March

Apr 2, 2017 by Shaftesbury Rotary

6^th March

No meeting

13^th March – Cycle Speedway project

The speaker for the evening was Graham Sutton, long term Chair of Poole cycle speedway club. Graham initially spoke about the history of his club www.poolecsc.com which was formed in 1974 and grown to be a National, European and World competition venue. However the main reason for his visit and talk was to offer the full support of the Poole club to enable Shaftesbury Rotary in partnership with Shaftesbury Town Council (who have agreed to allocate a parcel of land behind the play area in Wincombe lane) to provide a similar open/club facility. Graham spoke in depth about all of the factors required to create a new and vibrant club which detailed building the track, becoming a member of the British cycling federation www.britishcycling.org.uk (who are the governing body) ,the formation of the club, membership, individual insurance of the riders, sourcing of bikes, etc. etc. Following the presentation Graham answered many questions from the members and the deputy Mayor who was in attendance and fully supportive of the project. Martin Sayers who invited Graham gave the vote of thanks which was fully endorsed by the members.

14^th March – Evening at the dogs!

A party of us enjoyed an evening at the Poole Dog Races. We travelled down by coach to be more sociable, although one of our party nearly ended up with a different group. Their vehicle was making the same journey at the same time as ours. All was well in the end and we enjoyed a good fun evening with food, watching the races from the restaurant and bar area. None of us knew anything about dog racing and so we experimented with various betting systems, such as favourite colour or lane number. Betting on the longest odds in the hope of a big pay-off, seemed the least successful – but it might have been different….. In the end Richard Shean’s secret system seemed to be the most successful, winning time after time.

20^th March

Community & Vocation Report:

Paul (chair) & the committee discussed the following activities all of which can be viewed in detail on the members page under “Business matters & committee reports”

Rotary gold hill cycle ride 21^st May.
Cycle speedway.
Kids Out 14^th June.
Abbey school pupil.
Asthma relief 27^th June.
Shaftesbury School.
Golf Day 1^st September (provisional).
O.A.P day trip.
Stroke awareness 22^nd April.
Shaftesbury Cricket club.
Procedure on request for Rotary assistance.

International & foundation. Further details can be viewed within the council minutes (1^st March) on the members only page:

In the absence of the Chair (Peter) there was a limited discussion.
Twinning with Heerlen our Dutch club, 21^st– 24^th April is now organised bar the last few details.
The committee agreed to ask Council to give £500.00 to Jairpur limbs.
Several other Rotary clubs requests for International support were discussed and declined as the club was now at its limit of international funds.
Ethiopia, awaiting information from district.

Finally, the president asked club members if they were content with the club council minutes dated 1^st March which had been circulated on the 15^th March. The Members were content.

27^th March – Asthma Relief

Our last meeting of March welcomed Dave Penman, founder of Asthma Relief, to speak to the Club on their work. Based in Swindon with a few regional outlets, the Charity distributes and services Nebulisers nationally for sufferers of Asthma and other respiratory illness.

Distribution is usually carried out via hospitals, Surgeries and some Hospices. All sufferers are only given a nebuliser after a formal application signed by Doctor or Consultant and are required to return it when no longer required or obsolete. Returned nebulisers are refurbished with new parts for re-use where possible or. The current demand on the charity is dispatching about 40 nebulisers per week to new and repeat users of all ages. Funding comes from a variety of private and business donations, charity fundraisers and individual sponsorship with an annual turnover of approx £170,000. More information available at www.asthmarelief.org.uk