Blog
June
Friday 2nd
Sadly the Gritchie Brewery visit and meal at the airfield was cancelled, but we continued all the same had a most enjoyable meal at the San Tonino Italian restaurant to celebrate David’s year as President.
Monday 12th – Guest Speaker Ian Bell
Four our usual meeting, we hosted Ian Bell on behalf of Prostate Cancer UK. RIBI have supported the cause nationally through the Rotary Ride Out in September but, here in Shaftesbury we like to be different and organise the North Dorset Cycle Ride in May.
Another successful year will enable us to pass a significant donation to research and we are grateful for the support from the local community and cyclists who enable this to happen.
Monday 26th – Monthly Business Meeting
This business meeting doubled up as the last meeting of David’s year as President. Volunteers were requested for the Shaftesbury School Mock Interviews and marshalling at The Cheese Festival. Social events are in the planning for a quiz at end of July, Indian November, and Christmas Lunch in December.
Rotakids continue to grow from strength to strength with interest from other local schools.
Our twin club from Heerlen will be visiting in October and we look forward welcoming and hosting them.
May
Sunday 14th May – North Dorset Cycle Ride
With the start back on Park walk, we enjoyed great weather and an even better attendance. New rides into the Cranborne Chase and returning via the Chalke & Nadder Valleys.
The family fun ride at Coombe House was bigger and better with more variety and proficiency courses.
We are grateful for the continued support of Blackmore Vale Dairy, Gillingham Wheelers, and all the volunteers and riders who make this event possible. As every year the lead charity is Prostate Cancer. Full report on website.
Monday 15th – Guest Speaker Michelle Alford
Michelle Alford spoke to us about her work with the Hilltop Litter Pickers. The group aims to keep our attractive rural town clean and litter free, both for residents and for the thousands of visitors who come to visit. The group works closely with both the Dorset Waste Partnership and Shaftesbury Town Council. In 2018 the Hilltop Litter Pickers won the first Rachel Caldwell Award.
The volunteers meet on a regular basis and are all committed to doing ‘their bit’ for the community. Michelle explained that she has been involved with the group for many years. She showed us and explained about some of the things they have collected – from bottles to clothing and even bicycle wheels. She highlighted that the waste collected has changed over time. For example, there is now a major problem with discarded e-cigarettes around the town.
We all found Michelle’s talk very informative. We agreed that we would try to support the group in some way in the future, particularly as they have an ongoing need for suitable PPE and other equipment. The Shaftesbury Rotakids spent an afternoon with The Hilltop Litter Pickers earlier this year.
Monday 22nd – Club Assembly
We met for our Club Assembly. This was the opportunity for Peter Sale who will be President from July to present his plans for the year. Peter brings great enthusiasm to this and is full of ideas for the coming year. This includes a full range of social events and also some new ideas for fund raising and community events to add to our regulars.
We look forward to a full and exciting year!
April
Caldwell Award
The successful winner of the Shaftesbury Rotary Caldwell Award was Westminster Memorial Hospital Garden and all the volunteers involved with the project. The volunteers are a small team who have done amazing work to transform the gardens.
The gardens provide the patients with a pleasant outlook from their hospital window, somewhere for patients and their visitors to sit to get fresh air, and provides the staff with a pleasant sitting area. The volunteers are also growing vegetables which the hospital kitchen use, giving patients fresh produce and saving the hospital money.
Genette meet with some of the volunteers and Julian Pritchard to present them with their award. The volunteers are Dave Burrows, Julie Turner, Terry Matthews, Chris Curtis and Liz Carruthers. The project and volunteers received a certificate to recognise their contribution to the community and a monetary prize.
3rd – Business Meeting
On the 3rd April, retired Nuclear Submarine Commander Tim Green gave a very interesting talk, saying that a nuclear submarine is basically a kettle boiling water which drives a turbine but it uses a nuclear reactor to do it.
We were taught that a submarine can stay at sea for years, the only restrictions being the men and supplies. We have four submarines, one of which is always at sea, one in dry dock and with two on standby. The Navy have some unusual names for meals, such as “elephants toe nails” for a pasty and a mince pie being a “baby head.”
24th – AGM and Business Meeting
We met for our AGM and followed this by a business meeting. In this we discussed our 60th Anniversary meal later in the week. We then reviewed final details for our North Dorset Cycle Ride in aid of prostate cancer and other charities.
28th – 60th Anniversary of Shaftesbury Rotary Club Celebration
The highlight of the month, our “60th Anniversary Celebration” of Shaftesbury Rotary Club, founded in 1963. Over 60 members, partners, friends and guests gathered for a celebration dinner at The Royal Chase. After a three course dinner we were entertained by the guest speaker, a one “Winston Churchill”, who gave us an entertaining insight, followed by music from The Hummingbirds. Please click here to see all of the photos from an unforgettable evening.
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.
February
RotaKids Club Hits the Town
Abbey First School’s RotaKids began their programme for the year with a visit to Westminster Memorial Hospital in Shaftesbury and their first litter pick. They were joined by members of the Hilltop Litter Pickers. RotaKids is a fun and exciting way for young people aged 7-12 to make friends and get involved with important activities in the community, all while having a great time in the process.
Young People Speak Out
Wednesday 8th February at Shaftesbury School, five teams took part in Youth Speaks, a debating competition organised and promoted by Rotary International. The area event was organised by Shaftesbury Rotary Club, working in partnership with Shaftesbury School.
The judges for this year’s event included local MP Simon Hoare, Rutters’ solicitor Matthew Billingsley and Rachael Gale, a local teacher. After proposing and opposing the motion, the teams were asked questions by Steve Parsons, Rotary Assistant District Governor.
Teams from Shaftesbury School and The Blandford School competed in the Intermediate Competition for 11–13-year-olds and the Senior Competition for 14-17 year olds. Blandford School intermediates and Shaftesbury School seniors now progress to the Rotary Youth Speaks District Final on Saturday March 4th at Mountbatten School in Romsey.
13th – Business Meeting
We committed to a donation of £1,000 (for approx. two shelter boxes) to be sent to Turkey/Syria earthquake appeal. The new website is close to being completed. Our Speaker Dr Robin McNeil Love spoke about his role on the Medical Board of The Halo Trust, the international mine clearing charity. The talk focused on his recent trip to Zimbabwe, with background on Halo’s work and successes during the last 30 years and details on this role and the highly focused medical procedures used to support the mine clearers.
22nd – Wynn Mackenzies’ Dinner
The Wynn Mackenzies kindly hosted dinner for 14, serving lasagne with salad and garlic bread, a choice of desserts followed by cheese and biscuits with coffee. A veritable feast enjoyed by all and raising funds for our Twinning budget to host our friends from Rotary Club Heerlen-Land van Rode
27th – Business Meeting
We had plenty to discuss for the first full business meeting of the year, including plans for the 60th Anniversary of Shaftesbury Rotary, annual accounts and subscriptions, the earthquake disaster and fund-raising, the Cycle Ride, Gold Hill Festival, The Youth Projects and Kids Out, the recent Success of RotaKids and upcoming events. The year ahead looks set to be a full programme of social and fund-raising activities, returning to the pre-Covid levels of activity
January
9th – Business Meeting
Monday 9th January 2023. A busy start to the New Year as plans get underway to celebrate 60 years of Shaftesbury Rotary at Rushmore on 21st April. Shaftesbury School have invited us to take part in their careers and business day. An appeal has been received from a local school pupil on a charity project visit to Zanzibar. RotaKids is progressing well with Care boxes for the Hospital and a Litter pick day both planned. The Young Chef and Youth speaks Competitions are underway. The Caldwell Award was given to Westminster Memorial Garden Project.
Nikki Hall, Project Manager for Shaftesbury’s Open House came along to update the club on the support and assistance they give to our local community, Open House Shaftesbury.. With two part time employees, Trustees, a core team and about 40 volunteers they are providing Emergency Aid, Housing advice, Benefit advice, Support services, Furniture and essential appliances to a wide range of Shaftesbury Residents. The Tuesday drop-ins at Fathers House with Coffee, cake and a chat are the easiest way for anyone to find out more about the receiving benefits or volunteering for the group. The more recent addition of Open Fridge has introduced the opportunity to distribute food donated by the supermarkets and local residents for the benefit of those in need of assistance and also sustainably reduce the amount of food waste. Recent figures show up to 350 people monthly making use of this facility re-distributing over 1100kg of food in some months. The Christmas Party catered for a record 160 people in December.
23rd – Burns Night at the Royal Chase
Some 40 Rotarians and guests gathered at The Royal Chase to celebrate Burns Night on Monday 23rd January. There was much evidence of tartan around the room, as the photos show.
Club Secretary David delivered an excellent Selkirk Grace and the hotel then served a truly superb Cock-a-Leekie Soup followed by Haggis main course with the trimmings.
Martin Sayers then made an excellent speech about the ‘Bard’ Robbie Burns that was both informative and humorous. This was followed by Laddies and Lassies addresses, delivered by Peter Sale and Win Harvey respectively. The addresses were well received and greeted with amusement by the audience. The customary ‘drams’ followed the speeches.
A Scottish-themed raffle raised over £150, with the prizes donated by those present. In total, the evening raised some £300 towards the forthcoming Dutch Visit.
The evening finished with a traditional rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
Thank you to all those who attended. The organisers agreed that we should definitely endeavour to do a similar event next year.
26th – Rotary Young Chef Competition Relaunched in Shaftesbury
Six competitors took part in the relaunched Rotary Young Chef competition at Shaftesbury School on 26th January. There were four entrants in the Senior Competition and two in the Intermediate/Junior competition.
The entrants had to prepare two courses in 90 minutes, and were judged on a range of criteria; including planning, the health aspects of their dishes, the correct use of knives and equipment, the neatness of their working area and the range of skills used; as well as the quality of the actual dishes themselves. The judges were treated to a superb range of dishes, ranging from burgers and steak to scallops to pasta. The desserts included chocolate brownies and chocolate tart.
The professional judges from the Fleur de Lys, Shaftesbury and The Grosvenor Arms in Shaftesbury had their work cut out, but the eventual winners were Charlie John-Smith in the Senior Competition and Evie Brown in the Intermediate/Junior Competition.
They will now progress to the Rotary Young Chef District Final to meet area winners from across the region. The District Final will be held on Saturday March 11th at South Downs College in Portsmouth.
The event was run by Shaftesbury Rotary Club in partnership with Shaftesbury School. If you want to know more or to get involved with Rotary, please contact: hello@shaftesburyrotaryclub.org
December
12th – Business Meeting
Part of our last meeting of the year was set aside for one of our members, Philip Proctor who is also a town councillor reporting on their work through Covid and aspirations for the future Improving Parks and amenities in the Town. Full details can be found on www.shaftesbury-tc.gov.uk
15th – Rotary Christmas Bingo
Over a 100 people attended, some for the first time, all enjoyed themselves getting their eyes down and fully immersing themselves in each game. There were some fantastic prizes donated by local businesses and friends, the ‘jewel in the crown’ a fantastic hamper donated by Virginia Hayward. Over £600 was raised for local charities, which during these hard times will be well appreciated. We would like to thank all the volunteers, the newly formed Abbey CofE Primary School RotaKids, The Youth Club, Mike Shoemark the caller and all those who attended to support the event.
18th – Christmas Lunch
Rotarians, Partners and guests arrived at the Rushmore Golf Club Restaurant in atrocious weather for the final meeting of the year. As you would expect it was traditional with crowns and crackers and a great atmosphere. Bernard kept us laughing with his own unique brand of humour and the raffle raised £100.00 towards Dutch twinning visit from Heerlen in September 2023.
November
14th – Business Meeting and talk
A full house with 19 members and 6 guests. Steve Keates briefly related a “Rotary Story”. Whilst travelling on a Scandinavian cruise with Shirley they found themselves outnumbered by Americans and in conversation with a rancher, heard the tale of how US banks would not exchange UK currency that was now out of circulation. Having been told that the only way to exchange it was at a UK post Office Rtn Bill McGibbon asked Steve if he was a fellow Rotarian, to which Steve confessed not, but to knowing many who were. Bill asked Steve to return to England with this bundle of notes, exchange and donate it to Rotary Foundation via the local Club. Steve duly took the notes to the bank and paid them in, having confirmed the amount to Bill and his wishes, Steve visited our club tonight to present a cheque for £400. The club were taken aback and showed their appreciation to Steve for delivering the gift and the generous benefactor, Bill for his goodwill. We will be sending our appreciation and greetings accordingly.
Left to right – President David, Treasurer Win and guest Steven Keates
In addition, Steve & Shirley had kindly hosted Paul Kitzke (17), an American exchange student on behalf of Rotary in the late 90’s. Steve updated us that Paul is now married with four children and works as a prosecuting attorney for Stevens County, Washington State. Steve and Shirley have remained good friends and visited the states for his Passing of the Bar and his wedding.
President David, guest speaker Richard Skaife and Bernard, speaker’s friend.
After Dinner our Speaker, Dr. Richard Skaife gave us a “flying” tour through The Luftwaffe Signals Intelligence and how they countered the RAF and Allied forces bombing campaigns in WWII. The evolution of signalling, communications and Radar became crucially important on both sides. His delivery was well prepared and executed on time! This was a second talk by Richard and we very much look forward to the next.
28th – Business Meeting
We met for our last pre-Christmas business meeting. In addition to a lot of routine matters we were pleased to hear of an enthusiastic start, on the part of the pupils of the Abbey School, to our RotaKids initiative. We also heard of good progress with our Young Chef and Youth Speaks competitions which take place early in 2023.
October
5th – Social/recruitment Evening at Breezy Ridge Vineyard Restaurant
Report to follow.
10th – business meeting with guest speaker
On the 10th October our speaker was Ian Kellett, secretary of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society, who briefed us on us the origins of the Society, the foundation and development of the Museum and the work that the volunteers commit to ensure the future of the organisation.
Their winter series of lectures started with The Teulon Porter memorial Lecture “William Beckford after Fonthill – Building & Collecting in Bath”. This is followed by six further monthly lectures and events ending in April, open to both members and non-members.
Subscribe to Ian’s Museum News Blogs for the latest on upcoming lectures, days out and events. www.goldhillmuseum.org.uk/news-blog There is a wealth of Local History and Literature at our fingertips for us to enjoy. Membership is only £15 single or £25 family).
As is often the case, many of us are familiar with the museum, but visit most frequent with our visitors and relatives. There were numerous questions posed to our speaker and he was warmly received by all.
10th – RotaKids
PRESS RELEASE
NEW ROTAKIDS CLUB LAUNCHED
Shaftesbury Rotary Club launched its first RotaKids Club at a special assembly on Monday 10th October at Abbey Church of England VA Primary School.
The Head Teacher was presented with the school’s RotaKids Charter from Rotary Great Britain and Ireland. The twelve members of the new club were then presented with Membership Certificates, Pledge Cards and lapel badges before taking the RotaKids Pledge. The club is made up of representatives from a number of year groups in the school.
At the first meeting of the club that took place after the assembly, the officers of the club were elected and various possible community projects for the next year were discussed. The young people present came up with lots of excellent suggestions.
Shaftesbury Rotary Club will be supporting the club financially and by attending meetings and giving advice to the young people involved. Rotary District Council has also pledged financial support for the project.
RotaKids is a fun and exciting way for young people aged 7-12 to make friends and get involved with important activities in the community, all while having a great time in the process.
RotaKids clubs are based in schools, youth groups or community centres and with the help and support from teachers, youth leaders and the local Rotary Club, young people can gain a valuable experience in helping others and learning interesting, new things.
If you want to know more or to get involved with Rotary, please contact: hello@shaftesburyrotaryclub.org
20th – Fundraising Quiz Night
Quiz Night at The Royal British Legion Hall in Shaftesbury
Seven teams went ‘head to head’ on Thursday 20th October at The Royal British Legion Hall in Shaftesbury. As well as Rotarians, many non-Rotarians were also in attendance. The quiz masters for the night were Rotarian Peter Sale and his partner Muriel Redding. There was something for everyone in the quiz, with rounds ranging from Ukraine to Cakes to Boris Johnson, as well as a picture round.
The results were really close, with the winning team just two points ahead of the two teams that shared second place. The eventual winners were The Jack Asses team made up of Clare, Karen, Julie and Adam.
A super fish and chip supper was enjoyed in the break – thanks to Paul Filler for his help in organising this!
Steve Parsons, Assistant District Governor, joined us for the evening. As well as taking part in the quiz, he presented raffle prizes and made a vote of thanks.
I think we all agreed that we had enjoyed a fun and challenging evening. We look forward to running further similar events in the future.
24th – business meeting
We met for our General Meeting followed by a Business meeting. We heard that our recent Quiz with a Fish and Chip supper raised £180. Amongst other items of business we learnt that RotaKids has made a good start. We were pleased to learn that due to these school links, we would after all be running the Shoebox scheme this year. We then made plans for a Christmas Bingo to raise money to augment our charity funds.
September
Friday September 9th to Monday September 12th
Rotary is an international organisation and our club in Shaftesbury has been twinned with Heerlen Rotary in the Netherlands for over twenty years. On alternate years one club is visited by the other, but there has been a hiatus since 2019 due to Covid. It is a wonderful chance to gain the sort of insight into another country that can only be experienced when being hosted in someone’s home. It is also a chance for us to learn what other clubs are doing, and while this is valuable within the UK, it is especially so in a different country.
This year it was our turn to visit our Dutch friends where we have developed many lasting friendships. Usually we have travelled by Eurostar but this time we flew from Stansted to Maastricht where we were met by our Dutch friends and taken to our hosts’ homes for an evening with them.
Saturday morning we all met in the nearby town of Meerssen where we were given a guided tour by one of our hosts. We were shown the Cathedral, the nearby Park and the Synagogue.
We then went to Glo’art where we enjoyed a guided tour partly before, and partly after lunch, as there is a huge amount to see. Glo’art is in Belgium, but in this area one crosses the border frequently without even noticing. It is set in a large garden and hosts artists in residence from all over Europe. Our guided tour gave us insights into the meaning and significance of the art that we would never have gained on our own. In the evening we all met for a meal in a golf club.
On the Sunday we visited Hoensbroek Castle in the morning and then after lunch enjoyed a tour of the centre of Heerlen. We were privileged to be guided on this by the architect of the major, city centre and railway station reconstruction. Again we could never have gained such a special insight if we had not had our Dutch colleagues to arrange this for us.
Only a few years ago this area was apparently the haunt of drug dealers and addicts, but it has been redeveloped in an attractive manner, echoing the town’s Roman history and most importantly this has been done in an attractive manner and on a human scale. Every effort has been made to use traditional materials. It is certainly an impressive development with no care or expense spared, although it was interesting to hear our hosts giving us a slightly different personal perspective as compared with the official version!
In the evening we were then treated to a meal in a restaurant with some entertainment courtesy of one of our members.
Sadly the following morning it was time to rise early, travel to Maastricht airport and say a heartfelt “thank you” before bidding farewell to our hosts.
‘RotaKids’ Launched
At an assembly for the whole school at Abbey Church of England VA Primary School on 12th September, pupil members of the School Council fully explained how a RotaKids Club operates. It has been agreed that the school will launch its RotaKids Club, the first one to be run locally in partnership with Shaftesbury Rotary Club, in just a few weeks’ time.
Rotarians Peter Sale and Tim Cook were also present at the assembly. They will visit the school on a regular basis to support the new RotaKids Club.
It is hoped that the school will run several community projects during the coming year, including supporting existing Rotary projects such as the Gold Hill Fair and the North Dorset Cycle Ride.
Pupils showed real interest in what was being offered, and we now await their applications to join the Club. It is hoped to have approximately 15 club members in the first year.
RotaKids is a fun and exciting way for young people aged 7-12 to make friends and get involved with important activities in the community, all while having a great time in the process.
RotaKids clubs are based in schools, youth groups or community centres and with the help and support from teachers, youth leaders and the local Rotary Club, young people can gain a valuable experience in helping others and learning interesting new things.
Golf Day 2022
Shaftesbury Rotary Club, led by Richard Shean and Guy Lowton delivered yet another hugely successful Golf Day at Rushmore Golf Course. It was the 20th Shaftesbury Rotary Day. It was a glorious sunny day supported by 25 local teams.
Yet again the 14th Par 3 proved a problem to golfers reaching the green in the double your money! Again the ‘hole in one’ prize stayed where it was.
A total over £3500 was raised, through entry fees, generous sponsors, double-your-money 14th hole and a very extensive raffle. All profits will benefit local charities during what will be a hard year for many families.
Thank you to Richard and Guy as always and to the Ladies, Dawn and Sonia, who used their charming skills in selling raffle tickets which alone raised over £750.
We would also like to thank The Wessex Group, the main sponsors for the day, together with Andrew Palmer Accountants, Ben Johnson Garden Machinery, BV Dairy, Cullingfords Carpets, EC Electricals Ltd, Farnfields Solicitors, FJ Chalke, G Stevens Electrical, Gartell and Sons, Harris and Sons Ltd,Harris and Sons Ltd, Johnsons Stalbridge Linen Services, Littledown Products Ltd. Melbury Greenstone Ltd, Onwards and Upwards Scaffolding, Rutters Solicitors, Simon Burt Plumbing, Signrite Signs, The Retreat B&B, Travis Perkins Builders Merchants, Vale Plastering Ltd, Vital Task Ltd, Wincombe MOT & Repair Centre and Wooley and Wallis.
If you are interested in joining Rotary, then please contact us through the website www.shaftesburyrotaryclub.org.
26th – Business Meeting
We discussed our forthcoming social and recruitment event which takes place at Breezy Ridge. Next month we will also have a quiz.
Plans for Rotakids are well advanced. This is Rotary for children of primary school age involving them in community projects.
We also need to find more fundraising events to hold as raising money in the current economic climate, is both more challenging and yet all the more important.
To this end we have now started to plan a pre-Christmas fundraising Bingo session.
Mike Foote – In Memoriam
On the first of September a memorial service was held for Mike Foote in Fontmell Magna Church and attended by a large congregation with many Rotarians. Mike had passed away on the 10th of August and had been a Rotarian for nearly 20 years, during which he was our President during 2007/2008. We remember Mike for his willingness to play his part in all of our activities and particularly great memories of his President’s night on the “Dorset Queen” trip boat out of Poole harbour. Mike was always good fun and enjoyed his Rotary. Our sincere condolences to Jean and Family.