Gryffe Valley Rotary

Speakers and Events

During May - An interesting talk on the 3rd – “Vikings in America” by author Victoria Finnigan; the 10th – “New Paisley Museum” a talk by Neil Ballantyne and Andy Robin from Renfrewshire Museum Services; on the 17th Matt McElroy on the 1913 expedition trip led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson to the Arctic; 24th - Iain Colvin gave Part 2 of his talk on Rudolf Hess’s trip to Scotland and on the 31st our AGM and Annual Review.

June Meetings

On the 7th Andrew Mcleman will speak on his experiences in the Police on the 14th Author and Archaeologist Louise Turner will speak on John Semphill the 15th Century owner of Ellistoun Castle Howwood. On the 21st John Melrose will be speaking and on the 28th the Handover to the new President Les King will occur

A successful 10k Run attracted over 150 runners and with thanks to and sponsorship from Bridge of Weir Leather and Malcolm Group raised significant funds for the Children’s Hospice

The club was represented at the Kilmacolm Show on 13th May and will be at the Houston Show on 3rd June. The Traditional Jazz Evening on 10th June in Brookfield is nearly sold out.

If interested in Rotary, why not come along and find out who we are and what we do. Please e-mail gryffevalleyrotary@gmail.com to arrange your attendance.

Gryffe Valley Way

Information boards have been erected alongside the walking route:

• at the end of the viaduct at Bridge of Weir

• on the Mill Lade path

• at the entrance to Crosslee playpark

• adjacent to the Ardgryffe footbridge at Craigends

A booklet has been published with maps, descriptions of the route (West to East and East to West), information about interesting places on the way, plus refreshment hubs, bus stops, and car parking. The booklet can be purchased (£3) at the businesses which have supported the project, namely Ardgowan Fisheries Café, Carriages, Gibb Stuart, Bernies Café/ Deli, Affluent Financial Planning, The River Inn and the On-X Sports Centre and Café.

Improvements to some of the paths at Crosslee Wood and the Mill Lade, between Bridge of Weir and Crosslee, have still to be carried out. Individuals or organisations willing to help in a work party next month would be welcomed. Please email: gryffevalleyrotary@gmail.com

Quarriers Fountainview

Gryffe Valley Rotary was pleased to support Quarriers Fountainview with a grant of £500 to enable the seven people who live there to develop an accessible garden where they can grow vegetables.

The staff and residents, the oldest of whom is an 83 year old lady, welcomed David and Hugh of our local Rotary Club for a cheque presentation ceremony in their grounds.

Gryffe Valley Rotary is proud to receive support from our local community and to offer their support to local charities and groups.

National Youth Speaks Final

Our team from St Columba’s competed in the RGB & I National Youth Speaks Final in Rugby on Sunday 23rd April. As did the other five teams, Lucia G, Emma V and Orla O had worked their way though the earlier three stages of the competition, starting at club level, with only the winner going forward to each subsequent stage up to the Final. Not surprisingly the standard of the six presentations was extremely high.

Although not placed in the top two, the team performed extremely well, confidently presenting well prepared speeches without reference to a note in their 15 minute presentation. Chaired by Lucia, Emma and Orla gave opposing views on their topic ….”The books that we study in school are outdated and irrelevant”.

Well done girls and good luck in the SQA exams, which started immediately after your return from Rugby!

Soroptimist International of Paisley Fundraising Efforts

Local Action - £4.5K Worth of Help

As we recover from the effects of the pandemic, only to be hit with the rising cost of living, members of Soroptimist International of Paisley approach their AGM in a positive mood as they look back on what has been a better year for the Club. As well as finally being able to celebrate their 75th anniversary in June 2022, they have donated just over £4,500 to charity, mainly in the local area. Funds were raised through various small events and donations.

Throughout the year donations have been made to Renfrewshire Foodbank, Renfrewshire Women’s Aid, the STAR project and the Samaritans. These were supplemented by various donations of goods to help meet the needs of the local people these organisations are working to support.

In addition we were able to make a donation to the Turkey/Syria Earthquake Appeal.

All our members were delighted to realise how much their efforts had added up to and to be able to help support our local community.