Supporting young people is important to The Rotary Club of Canterbury, after all, young people are the future. Also, as club President Tony Loughran says, “working with young people also helps us: they stimulate new ideas and ways of working and of looking at the world.
And of course, when different generations work together they help develop inter-generational understanding. It’s a win-win situation and we love it!”
There are several ways that the club works with young people (see image). Below we focus on two more unusual ways that the club has recently given young people a boost.
Just before Christmas, journalism student Reuben Flewitt contacted the Rotary Club of Canterbury after he spotted a Facebook post about Santa’s Sleigh drive (organised by the Rotary Club of Canterbury Sunrise) that was raising funds for Canterbury Food Bank and Rotary.
Reuben wanted to make a film about the Food Bank for one of his assignments. The two clubs invited Reuben along on the Sleigh drive and put him in touch with the Food Bank so that he could film there and interview relevant people. The final short film was shared on the social media platforms of both clubs, where it provided another excellent opportunity to publicise the Food Bank’s stellar work and Rotary’s efforts to support this.
The Rotary Club of Canterbury was delighted when the team that it helps support won the National Finals of the F1 in Schools Competition held in Birmingham in January.
The team will go on represent the UK in the World Finals in Singapore later this year. Although the club’s support for Team Eclipse (from Queen Elizabeth’s School in Faversham) has been modest financially, its members have helped the students prepare for their presentations and publicise their activities and their need for sponsors. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed for the team’s success
Canterbury Rotarians and guests had a fun evening to mark Valentine’s day in February.
After a warm-up of playing Heads & Tails (which got hearts nicely warmed up) and a game of Higher or Lower (which, naturally, featured the Queen of Hearts) attendees took part in a quiz on romantic classics such as Dr Zhivago and Gone with the Wind. Finally, everyone was treated to a short version of Romeo and Juliet – a challenge for Rotarian Peter Hermitage who played Juliet as well as her cousin Tybalt, meaning he had to do quite a few rapid wig changes.
The evening ended on a sweet note as quiz winners went home with a tin of Love Hearts!