When he joined the Rotary Club of Tormohun, Surajat Sinha came in with the idea of a school poster competition to raise funds towards reducing the usage of single-use plastics.
Against all odds, the idea turned into reality as over 110 entries were sent in from local school’s to be judged by Bob Sweet (Horticultural Director BBC Gardeners World Live), Matthew Lewis (Paignton Zoo), Jim Parker (Editor of Torbay Weekly) and Duncan Kenny (Marine Medic and friend of Surajat).
The Club ran the challenge in conjunction with The Seal Project – a Brixham-based charity whose main aim is to work for conservation of the grey seal population in Torbay and surrounding area of Devon.
Year 7 winner Lara Hirst from Torquay Girls Grammer School
Despite the incredibly high standard of artwork, the judges were able to make their decision and three winners from year’s 7, 8 and 9 were presented with their prizes on the 20th of July.
From the local to the global, Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Haworth & Worth Valley have set up a ‘Global Giving’ page to raise much-needed funds for Yorkshire’s Children’s Hospice, Martin House.
Many services that Martin House offer, such as support for bereaved parents and siblings, have been badly hit because the Hospice has lost all its income from fundraising events and support programmes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haworth & Worth Valley Rotary Club President Gary Gardner
Now Gary Gardner, who took over as President of the Rotary Club of Haworth & Worth Valley in July, has taken on the challenge of raising some money for the hospice so that it can return to offering vital services to the families of stricken children.
Gary said: ‘I’ve seen that ‘Global Giving’ has achieved some impressive results for charities all over the world and if we can harness our desire to help to the power and reach of ‘Global Giving’, I’m sure we can help make a difference for Martin House.’
Chris Verney, Regional Fundraiser at Martin House, said: ‘After such a difficult year, we can only carry on providing our care to babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions thanks to the generous support of clubs like Haworth and Worth Valley Rotary.’
We’ve have been very touched by the fantastic work undertaken by the people at the hospice and our club is going to take their cause to the world in the hope we can generate some funds for their vital work.”
Rotarians have also been enjoying some fundraising of the sportier variety over in Leatherhead where, after a 2 year hiatus, Leatherhead Rotary Club were able to welcome 36 keen golfers to Effingham Golf Club for their 29th Annual Charity Golf Day.
After lunch, a full round of golf, an auction and a variety of other fundraising activities, the event managed to raise almost £2,000 to go towards Surrey Young Carers – the club’s charity for the year.
It isn’t just human Rotarian’s getting in on the fundraising – the pigeons are at it to!
The Rotary Club Peterborough Ortons have collaborated with The Royal Pigeon Racing Association to organise this virtual flight event where the club will sponsor the pigeons at £10 per bird.
All the money the club donates will go to Polio Eradication but competition entrants can also choose to donate half of the £10 to their own charity of choice.
The event is due to take place on the 8th of October and a 1st place prize of £200 is up for grabs for whoever puts their faith in the speediest bird.
Rotarians Terry Dowland (Wheel House Lead) & Pam Marsden spruce up kitchen equipment in the beachfront sunshine
It’s always amazing to see Rotarians making positive change to their local community and The Rotary Club of Fareham’s Wheel House at Hill Head will now be even better for the charities and community it supports.
Those who use the Wheel House include groups and schools for those who have disabilities (with their carers), Guiding, WI, MS Society, day care centres, church organisations and community groups – all who benefit from a much needed break by the seaside.
President of the Rotary Club of Fareham, Norman Chapman, says: ‘Lockdown gave us an opportunity to do these improvements to our facilities in the Wheel House. We are very proud of what we offer to charity and community groups who enjoy using this seaside facility only 9 steps from the beach and annual bookings now exceed 130 groups each year.’
Finally, Richmond Rotary Club gave the community of West Burton a reason to celebrate as it was named the winner of the club’s ‘Best Kept Village’ competition.
There is every reason to be proud of the area where we live and our beautiful villages well deserve the recognition that Rotary gives them through this annual competition.”
Sixteen villages took part – the overall standard being exceptionally high – but West Burton managed to claim their fifth win and the prize of £400.
West Burton’s Councillor, Jane Ritchie MBE, said: ‘We are very fortunate to live in such a lovely place and we are most grateful to our Parish Caretaker Richard Chapman for all his dedication and hard work.’
Richmond Rotary President Emma Fulton (right) presenting a cheque for £400 to
Cllr Jane Ritchie MBE, Chairman of Burton-cum-Walden Council, with her dog Katy
and Parish Caretaker Richard Chapman.
Richmond Rotary Club President Emma Fulton presented a cheque to West Burton this week and said that she was delighted that the competition encouraged so many people to participate and take pride in their locality.
‘We were so pleased that after missing the competition last year we were able to run it in 2021. It was certainly an extremely close contest, and it was evident that a lot of hard work had taken place in preparation. There is every reason to be proud of the area where we live and our beautiful villages well deserve the recognition that Rotary gives them through this annual competition.’
