Janet's Jottings

Janet's Jottings on her 1st quarter 2023-24 Rotary Club of Newbury Presidency

The first quarter of my Presidency of Newbury Rotary Club has flown by – July seems like a couple of weeks ago and I really can’t believe that Christmas is round the corner!!!

The club has been very busy in this 4 months – it is very easy to think that we have done nothing – but when I look back we have been very busy with a mixture of social, ‘work’, visits  and interesting speakers – it has certainly not been boring!!!!  

Social – we spent one evening playing bowls on the green at Victoria Park – I always thought it was easy………..nope – getting my bowl to go in a straight line was definitely NOT easy!!!

Another lovely evening was spent on a walk (I was under the impression there no mountains around here……) followed by a very nice meal at the Bowers Arms.

Visits – we visited the West Berkshire Therapy Centre in Thatcham followed by a very nice Chinese.  It was enlightening to find out exactly what the Therapy Centre offers to the local community – very much a hidden gem!!! The equipment is amazing, a referral from a professional is not needed – self referrals are also accepted.  Have a look on the website and see exactly what they can offer. 

This week we went to the fire station and finished with fish and chips.  It is amazing to see how much the fire service have diversified – they now cover much more than just fires.

‘Work’ – well, that has to be Barge week – great fun, great weather and great company.  We took 5 different charities out for day trips on a barge, all (including the crew) enjoyed peaceful, soothing day’s tootling down the canal.  My only problem – so many locks – definitely didn’t need to go to the gym that week – and it was so much more fun.

Speakers – a whole range – from individuals telling us their life story, Rotary International and hearing about some of the charities we have supported over the year are just a few we have listened to.

Raising money – the club and Phoenix held an amazing quiz last month and raised £1,183.50 – well supported by the local charities and a very pleasant (and competitive!) evening including a wonderful 'pie and chips' meal hosted by the Royal British Legion.

We had a static collection Tesco’s on the retail park for ‘End Polio Now’ which raised £54 – the number of polio victims across the world is now in single figures – a horrible illness that needs to be eradicated.  Rotary is at the forefront of this and will soon achieve its aim of eradicating polio.

The money raised by the Santa Fun Run will go to local charities, a fun way to help others in our own area.

The next four months are going to be just as interesting and certainly just as diverse – the Santa Fun Run is at the end of this month, we will be marshalling a the annual Remembrance Day parade and the Christmas Lights turn on. We also help the Newbury Lions with the Racecourse Fireworks display marshalling.  We have some interesting speakers lined up – the use of craft to improve mental well-being to name just one – very relevant in these days of worry over mental health.

I hope that gives a flavour of what we have been up to in the last 4 months, I will give a resume at the end of the next 4 months – interesting times ahead.
 

Janet Lister

President Newbury Rotary Club