Autumn 2019
Faringdon Rotarian The newsletter of Faringdon & District Rotary Club
www.faringdonrotaryclub.org @RotaryFaringdon
faringdon.rotary
‘The Rotary Club of Faringdon & District Trust Fund’ is a registered charity No: 1023771
Editor & Producer: Michael Bell
A Rotary Partnership for Education (RP4E) – Nepal Pilot Project
Home for the Rescue of the Afflicted Children (HORAC)
Director, Tej Shahi, with the School Children outside the HORAC Home in Kathmandu The Rotary Partnership for Education (RP4E) supports and mentors young students at College and University in low-income countries. Many of these HORAC children from the more deprived areas in Western Nepal lost family members in the 10-year Civil War and will qualify for further education and benefit from our New RP4E International Project.
RAF Watchfield – Plaque Unveiling Ceremony From 1939 to 1950 RAF Watchfield played a vital role in the outcome of the Second World War. Today only few people know it even existed. Its gate at the end of the High Street the only reminder that remains. I attended the unveiling of a plaque which commemorates the existence of RAF Watchfield airfield. We, the Rotary club of Faringdon & District answering an appeal to our Dragons’ Den, helped sponsor the signs. There were approximately 100 people in attendance including: Neil Mawl, chair of the Watchfield historical society, a senior officer from Shriveham Defence Academy, the mayor of Faringdon. Several ex-service men and families who were associated with RAF Watchfield also attended along with Rtn Bjorn Watson a member of the Shrivenham historical society and John Brierwood honorary member of the Rotary club of Faringdon & District with wife Elise, Neil Maul started the proceedings with the date the original airfield was established, 1939 and how it was requisitioned by the government at the beginning of the war. It was used for pilot training and the development of a blind landing system. The Plaque was unveiled by Alec Chambers, a veteran airman who had experienced landing and take-off from RAF Watchfield, followed by an RAF officer from the Defence Academy saying a few words before taking the Salute. Watchfield Royal British Legion conducted an act of remembrance following the unveiling. Glyn
Plant Staging for Root & Branch The Rotary club of Faringdon & District volunteered to help when Root & Branch said they needed to replace their existing plant staging. It was to be eight meters long, one metre high and 800mm wide and was to be constructed in treated fencing timber. In total we input just over 40 hours of work and spent nearly ÂŁ400 on timber. Labour contributed by Clive Clark, Roddy Benson, Ray Avenell, Mike Bell, Bjorn Watson, Gordon Hughes, Roger Watts and myself. Although we completed the task in under two days, when the gardener returned, they realised the bench was too high, so we returned and trimmed 200mm off each leg. Everyone involved found it very satisfying to be able contribute some manual labour. Glyn
This was not my first RYLA. In fact, I first heard of RYLA back in 2005 when I was a member of the Rotaract club of Wallingford. It had two sponsoring Rotary clubs and they offered me a place on RYLA. I, like most candidates, had no idea what I was letting myself in for when a Rotarian from my sponsoring club dropped me off at the pear tree interchange. I climbed on a coach surrounded by people I didn't know and wondered why I had ever said yes. By the end of the week I was so thankful to not only have been given the opportunity but also that I said yes. I learnt a lot about myself during that week and am still in touch with several people in my team. It's such a great experience that I’ve been a supporter of RYLA ever since. So, to have the chance to go back to RYLA as a Rotarian was wonderful and I was excited to see how much it had changed. I also wanted to see if the experience still had an impact for today's candidates in the way it had for me. The basic format is still the same, many of the activities are the same but with some new activities added. There are challenges which award team points depending on their success. In case you haven't been to RYLA the outline of the week is classroom activities on the first two mornings with team challenges to break up the sessions. The first two afternoons are dedicated to outdoor team challenges, which are similar to the ones I faced but much more difficult to score points now. The teams are split for the next two days only coming together in the evening for de-brief and small team challenges.
On Thursday the teams start a 30-hour challenge and don't return to the centre during this entire time. This is much more involved than when I completed RYLA. I was teamed up with group Sheep who were an amazing group of young people. All said that they had benefitted from the RYLA week; not just in terms of their leadership skills but in other aspects that they hadn't expected. It was great to watch this group of strangers work together as a team and see the friendships build over the week. The group were supportive of each other and pointed out the contributions of each other particularly when a person was unsure of the value they brought to the team. I too benefitted from the week with another dose of insight gained from self-reflection during the week. I am now a more avid supporter of this scheme and certain it continues to make a difference to people's lives. We should be proud of our support. Jodie
Glyn’s abseil
The Winning Team
RotaKids Friday 7th June RotaKids decorated a bicycle to display in the town. The Ladies Cycle Race was coming through the following Wednesday and our little town was to be live across the world! Exciting!
Visit to Ferendune Friday 21st June RotaKids visited Ferendune to deliver a ‘companion pet’- a robotic cat for the residents to stroke and cuddle. They get so much from a friendly connection and RotaKids got cake as a thank you!
Canine Partners Later in June Julie came to visit us with her Canine Partners dog, Topaz. We really enjoyed learning about how Topaz can answer the door, open switches for shop doors and even help Julie take her socks off! RotaKids have decided that we want to help train an assistance dog to help someone in need. We have sent Canine Partners a cheque for £50. Well done Topaz!
End of Term End of term mid-July and we lose some of our lovely RotaKids as they go up to Faringdon Community College. They all have kept their pledge and helped us raise lots of money for many good causes. Thank you and good luck. “Our RotaKids are truly amazing; can teach the rest of us a great deal about not standing on ceremony and just getting on and doing stuff. The true spirit of Rotary is at The Pump House every Friday. Well done RotaKids and two brilliant leaders, Amy and Shaena.” Tim Cowling “Huge thanks to all the volunteers who help teach this group the importance of making a difference. It can start out as such a small thing but soon adds up. The children have been given the chance to invest in their world and see the impact they can have. Pleased to have another 4 years of being a rota kid mum ahead. Could not be prouder x.” Sherrie
A New Term Begins Friday 13th September: first day back after summer hols. Some familiar faces and some new ones too. Some who left to go up to FCC still came which was lovely, we don’t want to let them go! We also welcomed Laura our new volunteer to assist Amy. Our newly Elected President is Evie and Vice-President is Grace. New Secretary is Zak and Vice-Secretary is Lydia. Good luck to you all.
Congratulations and very best wishes to Rtns Melanie & Clive on their June Wedding
Many thanks to Jodie, Glyn & Gordon for their contributions to this edition. Mike
Publication
The Faringdon Rotarian June 2019 The Faringdon Rotarian March 2019 The Faringdon Rotarian December 2018 The Faringdon Rotarian August 2018 The Faringdon Rotarian April/May 2018 The Faringdon Rotarian February 2018 The Faringdon Rotarian December 2017 The Faringdon Rotarian September 2017 The Faringdon Rotarian June 2017 The Faringdon Rotarian April 2017 The Faringdon Rotarian February 2017 The Faringdon Rotarian November 2016 The Faringdon Rotarian August 2016 The Faringdon Rotarian June 2016 The Faringdon Rotarian April 2016 The Faringdon Rotarian February 2016
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