Rotary in London Magazine - Spring 2016

Rotary in London

A Spring welcome for this year’s youth winners The Magazine for the Rotary Clubs of London, District 1130 of Rotary International Spring 2016

In this issue Vocational Training Team revisits India POEM FOR THE QUEEN Rotarians join Indian immunisation drive clubs share the Queen’s birthday

contents

welcome

Youth competitions are stepping stones to great success

A MESSAGE FROM THE DG...........................................1 vocational

Maternal mortality reduction: Vocational Training Team revisits India.......3 Streatham Rotary supports Dementia sufferers..................................................3 Vocational service competition........................3 ROTARACT

Rotaracters meet in Milan for annual Rotaract Convention.............................5 Youth competitionS

Happy Birthday Ma’am, say two London schoolchildren.......................7 Ishan, 10, wins Diana Award for marathon...............................................................7 Young people win as photographers, chefs, musicians, artists and speakers in RIBI’s competitions........................................ 8-9 CORRESPONDENCE

Have your say.....................................................10-11 Speakers’ Panel....................................................... 11 international

Battersea Park Rotarians join Indian immunisation drive............................................... 13 Water for Zambia.................................................. 13 OUT AND ABOUT

Two clubs share the Queen’s birthday..... 15 District Assembly Dinner................................... 15 LAST WORDS

Epping in Bloom .................................................... 16 His seventh London Marathon...................... 16 Up and away for Rotary!.................................. 16 Mish Mosh.................................................................. 16

NEXT ISSUE The next edition of rotary in london will be the Summer issue.

The deadline for submitting your copy is 14 July 2016.

rotary in london The quarterly magazine of the Rotary Clubs of London is published by District 1130 of Rotary International.

ASSISTANT EDITOR & ADVERTISING Margaret Cooper / ma_grooper@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 020 8505 5996 / Mob: 07542 020 616

EDITOR Jane Hammond / trident@btconnect.com 46 La Providence, Rochester, Kent ME1 1NB Tel: 01634 847 772

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PICTURE EDITOR Clive Bubley / clive@bubley.co.uk Tel: 020 8455 8208

SUBMISSIONS Email copy and high resolution images to the Editor or by post to the address shown left. All images also to clive@bubley.co.uk and pix@rotaryinlondon.org

Information is published in good faith, but does not necessarily represent the views of the Editor of Rotary in London or of London District 1130. No liability is accepted for the actions of advertisers, as advertisements are accepted at face value. The Editor welcomes news items, articles, photographs and letters, but is not obliged to publish unsolicited material, reserving the right to edit for clarity and length. Contributors must ensure that material submitted never breaches copyright and must obtain necessary permission in writing for reproduction No responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage to material submitted to Rotary in London magazine.

Cover photo: Senior Young Photographer Winner Daoud Qureshi, who is seen on left of picture next to fellow competition winners Joseph Hayes, Ella Margetts and Kamil Boulia, in Regents Park (see pages 7 to 9).

In her final paragraph (facing page) DG Toni sets the tone for this special issue, featuring RIBI’s Youth Competitions. As you see, the cover photo shows four young winners.

It was in the aftermath of the cataclysm of the second World War that Rotary first became involved in programmes for young people. In 1947 the Foundation’s Fellowships for Advanced Study awarded the first 18 scholarships, the forerunners of Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarships programme, through which young people can develop personal skills and a better awareness of the problems facing the world today. The scholarships give an opportunity to meet, work and have a great time with like-minded people, guided and supported by Rotarians.

RIBI’s first Youth Competition was the Young Citizen Award in 2007. We now have 14 programmes for young people.

As we near the end of one Rotary year, our London Youth Service Officers can look back with a smile of satisfaction, knowing that they were part of another successful year marking youth competitions.

Pages 7 to 9 bring you news of young poets, chefs, photographers, musicians, artists and speakers who have been successful in this spring’s competitions. They look forward to taking part in these events, not daunted by others winning but looking forward to the challenge, equally supported by their schools, teachers and parents.

Youth Service Chair Sugra Tahir says: “With so much support from all sides of the local community, Rotary in London can be satisfied in knowing that the youth competitions are being recognised as a stepping stone to success in adult life for a generation of young competititors. They are now entering not only popular adult cooking, competitions and other events, but also making successful careers for themselves in internationally recognised establishments.

“For the past three years, Rotary in London has featured youth competitions and projects on its covers and in its editorial and this year it continues that tradition.

“This Rotary in London feature is an important memory for all concerned, and a future bookmark and catalyst for young people.”

May these competitions long continue.

Jane Hammond, Editor The views expressed above are those of the Editor only.

a message from the dg

District has received Rotary recognition awards DG Toni reports Where has the year disappeared to? It seems only yesterday that I was preparing to be District Governor of Rotary in London and now, in two months’ time, DG- Elect Helen will take over the reigns!

I feel privileged to have been District 1130’s figurehead for the Rotary year 2015/16 and have done my upmost to carry out the duties of a District Governor diligently and in line with our Four Way Test.

Our District, I’m thrilled to share, has deservedly received a number of recognition awards this Rotary year.

District 1130 was one of only 12 Districts to have an RIBI Champion of Change. This award was presented in April to our District International Chair, Peter Bradley, at the House of Lords. Peter is truly an “out of the box” thinker, often ahead of the game.

Michael and I were very proud to support Peter and represent District 1130 at the presentation.

At the RIBI Conference in Bournemouth I’m delighted to say that City & Shoreditch Rotary won a Media, Public Relations & Communications Award for their club bulletin. RI President Ravi, as part of his Presidential Citation Focus, has urged clubs to embrace online technology and many of you have or are making strides towards this.

We will shortly be announcing the District Public Relations & Media Award winners.

Watch this space!

District Governor Nominee Michael Hodge and his wife, RIBI President Nominee Debbie, received special recognition for their support of the Rotary Foundation. Rotarians Suraiya Kassamally and Tony Sharma have both become Foundation Major Donors and at the Foundation District Dinner many clubs were recognised for their fantastic support of our Foundation.

Seen at the House of Lords are from left DG Toni; Rob Wilson MP, Minister for Civil Society; Peter Bradley, London District International Chair, who received a Champion of Change Award; and RIBI President Peter Davey.

At the beginning of this Rotary Year, as I visited clubs and at Conference, I asked the District to remember our own charity, the Rotary Foundation (see ad on page 4) . So many of you have risen to that challenge thank you. Without our support the Foundation would not be able to continue its fantastic work and help us help so many.

I also sought District’s continuing support for Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign. And how you’ve all taken up that baton. Wow! We are third in Zone 18A for donations to the fund and so many of you have held an event for the World’s Greatest Meal to End Polio and figures for this haven’t been included yet. Please do let DGN Michael Hodge know about your World’s Greatest Meal to End Polio events and how much you raised, so we can calculate an overall amount that our District has donated.

I also thank those Rotarians who sponsored my walk over the Dome (see page 16). You have all been amazing in your support for the Foundation and End Polio. We truly are just about there. The media report that “polio is on the verge of extinction” with cases having been reduced by 99.9 per cent. However, we shall need to continue inoculating for at least three more years to ensure polio is finally eradicated.

At DG-Elect Helen’s Assemblies you will hear about many special events planned for the Rotary Foundation’s Centenary.

Across the District on 21 April, as well as the whole country, we celebrated another special occasion – our Queen’s 90th birthday.

Clubs around the District were involved in lots of local London area celebrations.

Harrow Council asked Rotary in the NW Area to steward at the Beacon Lighting at Old Redding, Harrow. It was such an honour for Rotary to be asked to participate in an amazing historic event and a wonderful opportunity to publicise Rotary in the local community, too. Many thanks to our partners, District 1130’s Rotaracters, for all their support. If your club participated in such an event, please do send photos of how you helped celebrate to District Executive Secretary Dick Nathan and Editor Jane Hammond for us to publicise on the District website and in Rotary in London.

On a final note, clubs may wonder about whether or not to get involved in Rotary Youth Competitions or Service in their area.

Guess how many children were involved nationally in the Rotary Young Chef Competition this year? The answer is 8,000!

Six thousand participated in Youth Speaks and another 6,000 in Young Musician (see cover and pages 7 to 9 for editorial coverage).

When you add their parents and teachers to that number, it’s an amazing number of people to whom we can publicise Rotary.

They are all prospective Rotarians.

Toni Finkel, District Governor Spring 2016 • 1

GET ON BOARD! GET ON BOARD!

Join Rotary International in Great Join Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland in celebrating the Join Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland in celebrating the Presidential handover of Peter Davey Britain & Ireland in celebrating the Presidential handover of Peter Davey to Eve Conway.

Presidential handover of Peter Davey to Eve Conway. to Eve Conway.

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vocational

Maternal Mortality Reduction:

Vocational Training Team revisits India

Streatham Rotary supports Dementia sufferers Streatham Rotary Club Dementia Support Group has now been going for well over two years. Club President Janice Daly is one of the six club members running it and describes how it works.

Dementia Club members enjoy dancing

Above: Super DG Toni (and smaller sisters) pose with midwives, Judi Stockwell (right) and Caroline Duncombe (centre back).

Right: Dr Anuja Purandare, a master trainer obstetrician from Mumbai (right), gives training to a midwife in Jawhar.

Remember reading about how London District’s Vocational Training Team was helping to save the lives of mothers in India (Spring and Autumn 2013, Spring 2015)? Judi Stockwell, Vocational Chair, paid a return visit with the Vocational Training Team (VTT) to Mumbai in February and now brings you up to date.

Eve Conway, in her year as District Governor, had set up the VTT which visited India in March 2013. She worked together with Dr Balkrishna Inamdar, then District Governor of Rotary in Mumbai. It consists of training in advanced life saving skills for local obstetricians in Mumbai, who then train doctors, midwives and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Jawhar and the surrounding area.

As before, the team consisted of senior paediatrician, Piyusha Kapila, and senior midwives, Manjit Roseghini and Caroline Duncombe, who have been committed to the project for almost four years since they were recruited. I accompanied them as District Rotarian representative and organiser. Returning to see what progress has been made, we found that there were still NO maternal deaths in Jawhar Hospital. More women are going to hospital to give birth, more are going for antenatal advice and baby weights are increasing.

To put the VTT programme in context, in 2013 the number of women dying of

pregnancy-or childbirth-related complications across the world was nearly three hundred thousand. Of these 50,000 were in India, 17 per cent of the total number of deaths worldwide and the highest number of any country.

Many Rotarians and other volunteers in India have helped to make our VTT programme work. Obstetricians have been forfeiting time in their private clinics to travel to Jawhar and train others. Rotary in Mumbai has also organised anaemia camps for pregnant women, supplying them with iron to supplement their poor diets.

During the visit, we observed further training, and met representatives of the Indian Government and the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers in India, who were both partners to the programme.

We rounded off our week by presenting at the Mumbai District Conference, with Bollywood dancers and some amazing stories of Rotary projects done by the District. We were treated like royalty!

All of us – President-elect Joan Jones, Past President Mary Madden and club members, Elaine Thomas, Frederica Huggins and Susan Khan, as well as friends outside Rotary – have a background in nursing.

We set up this group to provide people living with dementia, their carers and their relatives a chance to make friends and meet other folks living with dementia and, most importantly, to have fun. Around 20 people attend each week.

We meet every Thursday afternoon at the Woodlawns Centre, Leigham Court Road.

We sing songs, dance and play games which help to stimulate the memory. One of the great favorites is bingo. At the end of each session we serve light refreshments to those present.

The local South London Press attended and publicised the BBQs we held the last two summers.

Another club member, Sally Harclerode, managed last summer to get Morrison’s at Streatham Common to donate all the food and drinks for the BBQ. They also gave a monthly donation towards the refreshments. Sadly Morrison’s is now closed and we are now exploring new ways to get help with funding.

Vocational Service Competition

£250 Prize Money for your Club’s Charity Fund!

Is your club running a project which draws on the vocational skills of your members or others supporting your club’s activities?

If so, you could be in line for a cash prize of £250, provided your club is in District 1130. Apply for further details and an application form to judistockwell@tiscali.co.uk. Closing date for entries is 29 June 2016.

Spring 2016 • 3

support

rotary foundation This accolade for the Rotary Foundation for the

exhorts DG Toni

the rotary foundation expenditure

seventh year running speaks for itself. Charity Navigator, an independent organisation, evaluates charities in the United States. The Foundation

programmes

funds only projects and initiatives worldwide with active Rotarian involvement.

This year the Rotary Foundation has…

92%

K Sent 28 Rotary Scholars

to the London District K Enabled London District

to send a minibus to the Chernihiv Revival Centre K Helped to bring new polio

cases down to 28 in Pakistan, five in Afghanistan, none in Nigeria As DG Toni reminds Rotarians: “We support so many outside charities, but often forget to support our own Rotary Foundation. Without such support,

6%

FUNDRAISING

our projects and programmes will suffer.”

This space donated by Rotary In London

2%

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

rotaract

ROTARACTERS MEET in Milan

Annual Rotaract convention

In April over a thousand Rotaractors from around Europe gathered in Milan, Italy, for their annual Rotaract Convention. Zsofia Kulscar, London Rotaract District Representative, takes up the tale.

We were happy that ten people from the London District managed to attend this conference, which gathered Rotaractors to share ideas, network and create long lasting friendships.

At the conference, the keynote speaker Holger Knack (RI Representative) inspired us when he reminded us how Rotary and Rotaract are working closer together to serve humanity. In the afternoon we attended workshops on public speaking, leadership, photography and entrepreneurship.

During the conference, my own Rotaract Club of Westminster gave a presentation on the service project we started in June 2015 in Nepal, Rotaract Unite for Nepal, as part of Rotary’s initiative there (Summer issue, 2015).

This initiative was joined by over 65 Rotary and Rotaract clubs from around the world. In our presentation, we announced that we were starting to build schools in the next few weeks. And all this was possible due to the friendships we formed attending Rotaract confernces.

Main picture: Westminster Rotaract members meet on the shores of Lake Como with fellow Rotaracters from Albania, Egypt, Italy, Moldova, Romania and Russia.

Above: Westminster Rotaract Club members get together with their twin Rotaract Clubs of Frankfurt am Main and Dublin and display the Union Jack and the Irish Tricolour.

The host organising committee in Milan made sure that we learned about Italian culture, so they gave us city tours, wine tasting, trips to surrounding Lake Como and vinyards, as well as – of course – the best pizza, pasta and coffee in true Italian style.

We came back inspired by hearing stories from our Rotaract colleagues about projects that they are managing in their own communities. We all know we are here to make a difference and be a gift to the world, but we can do this much more effectively while having fun.

Spring 2016 • 5

12 ads new_ad template 05/02/2015 Page 12 European Delicious fusion11:37 of African,

and Asian food brimming with goodness at affordable prices.

Youth competitions

Happy Birthday Ma’am, Say Two London Schoolchildren

RIBI ran a special nationwide competition this year, inviting children to commemorate THAT birthday with a poem. We’re talking about the Queen’s 90th, what else? Joseph Hayes, aged eight (see cover), has written the winning poem from the London District – it is shown here – and 13-year-old Siang Tan was the District’s runner up.

Both were sponsored by the Rotary Club of St Marylebone and attend schools in the Central Area. The young poets will receive certificates recognising the Queen’s appreciation of their efforts.

Ishan, 10, wins Diana Award for marathon This spring, ten-year-old Ishan Feisal won the Diana Award for running a two-km marathon in Battersea Park, despite his health problems.

He trained by going on fast walks to school with his father and running around Battersea Park Lake every weekend.

Only 17 poems were selected for presentation to Her Majesty from the four hundred received by the competition Coordinator, Peter Dowse.

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Ishan took part in the marathon to raise funds for the voluntary community organisation Women of Wandsworth.

The money has been spent on supporting mothers whose family members suffer from breathing problems and other disabilities because of the high levels of pollution in London. Feisal attends Newton Prep School in Battersea and was nominated for the award by the Rotary Club of Battersea Park.

In July Prime Minister David Cameron will present Ishan with the Diana Award Trophy, which is awarded to courageous and caring young people, who transform the lives of others, in the name of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Spring 2016 • 7

Youth competitions

Young people win as photographers, artists and speakers in RIBI’s competi Viktor’s winning photograph

Cormorants gather on a rock to dry their wings Viktor Ghose wins Junior Young Photographer title second year running. This is one of his winning photographs, showing cormorants on a rock in Nova Scotia. The Rotary Club of Westminster West was the sponsoring club.

The winner of the Senior Young Photographer title is Daoud Qureshi, whose photograph appears on the front cover of this issue. Mitesh Maugi and Sani Laca are first and second runners up respectively. All three entries are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Northwick Park.

YOUNG Chefs cook up a storm!

Young Chef contestants line up for the camera. Second and third from left (foreground) are runner up Thamina Rehman and winner Ella Margetts (also seen on cover).

Second from right (behind) is second runner up Nell Cairo.

A dozen eager young chefs peeled, chopped, stirred and cooked their way to February’s Young Chef all-girl District Finals Competition at Redbridge College.

Winner was Ella Margetts, sponsored by Gants Hill Rotary Club. She attends Roding Valley High School. Thamina Rahman and Nell Cairo were first and second runners up respectively. Thamina, sponsored by St Marylebone Rotary Club, attends St Augustine’s High School. Nell, sponsored jointly by the Rotary Clubs of Battersea Park and Putney, attends the Harris Academy in Battersea.

8 • Rotary In London

YOUNG MUSICIANS PERFORM TO HIGH STANDARD

Among the Young Musicians at the District Competition is Rebecca Stowe, third from right, and Kamil Boulia, on the far right (seen on the front cover).

This year’s Young Musician, says Judi Stockwell, Vocational Service Chair, has been extremely exciting with young musicians performing to a very high standard. This gave the judges a hard time as to whom to award the prizes to!

Rebecca Stowe won the instrumental section of the District competition with a huge, lovely round sound on the trumpet. She played very sensitively in the soft parts. She came third in the Regional heat.

In the Vocal section a special award went to Kamil Boulia, who sang one of his own compositions and accompanied himself on the piano.

Youth competitions

chefs, musicians, itions Young artists on canvas

Youth Speaks!

District Final 2016

Nidhi Vaidyanath won the Young Artists competition.

Adyesha Singhdeo and Leanne-Marie Summers were first and second runners up respectively. They were all sponsored by the Rotary Club of Northwick Park.

The team from Cardinal Wiseman School, Greenford, won the Senior Section in the District Final and was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ealing. Seen from left are team members Benjamin Simpson, Francis Lali and Ciara Gibbs, with DG Toni. The team spoke on the topic ‘Happiness is?’ Ciara and Benjamin won Best Chairperson and Best Speaker Awards respectively. Francis was responsible for the Vote of Thanks.

The best Vote of Thanks Award went to Marisha Cooray in the Senior Section, in the Swaminarayan School team, which was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Northwick Park

Nidhi writes: “I have shown the bark of a tree which diverges into many beautiful things on earth. I have shown the human face with male and female eyes, the skin of tigers, a toucan’s beak, a bird a flower, an octopus, a pineapple, a mushroom, leaves and a beautiful butterfly.”

Adyesha writes: “The girl, whom I have named Julie, symbolises strength, youthfulness and vivaciousness that life has to offer.

“The gust of wind drifting the petals away and tousling her hair shows how nature can transform things. The hand clasping the rose signifies how nature and mankind unite to make the world beautiful.”

Another team from the Swaminarayan School won the Intermediate Section.

Their topic was ‘We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of’.

Team members from left are Raghav Ahluwalia and Vanshika Sharma, seen with DG Toni. Pari Parekh (not in photo) gave the Vote of Thanks. Raghav and Vanshika won Best Speaker and Best Chairperson Awards respectively.

Cecelia Duckin of St Marylebone C of E School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of St. Marylebone, won the prize for the Best Vote of Thanks in the Intermediate Section.

Spring 2016 • 9

correspondence

RIBI has comprehensive public relations strategy Thank you for your comments in the previous issue of Rotary London. Outside the Public Image Committee to which you refer, Rotary has a strong in-house communication team which works in partnership with an award-winning agency to carry out a comprehensive public relations strategy within the UK and Ireland.

This strategy has helped to generate some great coverage for Rotary in recent years including national broadcast coverage of some of the key Rotary events such as Young Citizen and Rotary Ride.

In addition to generating media coverage, the strategy also looks at ways to tell new audiences about Rotary by utilising and promoting events, such as the Youth Competitions or the recent investment in the sponsorship of the Melrose Sevens rugby tournament in Scotland, which target a fresh audience. This also includes a comprehensive social media strategy which uses bespoke hashtags and regular content themes to project a consistent and engaging Rotary voice.

The nature of Rotary as an organisation means that the input of districts and clubs in raising awareness of the great work that Rotary carries out is essential. The wealth of positive regional coverage that our public relations clippings demonstrate every day highlights the successful way in which Rotary clubs all across the isles are promoting themselves with the help and guidance of the support centre.

Should any clubs require assistance, the Rotary communications team are always on hand for any advice or tips that clubs may need.

Rotary continues to invest in public relations activity to promote the incredible difference that Rotary makes, and as always we welcome suggestions from our Rotary members of ways we can maximise this activity.

Amanda Watkin General Secretary, Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland

New Fellowship will foster Italian culture Rotary now has a new Fellowship, the Italian Culture Worldwide Rotarian Fellowship (ICWRF), which was founded in Naples in 2010.

And now it also has its first overseas branch, launched in London last November by 16 members of District 1130 Rotary Clubs. I am its Founding President, from Turin in northern Italy.

ICWRF exists to foster Italian culture in its broadest sense and was brought into being by Rotarian Franco Clemente.

The decision to establish a branch in London arose from the necessity to promote Italian 10 • Rotary In London

Culture outside Italy, by involving more Rotarians who love our culture. We have the great advantage of being at home in a capital city that offers an unbelievable amount of opportunities for events reflecting so many of the different cultures of the world. Moreover, from the days of the Grand Tours of the 18th century, English people have had a long tradition of love and appreciation of the beauty, the art, the music, the history, the architecture and cuisines of Italy.

The first objective of ICWRF London is to draw on the experience of other ICWRF members, by analysing what has been done and by setting up joint activities. A first meeting took place in Naples in January to discuss such co-operation. A second objective is to establish good co-operation with Italian institutions in London, such as the Italian Cultural Institute.

Michele Porfido Rotary Club of City & Shoreditch

RIBI needs coordinating advice Following your excellent leader (Winter issue), I wholeheartedly support the need for a designated paid public relations executive at RIBI. I write as incoming Chair of the London District 1130 Public Relations Committee for the next Rotary year and, incidentally, as a public relations consultant.

My new role, working together with my Committee, is to co-ordinate public relations activities in District 1130. However, without an overall public relations professional co-ordinating activities for all the regions, based at RIBI, we could be re-inventing the wheel. This is because some of the work my Committee and I plan to do could have already been done elsewhere by another Committee. Such work could be co-ordinated by an Alcester-based RIBI public relations professional, full or part-time, depending on budget.

Throughout Rotary, public relations is managed by members on a voluntary basis, often without much training or guidance. They have no obvious main contact for them to approach as a focus for Rotary’s UK-wide public relations, marketing and other promotional activities.

Danielle Benson, 1130 District Public Relations Chair for 2016/17

Public relations is about telling stories I note with interest your pertinent comments on the vexed topic of Rotary’s public relations, or lack of it (Winter issue). How apposite the leader was.

In my view as a past regional newspaper editor of some standing and without repeating the obvious, public relations is all about telling stories:

stories that are, obviously, positive ones relating to Rotary’s impressive humanitarian efforts at home and further afield. If every club in RIBI had a simple, well thought-out, effective public relations strategy, then all their good works could receive the publicithy they deserve. The communities in which Rotary Clubs operate will be keen to know just what their efforts have achieved and what Rotary has done with their cash.

This is referenced in the excellent letter from DG Nina Miteva (District 2482) in the same issue, revealing how Bulgarian Rotary’s massive public relations support operates with a strategy reaching down from DG Nina to individual clubs.

Engaging with the communities clubs serve through an effective public relations strategy is vital for Rotary to prosper.

Further support for this viewpoint has come from the pinnacle of Rotary. In a keynote speech to the RIBI Leadership Assembly, last February, RI President-Elect John Germ said plainly: “We need to tell everyone the Rotary Story - highlighting Rotary’s superb efforts in assisting those less fortunate.”

So, a plea to all clubs and all club members: tell the Rotary story, any way you can. They are all stories worth telling, but will be told better if you have a defined focus or strategy.

Tell the public what Rotary does, not who Rotary is. If we do this, we shall improve understanding in the communities in which we operate and, through this, engagement and support will surely follow.

Stewart Gilbert Zone 18A RIPI Coordinator 2012/15

Democracy is the global minority option As a qualified public relations practitioner, I entirely agree with your emphasis on public relations as “the conscience of any organisation” (Winter issue). For any organisation such as Rotary, operating in a free and open economy, the three ‘r’s are vital: relationships, reputation and relevance. Rotary plays a key role in creating a fair and open society in which all can enjoy vital freedoms and egalitarian justice. Rotary is a model for how all management structures should operate from the biggest governments through to the smallest groups of citizens.

Dictatorships and similar totalitarian regimes are in major decline because people do not like

speakers’ panel

Keep your letters coming so that you can have your say on whatever subject you want.

Rotary in London exists among other things to present Rotary and its work to the world, as well as spurring you on to debate important issues. We shall publish your letters wherever possible, reserving the usual right to edit. So keep up the correspondence!

Speakers’ Panel All organisations listed here are interested in sending speakers to Rotary Clubs in London. As we stressed previously, when launching this column in Rotary in London in autumn 2012, inclusion in this list does not indicate endorsement of that organisation or individual. We are merely putting you in touch with organisations or individuals, so that you can make further enquiries. However, you can rest assured that many of

others controlling their destiny without their having a word or influence in the policy process. However, only a third of the world’s population can change their government through an electoral process. Therefore, twice as many people as those living in democracies are controlled by, usually, a solitary dictator or a small number in unelected power. They do not ask what their citizens may want but tell them what they will get.

So what has this to do with Rotary and how it operates? Democracy, integrity, honesty, fair and responsible management are all different aspects of the free society most of us treasure and the rest of us are trying to achieve. We should all support the invaluable work of Rotary and other enlightened bodies in their effective efforts to extend democracy further across the population of our globe. That is why I agree with you that it is so important for RIBI to have full time public relations support.

Roger Haywood Public relations consultant and author

Rotary is contributing to our work Since you last featured us in your Winter 2015 issue, ebola has come to an end in West Africa, but our work with children who have lost parents and carers to the disease continues.

We have now helped 20,000 orphans to move on from tragedy and provided 7,000 business grants to families facing severe poverty.

Rotary International has greatly contributed to our work during this period. We thank particularly the London District Rotary Clubs of Battersea & Clapham, Marylebone, Epping and Barkingside for their generous contributions.

We are currently working with Rotary Clubs in the Norfolk and Stafford regions, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Bo, to prepare a Global Grant application. This will secure access to quality education for at least 600 children each year across seven rural communities in Sierra Leone.

This project will be hugely significant for the futures of these children as they move on from the medical and financial crises their country has undergone and we are extremely grateful for Rotary International’s involvement.

Rebecca Smith Street Child

the organisations and individuals listed are well known to Rotary already. Do you yourself know of any organisation, however small, which would like to be better known? Or a speaker you can recommend? If you do, please let us know, including where possible the people to contact, with relevant email and telephone details.

The Honeypot Children’s Charity Has a vision for all children to make the most of their one chance at childhood.

Honeypot works to enhance the lives of young carers and vulnerable children, aged from five to 12 years. Describes itself as the only UK charity to provide respite breaks and on-going outreach support throughout a child’s formative years.

Nicky West – nicky@ honeypot.org.uk – 020 7602 2631

Kids for Kids Lifts whole communities in Darfur, Sudan, out of abject poverty, transforming the lives of individual families by providing long term, sustainable projects, identified, and, crucially, run by the communities themselves. The aim is to help people to help themselves.

Patricia Parker – contact@ kidsforkids.org.uk – 07957 206 4440

London’s Air Ambulance Helivan Project Operates an air medical service responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using helicopters by day and road vehicles by night, it functions as a mobile emergency department in life-threatening, time-critical situations. PDG Trevor Johnson welcomes an invitation to tell your club about this District charity for the year.

Trevor Johnson – teenjay79@ gmail.com – 07990 532 034

LOOK UK Improves the lives of families of visually impaired young people by providing support, information and activities so as to help them gain the best outcomes in life and reach their full potential. LOOK UK’s helpline provides information, advice and emotional support to families and young people.

Charlotte Carson – ceo@ look-Uk.org – 01432 376314

Prisoners Abroad Human rights and humanitarian charity providing advice and support to 4,000 people a year affected by overseas imprisonment. Sustains people during their incarceration, helps family and friends cope with the trauma and supports prisoners in rebuilding their lives once they are released and return to the UK. Paul Flitcroft – paul@ prisonersabroad.org.uk – 07852 765 312

Street Child Has worked in Sierra Leone and Liberia since 2008 and is now developing projects in Nepal. It supports orphaned and vulnerable children, particularly those affected by the recent disasters in both regions, to access education through a combination of social support and sustainable financial intervention.

Rebecca Smith – rebecca@ street-child.co.uk – 02076 147 696

Spring 2016 • 11

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international

Battersea Park Rotarians join Indian immunisation drive India held a national immunisation drive during the two days leading up to Rotary’s birthday on 23 February. Gill de Warren, President of the Rotary Club of Battersea Park, was one of the six club members of who went there to help. She gives the background.

We joined 104 RIBI members and their friends, as well as other Rotarians from Australia, Belgium, Japan, Luxemburg, the States and elsewhere. We assisted the local health workers in Delhi and other towns in the north Indian States of Punjab and Haryana to administer the required two drops on the tongues of all children under five years of age. With me were Battersea Rotary members Brenda Ferry, Vanessa Graham, John Lee, Della Saunders and Michael Warren.

Here are some facts and figures about the efforts India put into the campaign. Two and a half million people carried out the vaccinations, some even travelling by elephants and camels to do so. They administered 225 million doses of polio vaccine, and visited 209 million homes, immunising over 170 million children in one National Immunisation Day, 21 February.

Apparently the last reported case of polio in India was a two-year-old girl from West Bengal in 2011. In neighbouring Pakistan, however, there has been one new case of polio this year, so to prevent any fresh outbreak in India all children crossing borders from Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan are immunised.

Left: An immunised child says: “Look, I’m safe from polio.”

Above: Battersea Park Rotarians who went to India are, from left: Past Presidents Della Saunders and Michael Warren, Vanessa Graham, Club President Senia Dedic, and Past Presidents Brenda Ferry, Asok Nandi and Gill de Warren.

The challenge now is to replicate India’s success in neighbouring Pakistan, one of two remaining polio-endemic countries, the other being Afghanistan.

Rotary leaders in India are working with their Pakistani counterparts to share best practices and lessons learned during India’s successful anti-polio campaign. Rotary was particularly effective in obtaining the support of influential religious leaders in

India’s Islamic communities. Pakistani Rotary leaders are playing a similar role to counter rumours and misinformation about polio vaccinations that keep some Muslim parents from immunising their children.

Until polio is finally eradicated globally, all unvaccinated children will remain at risk of infection and paralysis, no matter where they live.

How is the NID funded?

In 2007, the Gates Foundation gave the Rotary Foundation a $100 million challenge grant for polio eradication, and, in 2009, increased it to $355 million.

Rotary agreed to raise $200 million in matching funds by 30 June 2012, but Rotarians in fact raised $228.7 million toward the challenge.

Water for Zambia Soon, the children of the Vinebranch Community Home in Chelstone, near Lusaka in Zambia, will get water by turning on a tap rather than fetching it from miles away.

Mill Hill Rotary Club member the Rev Desmond Gordon and his wife established the Vinebranch Ministry by buying a piece of land and building a home on it, where orphans can receive an education in a secure, caring environment. Desmond continues the story.

Piped water was brought to the Vinebranch Community Home thanks to the generosity of Desmond’s fellow Rotary Club members. He told them the project would cost £2,400. This would cover the cost of a pump and the erection of a 5,000-litre water tank and stand, as well as an enormous length of trunking.

The Vinebranch Ministry raised £275 among themselves. Mill

Hill Rotary raised £1,125 and successfully obtained a District Grant of £1,000. Work started at the end of March, using local labour available to dig the bore hole, so that the children’s home and the neighbouring village get their fresh, drinkable water.

The Rotary Club of Lusaka was the nearest one to the project and they agreed to participate.

Spring 2016 • 13

Explore London again with Tom Hunt’s walks

They all take place on Sundays and start at 2.30pm Cost is £7 per person: please bring the correct change 12 June OLD KENSINGTON London’s Royal Village Meet at High Street Kensington tube station, outside exit, through arcade and by the 3 store just inside the arcade.

28 August THE THAMES PUB WALK Meet at Blackfriars tube station, outside the exit 9 October THEATRELAND Meet at Embankment tube station, outside exit (Villiers Street side)

24 July LONDON’S SECRET VILLAGE Meet at St Paul’s tube station, outside exit 2

For further details, contact Tom Hunt – tomhunt@ppmsoftware.com This space donated by Rotary In London

TEA BAGS FOR WHEELCHAIRS The first recipient of a Wheelchair Foundation wheelchair purchased with bar codes from Yorkshire Tea products in District 1130.

Please send the Bar Code & the Vouchers from the underside of ANY box of Yorkshire Tea to D1130 collection point to help purchase wheelchairs from the Wheelchair Foundation and support environmental projects.

D1130 Collection Point:

Adrian Faiers, 15 Lovett Road, Harefield, Middx UB9 6DN This space donated by Rotary In London

OUT AND ABOUT

Photo: Fuat Erman

Greenwich Club President Shatu Garba and President-Elect Sarah Campbell show off their 90th birthday cake.

Photo: Adrian Faiers

Photo: Adrian Faiers

Two clubs share the Queen’s birthday

Accepting Southgate Rotary’s donation of £2,500 from Southgate Rotary President, Tahsin Ibrahim (right) is Dr Helen Oliver of London’s Air Ambulance (left) centre is Cllr Patricia Ekechi, the Mayor of Enfield.

From left: Denise Hyland (Leader of Greenwich Council) and her husband; Di King (Youth Exchange Co-ordinator) and her husband, past RIBI President Peter King; and Cllr Verena Lovelace (Mayoress of the Royal Borough of Greenwich).

We bring you two reports of London District Rotary Clubs which celebrated their 90th birthdays. They are Greenwich and Southgate.

Shatu Garba, Greenwich Rotary’s President, gives her account.

We met at the wonderful Restoration building housing the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, dating from the third year of the reign of Charles II. The 90 guests – one for each year – included the Mayor and Mayoress, as well as the Deputy Leader, of Greenwich; DG Toni Finkel; Past RIBI President Peter King and his wife Di; and DGN Mike Hodge and his wife Debbie, who will be succeeding

PDG Eve as RIBI President when her term of office next year finishes.

Club past Presidents Ilkay Chirali and John Stock gave a joint PowerPoint presentation giving highlights of the Club’s 90-year history.

This included the acquisition in 1928 for £500 of land for local Scouts at Downe in Kent, so that local Boy Scouts had somewhere to enjoy their activities. Greenwich Rotary had marked its 50th anniversary by presenting the deeds of the purchase to the Scouts.

Chris Rash, Secretary of Southgate Rotary, describes his club’s celebrations.

We held Southgate Rotary’s anniversary dinner at the Aksular Restaurant in Enfield Town. It proved to be a fantastic evening, with 120 guests. They included the Mayor of Enfield; DG Toni Finkel; and the Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of London Clive Amos; members of five other local Rotary Clubs, as well as our own club members and friends. .

Guests were royally entertained with close table magic, singing and music by Slightly Unusual magicians Craig Tetty and Russell Leeds, local singer songwriter Mariana Hovian and musicians Piotr Grudzian (violin) and Ron Burton (clarinet).

In addition to having a great time the Club raised £2,500 for London’s Air Ambulance.

District Assembly Dinner DG-Elect Helen Antoniou held those attending the District Assembly Dinner spellbound as she talked about her hopes for the coming Rotary year 2016/17, focussing on the six spokes of the Rotary Wheel. She takes up the story.

The top spoke represents John F Germ as President of RI and Eve Conway as President of RIBI. John has been in Rotary since 1976. Among his many awards is President Obama’s recognition of him in 2013 as a Champion of Change in the United States.

The second spoke I dedicate to the Rotary Foundation, which in its Centennial Year will be celebrated for its many achievements. John Germ has a connection with the work of the Foundation: Ending Polio has a special significance as for him as his father contracted polio.

The third spoke represents telling the people of London about Rotary and its

work. When people know what we do, they support our work and join our clubs. The bottom spoke is Rotary service. It is when Rotarians get together and provide the help that is needed that they get fun and reward out of Rotary. During the coming Rotary year, the District will support London’s Air Ambulance Helivan Project with a new road-bound vehicle, which will carry the Rotary wheel around London – the clearest demonstration to those needing the facilities of that vehicle that we are Rotary Serving Humanity.

This wheel being seen around London will attract interest that we can convert into membership, the fifth spoke in our Rotary wheel. We are now receiving much

PDG Alan Coleman (Rotary Club of Barkingside), DGE Helen Antoniou and Dr Jamie Moran (London’s Air Ambulance), laugh together after DGE Helen had presented PDG Alan with this year’s tie and the Rotary theme pin.

better quality leads from both Rotary International and RIBI. The sixth spoke supports Rotarians and members of our Rotary family, including Rotaract, Interact and Rotakids Clubs.

Which brings me full circle round the Rotary wheel, rolling us forward in the 21st Century.

Spring 2016 • 15

last wordS

Mish Mosh by “Schlepper”

Epping scoolchildren pot the crocuses; some of the crocuses bloom in Andrew Pirie’s front garden.

Epping in bloom Epping Rotary Club members, working with the local Epping in Bloom Organisation and three local schools, planted over five thousand bulbs late last autumn. They were donated by Epping Rotary Club, whose Foundation Chair Andrew Pirie tells the story.

The bulbs all managed to appear on time in the spring to produce an excellent display in and around Epping. One of the infant schools raised the magnificent sum of £300 by

‘selling’ their bulbs, which will translate into £900 using the Bill Gates scheme.

All our club members were given bulbs to plant in their front gardens to enhance the Epping in Bloom campaign run in conjunction with Polio Plus. Of course the bulbs which were planted in my front garden (see above), will bloom again next year – how’s that for a selfsustaining project?

his seventh London Marathon!

Rotarian Pesh Kapasiawala, ran his seventh London Marathon this year in just under four hours. This brings his total winnings over the past seven years for the charity LOOK UK to over £12,000. Pesh, President of the Rotary Club of Loughton, Buckhurst Hill & Chigwell, tells Rotary in London: “I enjoyed the race and the great atmosphere. Huge thanks to them for their fantastic support and teaching me to endure pain every year! Charlotte Bowen, shown here, is registered blind and the reason I run. Her mother founded LOOK UK, the charity for blind and partially sighted people.

It was also wonderful to see our Club’s Global Scholar, Yuina Matzuki, who came to support me.”

Pesh is seen with Charlotte Bowen, whose mother founded LOOK UK.

Up and away for Rotary!

On Rotary’s 111th birthday in February, DG Toni Finkel joined 83 fellow Rotarians from 18 Rotary Clubs and their friends to climb the Millennium Dome. Between them they raised well over £24,000 across RIBI. This is for the Rotary Foundation, End Polio Now and the Roll out the Barrel Trust, which provides water solutions to two billion people. As readers will recall, my focus this Rotary year has been on supporting Foundation (see ad on page 4) and End Polio Now. So far I have raised over £1,000, including gift aid and cash donations, to be shared between Foundation and End Polio Now. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation policy of giving £2 for every £1 raised brings the total for End Polio to over £1,600. Incidentally, our District 1130 is ranked third in Zone 18’s giving to End Polio.

16 • Rotary In London

Only very rarely in our 111-year history has a decision to change something in our beloved Manual of Procedure resulted in a seismic shift in direction which really does change things.

The first monumental change happened just after the first world war. This was when all the existing clubs which had traditionally operated autonomously were brought into line to share worldwide common cause and practice under the banner of Rotary International.

During the roaring twenties, depressing thirties and war-torn forties, Rotarians were understandably busy worrying about more important things.

The second big change came about following the death of Paul Harris in 1947, when many financial contributions were made in his memory. The resulting first truly international projects were instigated in the early 1950s.

The next thirty years saw the greatest international expansion in Rotary’s history. In the mid – 1980s, Rotary decided to build on the success of a small Rotary polio vaccination project in the Philippines by making polio eradication a worldwide objective.

The biggest change came at the turn of the eighties and nineties, when we took the decision to open membership to the 50 per cent of the world’s population previously denied the honour. Dualgender Rotary was the real sea change in Rotary’s first century of existence.

And now, in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, two decisions emanating from the recent Council on Legislation could, and probably will, change Rotary at its core.

Firstly, all clubs are now free to decide the frequency of their meetings, providing they meet at least twice a month.

Secondly, there are no longer any restrictions at all regarding who can be invited into Rotary membership.

Providing a person is of good character, they are in if a club wants them to be.

Traditionally I finish with a clever phrase that sums up my own feelings.

I really don’t know what I feel. But definitely bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I!

This space donated by Rotary in London This space donated by Rotary In London

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