Digital Bulletin No 96

June-July 2026.

A panel showing our Club's name, the names of Graham and Anne as Presidents, and the 2025-26 and 2026-27 Rotary themes.

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Club Council 2026-27

A line of smiling men and women

Francis Whitbread (Secretary), Warwick Aldham (1st Vice President), Keith Dabbs (Elected Member), David Axon (Elected Member), Anne Moriaty (President), Bob Booker (Treasurer), Graham Furnival (Immediate Past President).

From the editor’s desk

As promised, this issue is for both June and July 2026. That means it overlaps two Rotary years, which is the reason the banner mentions two Presidents and shows two Rotary themes. In part it also explains why the Words are from more than one President.

I am a bit peeved about the Rotary theme. As I mentioned in the issue for July 2025, before last year we had an annual theme plus a theme logo. I was hoping for something similar this year. I always found the theme logo useful, showing it both on the Bulletin banner and at the top of the Chronicle page on our website. Admittedly, I was breaking the Rotary guidance by using the logo without the wording of the theme.

2027 sees the centenary of our Club’s charter, which marked the start of Rotary in Chelmsford. Hopefully we will be able to follow the 2026-27 theme by creating a lasting impact.

Words from the Presidents

From 2025-26 President Graham Furnival

May 7

Posts for 2026/27 were agreed as follows: President - Anne Moriaty. 1st Vice President - Warwick Aldham. Immediate Past President - Graham Furnival. Treasurer - Bob Booker. Secretary - Francis Whitbread. David Axon and Keith Dabbs agreed to serve as Council Members with possibly a further addition.

Anne Scott was added to the current five Honorary Members.

Wilderness Foundation UK and Backhouse Solicitors are both Corporate Members

Anne Moriaty agreed to serve as District Council Representative.

Keith Otter agreed to serve as Independent Examiner.

From 2024-25 President Francis Whitbread

May 14

In Graham’s absence, I chaired our meeting on 14 May at Ivy Hill, where our speaker was Radhika Iyer from Akshaya Patra, which is a free school meal charity that was set up in India but now operates in the UK. They send meals to schools as this encourages children to attend, with the result that their educational as well as their nutritional needs are dealt with.

As an indication of how the charity has expanded, in 2000 it sent about 1,500 meals to schools in India. In 2026 Akshaya Patra served its 5 billionth meal in India, helps approximately 2.35 million children and is officially the world’s largest free school meals charity.

A smiling woman wth long black hair Our speaker, Radhika, comes from a journalist background but, inspired by the charity’s success in India, was encouraged to volunteer.

There are 4.5 million hungry children in the UK and Akshaya Patra began to provide services here in 2018.

The charity was surprised by the level of poverty in parts of Hertfordshire, so a kitchen was set up in Watford in 2020 which has since served over 900,000 meals. The priority is to try to feed “right”, so the meals are vegetarian, with rice an important ingredient. Radhika offered our Club a visit to the Watford premises to see how it operates.

Empower Hour is a specific project Akshaya Patra runs in the UK . This pairs a hot meal with an hour of tuition, provided by teachers at the school outside normal school hours.

Radhika answered a number of questions on Empower Hour from our retired teachers, Maureen and Angela.

Although the main focus of UK operations is Hertfordshire and Greater London, the charity assists a school in Nottingham, and has also run a project during the summer holidays at Chelmsford Social Club. Radhika will provide some more information to see if we can assist, perhaps with a fundraising quiz.

From 2025-26 President Graham Furnival

June 11

At our meeting on 11 June we welcomed Dan Skeates from the “Cool to be Kind” charity as our guest speaker. Dan originates from Chelmsford and is a founder member of the charity. Further information about “Cool to be Kind” can be found on their website.

Dan spoke about the Rotary Backpacks project, which is an arm of the charity, and it was this scheme which our Club and others in our Rotary District embarked upon when Anne Moriaty was District Governor. The aim was to fill a backpack with essential clothing and personal items to support the homeless during inclement weather. Dan said there was somewhere in the region of 4,000 homeless in Essex and over half had children. He thought these were conservative estimates with so many in temporary accommodation due to the lack of affordable housing. Dan reckoned there were over 200 rough sleepers on the streets of Essex.

Dan told us how the charity had grown over the past 10 years and that they had been awarded the High Sheriff’s Award and more recently the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Not long ago they acquired a storage unit in Chelmsford and a van.

June 16

On 16 June I attended the Chelmsford Mildmay President’s Dinner at Little Channels. Anne Moriaty was also there and we represented our Club.

The speaker was Dick Madden, a former senior police officer and we were able to share some memories over the meal before Dick went on to speak of his career in the police followed by his time as a councillor at ECC.

June 25

On 25 June I held my President’s Lunch at the Essex Barn, Channels Estate. It is a beautiful location but the extreme hot weather and the absence of air conditioning made it a little uncomfortable for some. Over 30 of us, including guests from other Clubs, enjoyed a very nice meal.

Our speaker was Peter Hennessey from Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. He talked us through the logistics of the service, pointing out that the aircraft can reach anywhere in Essex within 16 minutes.

His slide presentation showed the four crew members. The pilot, usually ex-military, is responsible for all things associated with flying the aircraft and the co-pilot will navigate. often by looking out of the window for landmarks. The trauma doctor on board is highly qualified and will deal with anything involving a knife or scalpel, an unconscious patient or where the patient needs to be anaesthetised, and has authority to decide where the patient will be taken. The fourth member is a specialised trauma paramedic responsible for the scene management. Peter also talked through the deployment of the Rapid Response Vehicle and blood transportation.

In May 2026 the air ambulance was called out 197 times. Incidents ranged from road traffic accidents, accidental injuries, and other trauma. The highest level of injuries tended to involve motor cyclists.

Costing around a million pounds a month to operate the service, air ambulance receives no government or lottery funding and relies on voluntary contributions.

Apart from the formal handover of the Presidency to Anne Moriaty on 2 July, the luncheon ended my term in office. I took the opportunity to outline our Club’s achievements during the year and thank members and our Council for their support. A huge “thank you” goes from me and indeed all our members to our Secretary, Francis Whitbread, for his support to me and the Club. I would also like to wish Anne a successful year as President in the forthcoming year where the Club is heading towards its centenary celebrations.

From 2026-27 President Anne Moriaty

June 28

Stephen and I attended the District Handover lunch at the County Hotel. Mark Williamson handed over the chain of office to Gloria Nichols.

RI President Yinka Babalola’s message for the year is “Create lasting impact”. Rotary does have an impact on the communities it serves. It is up to us to ensure that it is recognised and not a well-kept secret, This is something we all need to work on as we approach our centenary year.

June 30

Two informally dressed women with silver hair, the one on the right of the picture wearing a Rotary chain of office We drove up to Suffolk to join Francis and Jackie Whitbread in the lovely Porter’s Lodge Garden, Cavenham. The occasion was the handover lunch for the Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds, where our own Jenny Black was being installed as president.

We had a buffet lunch followed by the handover ceremony and a wander round the gardens. Tea and cake followed before we left to come home.

The gardens are open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and are well worth a visit. The food was delicious!

There are two Clubs in Bury St Edmunds. Jenny’s Club is quite traditional like ours but with fewer members. The other, Bury Abbey, is larger and has two meetings a month. A business meeting and a social event - food for thought?

From 2025-26 President Graham Furnival

July 2

People sitting in comfortable chairss arond a garden table On 2 July, a number of Members and partners met at Anne Moriaty’s house for an informal handover of the Club Presidency. This was intentionally a low key but convivial meeting where I handed over the badge of office to Anne and Warwick Aldham was appointed Vice President. There were no speeches as these had been held at previous meetings, as had my thanks for the support I received from Members and in particular from our Secretary, Francis. We all wished Anne lots of luck for the following year, especially going forward to the centenary of Rotary in Chelmsford.

Random jottings

I walked past a homeless guy holding a sign saying “One day this could be you.” I put my money back in my pocket in case he’s right.

I threw a ball for my dog. I know it’s a bit extravagant but it was his birthday and he looks great in a dinner jacket.

Shock me. Say something intelligent.

My favourite mythical creature? The honest politician.

I just burned 2,000 calories. That’s the last time I leave cakes in the oven and then go for a nap.

Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation for the local swimming pool. I gave him a glass of water.

Thoughts for the Day

March 12, Anne Moriaty
First, think.
Second, dream.
Third, believe.
And finally, dare.
Walt Disney

March 26, Peter Kemp
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear.
If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Thich Nhat Hanh

April 9, Angela Dickman
It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.
Elizabeth II

May 14, Keith Otter
Better is bread with a happy heart than wealth with a heavy one.
Sayings of Ani

June 11, Mo Sadiq Do everything with a good heart.
Don’t expect anything in return
and you will never be disappointed.

Forthcoming meetings

July 16: Fellowship Meeting
Venue: Fox & Raven
Organiser: President Anne

July 23: Liane Iles: Motor Neurone Disease
Venue: Ivy Hill Hotel
Vote of Thanks: Warwick Aldham

July 30: Joint Clubs’ Dinner
Organised by our Club
Venue: Little Channels
Speaker: Clair Dade: Mid & South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Vote of Thanks: Angela Dickman

August 6: Business Meeting
On Zoom

August 13: Sally Medd: Chelmsford CVS
Venue: Ivy Hill Hotel
Vote of Thanks: Graham Furnival

August 20: Fellowship Meeting
TBA

August 27: Sarah Watson: Hearing Help Essex
Venue: Ivy Hill Hotel
Vote of Thanks: Ajay Sinha

September 3: Fellowship Meeting
On Zoom