March
11th – Charlie John-Smith Cooks up a Storm at the Young Chef District Final
Charlie from Shaftesbury School represented the club at the Young Chef District Final in Portsmouth on Saturday 11th March.
Competing against budding chefs from Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Guernsey and Jersey Charlie prepared an excellent three course menu including a really tasty pasta dish and an excellent crumble with freshly made custard.
Competitors plan and cost their menus in advance of the day within a budget of £23.00, taking account of how healthy their menu is, as well as the use of fresh local ingredients. They are allowed 30 minutes to organise the cooking area and 2 hours to actually cook the meal. This is then presented to a panel of judges.
Although he didn’t win, Charlie finished in a creditable position in the competition.
13th – Shelterbox
Steve Small, who is a Rotarian from Bournemouth, gave us an interesting and informative illustrated talk about Shelterbox. Formed 23 years ago by Helston Rotary as a millennium project, and has supplied £54 million of support to date. It retains close links with Rotary which still supplies 30% of funding and most clubs are active in this, Furthermore translators are often supplied by Rotary.
A box currently costs £533. It is a gift to the recipient and when no longer needed the tent can be re-purposed or even sold – in one case to fund a tuc-tuc to replace the one lost in the disaster. Donors can if they wish fund individual elements from a box. Boxes are ready distributed in warehouses around the world to speed their delivery to disaster areas. Different contents are supplied in different parts of the world according to local needs. The contents are constantly being updated. For example there have been constant improvements in the design of tents, tarpaulin, blankets and water filters. The current light is solar powered with a charging point for a mobile phone. Some devices are multi-purpose and a dustbin for example is designed to have an alternative use as a water bowser.
TV advertisements like the “Tent for Lent” campaign, are now taking the place of ones in newspapers, but the aim is always to keep running costs low. To help this, efficiencies are constantly being sought. It is for example better to freight the contents unpacked, and make up the boxes locally. Again local resources are used as much as possible, especially for the last few miles.
In a world of climate change, the base in Cornwall constantly monitors computer weather projections, to anticipate needs and optimal timing, and the response team deploying Shelterboxes works closely with governments and people on the spot.
24th – RotaKids
The Rotakids Club at Abbey School organised a Bingo afternoon and raised £128 which they chose to donate to Ted’s Shack.
“Thank you Abbey Primary School, we are very grateful for this donation. Please also pass on our thank you’s to all the children who took part in RotaKids. The money raised will go towards the running of our respite holiday home in Weymouth called Ted’s Shack.
Regards,
Owen Newton”
25th – Race Night
Some 60-70 people, including Rotarians, Lions, Masons and guests gathered at the Heritage Suite in Bell Street on the evening of Saturday 25th March to enjoy the racing and to help raise funds for the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.
Over the course of eight races, Muriel and Win had their work cut out, taking bets and calculating the winnings. Betting was strong with the last race attracting over £100 in wagers. Six races were sponsored by local businesses, including Grosvenor Hill Travel, Hawkers Hill Gym, Retreat B and B, Rutters Solicitors and Western Marquees.
The sweepstake raised approximately £100 and the raffle about £250. The final excellent tally for the night was £597, and this will be donated to the Turkey- Syria Earthquake Appeal in the very near future.
The general consensus was that the evening had been a great success, and it was agreed that Shaftesbury Rotary Club, the Lions and the Masons would try to organise some more events together in the future.
27th – business meeting
The highlight of our evening was the induction of another new member – Andy Cole. Andy is a recently retired Local Government Officer and is keen to put something back into the community in which he has lived for many years. If you would like to join us too, or just learn more about what we do, then get in touch through our contact page.
It is now only eight weeks till our North Dorset Cycle Ride on May 14th and all is going well. We have plans to maximise the excitement and the fun in being at the finishing line. More details here.
Plans are also well advanced for our 60th Anniversary meal on April 28th.
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