Rotary Club of Bath

ROTARY  CLUB  OF BATH

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES

         Winners of the Young Photographers of the Year awards.

In July we were  off to Longleat to take eight under priviledged children for a good day out.  This is becoming  more difficult as Longleat is now under new management and seems more profit orientated and sponsorship is rarer in these hard times.  Finance was available for 2012, but may not continue.  This would be a great shame and if any Rotarian can  come  up with names of possible sponsors, Peter Bennett, the Chairman would be your friend for life.

Beyond that, there was a  Gardening Competition at Three Ways School on July 14^th .   This is the second year we have held this and to go by the faces of the winners last year, is worthwhile.  Finally, according to the school calendar, we have the Young Photographers Competition.    We gave them the subject of The Four Seasons.   The winners were announced in September and are pictured above..

So what of future plans?  First off the blocks will be a DVD aimed at parents, teachers and pupils relating how Rotary can extend the childrens' learning experience by the various activities we undertake.  It is planned that this will be shown at Parents' Evenings and any other opportunities we get.  This initiative has already caught the imagination of District and at least one other club – so it better be good and it will be.

Interact's big project for this year has been the trip to South Africa where a matching grant between ourselves and Knysna was a success.  In a recent e-mail from the contact in Knysna we were told that the project won the New Generations Award at their conference.  She continues 'As our district is the second most spread out in the world, it is a great accolade'.  The Interactors, from Beechen Cliff and Hayesfield Schools,  are now planning a further foray for 2012 and another application for a matching grant seems likely.  Meanwhile, on the home front their fund raising for Dorothy House continues.  Regular cake sales are a banker amongst about 900 boys as you can well imagine and some sturdy individuals also raised funds the hard way by running in the Bath Half Marathon.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of Ed McKenzie, their officers are already appointed for next year and the prospect for enlargement are promising.

Youth Speaks .  We had a strong team to put together schools for the senior and intermediate competition.  Peter Edwards is of course the District 1200 supremo and Peter Dawson put in the local leg work whilst Bob Calleja made a fine MC.  Sadly both will be lost to us next year (unless we can persuade the buying public not to acquire Bob's house so that he cannot move to Cornwall), so the search for volunteers is on.  This is somewhat of a flagship competition in Rotary circles, so replacements are needed now.

Rotary Youth Leadership Award.  Mike Knight who administered this award had  to deal with a nightmare scenario.  Within days of it taking place, the schools involved withdrew their condidates.  Thanks to Howard Burgess and Roger Stockley, we were able to fill one place from the scouts and they are enthusiastic.  They have four possible candidates for 2012 and the possibility of their sponsorship for one place is under consideration.  If not, sponsorship elsewhere is being considered.  The cost currently is £545 per person and more than one candidate paid for by this club is not feasible.

All the projects mentioned above will be continued into 2012 together with Mock Interviews for Year 10/11 pupils at Culverhay and Hayesfield Schools.

Help with reading and literacy in Primary schools is also an ongoing target.  We have four Rotarians already involved, two further volunteers and we will be looking for more.

Rotoract.  As a result of negotiations with Bath University, via Mike Wood and Alan Keeling concerning the fireworks, interest has been shown by the students in creating a Rotoract club sponsored by Bath Rotary.  It would be great to achieve this as then we would have almost a full house, Rotary, Rotoract and Interact.  Added to this, Bath Spa University has also shown interest thanks to Mike Knight who  met  a student who has contacted us to know more about the movement.  We are aware that there is a new Breakfast Club who meet there, but they are only just off the ground, so, if we do the leg work, perhaps they could like to take over. 

Is there anyone who would like to undertake the formation of Rotakids with a primary school?

Perhaps the biggest push for the year ahead will be the preparation of a DVD led by Ed McKenzie – what a joy to have an enthusiastic 30 year old on your committee.  The idea behind this is to give a short, sharp presentation of the work we do and present it to the schools on Parents' Evenings and any other event that involves not just the children, who will forget the whole thing in minutes, but Mums and Dads and teachers.  District are so keen on this that they want a viewing at the September meeting.  You never know, we might get some parents who are so impressed that they want to become Rotarians themselves.

 We have a busy year ahead, but it should be fun!  Come and join us.

BATH PAGEANT OF MOTORING

(http://www.bathpageantofmotoring.com/)

Bath Pageant of Motoring will be held from 6-7 July 2013 at Walcot Rugby Ground, Bath. Featuring an eclectic display of classic and vintage cars and motorcycles, the event will be a fun-filled weekend for all the family.

We already have Vintage car entries dating back to 1919, with many other interesting Historic and Classic vehicles promised and it is hoped to attract a minimum of 300 Historic cars and 150 Historic Motor Cycles, all of which will be pre 1980.

Bath Pageant of Motoring is a two-day event run by Bath Rotary Club to raise money for BIME’s production and distribution of “Wizzybugs”, electric wheelchairs for disabled children.

How to join Rotary

We welcome new members interested in having fun while 'giving something back' to the community. Fresh ideas and enthusiasm are the life blood of any organisation!

Our involvement with activities for young people is just one of the things our enthusiastic members get stuck into each year.We try to help numerous charities by arranging a number of events - golf days (we have our own golf section),  annual fireworks (with partners Bath University), street collection at Christmas (for the Children's Hospice primarily), a carol service in the Abbey  (to which we invite those who need help to get to such a service) and numerous social functions engaging all members and their families

If you're interested in joining our club, to use your time, talents, professional skills and energy to improving the lives of people in their local communities, please get in touch and try it out by coming to lunch with us at the Lansdown Golf Club, Lansdown, Bath, BA1 9BT at 12.30 p.m. each Tuesday (7 p.m. on 5th Tuesdays)

In the process, you can enjoy the benefits of business networking, personal development, meeting new friends, hearing inspiring speakers, having a great deal of fun and experiencing that special sense of fulfillment that comes from achieving something really worthwhile. Please ring our Club secretary, Tony Comer, on 01225 874116 or email him at comerty@blueyonder.co.uk to arrange a visit or find out more! 

DIARY DATES