In Praise of Volunteers

On June 29, 2023 President Roger and Sarah, Les Sheppard, Margaret Fowler, Brian Wellman and Peter Greene all went along to the Holiday Inn Basildon to support Basildon Rotary Club and celebrate the end of Ben Rajan’s year as President of the Rotary Club of Basildon, and his handover to Kevin Howard.  About twenty-five people attended this milestone event.

After a welcome from President Ben, the tables were invited one by one to go up to the buffet to serve themselves from a choice of Pork, Cod, and vegetarian dishes accompanied by rice, new potatoes, and salads.  The food was good, although the cod had a bit of a “bite” to it – very spicy.  Dessert followed with a choice of a delicious (and highly calorific) chocolate cake, or a healthy fruit salad (no guesses for my choice! – Editor), and finally coffee.

Charity begins at home

Next came the business of the evening with the major donation of a cheque for £1500 to St. Luke’s Hospice.
This was followed by the announcement of Basildon Rotary’s “Unsung Hero” award, this year presented to Chris Lovell, the founder of the “Table” in Basildon square, a member of BENS (Basildon Emergency Night Shelter) for the homeless and for his extensive work with the homeless.  Chris was humbled by the award and gave his grateful thanks.

What a Story

President Ben ended the formal part of the evening with his final speech, as he put it “In the words of Max Bygraves, I want to tell you a story” – yes, some of us are old enough to remember Max!  Ben listed the major achievements of his year, and thanked every member of the club, in particular Mike and Carole Barrett, and Peter Townsend, for their help in making his term of office a success, and not the ‘Car Crash’ he had feared.
But there was a surprise for Ben, the award of a Paul Harris Fellowship handed over by Secretary Carole Barrett, in tribute to all he had done for Basildon club and the community it serves.  So well merited.

Unfortunately, Kevin Howard, incoming president, was unable to attend the handover, which made the event a little strange, but Mike Barrett stepped in as substitute, accepting the chain of office on Kevin’s behalf and reading out a message from Kevin to all present. 

A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening out with friends and fellow Rotarians, much appreciated by Basildon members.  As one past president put it “Great to see you all last night and thanks for supporting us again. Much appreciated”.

High Sheriff

The evening ended with a talk by last year’s High Sheriff of Essex, Nick Alston CBE DL, the first Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, who members may recall spoke to our club when he was in that role in 2013.  Nick’s father was Deputy Chief Constable of Essex and was educated at KEGS and Cambridge University.
Nick briefly ran through his career starting as an Essex boy born in a police station.  He has held many posts in the Navy, in government, at Goldman Sachs as a security chief before becoming the first Essex Police and Crime Commissioner where he served one term.  He has also been Chair of Trustees at the Essex Community Foundation (ECF), is a Governor at Anglia Ruskin University, previously chaired the Mid-Essex Hospitals Trust and was Chair of the drug and alcohol charity, Open Road.  All this before being appointed the 842nd. High Sheriff of Essex in 2022, a post which dates back to Saxon times.  Not bad for a grandchild of servants at Marks Hall.

Grind to a Halt

At the top of his list of priorities for his year in office, was supporting the role that volunteers play improving communities for the benefit of others.  Nick handed out free copies of his book “The Essex High Sheriffs’ Fund” celebrating 25 years of the Essex Community Foundation, including contributions from past High Sheriffs and beautiful photographs from around the County.  Each year the Fund supports groups of many different sorts across Essex working to make their communities safer.

Nick ended by thanking us for all that we and Rotary do - in his words “Essex would grind to a halt without the support of volunteers like us and others like us.”
For more information: https://www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk/high-sheriffs-fund/