January 2016

4th January 2016 - Rtn Peter Gee introduced us to 'Mary's Wheels'

The Club welcomed in the New Year with a presentation by Rotarian Peter Gee from Tamworth Rotary Club.

Peter has only been a Rotarian for a couple of years but has already made his mark in the Club by persuading it to adopt the Charity, “Mary’s Meals”.    He had befriended President Bob at an event at the National Memorial Arboretum [long story] and one thing led to another and he persuaded Bob that we would like to hear his presentation on the Charity.

Incidentally Peter told me during lunch that his Club had acquired 13 new members in the last two years; and that they had raised £27k with the help of some other local groups running a Santa Sleigh for 17 days before Christmas.    Their share was £13k.    Hmm!

I, along with many of us, had not heard of Mary’s Meals.    Its origin dates back to 1992 when Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow arranged an aid trip to deliver essential supplies to those affected by the war in Bosnia.   What was meant to be a one off delivery grew into an organisation called, “Scottish International Relief” that went on to provide millions of pounds worth of emergency aid and funds to many other projects to help the poorest of the poor around the world.   In 2002 during a famine relief project in Malawi, MacFarlane- Barrow met a dying mother called Emma.   When he asked her eldest son what he hoped for in life he replied, “to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day” This conversation helped to inspire the founding of Mary’s Meals in 2012. The Charity has something of a Catholic background [hence the name] but is essentially secular.     By 2015 one million children in 12 different countries were receiving Mary’s Meals every day they attend school.    Peter emphasised that today 57 million children worldwide remain out of school because of hunger and that there remains a lot still to do.   Peter is very proud of the fact that 93 pence of every pound received by Mary’s Meals goes to the children it supports.

Tamworth Rotary Club raise funds for Mary’s Meals by supporting its Backpack Project.    The Club seek to collect backpacks and clothing which would otherwise be thrown away.   These are given to Mary’s Meals who donate them to the children they support.   

Mohammed Haroon gave the vote of thanks and mentioned how the work of Mary’s Meals must give hope to so many needy children around the world.

President Bob, Peter Gee and Graham Dean

18th January - Claire Wright spoke about Hope and Homes For Children

On Monday 18th January we welcomed back an old friend of the Club.    Claire Wright was an honorary member of the Club for about two years in 2004/5 and she was visiting us as an ambassador speaker to tell us about the latest developments at the Hope and Homes for Children Charity.    Our Club has supported this estimable Charity in the past.

President Bob and Claire Wright

Rotary has been at the heart of the Charity since Mark Cook founded it in 1994.    Rotary’s support has enabled the Charity to become a global leader in the closure of institutions and the creation of family based care systems.    Its objective, as promoted by the new Chief Executive, Mark Waddington, is the ultimate closure of all orphanages.     This is an ambitious target when, as Claire pointed out, there are, worldwide, 8 million children in institutional care.    Another interesting statistic quoted by her was that 80% of these children are “social orphans”.

Perhaps inevitably, bearing in mind that the Charity originally started work in Romania, Claire spoke about its achievements in that country.   A measure of its success there is that in the year 2000 there were 110,000 children in orphanages and that, now, only 8000 remain.    She also showed us a short DVD made in 2001/2 which, devastatingly showed the conditions in those orphanages at that time.   That the Charity has rescued so many children from such awful conditions and circumstances is truly amazing.

The Charity now works in 8 countries and its “Deinstitutionalisation Programme” is recognized, world wide,  as “best practice”.     Because of this the Charity has been invited to advise other countries in Latin America, Russia and Africa.   

Obviously Claire hopes that we will make a donation to the Charity.    She explained that it costs £500 to teach an orphan “life skills” and £1200 to place a child in a foster family.

Claire is a mad keen marathon runner and has run marathons all over the world.     Her favorite marathon is the New York.     Her best time is 3 hours 36 minutes.    Her greatest achievement is to have competed in the Marathon des Sables which involves running 6 marathons in 7 days in the Sahara Desert carrying your tent and equipment.   

Janet Threlfall gave the vote of thanks expressing admiration for the amazing work the Charity has done in Romania.

John Moffat and Claire

25th January - a talk by Scott Taylor about the Burton Albion Community Trust

On 25th January Scott Taylor from the Burton Albion Community Trust spoke to the Club on his recent trip to Ghana. He joined the Trust five years ago as a coach running 20 sessions a week which have now increased to over 200 a week. The Trust goes from strength to strength making a difference through its involvement in the community working with young and old alike. Working with African Adventure twelve volunteers from the Trust and the wider community, of which  he was one,went to Ghana to work with children and to help construct buildings for use by the community in that country.

 Scott gave an enthisiastic, informative and absorbing account of his trip to Ghana desbcribing not only what he saw and what he did but also the effect on him of first visit to the African continent. He was particularly taken by the cheerfulness and happiness of the children in spite of the poverty and lack of facilities. He made comparisons with what he termed "the UK`s Nike clad moaners"

 Scott went to Ghana after raising £1,000 through fundraising and sponsorship as well as overcoming his personal fear of flying.

 Finally he thanked the Club for its sponsorship of the two trips of the Trust to Ghana."

Scott Taylor with IPP Rod Gent