News from the Club

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Deadline January 2024

Lighting Up Africa

Solar Lights

Alton Rotary has just helped fund two solar energy schemes to light up rural communities in Africa.  It's part of a larger project to provide solar-powered lighting to 10,000 homes in 20 villages in Malawi.

Each village will receive 500 solar kits - one for each home - to provide one solar panel and a battery hub for each household.  That will be sufficient to power three lights and a smartphone charger.  It's hoped the scheme will bring safety benefits by reducing the use of candles and dangerous kerosene lamps, and will also have an educational benefit by enabling chidren to do homework after dark.

In the two villages in central Malawi supported by Alton Rotary, teams of 20 women will organise the distribution and installation of the panels.  Householders will pay for the installation over a two-year period using the savings produced by using solar energy.  Installation will begin in the next few weeks.

Alton Rotary is working with the 'Lend with Care' programme of the international development charity Care International.  The club has now made development loans totalling more than £10,000 to small businesses and individuals in 14 countries across three continents.  These loans have helped support 631 entrepreneurs and create 376 jobs in the developing world.

The lending is on a crowd-funding basis, with many individuals and Rotary clubs in this country contributing to the loans.

Other businesses supported by Alton Rotary's loans in recent weeks include a rice farmer in Cambodia, a forester in Vietnam, two farmers in Thailand, two retailers in Rwanda, five farmers and growers in Ecuador, a fishing family in Vietnam, a tailor in Thailand and a fish retailer and a cafe owner in the Philippines.  The loans have been used for various purposes - to buy additional livestock, fishing nets, larger premises and other equipment for their businesses.

Alton Rotary members select new borrowers to support several times a year, using financial contributions and repayments received from previous lending.  The scheme's club co-ordinator, Roy Roberts, said, "We feel this is a very practical way to support economic development in many countries around the world." 

   

Deadline December 2023

Charity Needs Help

An Alton charity which supports local young families says its service is at risk because of funding difficulties.

This warning was delivered by representatives of Bushy Leaze Family Support at a meeting of Alton Rotary, which has been a supporter of the charity in recent years.

The Chair of Trustees of Bushy Leaze, Dawn Murphy, and the Family Support Manager, Jess Anton, explained that securing funding was increasingly more difficult, and that the charity was now launching an urgent fund-raising initiative to ensure the continuity of its services for families.

The Family Support team offers help to families with young children who are facing many challenges in order to make lasting differences to their lives. This is achieved through one-to-one advice sessions for families and ongoing weekly contact.  The team also runs a programme of weekly group sessions for 110 families dealing with issues such as the problems of first-time parents, families with children with special needs, budgeting support and developing parenting skills.

The Bushy Leaze charity was formed seven years ago by a group of volunteers when public funding through the Sure Start programme was withdrawn and family support services were threatened.  It's argued that today the services have never been needed more in the community, and the charity continues to raise funds to pay for a qualified and experienced team delivering comprehensive and vital services to families with children under five.

The charity is already supported by various community organisations such as Alton Town Council, the Victorian Cricket Festival and Alton Rotary. Now Bushy Leaze Family Support is asking the whole community in the Alton area "to dig deep to help ensure families in the area can continue to receive vital support".

Dawn, Jess with Lisa

Dawn Murphy and Jess Anton with Alton Rotary President Lisa Hillan


   

Deadline November 2023

Survival in a Box...

A West Country charity has now shipped more than 23,000 survival crates to areas around the world affected by disasters.  The charity - Water Survival Box - has sent boxes to 86 disaster zones in 43 different countries since it was founded by a Rotary club 18 years ago.

The boxes contain a range of household items such as bandages, toiletries and utensils such as saucepans, plates and cutlery. Also in the boxes are shelter needs such as tarpaulins, nails and tools. The key item in the boxes is a water purification pump that can produce enough pure filtered water to meet the needs of a family of five for up to five years, with the box used as a water tank.

This year the boxes have been sent to Ukraine,to Turkey, Syria and Morocco following earthquakes, and to Somalia and Sudan as a reponse to drought.

One of the charity's trustees, Tony Quinn, explained to Alton Rotary members that the boxes were assembled by volunteers at a base in Midsomer Norton in Somerset. Each box costs £150 to produce, and the costs are met by supporters' donations, which have totalled £2.5million to date. Each of the distinctive red boxes carries the Rotary logo.  Alton Rotary is planning to sponsor some Water Survival Boxes.

Water Survival Box contents


Time's Up

Time is running out in the search for the most talented young writers and photographers in the Alton area.  Entries to two youth competitions organised by Alton Rotary must be in by December 20th.

The theme this year is 'Rebuilding', which can be interpreted in many ways.  There are three age categories for entrants - up to 10, 11-13 and 14-17 years old.

Full information packs can be downloaded from www.altonrotaryclub.co.uk - search on 'What We Do'. For further information contact local organiser Alan Falder on youngphotgrapher@rotaryclubofalton.co.uk or youngwriter@rotaryclubofalton.co.uk.

Last year a local winner, Toby Bayliss, went on to win the regional competition with a picture of Chawton Church. Alan said, "There's every opportunity for local talent to be recognised at a national level in these competitions."

Chawton Church


Deadline October 2023

Steaming On...

The past and future of the Watercress Line were under the spotlight when the Line’s education and outreach co-ordinator, Dan Ball, spoke to members recently.

He said that the heritage railway is heavily dependent on volunteers to maintain its services, with 400 volunteers working as platform staff, maintaining station gardens and buildings and operating signalling, supporting the line’s 40 full-time staff. Dan is involved in organising school and youth visits to the railway’s premises, as well as a programme of community outreach talks.

The railway was originally developed to ensure that the watercress crops grown in the Alresford area could reach markets in London within a few hours, something that was vital for such a perishable crop. Building the line in the nineteenth century was a major challenge given the gradients involved – Medstead station is the highest railway station in Southern England.  Four hundred men were involved in the construction, and the railway’s first chairman was Edward Knight, a nephew of Jane Austen.  

The line opened as a heritage steam railway in 1977, having been closed by British Railways in 1973.  The line has now been operating as a heritage railway for longer than it was operated by British Railways. As well as its regular services, the line is often used as a location for film and television productions and has featured in Midsomer Murders and Call the Midwife.

Like other steam heritage railways, the Watercress Line faces major challenges relating to climate change and the phasing out of fossil fuels in coming years.  One trip on the line requires 400 shovelfuls of coal, which has tripled in cost in recent years and must now be imported from South America.  One possibility in the future is that steam heritage railways such as the Watercress Line will have to convert to using electricity as the major energy source, with steam generation as an ornamental adjunct.

Watercress Line Talk

Dan Ball with Alton Rotarian Alan and President Lisa

Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific at Ropley





'What We Do' Main Pages:

An update regarding the ongoing project in Tanzania by our friends at The Mud House Children’s Foundation.

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50% contribution towards the cost of a new dishwasher at their Kingsley Bordon Centre. The funds had been raised by Rotary over the Christmas period by various public collections and the Yuletide Festival .

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Tom with two girl students

Teabag stands for The Education and Book Appeal for Ghana, which provides equipment, books, and educational facilities to three villages in Ghana

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Info pack

The Information Pack is now available

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Info pack cover

The Information Pack is now available

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Featuring a family short walk at 5.30 pm, followed by a twilight yomp starting at 7.30 pm, finishing in the dark at close to 10.00 pm

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Each year since 2002 we have been providing scholarships to students at Alton College

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The Dopplex ABIity machine

To celebrate 70 years of the NHS we purchased a Dopplex ABIlity machine for use at the Alton Community Hospital.

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