Contact Club Reunion 2019
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President's Night Dinner Dance
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Sensory Garden opened at Hartsdown Academy
detailsAbout us
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Who are Rotarians and what do they do?
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR VIDEO PRESENTATION: ROTARY CLUB video
We are men and women of all ages, sharing their time, energy and skills to help charities and good causes in the communities in which they live. Our club enjoys excellent fellowship, participates in a wide variety of fund-raising projects, supports civic and community events, and holds many interesting and fun social activities.
We normally meet on Tuesday evenings at 6:00pm
at The Sun Inn, St Nicholas-at-Wade
Give Dave Alker a call on 07962 929700 to arrange to join us.**********************************************************************
Sara Llewellyn, from the Llewellyn School at Quex and the charity "Louie's Helping Hands" (which supports the pupils at the school), gave a talk about the development of the school and plans for the future to enable the wonderful provision to be expanded. Our Rotary Club has supported the charity from its inception and was delighted to present the charity with a cheque for £1000 which will enable to school to purchase further specialist equipment to support the disabled young people.
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SANTA SAYS THANK YOU
The Rotary Santa met loads of excited children while touring the streets of Westgate and Birchington before Christmas and he sends a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the charity collection which raised almost £1500. The money will be donated to Llewellyn School at Quex Park, which educates disabled young people, and also to HI Kent which supports people with hearing impediment.
Rotary not only supports charities but also enjoys great fun and fellowship each week. If you would be interested in joining our happy band please contact Dave Alker on 07962 929700.
£1500 DONATION TO KSS AIR AMBULANCE
At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Westgate & Birchington we were delighted to welcome David Fagg, representing the Kent, Sussex & Surrey Air Ambulance, who gave an interesting talk about the purchase of a helicopter and the work of the charity. Rotary President, Dave Alker, presented a cheque for £1500, money which had been raised by the Rotary Clubs of Westgate & Birchington and Darmstadt Kranichstein (our twin club in Germany.) A million pounds were needed to buy the helicopter and the funds were raised in just six weeks of donations!
We were able to use the magic of “Zoom” to welcome past President Michael Heidt and current President Georg Merlau to our meeting and were able to thank them for their generous donation of €1000 which was made in May when we hosted members of their Rotary Club for our annual reunion.
Also present at the meeting were District Governor, Brian Dunne; Assistant Governor Vivienne Rose and her husband David; President of the Rotary Club of the Isle of Thanet Sunrise, Helen Hart and the President of the Inner Wheel Club of Westgate & Birchington, Hazel Hedges.
The Rotary Club of Westgate & Birchington enjoys weekly fun, fellowship and fund-raising at our meetings which are held at The Bell Inn, St Nicholas at Wade and enhanced by their excellent catering.
PRESIDENTIAL HANDOVER JULY 2024
A gathering of members and guests, including the Assistant District Governor, Vivienne Rose, Inner Wheel President, Hazel Hedges and Isle of Thanet Sunrise Rotary President, Helen Hart, listened to brief speeches by Mandy and Dave and helped with the singing of a silly song (based on "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do") drawing attention to Dave's prowess as a cyclist (Davey, Davey.......) Charlie Brightling delivered an amusing monologue pulling Dave's leg about his propensity to take on administration roles for a whole raft of local organisations. All of this was refreshed by an excellent dinner prepared by the chefs at The Bell.
CONTACT CLUB REUNION 2024
Our Rotary Club was delighted to host the annual "Contact Club" reunion with the Rotary Clubs of Darmstadt Kranichstein and Poitiers Futuroscope. Fourteen delegates from Germany and France arrived on the Thursday afternoon and were welcomed at Rose & Charlie Brightling's house for afternoon tea and cakes. Members who were hosting then whisked their guests away so they could freshen up and change ready to go for dinner at our meeting venue, The Bell Inn at St Nicholas-at-Wade.
The most excellent Fish & Chips and Steak & Ale Pie were served and everyone enjoyed renewing old friendships and forging new ones.
Next year, we look forward to the reunion which will be held in Darmstadt.*********************************************************************
THE FINAL PRESIDENTIAL HANDOVER OF THE YEAR
At our weekly meeting on 5th March 2024, with a full complement of members present, Dave Alker handed over the reins to incoming President, Mandy Dunn. Members congratulated Dave on his steady hand in leading the Club through the "winter of content"
President Dave was welcomed and congratulated by members and then gave a short address outlining his plans for the future. 
SPONSORED WALK FOR POLIO PLUS
Members of Westgate & Birchington Rotary and Inner Wheel, together with partners, friends and other Rotary club members participated in a sponsored walk to raise funds to donate to the Global Polio Eradication initiative which has seen Polio banished from 99.9% of countries worldwide. Millions of people have been saved from paralysis by this disease, but the fight must go on to ensure that it never returns.
Our sponsored walk raised £350 and this will be trebled by matched funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has pledged to add £2 to every £1 raised by Rotary Clubs. To find out more about this partnership visit www.endpolio.org
While raising money for international charities like Polio Plus, the Rotary Club of Westgate & Birchington also supports a wide range of local charities. One of our major fundraising efforts is not far away as we prepare to send Santa in his sleigh round the streets of Westgate and Birchington calling door-to-door inviting donations. Look out for announcements on Facebook and in the local press to find out which streets we will visit on each date.
GAZEBO DONATION TO MINNIS COMMUNITY HUB
The Minnis Community Hub is a Kent County Council In-House Community Service
for individuals with learning disabilities working in Birchington since
2021, delivering a wide range of meaningful activities.
They have a lovely garden area for people to use but unfortunately
there was no shelter for individuals to sit under which means they couldn't
access this lovely space very often, particularly with the weather this summer.
What they really needed was a gazebo to use during the summer months to enable
their individuals to access this lovely garden space and benefit from
being outdoors. Step forward the Rotary Club of Westgate & Birchington who
paid for a gazebo. As you can see from the photo this was used at the first
available opportunity for the BBQ on Friday 28th July to which President Bob
and fellow rotarians Dave Alker and Allen Cox were invited
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The Rotary Club of Westgate and Birchington recently held a charity fund raising event to support Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, which included a fish and chip supper at Kearns Hall, Birchington.
Oasis operates across East Kent, Medway and North Kent, supporting people affected by domestic abuse. Claire Fenley, Senior Fundraiser for the Charity spoke about the life changing work of the charity, which includes one-to-one support for women and men including LGBT+ people, providing refuge and safe accommodation (for both adults and children), and she also emphasised their work with group programmes and mentoring.
Rotary President - Elect Mandy Dunn handed over a ‘giant cheque’ for £1,000 to support the continuation of this life changing work. Claire Fenley thanked the Club for their donation, which she said would help the charity to continue to help rebuild lives.
Alternatively, if you would like to help Rotary play a part in providing community service to both local and international communities, then please contact Dave Alker on 01843 845783 for further details about Rotary. Do have a look at our website for more information: www.wb-rotary.co.uk
HANDOVER FROM ALLEN COX TO BOB HINGE
As President Allen Cox comes to the end of his three-month stint, following Chris Hedges, Charlie Brightling and Mandy Dunn, members and guests witnessed the handover to incoming President, Bob Hinge at the Bell Inn, St Nicholas-at-Wade.
ZIGGY STARDUST COMES TO ROTARY!
BIG DONATION TO "HOPE FOR TOMORR0W
Following on from our donation of £2500 to the Viking Chemotherapy Unit at the QEQM hospital in Thanet, the Rotary Club of Westgate & Birchington has now donated £2500 to a wonderful charity, “Hope For Tomorrow”, which provides mobile cancer care in East Kent.
President Chris presented a symbolic cheque to the Chief Executive of the charity, Tina Seymour and Fundraising Manager, Kara Frampton.
The mobile chemotherapy unit, called “Caron” in memory of Caron Keating has been completely refurbished at considerable expense and will be providing vital cancer care to people who cannot easily get to hospitals in East Kent.
The newly refurbished vehicle was launched by Gloria Hunniford at the County Cricket Ground in Canterbury in front of a large audience of Rotarians, cancer care workers, local dignitaries and organisers from “Hope For Tomorrow”. Gloria explained how she supported the charity in memory of her daughter and thanked all the generous people and groups who make it possible for “Hope For Tomorrow” to continue with their wonderful work.
The Rotary Club would like to thank the generosity of the people of Westgate & Birchington who supported our Christmas Collections, sponsored walk and race night.
MAJOR DONATION TO THE VIKING DAY UNIT
The Rotary
Club of Westgate & Birchington
is strongly committed to community service and fund-raising for local causes
and even though Covid lockdowns have curtailed our activities we have still
managed to raise a substantial amount of money. Santa and his sleigh managed to
tour the streets of Westgate and Birchington each Christmas and the
door-to-door collections were very successful. The Rotary President and his
wife completed an 88 mile sponsored walk and, together with our sister club, the
Inner Wheel, organised a hugely successful Race Night.
Recently, we
were delighted to welcome the Nurse Manager of the Viking Chemotherapy Day Unit
at QEQM, Carrie Merry and her Deputy, Joanna Watunga to a Rotary meeting and,
after Carrie had explained to members and guests the range of treatments her
department administers, Rotary President Chris Hedges was delighted to present
a cheque for £2500. Carrie has quite a long wish-list of items which will enhance
the experience of her patients and we look forward to hearing what has been
purchased.
Our Rotary Club has a long association with the Viking Day Unit since it moved into its purpose-built unit in 2007 and much of the initial funding for the new facility came from Rotary’s 70’s Extravaganza held in Quex Park in 2008 (the poster for this event is still on display in the waiting room, remembering performances by Suzi Quatro, T Rex and the Glitter Band all hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Kaddy Lee-Preston)
We are delighted to be able to continue to support their outstanding work.
PROBABLY OUR YOUNGEST EVER SPEAKER!
Members and guests were delighted to hear 10 year old James Howard give a talk about the 1st Garlinge Cubs, his role as "Sixer" and his challenge to enable him to get his Silver Award. With the guidance of his Mum and Grandad, James baked over 100 cakes and biscuits which were brought to the Rotary Meeting in boxes of six and members and guests gave him donations in return for the delicious comestibles. All the funds raised will be given to the Demelza Children's Hospices and, at the last count, James had amassed over £200 and the cash is still flowing in.
President Chris thanked James for bringing greetings from his Cub Pack and for sharing his challenge with the Rotary Club and presented James with a Club Banner as a memento of his visit.
ROTARY & INNER WHEEL RACE NIGHT
Meetings & Venue
Where and when:
We meet on Tuesdays at 18:00 for Dinner at 18:30
(DRESS CODE: Gentlemen~Jacket & (optional) tie; Ladies~Smart casual. )The Sun Inn
St Nicholas-at-Wade
CT7 0NT 07962 929700
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