"Making connections whilst working for local and international community projects."

 
 

 

Thank you to these local organisations who support our website
Click the image to see information about the Sponsors

LATEST CLUB NEWS.......

David Short A Life Behind Bars The former landlord of the Queens Head in Newton entertained the Rotary Club of Cambridge on 10th July with a history of his pub and the changes he had seen in drinking habits. When in 1962 his father looked for something to do in his retirement he bought a rundown rural pub that was due to be demolished.  The Shorts set about learning the trade the hard way- taking the keys at noon, paying just £39 for the new stock, and finding at once that turning taps on the barrels led to a flood on the floor. A daunting baptism, watched by the landlords of the pubs from the surrounding area, who came to welcome and to weigh up the new boys.  At the time no ladies frequented the hostelry, the farm labourers who came in at 10 in the morning for a pint of mild and at 7 for another were its only customers. No one could afford more. The Shorts set about re-establishing the ancient hostelry, putting in plumbing, adding hot water and sanitation. As they refurbished, the clientele grew. CAMRA helped develop the taste for bitter, ladies came in on their own and drank pints– and the Queens Head achieved national recognition. Drinking habits have changed significantly. David has seen the days of nothing but mild, through lager, cocktails, wine and now the era of gin. Of course food is now a major factor, and the Queens Head was the first of the local establishments to serve food, when a good customer joined David in his now famous soup and sandwiches, which have been lauded in national guides. Now the pub is very busy, especially between 6 and 7 as people go home from work, but for many the drink drive laws have changed their intake. David’s is a rural pub in the heart of a small village, but now very much on the beaten track. A country landlord learns all about the village and has many stories he could tell. But it takes a landlord with vision to make the pub thrive as he did. Rotarian David Spreadbury

Elise puts commitment into practice out in Kenya Each year the Rotary Club of Cambridge offers sponsorship to one or two sixth formers who intend to undertake some significant community work abroad during a Gap Year. On 12th June Elise Moore, formerly at Hills Road, spoke to the club about her time in Kenya. She was concerned to do something which has a lasting effect for the community. As well as organising community events such as mountain bike rides and football matches, she and her companion volunteers had to assist young Kenyan entrepreneurs to develop their businesses. Thirteen British and thirteen Kenyan volunteers worked together. First they had to undertake some business training of their own and to try out ideas. She soon learned that selling shoe polish to shoe shiners would not work. Then they worked with six people who wanted to improve their businesses to suggest small changes that could make real difference to their activity. These six included a taxi driver who started doing deliveries, a dress maker who opened a boutique, and a market stallholder, who eventually branched out into selling caps. It was not always easy to get these people to change their habits.     Elise had learned much from her placement, about the country and its people. She was surprised at how much like England and Cambridge her Kenyan town was. She had to accept that her purpose was to make a difference in the community not think first of personal gain – ‘work for a cause not for applause’.-; that one cannot force someone to do something if they don’t want to, and that despite widely different cultures individuals have so much more in common than their differences. There was plenty of social interaction and fun together, but  though it rained every day only the British volunteers would go out in it. A very assured delivery made it clear why this student was going to study drama at university Rotarian David Spreadbury

CLIMATE CHANGE The speaker at the lunchtime meeting of the Rotary Club of Cambridge on the 5th June was David Barnes from the British Antarctic Survey, who entertained us all with an in depth study of his work in the Southern Ocean. Despite being the smallest of our oceans, what happens there has a profound effect on the climate of the whole of planet Earth. There has been a pronounced change in sea ice in the Southern Ocean in the last 70 years, much greater change than in previous periods Put in perspective, such changes in the Earth’s temperature are very unusual as the planet is subject to gradual change owing to orbit, tilt, and wobble, all of which take millions of years and four different timescales. More dramatic change is being brought about by the growth in greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide and Methane, a third of which is being absorbed by the sea, especially around the continent of Antarctica. The sea surrounding the continent is deep and super cooled a property that permits it to be full of oxygen. Only the top layer of water is affected by temperature changes. Unfortunately, most maps feature Antarctica as a white strip on the bottom of the sheet whereas it is a huge ice and snow capped island surrounded by an extremely wild and at time windy sea that because of its situation has an effect on all the three largest oceans. David left us all with the feeling that we are all fortunate to have such a world class research organisation as British Antarctic Survey keeping a watchful eye on things.  We can only hope that world leaders are able to take heed of the dangers caused by climate change. Rotarian John Holroyd.