Rotary Magazine October - November 2017

The Official Magazine of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

October/November 2017

It’s Strictly Dementia!

Russell Grant reveals why he's leading a campaign to find a cure for the disease Šcourtesy of the BBC ROTARY Magazine Oct-Nov_v22.indd 1

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16 CONTENTS ROTARY IN ACTION Russell Grant feature Rotary's dementia campaign Rotary magazine is changing Summer of sport 100 years for Rotary in Wales Tackling knife crime People of Action new materials Rotary lifeboat reborn Club Innovation GLOBAL IMPACT £100 million polio boost Rotary Shoebox Scheme Guatemala Literacy Project Peacebuilding Conference

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Rotary International President

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RI Director

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The Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair

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It's Gone Viral

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People of Action

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And Finally… 50 16 18 24 30

Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland Kinwarton Road, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 6PB t: 01789 765 411 rotarygbi.org Editor: Dave King e: editor@rotarygbi.org PR Officer: e: pr@rotarygbi.org Designer: Martin Tandy e: martin.tandy@rotarygbi.org Advertising: Media Shed (Agent for Rotary) Contact: Gareth Macfarlane t: 01354 818009 e: garethm@media-shed.co.uk

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Get in touch

rotarygbi.org

REGULARS Letters to the Editor Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland President Talk from the Top

Angel of death

Follow us

Look for us online at rotarygbi.org or follow us: Facebook: /RotaryinGBI Twitter: @RotaryGBI YouTube: Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

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Enjoy Rotary anywhere

The Official Magazine of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Russell Grant on dementia

Strictly

finding a cure Dancing star Russell Grant tells editor Dave King why he is leading the fight against dementia – and it’s personal!

“I definitely believe there will be a cure because there are so many people working towards it,”

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LZHEIMER’S is a slow death of the brain – and Russell Grant knows this all too well.

The Strictly Come Dancing star and renowned astrologer came face-to-face with this debilitating disease when caring for his aged grandmother, Alice.

“At the time I was living in Abergavenny and I brought Alice to stay with me,” recalled Russell. “She was in such a state that she had defecated herself.

“There was her grandson having to wipe and clean his grandmother who was naked, but for a string of pearls. When I looked into the eyes of this wonderful woman, who had done so much for all of us, I saw her dignity melt away.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, which is a set of symptoms that can include memory loss

Russell Grant talking at the Rotary Conference in Manchester

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and difficulties with thinking, problemsolving or language.

The changes are often small to start with but, for someone with dementia, they can become severe enough to affect daily life. A person with dementia can experience changes to their moods or behaviour.

Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by diseases such as Alzheimer’s or a series of strokes.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most usual form of dementia, but not the only one and, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are more than half a million people in the UK who suffer from it.

Alice was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when she was 89, and eventually died of pneumonia aged 99 years and six months.

It was the thought of his grandmother, and also what his mother Jo went through caring for a lady who once painted Spitfires and Hurricanes during the Second World War, which prompted Russell to devote himself towards working for a cure for Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“It is not just an interest, it is a mission,” explained Russell, who revealed that he gave up a lucrative contract working with Fox Television in New York so he could be back home with his family.

“It was awful looking after my nan. In the late 1980s and 1990s it was still known as senile dementia; it wasn’t thought of anything more than what you get as an old person. There was no help, nothing.

"I remember writing to the government of the day saying you do realise that you could have a pandemic on your hands unless you do something. rotarygbi.org

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DEMENTIA FACT FILE

62%

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting 62 per cent of those diagnosed.

Dementia has a bigger impact on women

850,000 1/4 people in the UK with dementia

“There was no social care. Sometimes people would turn up to dress or wash my grandmother, and most of the times they didn’t. It was only seen as part of getting old, it wasn’t seen as part of anything other than that.

“Things have changed a lot but they are still far from good, especially when it comes to social care.”

It is why Russell has embarked on a very personal crusade to tackle dementia head on. The answer is finding a cure.

“Ultimately, if you are going to save money on the NHS and social care, then you have got to find the cure. That is the only thing you can do,” he insisted.

Research is on-going, notably at Cambridge University where, earlier this summer scientists managed to generate the most detailed image of the protein known to be linked to the condition.

Earlier this year, Russell spoke at the Rotary conference in Manchester where he was struck by how Rotary around the world has been instrumental in the battle against rotarygbi.org

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of hospital beds are occupied by people living with dementia.

polio. He is hoping that a similar front can be opened up in the fight against dementia – with Rotarians supporting the challenge.

“The problem for people suffering with Alzheimer’s and dementia is that they can often be very savage and completely unlike what you had known them before they got dementia. It is tragic,” said Russell.

“As a result, there are a lot of victims.

It is the biggest killer in this country, taking the lives of more women than men, which is another reason why we need to tackle this.

“It is everyday things which matter, like dressing. When my grandmother was dressing she would put on things back to front, the dress would go on first, then her knickers then her slip, all of those kinds of things we take for every day. And they get very aggressive and sexual too. So they become extremely difficult to live with.”

Dementia doesn’t just affect old people.

Russell recalled meeting someone with dementia at a conference in Brighton aged just 19.

“I definitely believe there will be a cure

£11 BILLION SAVING

Unpaid carers supporting someone with dementia save the economy £11 billion a year.

There is one dementia researcher for every four cancer researchers in the UK.

because there are so many people working towards it,” added Russell.

“Of course I worry about it. I say to people I am being very selfish giving my time and energy wanting to find a cure because I don’t want it.

"But I also don’t want people to go through what I went through.

“My mother was sleeping by my grandmother’s bed for four years, on a hard floor, because my grandmother was getting up at 2am to go shopping with her coat on backwards, and the police used to bring her home.

“Don’t think dementia is to do with age because it is not; any of us can fall victim.

Any of us at any age can have this most devastating disease.

“If somebody is ill with heart problems even cancer, they can talk to you and tell you when they are in pain.

"With someone with dementia they cannot tell you, they cannot communicate.

“It’s why we have to find a cure.” l

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Alzheimer's Research UK

Defeating dementia:

how Rotarians can make a difference Geri Parlby, Chair of Rotarians Easing Problems of Dementia, introduces a new initiative which will enable Rotarians to join the fight against this crippling disease.

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OR the past 10 years, Rotarians across Great Britain and Ireland have been doing some fantastic work behind the scenes supporting people in their communities who are living with dementia.

From setting up Memory Cafés to creating dementia-friendly communities, members of Rotary and Inner Wheel have been giving their time and energy to really making a difference.

Sadly, the spectre of dementia shows no signs of abating. More than 850,000 people are living with dementia in the UK and this figure is set to double within a generation.

Dementia has higher health and social care costs than cancer, stroke and chronic heart disease combined. Without effective treatments, one in three children born today will die with dementia.

The only way to beat dementia is through research and our fellow Rotarians in North America are way ahead of us.

In 1996, Rotarians in the USA set up the CART Fund (Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust) with Rotarians voluntarily emptying their pockets and purses of change at weekly meetings. To date, they have raised a staggering $5.4 million (£4.2 million) to go towards research projects.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the 6 // ROTARY

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Maggie Hughes, Russell Grant and Geri Parlby at the Rotary Conference

UK’s leading dementia research charity dedicated to causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure.

For every £1 donated to this charity, 84p powers research, helping people to understand and fight dementia. Their mission is to bring about the first lifechanging dementia treatment by 2025.

Working with Alzheimer’s Research UK, we have designed the RED box -Rotarians Eliminating Dementia. The box comes flat packed and we will be sending one out to every club across Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland over the next month. The choice is yours how, and indeed whether, you wish to use it.

You can follow the CART Fund idea by asking members to empty their pockets and purses of change at weekly meetings. l You can leave it in your meeting room so members choose whether or not to make a donation. l If the box is too small, then use your own method to collect small change. CART uses a large red bucket. l You can request additional boxes to place at other venues in your communities.

All monies raised will be sent to Alzheimer’s Research UK, via REPoD. For details email: geri@repod-int.org or call: 01822 852102. l l

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Rotary magazine

Magazine now delivered to your door

By Amanda Watkin, General Secretary of Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland

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VER the past three years Rotary magazine has been redesigned, changing the content direction to be more outwardly focussed.

Pleasingly, good feedback has been received from members and the public.

Publication and distribution of the Rotary magazine has always been on a ‘direct to club’ basis, with each receiving a plastic-wrapped bundle of magazines, usually equal to the number of club members. But, in this fast-moving, multimedia age, more people now reach for the news on their smartphone, tablet or laptop, than pick up a traditional newspaper or magazine.

We know anecdotally that wastage of the printed magazine is too high; this is not acceptable and we have responsibility for both our members’ money and the environment. Times have changed and we need to change our distribution model to keep pace with the times. The question is: what will the new world look like?

From the February/March edition, Rotary will be delivered digitally to all members with a valid email address.

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A new exciting development is a directto-door personal delivery subscription available at £5 for six editions, bringing Rotary news directly to you.

The printed magazine is a great marketing tool and will be delivered to multiple locations across the UK and Ireland.

In total, 30,000 copies will be circulated aimed at driving engagement to a fully-functional web, email and social media operation which works in harness with, not only the magazine, but all our Rotary communications.

This is the perfect time to revolutionise the public face of Rotary and draw a line in the sand from the past.

Rotary has adapted well to the dramatic changes in the media landscape with a popular website, while creating a high level of engagement through our social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But it is now time to implement an integrated content strategy, modernising our approach to communications.

Rotary will have a new website that will publish magazine content and other news through blogs, video, live streaming, podcasts and photo galleries, which importantly is updated daily.

This will be a Rotary news portal, collecting and publishing multiple items on a daily basis. Our strategy is to take a ‘publish first’ approach, supporting multiple integration, through automation, across social, email and web interfaces.

The news portal will drive engagement with Rotary members and the external audience, providing a digital public facing image of Rotary offering the perfect platform for engagement with our clubs which we've never had on such a scale before. Importantly, this will be a two-way conversation as members will drive content with their news, images and videos.

Rotary is moving with the times, embracing digital technology but not forgetting that Rotary magazine remains at the heart of our communications strategy. l

Help launch our new global ad campaign

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OTARY INTERNATIONAL has launched a new global advertising campaign in a bid to help the public understand better what Rotary is all about.

Tagged as “People of Action”, the fresh initiative is being run on the back of a survey produced from America which reveals that 35 per cent of the public is unfamiliar with any Rotary programme.

This campaign is targeting people who do not know about Rotary or why it’s relevant to them. And it comes at an important time in Great Britain and Ireland as part of an initiative to grow membership to 50,000 by 2020.

Rotary hopes the campaign will appeal to potential members who want to make a difference in their communities, those interested in Rotary’s causes, and people looking to establish relationships with others in their communities.

The adverts are available for download at Rotary.org / brandcenter, where you’ll find guidelines on how to use and localise each element. This will make it easier for clubs to tell their story in a consistent and compelling way.

There you will find videos, social media graphics, and advertisements for print and digital platforms. Campaign guidelines are also provided to help districts and clubs localise the assets.

A number of print materials, tailored for Great Britain and Ireland, are also available through the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland online shop.

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For more details about the People of Action campaign, email: pr@rotarygbi.org rotarygbi.org

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Letters to the Editor Positive future AS a long-term Rotarian, I liked the upbeat tone of your piece (Editor’s Letter, August/ September).

A bit of sarcasm here, perhaps, but I guess those in Wales who have worked for years to help dementia sufferers will be delighted that Maggie has big plans to tackle dementia in Wales - help with, might have been a better phrase.

At long last we have a new man Denis Spiller who, I believe, will sort out Rotary in the UK. He has the courage to speak about how the old guard held Rotary back by maintaining irrational rules that stymied growth for years.

An apology on behalf of all of those old men at the top of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland who maintained rules and procedures which led to our membership numbers falling consistently over many years, would be appropriate and welcome.

Mutual massaging of previous speakers’ egos at conferences was never a pretty sight. Only now, with membership in freefall, have they agreed that changes are vital.

Project-led, I like that. Getting people on board for a particular project could be the way forward. Great days ahead.

Frank Lindsell Rotary Club of Ely Hereward

Tree truths AN excellent interview with the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland President (Rotary magazine, August).

But on page 34 it says: “More than half of the UK's forests have disappeared since the 1930s.” No source is given for this assertion.

The scientists and researchers have conflicting figures on deforestation since 1940. But a net loss of more than half is very unlikely.

Obviously many trees have been felled and not all replaced by replanting, but in the most forested area, Scotland, there may have been a slight net increase in afforestation.

Then there's the late Felix Dennis' Heart of England Forest, ultimately it is 10 // ROTARY

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intended to be about 25,000 acres and about 28 million trees, 1.5 million trees planted so far. This will be a whopping forest in the heart of the country.

Do you think a clarification is in order?

Whatever the truth planting a tree with Rotary is a brilliant idea.

Nigel Willis Rotary Club of Shipston Editor’s note: I’m happy to stand corrected

by Nigel. The article should have reflected that, since the 1930s, more than half of the UK’s ancient woodland has been destroyed, according to the Woodland Trust.

A numbers game I BELONG to a Rotary club that has a good number of married couples so we do not want a Rotary magazine each. We also have a member who reads it online.

Whilst we can take some copies to events and doctors’ surgeries, many copies go to landfill. Why don't you ask clubs how many copies they require? This could save you printing costs and delivery freeing up money for other causes.

I realise we are an unusual club but many married couples belong to different clubs. Some clubs might like to share copies as is the norm in many organisations. I hope you will give this some thought.

Sheila Smith Knighton & District Rotary Club (Powys) Editor’s note: See the General Secretary's article on page 8.

Good for all A RECENT email updated future plans for Rotary magazine with online availability, together with a £5 per annum delivered option.

I would like to make an appeal on behalf of those of us who are visually challenged. I subscribe to the Daily Telegraph and read the paper electronically where it gives me a size option for the display. There are many other sites where a small/medium/large display option

is available to the reader.

Please ensure that those of us who are visually-challenged can read and enjoy the content of your publication. The easier it is to read the magazine, the better it will be appreciated.

Leonard Gelblum Rotary Club of Nottingham Editor’s response: The way the digital version of the Rotary magazine has been created allows the reader to zoom-in to read text in larger format as and when required.

An inner problem NEW members and membership retention are a constant problem in almost all organisations.

When I was president of our club in 2003/04, I visited three clubs in Stamford.

The Rotary Club of Stamford was described by some as comprised of retired members, Stamford Burghley was mainly recently retired and Stamford St Martin’s membership was young couples, some of whom were married.

To the credit of the new club of young people which was founded in 2001, they managed to get 14 of members or partners to the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland conference in Belfast in 2006, when my wife and I were the only representatives of our club.

When my son and his wife, who were both very active Rotaract members in Lincoln, later moved to London, I believe he was asked to join a Rotary club, but in those days they would not accept wives.

Neither of them is in Rotary. My younger son has been President of his local Round Table club and is now in the 41 Club.

In the August issue of Rotary magazine, President Denis Spiller wrote: “One difference is that this club is almost all couples, as opposed to individuals”. We have now four women members in our club, but it has taken a very long time.

I see one of our problems is having a fairly strong Inner Wheel club. As a result, I sense that wives are actively encouraged to join Inner Wheel rather than Rotary.

Jeremy Macafee Rotary Club of Oadby rotarygbi.org

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Get in touch We welcome your letters on any subject to do with Rotary. Submissions should not be more than 150 words long. Please include your name and address. Email: editor@rotarygbi.org or write to: Rotary magazine, Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland, Kinwarton Road, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 6PB. The comments made on this page do not necessarily represent the views of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland and Rotarians.

Here to assist WELL done Rotary magazine for inserting the advertisement entitled “Campaign for Dignity in Dying” in a recent issue. This campaign seeks to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults who wish it. In 2015, the largest poll ever conducted on the issue showed 82% of the British public supported the campaign, 79% of religious people and 86% of disabled people. Hence the campaign is not for “a minority and extreme cause” as suggested in Rotarian Glew’s letter (Rotary magazine June).

The Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the American states of California, Oregon and Washington have had assisted dying laws for many years.

Bill Winget Buckingham Rotary Club

A Rotary exchange

I CAME across a copy of your magazine by chance and was moved to share my personal experience of Rotary with you.

My father, grandfather and uncle were all very active Rotarians. In 1948, when I was 20, my father's club in Settle, Yorkshire, arranged an exchange with young people in the club in Leiden, Holland. I was lucky enough to be part of it.

I exchanged with a young man, Wim van Houweninge Graftdijk of my own age and stayed with his delightful family.

It was a magical week spent sailing and being taken to many places of interest with others in the group.

It was such a rich experience and Wim and I remained friends all our lives.

We shared holidays many times over the following 60 years as a foursome with our spouses, and his daughter came to stay with us to improve her English.

What a wonderful pathway to peace to share lives with those from other countries.

My husband and I enjoyed deep friendships with men and women in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Nigeria.

Heartfelt gratitude to Rotary for that first experience. Wim died at the age of 84.

Rachel Cundall Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne

Star Letter - £20 book token winner

A breath of fresh air DENIS SPILLER, our 2017/18 President of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland, what a breath of fresh air!

I am referring, of course, to the subject of your excellent report in the August/September copy of Rotary magazine entitled ‘A president with 2020 vision’, which reports on this year’s president’s views on how he intends to reinvigorate Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland, during his year’s term of office.

Not only do I share his name (I have two n’s), I also heartily share his views and criticisms of Rotary today.

As a Rotarian of over 35 years standing, containing two Presidencies, that of Sheppey Rotary Club and Sittingbourne & Milton Rotary Club, I have witnessed the deterioration of the movement in RIBI with much trepidation and sadness.

Having reached my 81st birthday this year, I realise that the recruitment of new, younger members, with the determination, work rate and vigour, which was a permanent feature during my early years in the movement, are difficult to attract in this day and age.

We now have a certain amount of complacency and inertia amongst elderly memberships in many Rotary clubs, who, although still worthy as members, have lost those most important recruits, and have not replaced them through the introduction of new blood.

I would go as far to say that many clubs are in danger of becoming extinct, and I cite my own club as a perfect example. Both my clubs, previous and present, have a membership which is dangerously low, having dwindled to the low teens from the high fifties and are likely to disappear altogether in the not too distant future, if help does not come soon.

Clearly, the movement must examine the options well voiced by Denis Spiller, and adopt some, if not all, the

Rotary GBI President Denis Spiller

radical recommendations that have been laid on the table - and stop the rot before it consumes us.

Bearing in mind that the advertising industry of this country is the most prominent selling tool of all successful companies and organisations in today’s industry and commerce, I can never understand why the Rotary movement, with its outstanding list of achievements over many years, does not broadcast its existence to the world by using the various avenues of the media as a tool of recruitment.

It could appeal to the masses to their sense of duty to do something worthwhile for the rest of humanity, and enjoy the satisfaction that we in Rotary, are proud to generate, through the actions - not only of our local club, but through RIBI and the rest of the worldwide movement.

The loss of such an important contributor at any level is too horrific to contemplate. So good luck Denis, embrace the world of advertising - I, for one, will be right behind you!

Dennis Taylor Rotary Club of Sittingbourne & Milton

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Rotary GBI President

Denis Spiller in his Purple Banger Rally Beetle

Why Rotary is in our DNA PRESIDENT OF ROTARY IN GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND DENIS SPILLER

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ILL someone please stop the clock for a while? I am sure all the time pieces in my life have been fitted with double strength batteries! July 1st seems like yesterday, and already we are into the district conference season. It is a great privilege to meet so many Rotarians, to see and hear about the wonderful projects being delivered.

Despite the niggles about too much or too little communication and recognition, clubs continue to respond and deliver magnificently. It’s in our DNA, it’s why we are Rotarians and supporters.

The Rotary response to recent disasters at home and abroad has been astonishing.

I was at the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta when the Grenfell Tower fire struck, and I must tell you all how impressive it was to see the District 1130 team, all those thousands of miles away, spring into action with the folks back home to identify tasks, make plans and to 12 // ROTARY

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communicate to members.

On the topic of disaster response, I acknowledge many Rotarians feel frustrated with how Rotary engages.

Where we are local, clubs are there delivering service, but we are not set up as first responders.

I would encourage you all to continuously support those that are, and keep the box schemes, for example, well stocked up so they can be on the frontline within the first few hours, fully equipped, thanks to Rotarians.

Rotary, is first and foremost, a membership organisation, with networking and service of all nature bringing us together. But fun and friendship are the glue which binds us, and we can’t get enough of this when it comes to fundraising.

In May 2018, there will be a magnificent opportunity for fun and fundraising as Rotarians and any other group who may want to join the Purple4Polio Banger Rally.

This is a road trip which will visit every district in Great Britain and Ireland, bathed in purple and Rotary emblems with publicity opportunities for clubs and

teams, culminating in a grand finish event somewhere in the centre of England.

Registration is open on the rotarygbi.org website, so prepare those bangers, or dust off that classic for a Grand Tour.

I must remind you that this is still 2017 and hence it is still the centenary year of our Foundation.

Please use this to promote and boost fundraising, apply for global grants and, of course, ensure that we do our bit to the Rotary commitment of $50 million a year towards polio eradication. Bill Gates has said he would add $100 million for each $50 million that we put in.

The wonderful news is that the funding gap for the final immunisation programme has almost been bridged through Rotary, world governments and other pledges.

And with the tiny number of cases reported this year, every one of them has a sound chance of being the last.

Fellow Rotarians and supporters, thank you, and carry on enabling Rotary to make a difference everywhere.

Enjoy your Rotary! l rotarygbi.org

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Summer of sport

A sensational sporting summer It has been a memorable few months for several of Britain’s talented stars with a Rotary link on the track, in the pool and on the tennis court.

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©Tennis Foundation

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HAT a sensational summer of sport it has been for a proud collection of Rotary-inspired sportsmen and women.

A year ago, Rotary clubs in East Anglia rallied round tennis player Alfie Hewett by helping to fund an off-court wheelchair for the 19-year-old.

And four years earlier, the then 14-year-old Alfie was one of nine disabled sportsmen and women to receive sports wheelchairs for competitions.

That chair is adorned with the Rotary logo which could be seen when the teenager and partner Gordon Reid successfully defended their men’s wheelchair doubles title at Wimbledon in July.

They came from a set down to defeat the French pair of Nicolas Peifer and Stéphane Houdet.

And the pair repeated the feat over the French duo at the US Open in September with a 7-5, 6-4 victory. "I'm a bit speechless right now. It was an amazing match," said Alfie after the success in New York.

Sadly, 19-year-old Alfie, who won his maiden Grand Slam singles title at the French Open this summer, succumbed to fatigue losing the singles final at the US Open to Houdet 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Samantha Kinghorn and Kare

Alfie Hewett and doubles partner Gordon Reid

Adenegan won the wheelchair sports award at the Rotary Young Citizen Awards in 2016 and 2017. Now both ladies are celebrating following the World Para Athletics Championships in London.

Samantha is a double world champion after picking up gold medals for stunning performances in the T53 100m and 200m finals, setting a new world record in the latter. She also took home a bronze in the T53 400m.

Samantha, who lives with her family in the Scottish Borders, took up wheelchair racing following an accident at her home in 2010 that left her paralysed from the waist down.

Coventrybased Kare also came away from the championships with three medals, after winning silver in the T34 100m final and bronze Samantha Kinghorn

medals in the T34 400m and 800m.

Sixteen-year-old Kare, who was born with diplegic cerebral palsy, matched her medal haul from the Paralympics in Rio last year and continues a meteoric rise for the young star, who only took up wheelchair racing in 2012.

The Rotary Club of Uttoxeter had more cause than most to celebrate swimmer Adam Peaty’s record-breaking double gold medal triumphs at the World Championships in Hungary.

The 22-year-old was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 2016 by the club which has forged close links with the breaststroker who captured both the 50m and 100m, setting a world record over the shorter distance.

The reigning Olympic 100m breaststroke champion also took silver in the 100m mixed medley relay to take his World Championship medal tally to six five golds and a silver.

“There's always more to come” he said.

“Whether that comes in a year, three years or five years I don't know but I am pretty confident it will eventually” l

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GLOBAL IMPACT

©WHO Afghanistan/R.Akbar

Polio

Vaccinator Sakina colours the little finger of a child who has just been immunised from polio

UK scores a great goal but will the world follow suit?

Editor Dave King reflects on the August announcement by the UK government to commit £100 million towards the fight against polio.

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OW ironic, on the day the UK government pledged £100 million to the global fight against polio, that Brazilian footballer Neymar became the world’s most expensive footballer – signed for a princely £200 million by Paris Saint-Germain.

However in Rotary circles on these shores, the August announcement by International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, was greeted with considerable jubilation.

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government helps close the funding gap to a point where the end is now truly affordable and in our grasp,” declared Rotary President for Great Britain and Ireland, Denis Spiller.

“Polio will very soon be confined to the history books.”

And from the world of sport, Paralympian Ade Adepitan, who Rotarians took to their hearts when he spoke at the Manchester conference last April, insisted: “We can see the finish line - and we can’t stop now.”

He added: “The UK has always been a world leader. It can be part of our legacy to

be at the forefront of the race to eradicate polio around the world.

“Let’s keep doing what we are doing and make the world a better place for future generations.

“We are so close to eradicating polio.

We need just one last push to make this disease history and change the world.”

Philanthropist Bill Gates, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been a game-changer in the campaign, matching every Rotary dollar raised by two-to-one, was unsurprisingly delighted with the news from across the Atlantic. rotarygbi.org

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©WHO Afghanistan/J.Jalali

Dr. Wahidullah Habibi conducts a check-up on a child with polio symptoms in his paediatrics department

He said: “It’s fantastic to see such a generous pledge from the UK to the global effort to eradicate polio. With the steadfast commitment of key partners like the UK government and dedicated health care workers around the world, we are very close to ending polio forever.”

Of course, the reality is that Rotary won’t see any of that money, and the UK government’s contribution won’t be considered as part of the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland’s tab. Instead, this impressive, multi-million pound commitment will be channelled through the World Health Organization as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

But domestically, this was a big call from a government department which is facing the same massive fiscal pressures as the rest of cash-strapped Whitehall.

Both Priti Patel, in interviews, and the UK Department for International Development with their social media messaging at the time of the announcement, were keen pay tribute to Rotary’s lead internationally in the battle to wipe out polio.

“A huge thank you to Rotarians in the UK and across the world for their generosity and unwavering support in the effort to #EndPolio” said one social media post for Ms Patel’s department.

Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland have already contributed £30 million ($37 million) and pledged to support a global rotarygbi.org

ROTARY Magazine Oct-Nov_v22.indd 17

fundraising goal of $50 million annually over the next three years.

The important point is that in terms of boosting Rotary’s domestic profile and providing a fillip to the End Polio Now campaign, the timing was very good.

Only two months ago, during Rotary International’s Convention in Atlanta, global leaders recommitted to the importance of a polio-free world, and pledged financial support, totalling US$1.2 billion against the additional US$1.5 billion needed to finally eradicate polio.

So the summer announcement also offered a platform for Priti Patel to remind the rest of the world about their responsibilities, with a gaping £128 million funding hole if the global goal is to be achieved by 2020.

“Now it is time for others to step up, follow Britain’s lead and make polio history,” she insisted, pointing out how the British government has spent £300 million on the debilitating disease since 2013.

“Polio has no place in the 21st century. This devastating and highly infectious disease causes painful paralysis and is incurable – trapping the world’s poorest people in a cycle of grinding poverty.

“The world is closer than it ever has been to eradicating polio for good, but as long as just one case exists in the world, children everywhere are still at risk.”

•

International Development Secretary, Priti Patel

FACT FILE

POLIO

Polio was wiped out in the UK in the 1980s and there are more than 100,000 British survivors today.

Globally, the wild polio virus still exists in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, with ten new cases this year.

It is likely that the last new case of polio will be diagnosed this year, paving the way for the world to be certified polio-free by 2020.

The UK government’s support will: mmunise up to 45 million • Ichildren against the disease each

year until 2020 – that is 80 children a minute;

ave more than 65,000 children • Sfrom paralysis every year; H elp over polio workers • reach every15,000 last child with life-

saving vaccines and other health interventions; and

elp save almost £2 billion • Hglobally by 2035, as health care systems are freed up from treating polio victims.

BIG INTERVIEW

"There are no words which can describe the horrors we are witnessing in terms of famine, drought and persecution."

Minister Priti Patel speaks exclusively in December's issue of Rotary

ROTARY // 17

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GLOBAL IMPACT

Rotary Shoebox Scheme

Boxes of joy I T was 17 years ago when the Rotary Shoebox Scheme was launched by clubs in north-west England.

The focal point of the collection of Christmas gifts were the children of the eastern Romanian town of Iasi.

Since then, the scheme has become a national project supported not only

by Rotary clubs nationwide, but also by schools, churches, businesses, as well as Inner Wheel, Rotaract and Interact.

Each year, more than 50,000 shoeboxes are distributed, primarily to Central and Eastern Europe such as Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia and Kosovo.

This is not a Christmas appeal, but a year-round initiative with birthday presents distributed at orphanages, children’s homes and to hospitals.

Shoeboxes are also delivered to adults in tuberculosis and Aids hospitals, to disadvantaged families, women’s refuges and to old people in hostels.

With the festive season now just around the corner, thoughts are being turned to collecting shoeboxes which will travel either overland by lorry, or by sea container.

Malcolm Dent, from the Rotary Club of Gosport in Hampshire, has been involved with the collection of 20,000 shoeboxes from District 1110, which stretches from the Channel Islands to parts of Wiltshire and Dorset, involving 60 different clubs.

He said: “Having been to Albania and seen first-hand the joy that these boxes mean to the children over there, it is a thrill for us in Rotary to be able to be the link between the wonderful people in our area who provide and the grateful receivers abroad.”

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Malcolm joined a delivery of shoeboxes to the Albanian town of Korçë where they worked with the local Rotary club.

The local Rotarians had already contacted the schools to find out how many pupils there were, divided into sex and age, so they knew how many containers, each filled to capacity with shoeboxes were needed for the day's delivery.

“We were only there for two days, but it takes over a week to distribute the 4,600 sent to Albania,” explained Malcolm.

“On arrival at the school, the boxes are taken into the various classes and then given out to the children, and it is there that the magic begins.

“It is hard to imagine, as our children look forward to Father Christmas bringing them an Xbox or an iPhone, that millions of children around the world won't be that lucky, and that the simple act they have done in making a gift of a shoebox, would make such a difference to a child in another country.”

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To find out more visit rotaryshoebox.org rotarygbi.org

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Wales

T

HE closing months of the Great War may not have seemed like the most auspicious time to start a Rotary club, but on May 22nd, 1917, nine businessmen from Cardiff met at the Park Hotel to discuss the possibility.

Although doubts were expressed about the appropriateness of starting a Rotary club during wartime, the proposal to form a Rotary Club in Cardiff, in affiliation with the British Association of Rotary Clubs, was agreed.

The first formal luncheon was held at the Park Hotel with electrical engineer, William Ashcombe Chamen, the founder president for the 17th Rotary club in the United Kingdom.

A few months later in 1918, several members attended the inaugural meeting of the Rotary Club of Llanelli, and in 1919 the Rotary Club of Swansea was formed.

So began a centenary of Rotary service in Wales.

The Rotary Club of Cardiff has always played an active role in local and international communities. For the club centenary, the members raised £25,000 towards building a Maggie’s Centre, alongside Velindre Cancer hospital, Cardiff.

Centenary celebrations are being held across Wales, continuing throughout the Rotary year.

Any commemoration in Wales would not be complete without singing and on 20 // ROTARY

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Maggie Abbett, Public Image Chairman for Rotary Southern Wales, reflects on 100 years of Rotary service in Wales.

Turning back the clock to 100 years ago

Saturday, October 21st, massed male voices from seven West Wales clubs are staging a centenary choral concert in Llandeilo.

Then on November 1st, Cardiff Rotary Club’s centenary celebration dinner will be held, with a commemorative oak tree planted in a city park the following day.

A number of landmark community fundraising projects are also in the pipeline including a Rotary Centenary Mile. Clubs will be teaming up with leisure centres to encourage the public to complete a sponsored mile by treadmill, static bike, rowing machine, running or swimming.

Money raised will go towards End Polio Now and Tenovus, to support a treatment room for the cancer charity’s

mobile treatment unit which treats cancer patients on their own doorstep.

Two years ago, centenary District Governor, Maggie Hughes, began working on the legacy project to make Wales a dementia-friendly country. It’s a partnership with adjoining District 1180, which covers North Wales, along with the Inner Wheel, plus Scouts and Guides groups.

Maggie met with the Welsh Government and other bodies to create a new dementia strategy for Wales, and arranged for dementia to be added to the information form in the Message in a Bottle container. These are small plastic bottles with a green cross on the label, which are usually kept in a fridge, and contain vital medical information for emergency services in the event of a call-out.

As a result of this groundwork, many Rotarians in Wales are now sitting on dementia-friendly steering groups, and trained as both dementia friends and also dementia champions to train other Rotary clubs and community groups.

Rotarians are involved in initiatives including Memory Cafés in Rhiwbina and Narberth, dementia engagement and empowerment groups in Kidwelly and Llanelli, sensory gardens and education programmes.

Brecon was the first community in Wales to receive official 'working to become dementia-friendly' recognition from the Alzheimer's Society, and Brecon rotarygbi.org

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ROTARY PRESIDENT IAN RISELEY

O

Rotarians in Wales are actively involved running Memory cafés

Rotary is playing an active role. It has sponsored books explaining dementia for schoolchildren and supported a sensory garden at Trenewydd Care Home.

Rotarian Hayley Ridge Evans (Rotary Brecon) Rotarian Mary Adams (Rotary Narberth & Whitland) and Rotarian Paula Pippen (Rotary Henllys) have been appointed dementia ambassadors to bring the initiative to completion.

Maggie says she is proud of the role the Rotary family is playing to achieve her legacy aim. “Although there is much work still to be done on this project, the work of Rotary in Wales is supporting the government’s target that all communities should be dementia-friendly by 2020, so I believe we have made a positive start,” she said.

Like other parts of the UK, Rotary in Wales has realised that it has to continue to adapt and change to attract and retain members.

Rotary Club of Cardiff ’s centenary President, George Mercer, was awarded the RIBI President’s Award as a Champion of Change last year for his concept of satellite clubs as a new membership tool. While the Cardiff Satellite Club is aimed at attracting new working members, George also believes that there is a large untapped resource in newly retired people.

“Many of us are living longer and in rotarygbi.org

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good health” he said. “Rotary is ideally placed to play a role for people who want an active retirement and want to give something back.”

Subrahmanyam Ganesh is still in active retirement in his eighties. A Past District Governor of Southern Wales and a director for the Jaipur Limb project for over 20 years, he believes that Rotary needs to adapt to changes in the workplace.

“When I joined Rotary, it was very different to what it is now” he said.

“Today the workplace is very different and people are much more time-poor.

Rotary clubs have started to recognise that they need to change the way they meet and run their clubs if they are not to die out.”

Henllys Rotary Club near Cwmbran has a younger profile than many clubs in Wales with its President and PresidentElect both in their thirties.

President Andrew Pippen believes Rotary is under-selling itself to younger people. To him the unique selling point is the opportunity to help multiple charities and international projects, rather than focussing on one.

He said: “Rotary needs to let go of some of the perceived formality surrounding the way clubs operate and to ensure younger members don’t feel like they are taking a step back in time when they go to their first Rotary meeting.”

•

NE of the best parts of any Rotary convention is the sheer diversity of the people you see there.

Whether you’re heading into a breakout session, exploring the House of Friendship, or sitting down for a bite to eat, you’ll meet people from every corner of the world, in all kinds of national attire, speaking just about every language. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a big part of what makes Rotary great: that we can be so different and still find ourselves so at home together.

That spirit of warm community that is so central to Rotary also defines Toronto, our host city for the 2018 Rotary International Convention. Toronto is one of my favorite cities. It’s a place where half the population is from another country, where over 140 languages are spoken by 2.8 million residents, and where no one ever seems to be too busy to be helpful. In addition to being clean, safe, and friendly, Toronto is a wonderful place to visit, with its attractive Lake Ontario waterfront, great restaurants, one-of-a-kind museums, and interesting neighbourhoods to explore.

The 2018 convention already promises to be one of our best ever. Our Convention Committee and Host Organisation Committee are hard at work lining up inspiring speakers, great entertainment, fascinating breakout sessions, and a wide variety of activities across the city. There will be something for everyone in Toronto, and Juliet and I encourage you to do what we’ll be doing – bring your families along for the fun. If you plan early, your convention experience will be even more affordable.

The deadline for discounted early registration (there is an additional discount for registering online) is December 15th.

As much as Toronto offers to Rotarians, the true draw is, of course, the convention itself. It’s a once-a-year opportunity to recharge your Rotary batteries, to see what the rest of the Rotary world is up to, and to find inspiration for the year ahead. Find out more at riconvention.org – and find Inspiration Around Every Corner at the 2018 Rotary Convention in Toronto.

•

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Mosquitoes spread malaria

Youth Competitions

Testing the morbosphere Four students who won the Rotary Prize for Medical/Scientific Advancement at the Big Bang Fair have been putting their invention to the test at Imperial College London. ©Thomas Angus/Imperial College London

The students putting their invention to the test at Imperial College London

Z

ack Glindon, Alex Handley, Thomas Hollingsworth and Cameron Woodhouse from Gillingham School in Dorset won the prize for their invention, a mosquito repellent device called the ‘morbosphere’.

Following their win, Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland and Imperial College London teamed up to give the students a chance to test their prototype.

The morbosphere is a floating, clear plastic sphere containing a motor and a solar panel to power it. The idea is that the sphere will sit in stagnant water pools, like water butts, and vibrate constantly, disturbing the surface of the water.

Since mosquitoes need still water in which to lay their eggs, and for the eggs and pupae to develop, their hope is that the morbosphere could disrupt the lifecycle of mosquitoes, preventing them from spreading malaria.

Thomas Hollingsworth said: “When we looked into malaria prevention, we found that most research focuses on stopping the mosquito biting or stopping the parasite from infecting people.

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so we wanted to find a new cheap solution that affected the eggs but not the water.”

The team heard from members of the Imperial College Network of Excellence in Malaria who talked about their own research, from genetically engineering mosquitoes to tackling the parasite and finding out why some people get more ill from malaria infection than others.

They also had a chance to visit the malaria research labs and the insectary, where they gave the morbosphere its first test run where it floated and vibrated in the presence of mosquito eggs. They then discussed how it might be further developed with the researchers.

Denis Spiller, President of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland, and Gillian Pearce from the Rotarians Eliminating Malaria Rotary Action Group, also joined the students on their tour. Gillian said: “We provide malaria support on the ground in terms of research funding, education and ideas sharing.”

“With youth competitions like these we get the chance to develop people and help them innovate, so that we have solutions to these issues in the future.”

•

Practice makes perfect

F

OR some of us, public speaking is the stuff of nightmares. That wasn’t the case for contestants in the national final of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition.

Diverse discussions are always on show at the final, which is the culmination of months of research, planning and practice on each groups’ chosen subjects.

This year saw teams cover everything from social media and the future of selfdriving cars, to the dangers of stereotyping and the role of the monarchy in the 21st century.

Split into two categories, Intermediate for 11 to 13-year-olds and Senior for entrants aged 14 to 17, teams were made up of three contestants, a Chairperson, a Speaker and a Vote of Thanks who were tasked with speaking on their chosen topic and answering unseen questions.

This year’s Intermediate winners were Humzah, Scarlett and Eva from St Aloysius’ College, who were sponsored by Glasgow Rotary Club and spoke eloquently on the importance of ‘the middle ground’.

Since the competition Humzah has even gone on to impress Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, at an event celebrating the migration of people from South Asia to Scotland, and his top tip for public speaking is simple but effective: “Revise as often as you can” while making sure you “look up enough, but also look down.”

In the Senior category, there were two teams finishing in joint first place; Farnborough Hill School, sponsored by Farnham Rotary Club and Oswestry School, sponsored by Oswestry Rotary Club.

The competition, sponsored by Stretch Development, included judges from the Professional Speaking Association, training and sales specialists and an author.

One of those judges, David Nurse, was impressed with the standard of the public speaking. “It is a talent few people have got and the standard was so high that any one of the teams could have been the best in the country,” he said.

•

To get involved in Rotary Youth Competitions in 2017/18, contact your local Rotary club: rotarygbi.org/club-finder rotarygbi.org

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GLOBAL IMPACT

Guatemala Literacy Project

Getting to grips with literacy in Guatemala The Guatemala Literacy Project is a key Rotary initiative, reaching out to clubs worldwide. John Stanton, International and Foundation Chair with the Rotary Club of Kenilworth, explains why his club got involved.

B

ACK in 1996, at the end of a long civil war, American brothers Jeff and Joe Berninger set about trying to break the cycle of poverty in Guatemala.

With a grant from a former employer, they brought books with them, helped a school, La Labor, to set up a system where students would rent books for a small fee each year.

This was the project’s very first revolving fund. Once enough money had accumulated, the school could buy brand new textbooks with no further investment needed from sponsors, making the programme 100% sustainable.

Initially, the brothers involved a Rotary club in Wyoming. Since then, the project and Rotary have grown as a partnership to become the Guatemala Literacy Project.

In 1997, the Berningers set up the Cooperative for Education, a non-profit organisation seeking financial support from corporations, foundations and individuals.

This also provides all administrative and marketing services to the Literacy Project at no cost to Rotary funds.

And now, thanks to a long-standing partnership with Rotary clubs, this sustainable model for breaking the cycle of poverty through education has grown strongly.

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Over the years, the textbook programme has branched out into computer centres, and a culture of reading programmes, which have fostered improved literacy while developing a love of reading.

With support from many sources over the years, that single seed, the textbook programme at La Labor, has grown substantially helping vital educational programmes reach many thousands of Guatemalan children.

To date, nearly 500 Rotary clubs and numerous districts in seven countries have become involved in a project which is serving 48,000 students this year, and has supported over 170,000 in its 21-year history.

The Guatemala Literacy Project is the largest literacy and education global grant in Rotary. It was showcased as outstanding

at the recent Atlanta Convention and serves as an excellent example of the power of international Rotary.

In 2016/17, 118 clubs from 25 districts in seven countries, combined with The Rotary Foundation and District Designated Funds to raise $435,583 (£333,831) – this was Rotary crowdfunding at its best!

At the Rotary Club of Kenilworth, we first heard about the Guatemala Literacy Project in 2014. I travelled to Guatemala to see it in action and was so impressed that I persuaded my club to donate and then set about bringing this project to the attention of other clubs.

More than $51,000 (£39,100) was raised last year in the UK, including Rotary Foundation support, and now a new global grant is under way with a target of $500,000 (£383,200).

The global grant closes at the end of December, hopefully for approval by May next year. This is a worthwhile project which has proved that it can dramatically change lives forever, helping to reduce poverty, illiteracy and inequality.

•

I would be keen to hear from any clubs interested in getting involved.

Contact me at: john@birches.org.uk or visit: guatemalaliteracy.org rotarygbi.org

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ROTARY IN ACTION

Special feature DAVE KING

Angel of death Rotarians Clive and Ben Knowles are spearheading an innovative campaign to combat knife crime across the UK by siting and supplying free amnesty bins.

K

NIFE crime is fast becoming the biggest blight facing police in the UK. Currently, seven stabbings a day are reported, sometimes fatal, and often involving teenagers.

In 2016, there were 32,448 knife crimes recorded in England and Wales – a 14% increase on the previous year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

“Knife crime is becoming an epidemic in this country,” insisted Clive Knowles.

“What we have to do is take the knives out of people's hands to make our communities safer.”

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And that’s precisely what Clive, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry, Shropshire, has been doing.

He, along with son Ben, the company’s Managing Director - both members of the Rotary Club of Oswestry Cambrian – founded and funded the 'Save A Life, Surrender Your Knife' campaign.

What began in 2014 was a weapons amnesty project, with the British Ironwork Centre supplying 200 knife banks to police forces across England which were then placed in strategic locations.

“Police face a major problem trying to curb this growing statistic of knife crime,” explained Ben. “Our quest was to unite the UK’s efforts, because there are various knife campaign groups, to raise awareness and try to turn the tide on this rising embarrassment within our society.”

The response was immense. The first skip which arrived at the company’s Shropshire base contained 6,000 weapons and, very quickly, the assortment of gruesome-looking armaments of death began to stockpile.

“The weapons coming in weren’t clean,” recalled Ben. “There was blood on them, there was skin, hair and bodily fluid; they were in a vile state.

“We had a difficult job of cleaning them. We used these huge Indian

The Knife Angel by artist Alfie Bradley

cooking bowls filled with bleach.

“One by one, we would clean the weapons with scourers.

“That took eight months solid. It was a gruelling task. The guys were wearing breathing apparatus and chemical suits to ensure they were protected.

“I imagined it was going to be pen knives and flick knives. Instead, we collected some really horrific things like machetes, Samurai swords, these fantasy double-ended swords from Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.”

Ben and Clive knew they had to change people’s mindset about knife crime by bringing it to the forefront of society’s consciousness. And that’s when the Knife Angel was born.

Working with the artist, Alfie Bradley, an angel sculpture was constructed completely of knives. Each knife was blunted before being welded onto the structure before the wings were created using blades to create a feather-like shape.

“We wanted to make something beautiful out of the destructive weapons collected,” added Ben. The project took 100,000 knives off the street to create an eye-catching and thought-provoking 27foot tall statue.

It is an initiative which recently won the Rotary International Peace Award, alongside the charity Médecins Sans Frontières, which works to alleviate suffering and protect life in war zones and has helped refugees crossing the Mediterranean.

8 4 4 , 2 3 ed ecord imes r d Wales r c e if n kn land a in Eng 6.

1 in 20

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RI DIRECTOR 2017-19 BRIAN STOYEL

T Police and the local community have joined forces with the British Ironwork Centre to set up knife banks

The Knife Angel now rests at the British Ironwork Centre, and the plan is to give it a home on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square where there is a five-year waiting list.

However, Clive revealed that they are facing opposition from the Mayor of London’s Office, who has said the statue would be a poor reflection on the image of the UK, not helpful towards promoting tourism.

He insisted the statue would be making a bold statement how the UK is serious about tackling knife crime – a campaign which has drawn support from the families of knife victims.

“We have launched a petition for this and urge as many people as possible to sign it so that can become a focal point in raising awareness of the scourge of knife crime on our streets,” said Clive.

Ben added: “We want to dramatically reduce the number of people carrying weapons, raise awareness of the issue and get it high on the political agenda.

“We also want to identify the reasons why these youngsters are carrying a weapon, and to re-educate and re-align their mindsets, ultimately with the goal of reducing the number of victims and incidents.”

The knife collection continues with the Shropshire business looking to hit a target of bringing in 250,000 weapons.

And the British Ironwork Centre is also looking at gun crime and is currently working with the West Midlands Police rotarygbi.org

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and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, to establish gun amnesty banks in Birmingham.

Both are initiatives which Clive and Ben would like to partner with Rotary clubs across the UK, possibly with Rotary branding on the amnesty bins.

“This campaign works at the heart of our communities, and it helps to make our communities that little bit safer,” added Clive.

“We are saying our community does not accept violent behaviour, so here is your opportunity to get rid of your weapon and start afresh.” l

“Knife crime is becoming an epidemic in this country. What we have to do is to take the knives out of people's hands to make our communities safer.”

The British Ironwork Centre, Whitehall, Aston, Oswestry, Shropshire SY11 4JH. britishironworkcentre.co.uk Tel: 0800 6888 386

HE passing of Rotary International President Elect Sam Owori has brought great sadness to our organisation. A gentle, considerate, deep-thinking man with strong personal character, belief and ambition for the governance of Rotary International.

Our condolences to Norah and their family, who we hope to meet during the coming months.

To step into Sam’s shoes is no lesser a personality than Barry Rassin.

Maxine and I have known Barry and Esther for many years, and we can assure everyone there is a no better couple to take up the mantle and challenge at this moment in time of perpetuating Rotary’s legacy throughout the world.

Personally, there have been many hectic weeks since my last message. The Atlanta Convention followed by our first ‘real’ Board meeting and then retreat to address strategic planning issues and commitments for the coming 12 months.

A highlight was the acceptance

by Board and Foundation Trustees of our Rotary Vision statement adding purpose to our everyday expectations and efforts: “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.”

On July 19th, Maxine and I were invited to ShelterBox for the opening of the Disaster Relief Centre at their Truro headquarters by their Patron, HRH the Duchess of Cornwall.

It was an excellent occasion when, in conversation with HRH, she confirmed the high regard in which Rotary is held within Royal circles and our long-term commitment to humanitarian concerns which was confirmed at a recent meeting in Evanston for our Areas of Focus.

Three dates for your diary, with full details on the RIBI and RI websites: October 13th-15th: Zones 15, 16, 17 & 18A Institute in Riga, Latvia.

November 11th: Rotary United Nations Day in Geneva.

February 24th: Presidential Peacebuilding Conference in the City of Peace – Coventry l ROTARY // 27

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The new Rotary People of Action marketing materials are now available.

Bring your club to life with these new, informative tools and help the world better understand who we are and what we do.

New Member Welcome Guide

People of Action Making a difference in our communities

rotarygbi.org

New Member Welcome Guide The ideal resource to inspire and welcome new members taking their first steps on their Rotary journey. This stylish, 36 page, A4 book is the perfect introductory gift for your club’s newest recruits.

rotarygbi.org

Prospective member booklet Capture prospective members with this 12 page, A5 booklet. The perfect introduction for those expressing an interest in joining Rotary and wanting some detailed, but concise information.

People of Action Making a difference in our communities

rotarygbi.org

First contact booklet A pocket-sized booklet designed for first contact with people who may be hearing about Rotary for the first time. It’s a quick overview of who we are, what we do and how they can get involved.

Available in our shop now!

rotarygbi.org

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GLOBAL IMPACT

Peacebuilding Conference

TRUSTEE CHAIR 2017-18 PAUL A. NETZEL

Countdown to history

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e Ar oh

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C ic The R

OR 11 terrifying hours in November 1940, Coventry became a sea of fire as German bombers unleashed 16,000 bombs during the Blitz.

When horrified survivors emerged from bunkers and doorways, they discovered the entire city centre destroyed, with more than 1,400 people either killed or seriously injured.

So, it is with a degree of symbolism that Coventry, which has become known as the city of peace and reconciliation, will host the Presidential Peacebuilding Conference next February.

RI President, Ian Riseley, is hosting a series of global conferences in 2018 in Vancouver, Beirut, Sydney, Chicago, the Italian city of Taranto and Coventry.

The six conferences will focus on how peace relates to each of Rotary’s five areas of focus, as well as environmental sustainability. The third leg of the tour in Coventry on 24th February has the theme “Disease Prevention and Treatment and Peace”.

The conference will start with the cities of Coventry and Warsaw showing how “Today’s enemies will be tomorrow’s friends”, telling the story of the twinnings they have shared, and with other cities, including Dresden and Hiroshima.

Peter Offer, who is chairman of the organising committee for the Coventry Conference, promised a strong line-up of speakers for the event, which takes place at the Ricoh Arena.

They include Ian Riseley; Rotary International Director, Brian Stoyel; the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Tony Skipper; Professor Joseph Valadez, who is Chair in International Public Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Professor Mike Hardy, Executive Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University.

On Friday, February 23rd, Foundation Vice Chair Barry Rassin will host a Foundation Supporters’ Dinner.

Around 800 delegates are expected to attend, including 300 children from secondary schools in the Midlands,

y

sponsored by their local Rotary clubs. In addition to the plenaries, there will be four break-out sessions, while the youngsters will have their own break-outs taken by Peace Advocates and PeaceJam volunteers.

Peter explained: “In today’s world, peace is not just about warring countries, but also what is happening at home.

"Teenagers use the number of times they’ve been stabbed as a trophy.

“We have pre-teens carrying out gangland executions and lately we have seen crimes committed using acid, which causes torture without having to get too close.

“Self-harm and suicide are the main killers of young people across the world, while in the UK 17* people commit suicide every day. Those are the harsh realities.”

The cost of registration is £49.50 which covers tea, coffee, and pastries, plus a buffet lunch and parking.

Registrations are open to all Rotarians and their friends, and organisers have already received registrations from Great Britain and Ireland, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

There is also accommodation at the onsite DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, available at £90 for single and £100 for double occupancy, which includes a full English breakfast. (* Source: Jean Best, Peace Advocate).

•

For more information, visit: rotarygbi.org/peacebuildingconference-2018/

OUNTDOWN to history is a phrase I especially like. Those three words express not just how momentous Rotary’s polio endeavour is – something achieved only once before in the human experience – with finish line in sight.

Rotary and our strategic partners are united behind eradicating polio.

Our 2016 Council on Legislation voted to reaffirm polio eradication as a goal “of the highest order”.

At the recent 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva, global health leaders reiterated their commitment to polio eradication.

News coverage of our efforts pops up everywhere. Projects continue worldwide – such as District 6930’s World’s Greatest Meal – that focus on Rotarians’ primary responsibilities of fund-raising, advocacy, and volunteer recruitment.

Just think: The next case of polio could be the last case. But we must be careful, because that “last case” will not be the end of our task. In fact, that’s when the job gets even harder.

The World Health Organization will require at least three years with zero cases reported before certifying the world poliofree.

During that time, intensive vaccination and observation operations will need to continue. On the vaccination side, children will continue to receive the polio vaccine.

On the surveillance side, watching for signs of resurgence is vitally important.

As the number of cases and patients with visible symptoms drops, this observation grows increasingly more expensive.

This is why Rotary has increased its commitment to fighting polio to $50 million per year and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has extended its 2-for-1 match of Rotary donations for another three years.

To achieve this goal, we need you more than ever. If Rotarians hit the fundraising goal each year, the total will be $450 million.

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AQUABILITY ADVERT

ROTARY Magazine Oct-Nov_v22.indd 31

15/09/2017 13:41

#

SOCIAL MEDIA

JAMES BOLTON

It's Gone Viral

IT'S GONE VIRAL

What is being watched, posted, liked, shared and tweeted around Rotary in the world of social media.

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

THE BIGGEST DATE IN THE CALENDAR SPORTING SUCCESS

PRITI PATEL FULL OF PRAISE FOR ROTARY’S EFFORTS Head over to the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Facebook page to watch a full length interview with International Development Secretary, Priti Patel. Following the UK government’s £100 million pledge to end polio, she spoke of Rotary’s global impact and vital role in spearheading the campaign to date, helping to protect 2.5 billion children from polio.

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

It’s been a summer of sporting success for Rotary-backed stars, with two Rotary Young Citizen Award winners Kare Adenegan and Samantha Kinghorn taking home medals from the World Para Athletics Championships in London. You can relive all the photo finishes, medal mania, thrills and spills by heading over to the Paralympic Sport TV YouTube channel.

Get ready for Rotary’s 5th annual World Polio Day event, cohosted with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event will stream live from Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle to bring together more than 50,000 viewers around the world. Celebrities and global health experts will join us to share our progress on the road to polio eradication. Get involved and share your polio stories using the hashtags #endpolio and #worldpolioday.

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

REBUILDING LIVES When you think of what is inside a refugee camp, a job centre probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But the Zaatari camp in Jordan is home to almost 80,000 Syrian refugees and hundreds have already been helped by the new office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) employment office.

Visit the UNHCR Facebook page to watch more.

FOLLOW US 32 // ROTARY

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@RotaryGBI

/RotaryinGBI

A LOVE STORY

STRICTLY DEMENTIA

Meet David and Sue - two British polio survivors campaigning to end polio. They contracted polio as babies in 1949 and have been married for 44 years. Watch their journey at bit.ly/PolioLoveStory.

Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

Want to find out more about Russell Grant’s story and why he’s campaigning to raise awareness for dementia? Watch Russell share his passionate story on the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Facebook page.

Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

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15/09/2017 13:41

New lease of life

for Rotary Service

I

The lifeboat 'Rotary Service' pictured in its earlier days

T was in treacherous seas in the English Channel back in 1987 that the lifeboat Rotary Service came into its own.

Based at the RNLI lifeboat station in Dover, the 50-foot steel-hulled craft came to the rescue of a 1,500-tonne cargo vessel being battered in a hurricane.

Acting Coxswain Roy Couzens was later awarded an RNLI silver medal and the Maud Smith Award for outstanding and bravery and seamanship after saving three men from the stricken vessel, while her six volunteer crew received RNLI bronze medals.

Today, Rotary Service rests at the boatyard in Lowestoft, where she was built, and is being carefully refurbished by a team of volunteers.

“Rotary Service is being well looked after,” explained Scott Snowling, chairman of the 50001 Youth Training Trust. “Her hull and superstructure have been stripped of many years of paint, and her new exRNLI livery of Oxford blue, rail red and aircraft grey has begun being applied.”

The Rotary Club of Westminster West initiated the campaign in 1968 to raise £200,000 to fund a lifeboat, which was supported by Rotarians nationwide.

By 1974 and named Rotary Service, she was delivered to Falmouth where she was called out on service 45 times and saved 17 lives.

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The 50001 Youth Training Trust works with young people aged between 12 and 25-years-old from vulnerable backgrounds across the UK

named by Her Majesty, the Queen Mother, in 1978.

By the end of her service life in 1997, the vessel had been launched 411 times, saving 177 lives, before being sold out of service for use as a pilot boat in Cornwall and latterly as a pilot boat in Castletownbere in County Cork, Ireland.

Rotary Service is now enjoying a fresh lease of life in the Suffolk port thanks to the enthusiastic volunteers.

Formerly known as the Thames Class Lifeboat Trust, the 50001 Youth Training Trust works with young people aged between 12 and 25-years-old from vulnerable backgrounds across the UK. Ultimately, the aim is to have her fully

kitted out with new engines and re-designed interior to offer training voyages for youngsters.

That goal is several years away since the work is being funded by charitable donations, sponsorship and grants.

Internally, Rotary Service is being stripped out. The volunteers have begun painting and sealing, removing old and redundant wiring, and preparing for new equipment to be installed.

“Unfortunately, at the moment, the engine room is still bare and we have no firm options for our engines at present.

"However, we’ve begun to go out to engine manufacturers seeking sponsorship for the repower,” explained Scott.

“We are still some time from completing the full project, however we are not giving up.

“We are extremely proud of the work that all individual Rotarians put in to raise the funds for Rotary Service's purchase back in 1973 and very humbled that we have the support of Rotarians now.

“For us being able to take a vessel like Rotary Service with such an amazing lifesaving past, and to use her for such a lifechanging role in the future, is a wonderful opportunity to inspire our young trainees and demonstrate how our town's heritage can have a huge impact on the future.”l For more information on 50001 Youth Training Trust visit: www.50001.org.uk Facebook: exRNLI50001 Twitter: @ex50001 rotarygbi.org

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LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND

TACKLING EBOLA HEAD ON

I

N 2014, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia experienced the most deadly outbreak of Ebola in history, claiming more than 11,000 lives. Three years on, African countries are still struggling with the virus and its effects, for which there is still no cure, even though vaccines are still being developed.

Ebola first occurred along the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads through physical contact.

Back in August 2014, the Rotary Club of Monrovia launched an urgent appeal on Facebook to Rotarians around the world to support efforts in responding to the epidemic in Liberia.

Money was raised from the US, Canada and Hong Kong. By the end of August 2014, the Rotary Club of Marlow had partnered with their counterparts in Monrovia and nearly £100,000 had been raised in the UK. Rotarians in Liberia worked hands-on, directly supporting communities throughout the crisis – distributing food, mattresses and fuel, washing facilities and, most importantly, an education campaign in the villages and towns to stop the spread of the disease.

In June 2016, Liberia was finally declared

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An urs

e re

s nt me sts between treat

Ebola-free, but as the crisis subsided, the Rotary Club of Monrovia joined forces with the Rotary Club of Marlow to create an Ebola Legacy Project to prevent loss of life in the future.

The Rotary Clubs in Marlow and Monrovia have so far raised $160,000 (£124,000) of the $250,000 (£194,000) required – and they are both actively campaigning to find the final $90,000 (£70,000) balance.

Rotary International’s Rotary Foundation will provide a 50% match for any contribution.

They hope to purchase and commission the

plant by the end of the year.

Campaign co-ordinator in the UK, Brian Jonson, is hoping that the target can be quickly reached. He explained that an initial Rotary Foundation global grant is providing scholarships for 30 Liberians to train as nurses, physician assistants and laboratory technicians to undergraduate level.

“This post-Ebola initiative is to assist deserving students facing financial constraints while pursuing their dreams to care for the sick,” he said.

“The second global grant is for a hospital grade oxygen concentrator. The need for such a facility was highlighted during the recent Ebola outbreak as medical gases were, and still are, virtually non-existent.

“Avoidable deaths continue to occur as a result of the lack of oxygen generation. The SOS Medical Centre, which is a part of the SOS Children’s Villages International, will be the local health facility partner to host the oxygen plant.

“They have agreed to operate the plant as a social enterprise to ensure that oxygen is available to public health facilities at a low cost.

“We urgently seek more local and international partner support.”

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TOGETHER, WE

TRANSFORM rotarygbi.org 38 // ROTARY

ROTARY Magazine Oct-Nov_v22.indd 38

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NEWS IN BRIEF DINGLEY’S PROMISE SMILES READING’S Maiden Erlegh Rotary Club enjoyed presenting a £1,000 cheque to the Dingley’s Promise charity.

The funds came from the sale of programmes and donations from parents attending the Wokingham Area Schools Music Association concert at the Reading Hexagon.

The Dingley’s Promise charity delivers life-changing support to under-fives with additional needs and disabilities and their families.

LIVER MACHINE LIFELINE CHRISTCHURCH Rotary Club has helped the Bournemouth Hospital Charitable Trust to buy a portable Fibroscan device.

The club presented the Trust with a cheque for £29,300 for the machine which will help with the assessment and diagnosis of liver fibrosis or scarring of the liver. Chronic liver disease is the fifth biggest killer in the UK.

PAINTING PRETTY COMMUNITY First Responders and other Nottinghamshire charities were the beneficiary of an art exhibition and craft fair staged by the Rotary Clubs of the Vale of Belvoir, and Bingham and Radcliffe on Trent.

A record number of amateur and professional artists took part, including paintings by school children, raising £2,500 for the good causes.

CHRISTMAS

IS COMING!

A

RE you counting down the days to Christmas yet?

Two Rotary clubs, one in Wales and another in England, are about to unleash onto the market their charity Christmas cards.

Ellesmere Port Rotary Club has been selling Christmas cards since the 1980s with profits going to The Rotary Foundation UK. According to Club Secretary, David Greaves, they have raised more than £300,000 for the Foundation.

“Over the past decade, we have been able to credit participating clubs with 40% based on their sales,” he said. “All profits on Foundation cards go to the Foundation and each individual club’s profit is credited to its Foundation Fund.

“Since those early days, the Rotary Club has continued with the commitment, despite printers going out of business and declining sales over the past decade.”

Any clubs, or members of the public, interested in buying Rotary Foundation Christmas cards should contact David at: dwgreaves@hotmail.com Bumper packs are available at three packs for £10.

Over in Lincolnshire, Simon Kalson, the International and Foundation Chairman

with the Rotary Club of Lindum Lincoln, has been working with Lincolnshire artist, Mary Perridge, a member of the Inner Wheel Club of Bailgate, Lincoln, to design a Rotary Christmas card which will raise funds for End Polio Now. The price is £4.25 for a pack of 10 cards, including postage. “Last year's card achieved an amazing £2.08 profit per pack of cards, that’s a 49% net profit, so for a club ordering 50 packs at £4.25 per pack, their End Polio Now account would have £104 paid into it, which would then attract the Bill & Melinda Gates double matching,” explained Simon.

“Last year we raised £3,175. I am confident the profit per pack should be even higher this year.

“I am encouraging recipients to share this with family, friends and neighbours, because we are clearly in competition with the High Street charity cards, whilst this is a Rotary charity project.”

Any clubs interested in selling the End Polio Now Christmas cards should contact Simon at: simon@inter-travel.co.uk

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D E RAISE

5 7 1 , 3 £ EAR W

LAST Y

TEE-RIFIC! ONE hundred and twenty golfers took part in a fantastic Charity Golf Day which the Rotary Club of Portsmouth North started 20 years ago.

Over those years, the club has raised more than £300,000 for local charities in Portsmouth and Hampshire.

This year’s event raised £12,000, with the Piam Brown Children’s Cancer Ward based at Southampton General Hospital being the prime beneficiary.

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ROTARY CALENDAR Our 2018 Rotary Calendar will be available in the shop at the end of October.

Visit: rotarygbi.org

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ROTARIANS HOST BELARUS YOUNGSTERS

D

OZEN youngsters from Belarus were hosted by the Rotary Club of Lunesdale.

The 12 young visitors, aged between seven and 12-years-old, had been brought to Lancashire by the charity, the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children. They were accompanied by two visitors as part of a month’s stay in the UK. They enjoyed their day with a trip to the climbing wall in Kendal, and a buffet lunch in the Methodist Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale.

The children were presented with a backpack full of goodies and a cuddly toy

by President, Nigel Pullen.

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DRAGON BOAT RECORD-BREAKER

K

INGSTON Rotary Club’s dragon boat challenge is on course for another record-breaker.

Fifty three teams representing local businesses, charities and organisations took to the River Thames.

Now in its 17th year, the annual event raised £59,000 in 2016 and the club is hoping to beat that total this year.

The President of Kingston Rotary Club, Phillip Holt, escorted the mayor of Kingston upon Thames Julie Pickering along the riverbank to view the races and to meet the competitors.

Phillip said: “Dragon Boats

is an important event, the record number of teams entered has raised, I trust, a huge sum of money for charities and good causes whilst having lots of fun, making new friends and contacts.

“I have never heard so many people thanking Rotary in Kingston for facilitating such a great event.”

•

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

T

HERE were some proud parents when Shane Wallbank was installed as Brynmawr Rotary Club's 50th President – and the youngest ever.

Shane is 32-years-old and the son of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Vice President Elect, Donna. Having grown up in the Rotary family it is not surprising that Shane joined Rotary following in his

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mother’s footsteps.

Previously in the Army, Shane now works as a team leader for Teves International as well as being a Lead Retained Firefighter with the Brynmawr Fire Station in Blaenau Gwent.

The South Wales-based club has had two previous daughters of Past Presidents when Ruth Sims and Denise Steer took over the reins, but Shane is the first President

who is the son of a Past President.

The club has a membership of 21, with plans to increase that number in the next three years by community-focused handson projects.

Shane’s son Finley age 5 and daughter Lexi, 9, are both RotaKids. Two-year-old daughter Brianna also wants to be involved and no doubt will once she is old enough.

Maybe she should start “RotaTots”!

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A WINNING FIGHT

Z

AMBIAN mother Nyangu Sakala is a woman who has managed to fight her way out of poverty.

The mother-of-four looks after nine people, including two orphans and her young sister at their home in Petauke in Eastern Zambia. So, to get by, Nyangu runs a business grinding maize into flour and sunflower seeds into oil.

She is backed by the Rotary Club of Nantwich and the organisation Lendwithcare, which helps some of the world’s poorest people.

With the help of her Lendwithcare loans, Nyangu has bought four grinding mills – two for the flour and two for the oil.

Nyangu now employs six people to help her business. She and her husband also have a small shop where they sell the oil they press. She charges 15 Kwacha (just over £1) to press 50kg of sunflower seeds and 13 Kwacha (about £1) for 50kg of maize.

Not only have the loans been very useful in helping her business to grow, but with the profits she has been able to send her children to school and cover all their household expenses.

Nyangu is one of 1,521 entrepreneurs who have been supported by the Rotary Club of Nantwich over the past four years.

Working in partnership with Lendwithcare, they have created 381 jobs and helped 5,200 family members.

John Crowe, the club’s International Committee Chairman explained that Lendwithcare allows organisations or individuals to lend as little as £15 to fund a small business. Once the money has been repaid, investors can choose to recycle their loan to support another poor entrepreneur, or to withdraw the money.

The Rotary Club of Nantwich and individual members have invested £3,300. This has been re-invested as entrepreneurs repaid their loans and £6,665 has been invested over the past four years making 118 loans, 100% of which goes to the entrepreneur.

“The difference we can make to thousands of desperately poor people for a relatively small investment is amazing,” explained John.

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GETTING FIT WITH ROTARY

A

NEW £21,000 outdoor gym has been installed in a Cheshire park thanks to a Rotary-inspired project.

The Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean has been at the forefront of the free to use, outdoor exercise facility which is designed to keep people active and promote healthier living.

Rotarian Geoff Shelmerdine revealed that the club had spent two-and-a-half years researching the idea, including speaking to more than 200 users of Carrs Park where the Rota-gym has been installed.

Statistics in East Cheshire reveal that 60% of adults are overweight, 17% still smoke and 28% are physically inactive.

“Obesity is becoming a national epidemic and it is important for us all, including seniors to keep active for our mental health and well-being,” he said.

As a result of positive feedback, the

Rotary club formed a partnership to jointly fund the £21,000 project with Cheshire East Council, Wilmslow Town Council and Friends of The Carrs.

Club President, Frank McCarthy said they hoped the whole community would use the new facility.

He explained: “We hope to inspire seniors to get outdoors and become more active to help gain lost agility, balance and coordination.

“We also want teenagers to redirect their time from playing computer games to physical outdoor exercise that is fun and invigorating and for families to make better use of the park, thus making it more inclusive.

“We work hard for our community and here is an example of Rotary facilitating a free-to-use local amenity to keep people active for their mental health and well-being – we hope it will be put to good use.”

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TOP TABLE FOR KIDS

T

HE KIDS West Midlands charity has a new piece of equipment at its Early Years Centre on Birmingham Road in Sutton Coldfield, following a donation by the Rotary Club of Wylde Green.

Known as a tumble form table, it is a table that slides over a disabled child’s chair and increases the young person’s independence.

The table has many uses: food can quickly be cleared away from the table to make way for activities like painting.

KIDS is a national charity, founded over 47 years ago, providing a wide range of support services to disabled children, young people and their families.

After a special event to mark the opening of the new garden at the Early Years Centre, Hannah Pennock, Regional Fundraising Manager for KIDS West Midlands, said they were thrilled with the new piece of equipment.

She said: “We really appreciate the donation of the tumble form table from the Rotary Club of Wylde Green. It allows children to be independent in their play and means they can enjoy activities safely and comfortably with the help of a nonslip tray top.”

Barry Rainsford, who has been actively involved in the Rotary Club’s fundraising efforts for many years, added: “The Rotary Club can only make donations like this because members of the local community contribute so generously to our fundraising collections and events every year.”

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Le

ow

ith

mum

d for ins a R , Amy, and Barry

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BOB’S EUROPEAN CYCLE HELPS TO END POLIO!

I

T’S quite a brave thing to do – to cycle across Europe – whether for charity or not! But Bob Mussellwhite from the Rotary Club of Fareham in Hampshire managed to achieve the feat this summer on a Rhine and 8 Nations Cycle Ride.

Bob was raising money for Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign. Earlier this year, Bob travelled to India to help immunise children against this dreadful disease, and that helped to motivate him, along with friend Andy Crowe, to literally go the extra mile on his bike.

The Eurovelo Rhine Cycle Route runs along one of the longest rivers in Europe - from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea. This year is the 200th anniversary of the bicycle invented in 1817. To celebrate this anniversary many events will take place along the Rhine, especially in BadenWürttemberg, the birthplace of the bicycle.

Bob raised £4,000 from the venture,

cycling just over 1,000 miles. He said: “The highlights for me were the wonderful people that we met, particularly in the campsites, being in Mannheim for the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the invention of the bike, sleeping in a barn on straw in Switzerland - a wonderfully comfortable night's sleep! - and the fabulous ride from Calais.”

•

YOUNGSTER MARTIN BLAZES A TRAIL

M

ANCHESTER Trailblazers Rotary Club has broken the mould by electing the UK’s youngest president.

Having turned just 22 in April, Martin Judd is also believed to be the youngest serving Rotary president in the world and among the youngest in Rotary’s 112-year international history.

Manchester Trailblazers – the latest of the city’s three Rotary clubs - was formed four years ago and is proud of its reputation as a ground-breaking new club.

“Rotary is often thought of as a club for older men but this is just not true,” said Martin. “So the idea of breaking the mould and

helping to change the image appeals to me a lot.”

That goes for Martin’s 18-year old girlfriend Nicole Harris too. She is the newest Trailblazers recruit, along with becoming the youngest female Rotarian in the UK. “Age has become a big issue in Rotary,” Martin added, “because the average age of a UK Rotarian is 72 the pressure is on to generate the next generation who can take our international network into the future.

“Without younger members, the proud history of this great humanitarian voluntary organisation could grind to a halt.”

Martin Judd was born in New Zealand before moving to the UK permanently in 2012.

It was in New Zealand that he became interested in Rotary when school friends joined a sponsored youth exchange group to Brazil. So, in 2014, he joined the newly formed Manchester Trailblazers and was elected ‘President Nominee’ within a year.

His targets for the year are to raise membership, boost the charity fundraising programme and launch his own personal education and literacy projects.

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Club innovation

Club Rotary Club of Stone Mountain. GA Web stonemountainrotary.org 42 Members

Wired for the web

would allow him to keep an eye on the restaurant and still participate.

This new model may even prove useful for older members who are contemplating moving for retirement.

“They can continue to be members in Stone Mountain, even if they move to Florida,” noted Margie.

Remaking the club meant rewriting its bylaws from the ground up. “We had to rethink many things,” recalls Kersey.

“We put in a requirement for 18 hours of service a year. ” But they are flexible on how that requirement is fulfilled. “You could do service for a club near you. ” She is convinced that Stone Mountain has found the way of the future. “I think most Rotary clubs will be hybrid eventually, with members attending in person and online.”

•

T

he Rotary Club of Stone Mountain in Georgia, USA, was facing a common problem: the membership was ageing, and the club struggled to attract younger members.

“When you recruit, it ends up being people like you, people in the same neighbourhoods and who do the same kinds of things,” explained Immediate Past President, Margie Kersey. “It’s a stretch for us to ask our older members to recruit people in their 40s.”

As an alternate to the 2016 Council on Legislation, Margie followed closely the discussion of changes to membership rules. “When I saw they had removed the barriers between e-Clubs and regular clubs, I thought, we can be both.”

The district was encouraging her to embrace the e-Club model, but the club didn’t want to lose the fellowship of meetings. The solution was to become a hybrid, preserving in-person meetings but making them available online. The club launched online meetings in February.

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“We use an online video conferencing service,” explained Margie. “Many members had already used video conferencing for business, so they knew the software. And with a camera on the computer or on the person’s phone, they can see you and you can see them.”

The first meeting had two online attendees, and the number has climbed steadily. Now six to eight people attend online in any given week.

This new model made membership more manageable for some current members. “We have a real estate agent in the club who is very busy,” said Margie.

“Before hybrid, the meeting was hard for her. Now she can attend from wherever she is, using her smartphone.

So it’s increasing overall attendance. ” The club is seeing clear indications that this model will draw new members as well. “We have eight potential members, and the hybrid model is part of the appeal.” One potential member is a restaurateur who can’t leave his business during the lunch rush. Attending virtually

What is your club doing?

That’s what’s happening in the USA, what is your club doing to reinvent itself?

Email: editor@rotarygbi.org

ROTARY // 43

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Advertorial

I

A breakthrough for arthritis sufferers

T has been described as a breakthrough for arthritis sufferers, and sits snuggly in your shoe. The Original Copper Heeler insoles are designed as a completely natural way of absorbing trace elements of copper which can be found on the soles of the feet.

At least 20 per cent of the population suffers from a deficiency of copper, and

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arthritis is associated with a lack of copper.

We all need to absorb certain elements in order to survive. The trace mineral copper is an essential element for wellbeing. It is not manufactured in the body, therefore it is necessary to supply it with regular amounts for absorption.

Orthopaedic technician Anthony Andrews, from Orthotics Online Limited, has over 40 years’ experience in this field.

“I have seen first-hand so many people who suffer from stabbing arthritis pain in their feet, knees, back, hands and shoulders,” he said.

“Many people who are in constant pain and discomfort due to arthritis have turned to strong painkillers and drugs in desperation – some potentially dangerous and most with serious side-effects.”

Anthony revealed that the Original Copper Heeler took 18 months to develop.

He explained how, when copper comes into contact with the skin, it forms chemical compounds called chelates, which play an important role in oxygen transportation The 250,000 sweat glands

of the feet provide an ideal environment for optimum copper absorption.

Dissolution of sweat can be followed by absorption through the skin and this provides a mechanism for direct copper supplementation. Copper is a natural and essential nutrient for human health.

“The shape of the Original Copper Heeler was so important,” added Anthony.

“We wanted it to be ultra-thin, lightweight and moulded to the shape for maximum comfort.

“Our trials proved so successful in providing not only relief from the pain of arthritis, but also eliminating it – the results were unbelievable.”

The Original Copper Heeler provides a convenient and comfortable way of encouraging copper into the body, it is then circulated and targets pain throughout the entire body.

Hundreds have been sold worldwide, and the Original Copper Heeler is a drugfree solution to stop the torturing pain of arthritis.

Anthony Andrews said: “So many people’s lives have been changed. We have hundreds of thousands of delighted customers who are now pain-free.” rotarygbi.org

15/09/2017 13:42

Advertorial

ONLY

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To order: Call: 0844 888 050 Visit: www.theoriginalcopperheeler.com or come in and see us at 12 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 8UN

Q&A Should I wear the Original Copper Heeler every day?

Yes, this is important. Maximum pain relief will be achieved when they are worn continuously.

If I wear sock or stockings, will this stop the copper from working?

No, this will not prevent the beneficial qualities of the copper being absorbed into the body. In fact, the perspiration from the feet will assist the absorption of the copper. rotarygbi.org

ROTARY Magazine Oct-Nov_v22.indd 45

Can my body have too much copper?

No, copper is an entirely natural and essential nutrient of human health. It is nearly impossible to ingest too much copper. When the body has enough, the rest will be excreted.

When will I feel the benefits?

We are all different, therefore the benefits of copper can start relieving pain within days, but for others it may take longer. We advise wearing them every day for a minimum of three months.

Can I move them from one pair of shoes to another?

Yes, but leaving them in the same pair of shoes allows them to bed down which will give maximum comfort. You can fix them to a thin insole which can be easily moved from shoe to shoe.

Can I wear them in my slippers?

Yes, they can be worn in any footwear, including trainers, golf shoes and slippers.

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Editor's letter

and finally... with Managing Editor Dave King editor@rotarygbi.org

When in Rome…

W

HAT’S the weariest phrase in the English language?

There are a few, but let me offer: “That’s always the way we’ve done it, so why change?”

I loathe Luddites; those stick in the muds who remain rooted to their beach towels even when the tide is rolling in.

The excellent article by Great Britain and Ireland president Denis Spiller in the August issue of Rotary, when he unveiled his 2020 vision and let rip with some harsh truths about mistakes of the past, has caused a fair few ripples judging by the letters page (see pages 10 & 11).

Equally, those beach towels have begun twitching with the decision to offer hard copies of Rotary on a subscription basis from next February, while still making the magazine available online.

But the bottom line is this: would you rather continue subsidising the magazine to the tune of £75,000 a year because of crippling distribution costs, or pay an annual fiver to have it posted to you – with an option to view it for free on your laptop, tablet or smartphone?

It’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.

One Victor Meldrew wrote in describing the charge as ‘extortion’ and ‘discriminatory’, stating: “You call your methods progress, I call it illogical, ignoring the forgotten non-

tech minority – unless they pay for the privilege.”

He added: “The public relations geeks can’t really man-up to the situation because they don’t acknowledge the diversity of their long-serving and ageing Rotarians within the membership.

“However, we still participate and pay our dues in your new ageist regime.”

Ageist? Absolutely not. Because Denis Spiller is spot on. We have to be imaginative and innovative in the way we do Rotary, attracting a younger and more diverse membership to ensure sustainability. Otherwise, Rotary will soon become a bunch of Chelsea Pensioners wielding collection buckets.

Yes, what is happening within our movement can be described as progress.

But far from being illogical, the moves to a subscription magazine model, and radically looking at the structure of club Rotary, are brave, sensible and informed approaches which will ensure the viability and future financial health of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland.

And you know what, I bet many of our veteran Rotarians are not as digitallynaïve as we might think.

That’s the irony of technophobe Victor's withering rant – he submitted his dirge by email. Go figure! l

HERE’S an interesting bit of trivia.

Did you know that Pope Francis is an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Buenos Aires? He accepted the honour back in 1999 when he was Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.

It might help explain this interesting photograph captured by Roger Hart from Sheffield Vulcan Rotary Club. He was on holiday in Rome visiting the Pope’s summer villa, when he spotted the Rotary bell on an office desk.

History shows that back in 1951, a Vatican decree banned members of the clergy from belonging to Rotary. Ironically, it’s a decree which has never been officially lifted.

However, times have clearly changed since, in April 2016, 9,000 Rotarians from 80 countries gathered in St Peter’s Square to celebrate a message of compassion, inclusiveness and service to humanity from the Pope. l

Editorial material and opinion expressed in Rotary do not necessarily reflect the views of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland or the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure that the magazine’s content is accurate. Information is published in good faith, but no liability can be accepted for loss or inconvenience arising from error or omission. The editor welcomes contributions of articles, news items, photographs and letters, but is under no obligation to publish unsolicited material. The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or length. Contributors must ensure that all material submitted is not in breach of copyright or that they have obtained any necessary permission, in writing, for its reproduction. While every care will be taken with material submitted to Rotary magazine, no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage.

Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland believes in the highest standards journalistic integrity. Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland and the publisher do not accept responsibility for advertising and insert content. Advertisements are accepted at face value and no liability can be accepted for the actions of advertisers.

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