NEA REGION

ON I REG SEM

ASSOCIATIONS RT Bulgaria RT Cyprus RT France RT Gibraltar RT Israel RT Italy RT Malta RT Monaco RT Morocco RT Portugal RT San Marino RT Switzerland RT Tunisia SOUTHERN EUROPE & MEDITERRANIAN REGION

A SEASON OF AWARDS

By NICHOLAS GOMEZ, SEM Chairman 2021-2022

BROTHERS, LAST MONTH my home Association hosted the SEM meeting, the first time it has done so in 20 years. I am very proud of those who worked tirelessly to make it happen and the many international guests we had in attendance!

As one of the smallest Associations in Round Table, it is an excellent achievement for Round Table Gibraltar to have hosted the SEM. Well done, guys! I hope that this motivates other small Associations to have the courage and confidence to apply for and host international events. My article for this edition is about the winners of this year’s SEM awards, including the Project, Table and Tabler of the year.

Service Project of the Year: Le Marche pour le Souffle (“Walk for breath”) is an event in France every April and has been going on for 11 years. The objective is to get as many Tablers to walk and raise money by walking (there is no minimum distance involved). This further creates awareness for persons suffering from Cystic Fibrosis.

The year saw more than 220 French Tablers from 26 clubs take part and raise more than €35,000. The money was donated to the Gregory Lemarchal charity, which used the money to purchase a property near Paris to house the family members of those suffering from cystic fibrosis. A fantastic project which has been helping people for the last 11 years. Well done to all involved!

Table of the Year: Round Table 7 Paphos was founded in 1987 and has become one of the most active clubs in our region since then. Here are just a couple of the activities that they do:

“Access City” is a campaign to improve the accessibility and integration of people with disabilities in every aspect of life within Paphos. They host events on the beach and parties, wheelchair basketball and archery events and marathons to raise awareness and funds. They also make donations of “Mobi-chairs”, highquality floating beach wheelchairs. They have opened a playground specifically for children with disabilities.

“Scholarship Fund” where students are given scholarships for postgraduate studies in any discipline. So far, they have funded 8 postgraduate students, with more than €64,000 donated. For anyone interested in finding out more, I suggest you contact Andres Petrou of RT 7 Paphos.

Tabler of the Year: This year’s Tabler of the Year award goes to Thami Benkirane of RT Morocco. He receives this award for convening and organising the fantastic Half Year Meeting, which hundreds of us enjoyed in Marrakech this March. It was the first RTI event after lifting travel restrictions and since the HYM in Luxembourg two years ago. I can say that Thami and the team did a marvellous job arranging the event. Many of us know what a great Tabler and friend Thami are, and I am delighted to have given him this award.

Yours in table

Nicholas Gomez

semchairman@round-table.org