Rotary in London
The Magazine for the Rotary Clubs of London, District 1130 of Rotary International Winter 2017
In this issue Planting for guinness record rotarians parade in purple carols and christmas lunches Shoeboxes to Romania
contents
A MESSAGE FROM THE DG
Thank you for your generosity, says DG Helen................................................ 1 FOUNDATION
Rotarians aim for Guinness record............. 3 Epping Rotary plants crocuses.................... 3 Canons Park................................................... 3 Rotarians parade in the purple.................. 5 ROTARACT
Wandsworth Rotaract inducts new member................................... 7 Doddington Place......................................... 7 COMMUNITY
Rotarians begin service with rousing carol......................................... 8 Barnet Rotary gives Christmas lunch ........ 8 PP Senia Dedic takes over as Coordinator ..................................... 9 Learn to save lives....................................... 13 Greenwich Rotary sends shoeboxes to Romania............................... 13 How Rotary shoeboxes began.................. 13 CORRESPONDENCE
Have Your Say.................................... 10 & 11 Speakers’ Panel........................................... 11 International
The Hansali Pain Relief Dental Clinic three years on...................... 15 LAST WORDS
Pesh runs and treks in Argentina............. 16 Surprise! Surprise! He got three rubies!................................... 16 Mish Mosh .................................................. 16
Cover shows Rotary’s float in London’s New Year’s Day parade Information is published in good faith, but does not necessarily represent the views of the Editor of Rotary in London or of London District 1130. No liability is accepted for the actions of advertisers, as advertisements are accepted at face value. The Editor welcomes news items, articles, photographs and letters, but is not obliged to publish unsolicited material, reserving the right to edit for clarity and length. Contributors must ensure that material submitted never breaches copyright and must obtain necessary permission in writing for reproduction No responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage to material submitted to Rotary in London magazine.
welcome
Farewell This issue of Rotary in London is the last to be printed, after which it will be digital only. This change is just the latest to hit the world of communicating information in a permanent form rather than fleetingly, by word of mouth. In the Middle Ages in Europe everything people read had to be copied out by hand. This was done by monks, producing the wonderful illuminated copies of holy texts such as the Irish Book of Kells which still delight us today. In southern Spain one Moslem ruler even employed 70 women as copyists and Qur’an calligraphers. Gutenberg launched the first revolution in dissemination of knowledge in the 1460s, with his wooden printing press using moveable metal type - with techniques that have changed little since then. But now the second revolution is taking place. The written word need not be on paper – it can also appear on a screen, which means that texts can be transmitted direct to readers without needing to print them. Now Rotary in London is following suit. From now on London Rotarians and anyone else will be able to click on their screens and bring up the digital version on a regular basis. Watch Dick Nathan’s District Notes for news of when this takes place. I edited my first issue of Rotary in London in the summer of 2011, when Trevor Johnson became London’s District Governor. Nearly six years later I am editing my last issue and last to be printed. The change makes sense, as the cost has been quite a drain on the District’s finances. Not having to worry about printing costs makes for more flexibility when it comes to deciding frequency of publication and number of pages. Before I leave the District for the Rotary Club of Rochester, I say goodbye to everyone. It’s been lovely working with so many of you, in particular Margaret Cooper as Assistant Editor, Clive Bubley as Picture Editor and latterly Ben Rye, who has been handling printing and distribution. I wish the District and all who are in it a happy and productive future. Jane Hammond, Editor The views expressed above are those of the Editor only.
a message from the dg
Thank you for your generosity, says DG Helen
Mayfair, which was chartered on New Year’s Day. Six Rotaract Clubs are recruiting members and another is in the pipeline. In my first half-year as District Governor, I visited 61 clubs and saw the difference Rotarians make to their communities. I attended two Christmas Day Lunch parties, organised respectively by the Rotary Clubs of Barnet and Battersea Park. Although different in size, both make a vast difference to local people who would otherwise have spent Christmas alone (see pages 8 & 9).
Gender parity
DG Helen meets Scarecrow, Margolette and Patchwork Girl – three characters from the Chicken Shed Christmas show, Adventure to Oz. Photo: Dick Nathan
District 1130 Rotary Clubs have rallied to the cause of this year’s District project: raising funds for a London Air Ambulance Helivan (see letter, page 10). Watch the District Notices for details of when and where the presentation will be made by a celebrity to LAA. Thank you all for the generosity and commitment that have enabled us to reach this point. This year we celebrate Foundation’s centenary. From initial donations of $26.50, the Foundations assets are now around $1 billion. Over $3 billion has been spent on projects that promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and support education inter alia. Rotary Foundation’s top priority continues to be the global eradication of polio. Rotary launched its PolioPlus programme in 1985 and in 1988 became a leading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
District and Global Grants This year, 15 District Grants have been approved by District and nine Global Grants are in process with four having been approved by District Designated Fund so far. In addition, the District hosted 35 Global Scholars, a record number, and, between July and Christmas, clubs held at least 19 World’s Greatest Meal events.
Rotary in London celebrates Foundation’s Centenary in May when we hope we shall make a World Guinness Record (see page 3). We need one thousand volunteers – Rotarians , friends, schoolchildren - to plant purple alliums for a permanent six-foot Rotary Roundel Display. Last autumn, Rotarians and others throughout RIBI planted seven million purple corms to mark Purple4Polio. Early in December, London Rotarians and others planted thousands of corms in Regents Park. They received live coverage on BBC Television’s London Live programme, when Steven Levy interviewed RI Polio Eradication Ambassadors at the Regent’s Park planting, including TV presenters Julia Roberts and Konnie Huq, Paralympians Ade Adepitan and Anne Wafula-Strike and RIBI President Eve Conway. I am delighted to say that London District started 2017 with the new Rotary Club of
We must lower our average age and increase the percentage of women in Rotary. Gender parity is one way in which our membership can increase. I am proud to say that 28 per cent of members in District 1130 are female, compared with 39 per cent in the States, but we have a long way to go to reach parity. Only 22 per cent of Rotary’s members worldwide are women, up from 13 percent 10 years ago. The importance of Women in Rotary was highlighted at our District Conference in October. We have inducted more females than males since then. We need to increase our membership to survive and more members of both genders are welcome. To that end the Council on Legislation changes have eliminated limitations on how clubs conduct their meetings. RI President-elect Ian Riseley has challenged every Rotary Club to make a difference by planting a tree for each of its members between the start of the next Rotary year this July and Earth Day on 22 April 2018. Trees remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the air, which slows global warming. It is a great idea and we have a head start on the idea of Rotarians planting trees. The Rotary Club of Golders Green started the Rotary Forest at the Pestalozzi Village which I visited with the club in East Sussex. We met the Pestalozzi Rotaract Club and had a short tour of our Rotary Forest. This was planted by the Golders Green Rotary Club, which supports Pestalozzi and continues to plant trees in the Forest in the name of Rotarians for a small fee. I look forward to attending the Youth Competition Finals, the New Club Charter Evening and many more of the Anniversary Celebrations, fund raising and social events.
Social media Work is in progress to help clubs become familiar with social media and On Line tools. We plan more training sessions, so watch District Notices for further information. It is so uplifting seeing the projects that have made such a difference to so many people. Thank you all for all that you are doing to make that difference . Helen Antoniou, District Governor Winter 2017 • 1
support
rotary foundation
exhorts DG Helen
100 years of ‘Doing Good in the World’ the rotary foundation expenditure
For the eighth year running our Foundation has received the top rating from the Charity Navigator, an independent organisation, which evaluates
programmes
charities in the United States. The Foundation funds only projects and initiatives worldwide with active Rotarian involvement. This year the Rotary Foundation will…
92%
K Fund 35 Rotary Scholars
coming to our District K Enable clubs to apply
for funds via the Global Grant Programme K Be the prime mover in
the final push to eradicate polio from the world As DG Helen reminds Rotarians: “We support so many outside charities, but often forget to support
6%
FUNDRAISING
our own Rotary Foundation. Without such support, our projects and programmes will suffer.”
This space donated by Rotary In London
2 • Rotary In London
2%
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
foundation
Rotarians aim for Guinness record On 7 May London Rotarians aim to feature in the Guinness Book of Records. They hope to encourage a thousand volunteers, including local families, to plant purple alliums in Canons Park in the London Borough of Harrow. Planting starts at 11.00am. District Foundation Chair Tom Hunt explains that this is to celebrate the Rotary Foundation’s century of doing good in the world and, in particular, its End Polio Now campaign. He describes what will happen. Local bulb specialist John Amand’s firm is supplying the alliums. He has won 30 gold medals for his alliums at the Chelsea Flower Show for the last 40 years. On this occasion he has arranged for his top Spanish supplier to fly alliums in from Spain to be available for a May planting. Normally they would be planted in October. Near the alliums will be a floral tableau of begonias depicting the Rotary wheel being
made by young people with special needs who work with the Shaw Trust in a horticultural team learning life skills. The Trust is sending a team from Seaham in Co Durham to build the roundel on site. What Rotary pays the Trust supports its wonderful work. Trust members will provide on-going maintenance of the flowerbed. The Shaw Trust is a national charity working to create brighter futures for the people and communities we serve. Formed in 1982, it now enables over 50,000 people a year to live independent and inclusive lives to find employment. We need as many people as possible to
Epping Rotary plants crocuses The Rotary Club of Epping made its contribution last autumn to the Purple4Polio campaign by planting crocuses in the Market Garden that Epping in Bloom opened in the centre of Epping. Readers will recall that RIBI President (and Redbridge Rotary Club member) Eve Conway launched this campaign at her induction last summer. Getting together to mark the occasion are, left to right, back row standing: Epping Rotary PP Michael Wright, Victoria Robertson, representing Epping in Bloom, and Epping Rotarian Ann Miller. Front row kneeling: Epping Town Mayor Les Burrows and Epping Rotarians President Barbara Scruton, PP Jean Kibblewhite and Ben Hodges.
John Amand, whose firm supplies the alliums, seen above
join this event. They might be from Rotary Clubs in any District. They might be attenders at local places of worship: churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, gurdwaras or whatever. Or they might be young people attending local schools, members of youth organisations such as Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and Brownies and anyone else willing to volunteer.
Canons Park Canons Park, in the London Borough of Harrow, is a former country estate which partially survives as a public park. It takes its name from the canons (monks) of the Augustinian priory of St Bartholomew (now St Bartholomew’s Church) opposite Smithfield in London. In mediaeval times the site was a part of the endowment of the Priory of St Bartholomew’s which ran St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.
After the dissolution of the monasteries the land was sold in 1543. In the early 18th century the 1st Duke of Chandos built a magnificent mansion. Although later demolished, features surviving from the ducal park can still be seen. They include two lakes, the Basin Lake and the Seven Acre Lake. In 1760 another house was built on the site and now houses the North London Collegiate School. Also on the site are ambitious Edwardian gardens, which form the public pleasure gardens of Canons Park.
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Foundation
Rotarians parade in the purple RIBI President (and Redbridge Rotary Club member) Eve Conway joined other Rotarians in going Purple for the Parade as they braved the rain to take part in London’s New Year’s Day Parade 2017. They wore the colour to highlight RIBI’s Purple4Polio campaign. Eve describes what took place.
Above: a reporter interviews Eve Conway, President of RIBI, dressed as Bat Woman; below: the streamroller pulling the trailer
The theme of the LNYDP 2017 was ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ and Rotary’s entry included film characters who wore purple. This highlighted our Purple4Polio campaign, which focusses on how
Rotary is so close to achieving our number one goal of eradicating polio worldwide. One of those taking part was Cody Lee, from Buckhurst Hill in Essex, who has had support from Rotary for his musical talent. He joined Rotary’s entry in the New Year’s Day Parade with the UK’s youngest Retro Band, the Retro Boys. They played on a trailer being drawn along by a hundred-year-old steam traction engine, lovingly restored by its owners. Eve reminds Rotarians: “The blockbuster fact is that we are on the brink of a historic milestone: a polio-free world. Thanks to Rotary starting and spearheading the campaign to end polio now and forever, cases have been reduced by 99.9 per cent. We chose purple for the campaign as purple is the colour of the dye put on a child’s finger to show they have been immunised against polio”. As most London Rotarians know, Rotary started and has led the campaign for a polio-free world since 1985, when there were about a thousand new cases of polio a day in 125 countries. This led to the setting up in 1988 of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with Rotary International, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Later on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined the campain. In 2016, there were just 37 cases of polio in three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative hopes that we could see the last case of polio in 2017. It takes three years of no new cases of polio to declare the world polio-free. Winter 2017 • 5
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Rotaract
Wandsworth Rotaract inducts new member Wandsworth Rotaracters meet at the Café Ole in Wandsworth; club President Agostina Gonzalez Calderon inducts Simon Brook
Simon Brook formally became a member of the Rotaract Club of Wandsworth in November, when he was inducted at the club’s meeting at the Café Ole. Senia Dedic of the Rotary Club of Battersea Park tells Rotary in London what took place. Wandsworth Rotaracters updated us on the marvellous things they do for the community in Wandsworth. For instance, club member Moise Dakouri helped raise funds for Battersea Park Rotary’s 2015 Christmas Day lunch by sky diving from a plane. Total raised by events was almost £3,000. This year he helped us plant 5,000
crocuses in Doddington Place to support Polio Plus, the Foundation project which publicises Rotary’s work to support the worldwide eradication of polio in the world (see also page 3). The Rotary Club of Battersea Park, along with the Rotary Club of Putney, are the two sponsors of Wandsworth Rotaract. Both
clubs have been helping the Rotaract Club with a new membership strategy to recruit members this Rotary year. Partnership between Wandsworth Rotaract and Battersea Park Rotary works very well. The club meets the second and fourth Wednesdays in the month at the Café Ole in Falcon Road, Battersea.
Doddington Place Doddington Place, where Wandsworth Rotaractor Moise Dakouri helped to plant 5,000 crocuses, stands in landscaped gardens on the North Downs in Kent. It is surrounded by wooded countryside in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The gardens are set in the grounds of an imposing Victorian mansion and cover ten acres. The garden has featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles and twice on TV in Country Ways. It has also been the scene of episodes in the television series Perfect Scoundrels (with Peter Bowles) and Great Houses Cookery
(with Michael Barry). Part of the film Waterland, starring Jeremy Irons and Natasha Richardson, was filmed there.
Winter 2017 • 7
Community
Rotarians begin service with rousing carol
Photo: Adrian Faiers
Photo: Adrian Faiers
The beautiful Regency Parish Church of St Marylebone was the venue for London Rotary District’s carol service in December. Assistant Editor Margaret Cooper describes the event.
Rotarians take their gifts to the altar rail (above) where DG Helen receives them.
As the congregation of Rotarians and visitors began the service with a rousing Holly and the Ivy, St Marylebone’s Assistant Curate, Father Edward Thornley, led a procession to the altar. This included Rotary’s choir for the carol service, the church’s Director of Music, Gavin Roberts, his Assistant, Thomas Allery, and the Organ Scholar, Bertie Bagent. Present at the well attended event were visiting Rotarians Michael Cromati and Brian Marvey and their partners from the Rotary Club of Ventnor in the Isle of Wight. They were invited along by George Richie,
Westminster International Rotary Club, London. Father Thornley welcomed all to the service after the Bidding Prayer. Nativity passages from the Bible were read out clearly by Rotary Club members Himanshu Jain (Barking) and Vicenzo Maini (City & Shoreditch), Inner Wheel District Chair Margaret Fairlie and Carla Sateriale (Rotaract District Representative). Father Thornley reminded everyone of the significance of these passages and spoke about Christmas in relation to children. Drawing
attention to the origin of gift giving during the Christmas season, he invited Rotary Club representatives in the congregation to present their clubs’ gifts for subsequent distribution by the Rotary Club of Northwick Park to the children in Jack’s Place, Northwick Park Hospital children’s wing. Father Thornley thanked all for coming, and enjoined everyone to proceed to York Gate for mulled wine and mince pies – as if anyone was going to miss that! Overall, a vibrant evening with everybody soaking up that Yuletide air.
Barnet Rotary gives Christmas lunch This Christmas the Rotary Club of Barnet continued the tradition started in 1980 of inviting the elderly of Barnet to enjoy Christmas Day lunch and entertainment. The participants are selected on the basis that they would otherwise be on their own and many have been coming for a number of years. The event is supported by local charities, collections in the Barnet High Street and local Waitrose and Sainsbury supermarkets.
Barnet Rotary President Dan Orchard carves the turkey. 8 • Rotary In London
This year 56 poeple were collected from their homes and entertained to a full Christmas meal at Ewen Hall in Barnet. Also attending were Barnet’s Lord Lieutenant, Martin Russell, and Mayor, David Longstaff , and DG Helen Antoniou. They all wished the guests an enjoyable day and thanked the Rotary Club for all their hard work. Barnet Rotary President Daniel Orchard thanked dignitaries and guests for coming, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
The event is a mainstay of the Rotary calendar in Barnet. Rotarians raise funds with collections in the High Street, run the event and help on the day. Supporting them are a number of volunteers who are keen to give up their Christmas Day this great event each year. The organiser Scott Maclachlan said the event was nearly full as the number of guests was near the maximum who can be catered for. He thanked Rotary’s intrepid cooking team, lead by DGE Mike and Debbie Hodge, who worked their usual magic.
Photos: Liz Shaw
Community
PP Senia Dedic takes over as Coordinator
Cllr Richard Field, Mayor of Wandsworth, presents Robert Flood with a Rotary Award in recognition of his dedicated service to the Christmas lunch. Flanking him are his daughters Rebecca and Barbara. They have been helping as a family for a long time, which is why Battersea Park Rotary is giving Robert this prestigious award.
The Rotary Club of Battersea Park held its 54th Christmas lunch and party on Christmas Day. Ré Johnson, after many years of managing the lunch, resigned as Coordinator last year. Her place has been taken by PP Senia Dedic, who describes what happened. Guests at Battersea Park’s Christmas lunch enjoy their meal in the Battersea Evolution marquee. Volunteers receive their briefing before the lunch begins.
As usual, 500 elderly people from the London Borough of Wandsworth attended as guests, helped by 250 volunteers who hailed from all around the world. It took us the whole year to raise the £23,000 needed to serve a three-course Christmas meal with all the trimmings, transport the guests from their homes and back, and supply goody bags for all our guests as well as prizes for bingo and for the best dancers. To raise the money for this charitable five-star event, we organised several fundraising events throughout the year and applied for grants to raise the funds t for our elderly residents, who would be otherwise alone on Christmas Day. Incidentally, we are always particularly grateful to Battersea Evolution, which owns the marquee where the lunch takes place and makes it available free. It also supplies the free labour of its chefs, who prepare the lunch.
Winter 2017 • 9
correspondence
Can you help with RYLA? Do you want to be involved with the first time Rotary Youth Leadership (RYLA) Awards for many years, which District 1130 will be running next July? At this stage, we are looking for Rotarians and Rotaractors to become involved with planning the event. We are seeking a public relations officer to publicise the RYLA, a programme administrator to supervise logistics, a secretary to handle pre-event correspondence and on-site registration, a facilities manager to oversee accommodation and catering and an activities leader to conduct recreational and social activities. We shall also need volunteers in several roles during the event. These will include making presentations on a variety of topics relating to leadership such as facilitating discussions and mentoring as well as supervising living arrangements and preparing meals. You can find more details in the brochure which has been sent to all Presidents and Club Youth Specialists or by contacting me directly at shirley0@gmail.com, 07966 131 722 or 01895 821 858. Shirley Kirk District RYLA Specialist
Swell numbers to a thousand Calling a thousand volunteers! Will you join Rotary members and others to plant purple alliums in Canons Park on 7 May? Foundation Chair Tom Hunt is hoping that as many Rotarians as possible will join us to swell the numbers to a thousand to plant these lovely purple flowers. Their showy flower heads come in several shades including purple. This is very convenient for us Rotarians, as we can plant them as an alternative to purple crocuses as part of our End Polio Now campaign. Alliums are incredibly long-lived and flower for ages, so promise to be around for a long time as a reminder of End Polio Now. On page 3 Tom gives you the details of this event, which will be part of Rotary’s celebration of a century of Rotary Foundation work in doing good – in this case, its campaign to rid the world of polio. We hope to get an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for assembling a thousand people to plant alliums. So help us make history by coming along and joining the crowd on 7 May, the first Sunday in the month. If you have any ideas of who could help or who we should contact, please let Tom Hunt know at foundation@rotaryinlondon.org or on 020 8500 8343 or 07860 525 831. And now for something completely different. 10 • Rotary In London
Following this letter you will see one from Vic Lennard, seeking sponsorship. Editor Jane has kindly agreed to my request for his letter to be published. He is not a Rotarian and normally we would not give an outsider space for his request, but he gave tremendous support in providing the publicity material to promote the event described her. This is why Editor Jane has agreed to my request. My own club, incidentally, has already agreed to make a donation to Kisharon. Peter Bradley Community Chair Edgware & Stanmore Rotary Club
Support a special needs charity Having completed the London Marathon in 2015 and 2016 I am now raising funds for Kisharon. This is a special needs charity that provides vital support to hundreds of Jewish children and adults with learning difficulties and their families. Kisharon’s services include Tuffkid Nursery, Kisharon Day School, residential and supported living services, an adult employment scheme and a business centre with a bicycle sales/repair shop and print shop. The charity enables people with learning difficulties to learn and develop the skills they will need throughout life to live as independently as possible and become integrated within their wider community. To find out more, ring me on 07939 201 201, email me at vic@lennard.co.uk or visit me at www.kisharon.org.uk. Running is no easy task for me. I keep two orthopedic surgeons in work, with severe damage to my right foot and both knees along with lower back facet joint disease, but that won’t stop me! Despite taking daily antiinflammatories for over 12 years, I climbed Britain’s three peaks (Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis) in 2014. I do weekly fivekilometre park runs and I’m participating in a number of 10-kilometre and half marathon events before the big one in April 2017. Please make the pain worthwhile by sponsoring me for this great physical challenge! Through Virgin Money Giving, you can sponsor me and donations will be quickly processed and passed to Kisharon. Virgin Money Giving is a not-for-profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity’s behalf if you are eligible for this. Vic Lennard
Support the Helivan appeal When DG Helen and I went to the Royal London Hospital and saw at first hand the London Air
Ambulance (LAA) service, we were amazed that this wonderful life saving service to Londoners was so reliant on charitable donations. As a community project to support the LAA, would London Rotarians be prepared to help and if so how? So the idea of a Helivan was born. Discussions followed and the idea was put to our clubs. Could we raise £30k – yes we could! The idea really took off and the support of the clubs has been fantastic. There is now enough money in the bank to buy a brand new bright red van which will be fully fitted out to the LAA specification and include the Rotary roundel and reference to Rotary in London painted on the sides and rear of the van. Final details and handover arrangements are still to be agreed, but DG Helen says a big ‘thank you’ for your support and generosity in making this project come true. Rotary in the community and the LAA will be partners for years to come and just think how many lives we shall be helping to save! PDG Trevor Johnson Helivan Project Manager
Become more involved in Rotary Do you have any ambition to get involved in Rotary’s governance? If so, here’s a chance for you. RIBI’s Operations Review & Audit Committee is seeking two new members to join it on 1 July next summer. They will be expected to serve a five-year term. This committee monitors the effectiveness and efficiency of the operations of RIBI, oversees such financial and other affairs affecting the interests of members and carries out other oversight functions as may be requested by General Council. You would be expected to attend the committee four times in the year, as it meets quarterly, either face to face or by audio. If urgent matters arise you might be asked to meet more often to consider them. Your application will be particularly welcome if you come into any of the following categories: you possess senior management experience, possibly in a governance role, in business or in public life, and can read RIBI’s financial accounts, you are prepared to work as part of a team and understand the critical importance of confidentiality.
speakers’ panel
Speakers’ Panel You need to have a full understanding of the roles of RI, RIBI and clubs, as well as experience of RIBI committee structure. You should also be open minded, challenging and bring a logical approach to committee discussions, as well as being prepared to attend three meetings annually at Alcester, which may include an overnight stay there. If you feel you fit into the above scenario, describe your skills base in an email to Committee Chair David Hodge at davidhodgerotary@ btinternet.com, with a copy to Amanda Watkin at secretary@rotarygbi.org. Make sure of getting your application in before 28 February. Good luck! Jane Hammond Editor
Eat jam to Help End Polio One way to help End Polio Now is by eating jam. Wilkins Ltd, makers of Tiptree Jam, have made it possible for you to indulge your sweet tooth in this delightful past time by donating enough jars of jam for there to be enough for all Rotarians in RIBI. Each Rotarian will be asked to buy a jar of jam and, after eating it, fill the empty jar with change to be donated to End Polio Now. Those suffering from diabetes will be allowed to select jam eaters from their club, family or friends to eat on their behalf! As your Jam Champion, I shall give you more details about this in the near future as they emerge. While on the subject of End Polio Now, I am letting you know that crocus buttonholes are still for sale. The District bought 60 boxes and I still have stock, so if your club wants to purchase a box or two please contact me. As and when this stock is exhausted we can get more from RIBI. And with Foundation in mind, don’t forget about the Centennial Dinner which takes place on Tuesday, 25 April, at 6.30 for 7.00 pm, at the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square. Tickets are £35 each. It will be a fun evening, especially as we have booked an excellent comedian, Rotarian Geoff Mackey, who will present his unique tribute to 100 years of the Rotary Foundation. For further details on any of the above either e-mail foundation@rotaryinlondon.org or call 07860 525831 Tom Hunt District Foundation Chair
All organisations listed here are interested in sending speakers to Rotary Clubs in London. As we stressed previously, when launching this column in Rotary in London in autumn 2012, inclusion in this list does not indicate endorsement of that organisation or individual. We are merely putting you in touch with organisations or individuals, so that you can make further enquiries. However, you can rest assured that many of the organisations and individuals listed are well known to Rotary already.
Combat Stress UK’s leading mental health charity for veterans of the UK Armed Forces, providing free specialist clinical treatment and support to ex-servicemen and women across the UK with mental health conditions. Provides specialist treatment at its three treatment centres, practical and clinical support in the community and a free 24-hour helpline. Peter Butterworth – Peter.Butterworth@combatstress.org.uk – 07710 098 667
Children’s Air Ambulance Bespoke air transfer service for seriously ill and injured children and babies across England, providing emergency transfers for children aleady in hospital suffering from illnesses such as meningitis, severe burns or organ failure and in need of urgent and lifesaving care; also transfers paediatric teams across the UK. Carrie Moran – carrie.moran@ theairambulanceservcice.org.uk – 07867 367 548
Female Breadwinners Female breadwinners now make up a fifth of the women in the UK. Jenny Garrett shares her findings from her research and subsequent book, Rocking Your Role. She discusses such issues as implications for the workplace and relationships and lists the ten things female breadwinners must do. She can tailor her talk for individual clubs. Jenny Garrett – jenny@reflexion-uk.co.uk – 0844 776 4744
Friends of the Elderly Set up in 1905, the charity’s vision is a society where all older people are treated with respect and have the opportunity to lead fulfilled lives. It provides support, particularly for those in need due to mental or physical frailty, isolation or poverty. Its range of personalised care and support services includes care homes, befriending schemes and grants. Gemmy Leary – gemma.leary@fote.org.uk – 020 7730 8263
St Mungo’s Opens doors for homeless people. Mainly based in London, it provides support towards recovery and helps to prevent rough sleeping. It runs over one hundred projects and helps thousands of homeless people make life changes every year; they can come and talk about their experiences of being homeless and how St Mungo’s has helped. Russell Benson – Russell.benson@ mungos.org – 020 8762 5586
Vinebranch Ministries Provides vulnerable street children and young adults with shelter, medical care, education and survival skills in Zambia. It runs a basic school giving a hundred orphans education and lunches. Phase two of its Skills Vocational Training Centre seeks to cope with high unemployment among young adults. The Rev Desmond Gordon – desgordon2003@yahoo.co.uk – 07753 476 100
Winter 2017 • 11
Allium project_Landscape 1 25/01/2017 05:02 Page 1
BE PART OF
HISTORY
Please help us to celebrate 100 years of Rotary Foundation – DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD. We are going for a Guinness world record to have 1000 volunteers simultaneously planting purple Allium bulbs in Canons Park, Whitchurch Lane, Edgware HA8 6QH.
7 May 2017 • 11am
For more details and a registration pack contact Tom Hunt foundation@rotaryinlondon.org This space donated by Rotary In London
TEA BAGS FOR WHEELCHAIRS The first recipient of a Wheelchair Foundation wheelchair purchased with bar codes from Yorkshire Tea products in District 1130. Please send the Bar Code and Vouchers from the underside of ANY box of Yorkshire Tea to D1130 collection point to help purchase wheelchairs from the Wheelchair Foundation and support environmental projects. D1130 Collection Point: Adrian Faiers, 15 Lovett Road, Harefield, Middx UB9 6DN This space donated by Rotary In London
Community
Learn to save lives
Photo: Anshul Varshney
As Rotary in London goes to press, plans are afoot for another training session on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on 16 February at York Gate. Such training is clearly beneficial, as it enables anyone witnessing a heart attack to be able to save someone’s life with swift action.
Greenwich Rotary sends shoeboxes to Romania
Kay Williams, with pupils and other staff at Hawksmoor School, Thamesmead, contributed to the Rotary Shoebox Scheme run by the Rotary Club of Greenwich. They decorated and filled 90 shoe boxes with goodies and also raised £275 for postage of the shoeboxes to Romania. Members of Remark, a club for deaf people in Eltham, donated a further eight shoeboxes and in the process, jokes PP Shatu Garba of Greenwich Rotary: “Some of them were Rotarians for the day!”
How Rotary shoeboxes began
Suraiya demonstrates CPR on a dummy during a training session
District Community Chair Suraiya Kassamally ran a breakout session on CPR at October’s District Conference and describes what happened. Rotarians Ernie Russell and Govind Mohan demonstrated on dummies the correct response to give to a person suffering a heart attack, as well as what to do if you get an attack when on your own. Everyone present was able to get practical experience of the correct procedure.
While on the subject of health, District Stroke Awareness Specialist Shirley Kirk reminds Rotarians that Stroke Awareness Day occurs on Saturday, 22 April. She adds that as long as the event is registered with the Stroke Association and people recognised by the Stroke Association are taking the measurements at Rotary’s sessions on Stroke Awareness Day, there is no need for a doctor or nurse to be present.
North West Rotary Clubs launched Rotary’s national shoebox scheme in 1994, to give Christmas presents to the children of Iasi, in north-east Romania. The scheme is now a national project supported not only by Rotary Clubs but also by individuals, schools, companies, churches, Inner Wheel, Rotaract and Interact among others. Gifts are now sent throughout the year to Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia and Kosovo as well as Romania. Toys are especially useful all year round for birthday presents in orphanages, homes and hospitals. All age groups, including teenagers, welcome the boxes.
Winter 2017 • 13
218 Grangewood House, Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate, Loughton, Essex IG10 3TZ
Rotary Youth Leadership course Rotary District 1130 trains young people in effective leadership at the Hillingdon Outdoor Activity Centre Harefield, Middlesex Tuesday, 18 July to Friday, 21 July 2017
Do you want to help make the RYLA course a success? If so, email shirleykirk0@gmail.com or telephone 07966 131 722 to find out more.
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International
The Hansali Pain Relief Dental Clinic three years on Rotary in London has always relished publishing follow up stories, as these demonstrate sustainability and long term success. This certainly applies to the Hansali Pain Relief Dental Clinic in the Punjab, supported by the Mill Hill Rotary Club since its member Dr Hardev Coonar established it in 1999. It is supported in India by the Rotary Club of Sirhind. We published our first account of the clinic in our 2013 Autumn issue, when it celebrated 14 years of existence. At that time daily attendance by local patients, who receive the clinic’s services free, was 35. Recently, the Rotary Club of Chislehurst has donated £2,000 to provide dentures to elderly patients free of charge. Some 70 patients are likely to benefit. In our Summer 2014 issue, we reprinted an article about the clinic from the British Dental Journal, which wrote about the clinic’s fifteenth anniversary. Since its inception the clinic has given free dental care to 129,000 patients in rural Punjab. In our Winter 2015 issue we mourned the death of the clinic’s chief benefactor, Sant Baba Ajit Singh, to whom the Mill Hill Club awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship. As you can see on this page, the clinic continues to attract many visitors. Professor Roger Hitchings from the Rotary Club of Golders Green, an expert in glaucoma who practised at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, came with his wife
Dr Veermati Hitchings while on a family visit to Ambala nearby. Dr Manoj Desai, a member of the Rotary Club of Baroda, in Rotary District 3040 and current RI Director from Zone 5, paid a visit. And dental surgeons Dr Gagandeep Matharoo and Dr Shawn Dhanjal came from the States to research early detection of oral diseases in patients in rural Punjab.
Top picture: Dr Manoj Desai visited the Pain Relief Dental Clinic at Hansali in December. Here he is at the clinic in the company of fellow Rotarians. Picture above, from left: Professor Roger Hitchings, his wife Dr Veermati Hitchings and a local teacher. Picture below: Dr Gagandeep Matharoo (left) and Dr Shawn Dhanjal (centre) with staff at the clinic, who are wearing white overalls.
Winter 2017 • 15
last wordS
Mish Mosh by “Schlepper”
Pesh runs and treks in Argentina Last month the Rotary Club of Loughton, Buckhurst Hill & Chigwell presented a cheque for £1,750 to Epping Forest Citizens’ Advice bureau. This provides free independent confidential impartial advice regardless of race, gender, national origin, disability or sexuality and relies on grants and donations. Past President Pesh Kapasiawala had raised this impressive sum through a successful barbeque in September and running in the Buenos Aires Marathon on 9 October in 25c heat. He followed up the Marathon with a fortnight’s trek in Patagonia. Unfortunately, he missed the 2016 District Conference in Eastbourne because of taking part in the Marathon! Pesh describes the mountainous
landscape as “stunning, breath-taking”, using whatever hyperbole he can find. Sadly, he was not able to meet the people of Chubut or Y Wladychfa Gymreig (the Welsh Colony) and speak to them in the UK’s other official language: Welsh. Chubut, settled by Welsh people in the 1860s, apparently has 5,000 inhabitants who speak Welsh. (In case you were wondering, Pesh does not speak the language himself.)
Surprise! Surprise! He got three rubies! We usually publish stories about recent events, but this time we report on something that happened last summer. Stella Russell had been unwell and this story got mislaid, but now here it is. At his last meeting as President of the Rotary Club of Bush Hill Park, Stella’s husband Ernie had invited DG Helen Antoniou to present Paul Harris medals to two fellow members, Bob Wilkinson and Max Harding. During her speech, Ernie realised that she wasn’t talking about either Max or Bob, and it dawned on him that she 16 • Rotary In London
was describing his own club history. Helen then proceeded to present a confused Ernie with a three-ruby PHF in recognition of his service to the club and Rotary during the 33 years of its existence. Embarrassment, shock and pleasure were apparent as Ernie gave his thanks for and appreciation of the honour the club had bestowed on him.
It was great to read that we have a spanking new Rotary Club in our District (see page 1). Not just in our District, but slap bang in the centre of our District. Further enquiries revealed that the members are just the right mix of ages, backgrounds, genders, classifications and skills to build a successful future. But –and you knew there was going to be a ‘but’ - the club must not build this future in isolation. All London Rotarians should make the time and effort to visit the new club for one of their regular meetings. In this way the new Rotarians will soon see the benefits of ‘fellowship’ in its simplest and purest form: one person talking to another. But it is also of paramount importance that the Rotary Club of Mayfair gets involved in District matters enthusiastically from the start, ensuring representation at all District events, training sessions, District Council meetings and Conference. Its members should be encouraged to visit other Rotary Clubs both within London and whenever and wherever they are away on business or holidays. Not only will they learn a lot about Rotary and its myriad ways of working, but they will also do a great service to older clubs and individuals by spreading their own ideas with the natural enthusiasm of new recruits free from the millstone of established practices and ‘holy’ traditions. In short – they need us, and we need them. Our very best wishes to all the members of the Rotary Club of Mayfair.
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on e l is nd enc ate r lo fer d P so on vin pon ct C A r to s s t r i d Di ou ’s pr tary ro
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