trail" in Epsom. The plaque, celebrating our Club's 80th and Rotary's 100th year will be followed by future plaques in Epsom marking the trail. Click here for a press release.

Left to right, Bob Frisby our Immediate Past President, David Smith Chief Executive of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council and a Past President of our Club, who spearheaded the initiative, Madam Mayor, Cllr. Jan Mason and our Robert Wilson a Past President.



Thames Fleet Summer Cruise 2009. Click here for an account of this cruise organised by the International Yacht Fellowship of Rotarians (Thames Fleet), by our member Nigel Fentiman the Vice Commodore.