Brian Middleton Award for Young People with Additional Needs

'An opportunity of a lifetime' for 5 young people, aged 12 – 18, with physical and/or sensory impairments, to learn how to sail at Bisham Abbey Sailing School, Marlow, from 30th July to 3rd August 2018.


In 2005, District 1090 decided to make an annual award in memory of Rotarian Brian Middleton of Reading Rotary Club, because of the work he did with groups of young people & particularly those with disabilities. 

This award has previously been used to send one young person, aged 18 – 30, away each year on an activity break which was specifically designed to meet their additional needs, either with The Jubilee Sailing Trust or the Calvert Trust, an outward bound centre.

For 2018, a different approach was trialled.  This year up to 5 young people, of secondary school age, with physical and/or sensory impairments were selected to form a group who then learned to sail, using specialised equipment & with appropriately trained instructors. The specialist boats include those specifically for users with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, amputation, dwarfism, spinal injuries. On the successful completion of this course, they then had the opportunity to continue to meet up & to sail at Bisham Abbey with The Accessible Boat Club on Sundays throughout the season. (The Accessible Boat Club is part of The Rivertime Boat Trust which is  already supported financially & practically by many Rotary Clubs)

One of the ideas behind this group approach was to get back closer to Brian’s original model of Rotarians supporting young people with special needs in a practical way.  The involvement of sponsoring Rotary Clubs is not financial, as the course is fully funded, but in supporting the young person & their family during the course.  In addition to the specialist & volunteer staff, additional help is needed shoreside & in covering lunch breaks.  Help may also be needed with transport.

The Sailing School took responsibility for interviewing potential candidates & for completing a detailed assessment of their needs & suitability, plus all insurance & H&S issues.  There is a safety boat on the river for all activities & a hoist is available at this fully accessible site.   All specialised equipment is provided.

Soon after this, places were offered & a more detailed assessment made about the help/support needed from Rotary Clubs during the week.

The course proved extremely popular with the 3 young people who participated.

Decisions are still being taken on how to run this course next year - watch this space!

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Our Work with Young People

back Rotary works with young people in a variety of ways to develop their skills and provide opportunities for them to enjoy a greater awareness of the world about them.

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We work in and around the Community in many ways - to help others with their projects and fund raising - some are featured here. We were recently presented with an Award from the Beeches Community Board in recognition of our work in the community.

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If you want to use your talents and energy to improve the lives of others in the local community while making new friends, come along to one of our meetings or events to find out more.

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Details of some of the events organised by Club members.

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We will be holding the 33rd Donkey Derby - a great family day out- at Burnham Park on Saturday May 25th 2024 the weekend of the May Bank Holiday

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Our annual Burnham Beeches Rotary Charity Run is a VIRTUAL event and entrants took part during July to September 2022. The funds raised were donated to Shelterbox to help those affected by the Ukraine crisis.

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One of the seven areas of focus for Rotary is Supporting the Environment. We take part in Rotary District organised events and work with schools and others in the community to promote awareness of environmental issues

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Our Club's international activities

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After two years of restrictions we held a Donkey Derby with a difference on Saturday 28th May 2022. There was great arena entertainment, lots of stalls, food offerings, funfair, plus of course - DONKEY RIDES.

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