First Diary Invitation for 2013-2014!

Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Loddon Vale on their planning ahead.  Just received my first official diary invitation to join them in celebrating their 40th anniversary in November 2013.  Clearly my sort of club - I look forward to joining them then.

Excelling in Public Speaking

When you were 12, or even 16, would you have voluntarily made a speech in front of strangers, in a competition?  No, well neither would I.  But last night I watched 7 teams of young people, 3 teams in the 12-14 age group and 4 in the 15-18 age group do exactly that.  The occasion was the local heat of “Youth Speaks”, a public speaking competition for young people organised by my Rotary Club (Elthorne-Hillingdon) in conjunction with the other clubs in our Borough (Pinner, Ruislip-Northwood  & Uxbridge).

Stiff competition was provided in both age groups, with Swakeleys School (above L) triumphing in the Intermediate section and Harefield Academy (L) in the Seniors.  But really, everyone competing was a winner – to have the courage to take part and to conquer the nerves that always accompany public speaking was a feat in itself.

Well done all of them!

Venue Hunting

Just off to see what may well be our choice for the Rotary International District 1090 Conference for 2014. Where we going? Well you'll just have to wait and see! (or sea - clue!)

(Weather was gorgeous - very picturesque!)

Making Up & Meeting a Fellow DGN!

Visiting the Rotary Club of Vashon Island (Washington State, USA) this morning, delighted to find that the speaker was my fellow DGN, Ezra Teshome from District 5030. Ezra talked of the tremendous work that 5030 has been doing in providing wells for 28 villages in Erza's native Ethiopia. Vashon Rotary are separately working for clean water in Guatemala and are sponsoring climbers on a Mount Rainier climb in August.

Forward Planning - for 2014?

Amazing how far ahead you have to plan these days - we've just had a first get together for our Conference Committe for 2014 - yes, nearly three years away - great bunch of people - looking forward to working with all of them - and thanks to Chairman Jean for hosting us all - what a star!

Gobsmacked!

I suspect I'm one of many Rotarians for whom the award of a Paul Harris Fellowship comes as a complete surprise, little short of a shock as a matter of fact. A particular honour coming from my fellow club members for which I feel undeserving -now all I have to do is live up to it! Many thanks to all the members of RC Elthorne-Hillingdon for recognising me in this way.

Conference 2014 - Already?

Been out looking at venues for 1090 Conference - where have we been? where are we off to next? well that's a secret! Will let you know when we've come to a decision.

End in Sight for Assistant Governor

It's quite odd, really, Rotary runs its year from 1 July through to 30th June.; so we're coming to the end of the year and it's time to hand over the reins to the next person. Except because we're a well-planned organisation the last few weeks have been spent in detailed actions putting everything in place for the next year. So it now feels like the old year is already done and the new year has already started.

Because I'm moving on to be District Governor Nominee, my "zone" of clubs is now being supervised by a new Assistant Governor, who is now making her way round participating in the final planning stages for all her clubs - except that, of course, they still feel like MY clubs! Joan will do a terrific job as AG, so much so that two additional clubs have decided to swap zones and come and join Yellow - welcome to Gerrards Cross & Misbourne Matins.

I wish all of you terrific success in 2011-2012.

The Assembly Season

We've now started on the Assembly season. Rotary has to be one of the most switched on organisations in terms of succession and management planning. With a change of President every year, each club has to be positively forward-looking and ready to take on the challenges that having a new leader (and possibly a new team) with new ideas. Imagine a plc changing their CEO every year! But it works and it works because Rotarians know that, whatever their individual stylistic differences, we're all working to a common goal - Service above Self.

So good luck to all the incoming Presidents - my club has its Assembly tonight where our incoming President Norman Jones and his team will be presenting our programme for the Rotary year starting 1st July. Good luck Norman!!

Happy Easter

Somewhat belatedly, a happy Easter to all. Been a very busy few weeks - first we had our Rotary District conference in Birmingham, followed by a training weekend (for Rotary), also in Birmingham, but a different part. Then we went to Dublin for the national Rotary conference and away for Easter in the Isle of Wight for the family - can't beat the British seaside when the weather's kind to us!

But a bunch of us also found time to make more progress with our Path project (left) - nearly finished now and we're really proud of what we've achieved - nice dry safe access and emergency exit!

The Japan Disaster - closer to home

Japan's a wealthy country - right? So why should we help them - let them help themselves! You could think that but let's just slow down a little here:

• current estimates have well over 10,000 dead
• close to half a million people are in shelters
• it's winter and it's snowing

But typically, Rotary charities like Shelterbox are already on the ground with help. And Rotary clubs around the world are clubbing together to help clubs locally. "I have reports that Rotary clubs have begun to start planning projects for immediate help," says Rotarian Noriko Futagami. "Unfortunately, there are many Rotarians and families who haven't been able to be contacted. Rotarians in Japan worry for their safety". So these are Rotary family members who may not be returning. Futagami-san, we hear you!

Paving The Way

Spent a very satisfying morning with fellow members of our club laying a new access path at the Hillingdon Mencap Pool. Lovely spring morning, ideal for a bit of manual labour! We identified this project as something we could usefully do back in the middle of 2010 and applied for our very first Rotary District grant to help with 50% of the cost. Back in October we cleared the area and had our materials delivered in the February half-term (because the pool is on a special school site we can only get deliveries in the holidays).

As with all good building projects the team doing the work differed somewhat from the team that estimated the job, so we'll be back during Easter holidays when we've had some more materials delivered to let us finish the job! (Actually we've made the path a bit wider than orginally planned so that wheelchairs can comfortably go down it when it's used as an emergency exit).

Good fun, good craic, and a feeling of satisfaction for a job well under way.

Looking Ahead

It's the time of year when Rotarians start thinking about the next Rotary year. Changing President every year means a new crop of participants at our Presidents Elect Training Session. And ready for their year were the incoming Presidents of the current Yellow Zone clubs, apart from Paul Hagyard who was busy attending a family wedding - proving he's got his priorities right - Family first, then work, then Rotary!

It's a challenge and a responsibility leading a club and I wish them all well for the coming year. They have a hard act to follow with the current incumbents - but I'm sure they're up to it!

First Female RIBI President in 2013-2014

Absolutely delighted that Nan McCreadie has been elected to lead RIBI in 2013-2014, and that her election was by a clear majority of those voting. Well done Nan - I look forward to our year of service together!

Thanks for Life 2011 (End Polio Now)

It's February!! Time for Rotary's annual Thanks for Life month. This year we've been out planting millions of purple crocuses around the country. In Hillingdon we've got 10,000 spread aorund 5 schools and on Hillingdon Hill.

Crocuses are usually white, yellow or purple. The eleven hundred bulbs we planted are all purple and there’s a good reason for that. It ties in with the reason that we’re hope they’ll come out every year in February – well actually we’re hoping they’ll all be out by February 23. Why that date? Well that date is "Rotary Day - Thanks for Life", a project involving the clubs and members of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI), to highlight the humanitarian work of Rotarians with our number one goal of helping to eradicate polio throughout the world. Our 10000 bulbs were provided by the Rotary Clubs of Elthorne-Hillingdon and Uxbridge. So that’s why the date, but what about the colour purple?

The nearest we ever get to the Polio disease is that we get innoculated when we’re babies so that it’s never going to be a problem for us. We may also get a top-up dose along with something else when we get other jabs when we travel to places outside Europe (or North America). But for people in Continents like Africa and countries like India % Pakistan, Polio is still something that may cripple them for life. When kids in these areas get immunised they get their little finger dipped in a purple dye. So the purple colour represents hope for these kids that we hope won’t catch Polio. Rotary have been working with the World Health Organisation and other agencies to try to eradicate Polio for more than 25 years. And we’re winning. In 1985 there were 1,000 cases every day – in 2010 there were less than 1,500 in the year. But unless we get to zero, it’ll keep coming back. Two-thirds of the cases in 2010 were in two countries that had been free of polio for nearly ten years – because people caught it from visitors from infected areas.