Community and Vocational 2014 - 2015

Committee Activity Updates

Community and Vocational Service Committee (CV) programme 2014/15

Chairman: Neville Newton. Committee Members: Mike Williams; Peter Cooper; John Whelan; Barry Kay; Harry Corps and John McGettrick.

1: Ripon Carers Resource.  Co-ordinator: Neville Newton. Contact: Jill Smith.

We will support older carers respite (includes carers from Dementia Forward) by helping to fund their annual Christmas shopping trip for up to 30 carers with help towards the cost of the transport. We will also help to fund their annual Pamper Day, which provides about 60 carers with massage, pedicure, manicure and facials. These two activities provide about 90 carers with some welcome respite. We will keep in contact with Jill Smith during the year regarding any other support needed.

2: Ripon Food Bank. Co-ordinator: Mike Williams. Contact: Community House. 

Mike will continue to arrange monthly collections of food from Rotarians and deliver them to the Ripon Food Bank at Community House. He also collects used printer ink cartridges, which are recycled by Yorkshire Cancer Research.

3: Care Home Support.  Co-ordinator: John Whelan.  Contacts: Care Homes.

We will continue to support elderly care homes with Fountains by Floodlight. On this occasion we will ascertain how many members are able to provide transport and then contact one or more of the care homes who showed an interest last year to provide residents who will benefit from the event.     

4: Club for the Blind.  Co-ordinator:  Harry Corps.    Contact: Alan Matthews.

We will continue to support the Ripon Club for the Blind and provide escorts for their day trips and Christmas dinner and club meetings and Rotarian speakers.

5: The Toy Library.  Co-ordinator:  Neville Newton.  Contact:  Anna Wallin

It was suggested by Susan Barry of Ripon CVS that we could support the Ripon Borrowers Toy Library which has been in existence for 21 years and has weekly meetings at Community House and provides educational toys for children at the meetings or by lending them to the parents. They get up to 26 children and their mums attending their weekly meetings and they struggle with finance. We would like to buy them some educational toys with a donation and we will ask our club members if they can donate any surplus educational toys.  

6:   ABF A Brighter Future and Help for Heroes.

Co-ordinator: Peter Cooper.   Contacts.  Antony Went, local co-ordinator, Help for Heroes.  

Peter will contact Catterick Garrison to ascertain if we can help local injured soldiers return to work or assist in their transition to civilian life and Neville is in contact with Antony Went, the local co-ordinator for Help for Heroes.

7: Ripon Community Link and Walled Garden.   Co-ordinator:  Barry Kay.

Barry is President of Ripon Community Link and Walled Garden and will ascertain how we can support them and report back to the committee.

8: Age (UK):   Co-ordinator: John McGettrick. Contact: Catherine Green.

John has been in touch with Catherine Green, Locality Manager, Age (UK) and we have noted three schemes where they could do with financial assistance. The first is home secretarial assistance. The second is a telephone befriending service for lonely elderly people. The third is an online shopping service to assist elderly people who cant get out of their homes. We would like to give them a donation to help them fund the schemes. We will also include Age (UK) in our Fountains by Floodlight trip.      

9: Help the Ripon Homeless.      The Springboard Day Centre, Harrogate.

    Co-ordinator: Neville Newton. Contact: Linda Fulcher.

Homeless people in Ripon are often sent to the Springboard Day Centre in Harrogate, which is run by Linda Fulcher who gave a talk to our club on 3^rd June 2014. Homeless people can get a meal and clothing and overnight shelter at the Springboard Day Centre, which often has 45 to 50 people attending each day. The day centre is linked with No Second Night Out and the Harrogate Homeless Hostel. The Springboard Day Centre has no direct funding and relies on donations of money, food and clothing to survive. We will ask our members to provide surplus clothing, which we will take to the Springboard Day Centre.

Vocational Support:  We have not been able to identify the need for vocational support in our communities other than through the mock interviews at the Grammar School, which comes under Youth Service. Neville may explore the possibility of mentoring young entrepreneurs through the Princes Youth Business Trust (PYBT) scheme, which is something he introduced when he was a member of Wakefield Chantry Rotary Club in the eighties and nineties but again this may often fall under the umbrella of Youth Service.

Neville Newton, Chairman

Community and Vocational Service Committee.