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Taking steps to support school
International aid
the Langridge family from Wincanton have taken on a 70,000 steps challenge to raise funds for the Mendip School at Shepton Mallet, walking on average 10,000 steps a day over seven days. the money will go towards building a swimming pool for the school, which Freya, aged 14, attends. Both she and her brother have autism. over the next year the school will be trying to raise just over £1 million to build the pool. Freya’s father, grayham, said: “Well, we made it through seven days, nearly completely unscathed. the heat made it much more of a challenge, so most days we opted for Freya to walk in the afternoon.” the family walked more than 30 miles, mainly along river banks. natalie hannah, head teacher at Mendip School, said: “We are all struggling not being together at school at the moment and it is lovely to hear that families are getting out together, keeping healthy and supporting the school at the same time. We can’t wait to have a pool to offer all our students and the community.”
the Rotary Club of Mendip has been active supporting the local community during the coronavirus lockdown and remains ready to support needy communities worldwide. When Rotarians from Kerala, southern India, contacted the Mendip club in January seeking help, Mendip responded quickly and positively. the Indian club, in partnership with other local clubs, had identified a chronic shortage of dialysis machines and beds to treat the many suffering from renal failure, an all too common medical issue in India. government dialysis facilities are heavily oversubscribed and those in private hospitals are unaffordable by the poor in Indian society. taking action, Rotary clubs in India subscribed $64,000 USD towards the cost of 15 dialysis machines with associated equipment and training. the total project cost required however was $130,000 USD. Mendip Rotarians agreed to be the “International partner” for the project and added $1,250 USD to the funds. Significantly however, Mendip Rotary’s support, enabled an application to Rotary’s own charity the Rotary Foundation, seeking the balance. Mendip Club has received notification that the application had been successful in full and the whole project is now proceeding. the project will enable 2,500 of the poorest in Indian society to access free dialysis treatment as needed.
Virtual concert for charity
(Photo courtesy of Stuart Watson)
COMMUNITY
a ChaRIty concert by virtuoso violinist, poppy Mcghee, from Wookey, with blind and autistic pianist Derek paravicini, had to be postponed because of coronavirus. the concert, organised by the Rotary Club of Mendip, was in aid of the amber trust, which Derek set up in 1995 to help blind and partially sighted children play an instrument. Back in 2018, poppy, then 13, was the local winner of Rotary’s young musician competition and went on to be national runner-up. She saw Derek paravicini when she was seven and has supported the amber trust ever since. poppy decided not to let the virus defeat all her plans and she has put together a virtual concert on youtube, called “a Rainbow of hope”.
Details: www.rotary-ribi.org › clubs › ClubID=1215
Chew Valley Arts Trail goes online
thIS year’s Chew Valley arts trail will still take place on the weekend of october 10th and 11th, but as an online exhibition because of uncertainty over how things will develop over the next few months. the ever popular event, now in its 18th year, usually sees hundreds of people flocking into homes, studios and halls to admire a wide range of art works. however, social distancing and other potential restrictions are likely to make this impossible. organiser, Sandy Bell, said she was disappointed but felt it was the right decision and it would at least still allow exhibitors to show off their skills. Details: tintinna@aol.com
MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2020 • PAGE 51