July 2008

Tuesday 1st. Tonight was the occasion for incoming President Bill Pearson to take over the reins. The formal induction ceremony was performed and the new Committee Chairmen welcomed. President Bill's intention is to maintain continuity and this was ensured by many of the Chairmen continuing with the roles they had held from the previous year.

Tuesday 8th. The Club has always been a strong suporter of the Marie Curie Foundation, and this year had been particularly successful in fund raising for them. Boosted by the opportunity to collect outside Tesco the money raised was neraly £3,000. We were visited this evening by Sue Rowlett, responsible for the fund raising in the East Midlands, to thanks us for our efforts. It turned out that our contribution was a major part of their overall fund raising at tehTesco venues.

Tuesday 15th. A very pleasant evening was spent at the Alrewas National Arboretum. The Club had been involved in planting a tree in the Rotary area and it was an opportunity to see its progress. Leylandii has rapid growth! An excellent tour was given by two established guides, who included some very interesting background to many of the features. The evening rounded off with a sandwich supper in the restaurant.

Sunday 20th. The long planned Five a-side Junior Football Competition. This event had first been held in 2006, but had failed to take off in 2007. This year a more determined effort was made, resulting in nearly 70 entries. Despite some concerns the event turned out to be a resounding success, with nearly 300 games being managed! Comments by the participants were flattereing and the Club looks forward to this being it's major annual event involving the Public.

Tuesday 22nd. For the second week in succession the Club made an outside visit, this time to St Giles Church in Cheadle. The highly decorated church was designed by Pugin, and is closely associated with Alton Towers, being sponsored by the Earl of Shrewsbury. The talk by two members of the church was extremely informative. An excellent, if extended, meal followed at the Star at Hollington.

Tuesday 29th. Peter Coffin and James Wilks are both Trustees of The Hermitage, an Old People's home in Uttoxeter. Currently the Home is facing a major decision as regards its viability and Peter and James spoke of the background to it's existence, which was initiated by a member of the Bamford family. Prospects are good but inevitably depended on the financial support that is available. The Club will continue to take an interest in its progress.

August 2008

Tuesday 5th. With no speaker the evening was scheduled as one of "Fellowship". The major point of discussion revolved around a request from a local Resident for help in providing a medical reclining chair for a lady who had suffered a catastrophic stroke immediately following the death of her husband. It was agred that President Bill would investigate the matter further.


Tuesday 12th. Tonight we were visited by the incoming District Governor, John Barker. As is customary, John reported on his visit to the International gathering of Governors in California and passed on the inspiration behind the Annual Theme "Make Dreams Real". He was kind in his remarks as regards the plans for the Club, and its successes.

Tuesday 19th. President Bill reported on his investigation into the background and needs of the lady who had suffered a stroke. It was agreed that the Club should immediately support the pruchase of the appropriate reclinig chair. We also welcomed Richard Taylor, the District Environmental Officer. Richard offered some thoughts on how Rotary can be involved in the changing needs of the environment. It some became obvious that this was a multi faceted and diverse topic, with no simple solutions. Further guidance as to Rotary's approach would be forthcoming from RIBI.

Tuesday 26th. Following the Monday Bank Holiday there was no meeting

September 2008

Tuesday 2nd. Jack Seddon had been sponsored by the Club for RYLA last year. Jack had followed this up by joining and expedition organised by Thomas Alleynes School to Costa Rica earlier in the summer. The Club had contributed towards his expenses and the trip involved a group of some 20 students travelling in the country usual local facilities, as they came upon them. Towards the end of their visit the students spent some time in one of the more remote schools, helping with English tuition and also doing some more practical work on the fabric of the school. It was generally agreed that the Club's "investment" in Jack was a resounding success.

Tuesday 9th The Sports Officer had organised an evening of Ten Pin Bowling at the local Bowl in Uttoxeter. Although a few members had previously used the facility the majority found it a new, and surprisingly enjoyable, experience!

Tuesday 16th. This was a Business Meeting where the plans for the year were reviewed.

Tuesday 23rd One of PP Peter Coffin's chosen Charities was Help for Heroes. Tonight we were given a presentation by Jeremy Hobbs from the Wolverhampton Club and who helps locally to promote the activities of the Charity. Following his talk he played a brief video showing in graphic detail the problems faced by many wounded service personnel and how the funds raised were assisting in their recuperation. This had a major impact on the members, to the extent that no one felt able to ask further questions. Clearly a Charity with total support from the Club

Tuesday 30th. Our speaker for the evening was Debbie Rushbrooke from the Princes Trust. It had been decided that the Club would support this Charity and Debbie gave us some insight into the working of the Trust, and also the support that they were looking for. It became clear that this would most likely be by members offering their experience in mentoring young people with start-up businesses.

 

October 2008

Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th. The District Conference was aagin held at Llandudno and this year a party of sixteen attended. Deckchairs was the our theme for Fancy dress on Friday Night. Saturday was Business meetings, with guest speaker Michael Portillo as the highlight; the evening saw us attending the Dinner Dance. The Sunday morning service was followed by Gervaise Phinn giving a very entertaining talk on his experiences with young children, which led to the close of the Conference.

Tuesday 7th There being no speaker, this was dedicated as an evening of Fellowship.

Tuesday 14th There was no meeting as our Charter Night was being celebrated on the Friday.

Friday 17th Charter Night was again held in the Platinum Suite at the Racecourse, as it has for the last few years. It was a well tried format of a meal, including Roast Beef being carved at the table, followed by speeches for and on behalf of the Club. Dancing to The Wave band kept the party going until after midnight.

Tuesday 21st We had again sponsored two RYLA candidates, Stephanie Mabey and Georgina Selwyn, for the District training session in the summer. This evening they visited us to report on their experience and the way in which they had benefitted. Much of this was self evident from the confidence and their general demeanour.

Tuesday 28th The Club was successful in getting two "volunteers" to participate in a Focus Interview. Norman Tweddle took the part of Interviewer and incoming President Gerry Higginbottom was the Interviewee. As always with this event the Club felt the benefit by getting to know Gerry a little better, but fortunately no dark secrets were revealed.