CHELTENHAM NORTH NEWS

                 This is a selection of our activities over the past twelve Months

March to Autumn 2020

Cheltenham North and the Coronavirus

Unfortunately due to the coronavirus situation face to face meetings that are usually held at the New Club have been cancelled.

However on a positive note like other Rotary Clubs Cheltenham North is holding regular meetings via the Zoom Conference facility, in which a large number of Club members are participating.

If you would like more details these can be found in the Future events box towards the bottom of the Club Website home page. Alternatively you can cotact the Zoom Host via the Contact box at the top of the Club Website Home page.

July 2020 Dionation to Kids Out

A donation of £360 has been made to the Kids Out Charity.

July 2020 A New President for Cheltenham North

Richard  Purdon has taken over as the Club President from July 2020. The virtual handover was made during the Club Zoom Meeting on the 18th June.

An initiative By The Cheltenham North International Committee in support of School in the Bag

February 2020

                                                     ‘CASH IN THE ATTIC’

Nick Bowkett of Stroud Auctions has very kindly agreed to waive their 15% Vendors Commission for any item that we sell at Stroud Auctions in aid of School in a Bag. The items that do well in the sale room are:

Ceramics, Glass, Ephemera, Stamps, Coins, Medals, Musical Instruments, Weapons, Militaria, Toys, Scientific Instruments, Motoring and Transport, Weights and Scales, Asian and Tribal Art, Jewellery, Silver

If Nick and his team feel that your item is unsuitable for auction we will offer it to Break (the charity shop for Young Carers). If it is rejected by Break then sadly we will dispose of it at the Civic Amenity Tip.

If you have any ‘scrap’ jewellery, such as single earrings, odd cuff-links, Auntie Aggie’s wedding ring, etc. etc. then Nick will help us sell these for scrap.

This is the ideal moment to have a clear out in aid of School in a Bag. Please bring your items to our Rotary meetings.

Cheltenham North Rotary Club has made a donation of £650 to Shelterbox

                                  Shelterbox Information

In 2019, families around the world saw their homes crumble after powerful earthquakes, cyclones and severe floods. Others had to abandon their homes, fleeing from life-threatening conflict. 

But, thanks to our incredible supporters, people who lost their homes to disasters received essential emergency aid.

Items like tools and tarpaulins helped build shelters and bring families together again. Mosquito nets and water filters helped mothers protect their children from vector and water-borne diseases.

District Skittles February 2020.

Cheltenham North has now completed two matches against Cleeve Vale and Tewkesbury.

Despite some heroic bowling by Kevin, Andrew and Tony (Too many Ducks!!!)  and the valiant  efforts of the other members of the Cheltenham North Team the results were as follows;  

Cleeve Vale 268    Cheltenham North 236

Tewkesbury 303     Cheltenham North 268.

On a more positive note they were very enjoyable evenings spent with fellow Rotarians.

We look forward to our matches against Worcester Vigornia and Pershore

Reading at Ravensfield School February 2020

Cheltenham North Members and Partners are supporting the pupiles by listening to the Children reading.

In addition one of our members supports certain children by the allowing them to read to her specially trained dog. 

Presentation to Leckhampton School January 2020

On Friday 31st January, President Michael and Secretary Andrew Worthington attended an assembly at Leckhampton Primary School and presented a cheque for £500.

A New Member for Cheltenham North January 2020.

At our meeting on the 16^th January we were very pleased to welcome Carole Anderson as a Member of our Club.

This addition brings our membership to 54 an increase of eight during the past twelve months.

 Cheltenham North Carol Concert December 2019

Cheltenham North Rotary Club held its 42nd Annual Carol Concert at the Pricess Hall of Cheltenham Ladies College on the 17th December

The evening was compered by Paddy Grimshaw with Michael Sanger-Davies on the Organ.

There were performances by, the Cheltenham Silver Band, Leckhampton C of E Primary School Choirs, Severn’s 8 Choir, and Soloist Soprano Danielle Smithson.
We are grateful to the support from our sponsors. 
Renishaw
randall and payne
Spirax-Sarco.

A Day at the Races December 2019

A Group of Members and Partners attended the Cheltenham Races to support the Charities being supported by the Mayors of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury

Hamper Scamper 10th December 2019

Five Cheltenham North Members went to The Grange at Bishops Cleeve yesterday to assist with the packing of Christmas Hampers. They had an enjoyable but 'physical' afternoon unpacking boxes of food!! It did their muscles good!

Cake Stall In the Cheltenham Market 7th December 2019
Member’s and Partners manned a Cake Stall to raise funds for Rotary Charities.
The member’s and Partners baked cakes, mince pies, sausage rolls, cupcakes, brownies – you name it, we had a wonderful selection, all for sale to raise funds.
As a consequence of our efforts nearly £300 was raised.
A big thank you to all those who participated, especially Gill who organised the event.

December 2019 School Children to the Theatre

Cheltenham North Rotary Club took 130 pupils and 14 staff to the Everyman Theatre to see the Owl and the Pussycat the Christmas Show over three days.

Cheltenham North Christmas Dinner 5th December 2019

The Annual Club Christmas Dinner was held at the Lilley Brook Golf Club on Thursday 5th December.

After Dinner the Members, Partners and Guests were entertained by "Ain't Misbehaving"

There was a raffle in aid of Shelterbox.

We are grateful to President Michael, Gill and Rosanne for organising an excellent event. 

21st November 2019 Club Meeting plus Special General Meeting

At the Club Meeting on the 21st November there was also a Special General Meeting to approve the Club Accounts for 2019/19 and to elect the Club Officers for 2019/20

After discussion the Trustee Charity Account and the General Account were approved by the members.present.

The Officers elected by the members present for 2019/20 are as follows,

President Richard Purdon

President Elect Geoff Fox.

Secretary Andrew Worthington

Treasurer Linda Pawley 

In addition Janet Keenan was elected as President Nominee and Ann Carter as a Club Trustee from 1/1/2020.

Visit to the Everyman Theatre 13th November 2019

A group of nine Rotarians and Partners visited the Everyman and following an enjoyable meal in the Theatre restaurant they saw a performance of "The Entertainer"

We are grateful to Janet Keenan for organising the visit.

CORINIUM MUSEUM VISIT 12th November, 2019

A group of Members and Partners visited the Corinium Meseum at Cirencester.

The museum provided an organised tour and afterwards the visitors enjoyed lunch at the Corinium Hotel. 

We are grateful to Sally and Peter for organising this Educational visit.

7th November 2019 ROTARY CENTENARY COLLABORATION GROUP UPDATE

The most recent meeting took place this morning. Your representatives are Beth Phillip, Sue Jenkins, Geoff Fox and John.

In order to celebrate 100 years of Rotary in Cheltenham the committee has identified 3 projects:

The first and most advanced is the 100 Trees project. Under the leadership of Sue Jenkins we have established the cooperation of the Cheltenham Borough Council and the Highways Authority and a list of potential sites. In the near future we will have an information piece available for use when seeking sponsorship from businesses. This is, of course, a vital element of the project and we seek every members help in identifying those businesses with whom they have some sort of contact and their help in reaching out to those businesses. In a trial run, so to speak, David Evans of the Cheltenham Club, who chairs the collaboration group, has successful acquired £1000 of sponsorship from two companies in the town. Our target is to begin planting trees in the autumn of next year. An application for a grant of £500 will be made to District later this month. The CBC Fund for Green Initiatives will also be tapped.

The second project is a Celebratory Banquet to be held as near to the centenary date as possible in late October or early November 2021. The evaluation of sites has eliminated all except the Town Hall, The Ladies College and The College. Based on our requirements and the data gathered the Town Hall is probably in first place at the moment.

Finally, the third and least developed project is the Cheltenham Circular Challenge under the leadership of Stephen Lloyd of Cleeve Vale. We are seeking one or two volunteers from each club to join Stephen in progressing the venture. Although not finalised the route is likely to be very similar to that used in the past. It is possible but unlikely that the Circular Challenge will be a collaborative effort with the CCP who run the Cheltenham Challenge at the Race Course.

John Phillip

CHELTENHAM ROUND TABLE FIREWORK DISPLAY – 2nd November, 2019

Members and Partners acting as Stewards supported the Cheltenham Round Table Firework display held at the Racecourse.

November 2019 Foundation Meals

The first lunch was held by Shirley Setchell and Roberta Rastrick for Ladies who Lunch raising £150 for End Polio Now.

The First round of lunches or dinners is due to start in November – Those who signed up will have been notified if they are to be a host or a guest. There will be another round after Christmas.

You may remember the idea is to for the guests to pay £25 per head with 4 guests at each meal - the host to provide a meal to the value of £50 (or more) that being their £25 per head contribution.

Meeting with Partners 31st October 2019 WORLD POLIO DAY CELEBRATION

President Michael gave a briefing on the current state of affairs with regards to polio eradication.

The Type 3 wild virus has now been eliminated worldwide. Richard Purdon advised members that he had received a cheque for £150 from Shirley and Roberta which was the proceeds from their Ladies Lunch.

The prizes for wearing purple went to Richard Purdon and Beth Phillip although several members looked extremely fetching in their purple outfits including Tony Pawley with his purple digit.

September 2019 Club Visit to Portsmouth

A group of twenty one members and partners visited Portsmouth from Monday 23 – Thursday 26 September staying at the Seacrest Hotel. The weather was slightly better than anticipated although the rain was heavy at times. Visits to the D-Day museum and Mary Rose were enjoyed by all together with a harbour boat trip. On the Monday night the group dined at The Briny restaurant where crab was on the menu! On Tuesday we dined at the Royal Naval and Royal Albert Yacht Club. A visit to Gunwharf Quays on Wednesday with wonderful views from the Spinnaker Tower was followed by free time. The Still and West is the oldest pub in Portsmouth and situated at the harbour entrance. Some of the group dined there on Wednesday evening whilst the remainder revisited The Briny.

A copy of this talk plus picture can be found in Photo Galleries/Event Pictures in the "What we Do" Area. at the top of the Home Page.

Donation to Prostate Cancer UK August 2019

At our Club meeting on the 19^th August Michele Parr, on behalf of Prostate Cancer UK , was presented with a cheque for £5500.

This sum represented 50% of the proceeds raised from the Wine Festival organised by Cheltenham North which took place at Pittville Pump Rooms in April 2019.

John Parr was previously a member of Cheltenham North Rotary Club and was instrumental in getting this annual event off the ground.Donation to Prostate Cancer UK August 2019

Donation to “School in the Bag” August 2019

Two new members for Cheltenham North August 2019

At our meeting on 1^st August the Club Members were delighted to welcome two new members to our Club, Sue Jenkins and Linda Pawley.

We extend a very warm welcome to them both

Children from Chernobyl July 2019

The Rotary Club of Cheltenham North again funded the coach to take a group of children (and their carers) from the Chernobyl area who were staying in Gloucestershire to Drayton Manor theme park om 25 July 2019 as a cost of £395. I received the following email: ‘many thanks to you and your club for funding the coach to DM – the children had a wonderful day’ There is evidence that the 4 weeks the children spend away from the area which is still contaminated with high radiation levels helps to reduce their risk of developing leukaemia.

Gill Rouse

Rotary Boules Competition July 2019

We won our local Derby against Cleeve Vale, on their home terrain in Prestbury. It was close but with such detailed knowledge of their tactics and gamesmanship being available to our new players through the old guard who once played for the opposition, we were able to prevail.

The club owes the team a big thank you for coming out during Wimbledon, but the social side of Rotary manifested itself when we all went into the Plough to await our pre-ordered pub super.

Our home match against Tewkesbury did not go so well as we narrowly lost on points, but once again those who sat with us, after the match, in the Ale House, had a good evening.

Retina UK - £11,000; Star Centre - £3,000 and LINC - £3,000 Gloucershire Young Carers £3000

Beer and Cricket Fest. 22nd and 23rd June 2019

In conjunction with the Hatherley and Reddings Cricket Club Cheltenham North Rotarians organised their annual Beer and Cricket Fest at the Cricket Club Ground.

We were blessed with good weather conditions that helped to make the two day event a success

It is hoped that the event will raise over £7000 to be split equally between the Cricket Club and Rotary Charities.

We understand that the Cricket Club will use their monies to provide training for their younger members and also to enhance their Club facilities.

We are grateful to the support from our sponsors and our many visitors.

Details of the event next year will be added at a later date  

Saturday 15th June 12.00 Belmont School Funday

Club Members supported the Belmont School Funday on Saturday 15^th June

The Rotarians provided help by supervising the parking arrangements and also the Burger Barbecue Stall

The Rotary Club made a donation of £250 to provide an additional Barbecue for School events. 

The "Kids Out" Trip to Cattle Country 12th June 2019

Cheltenham North Rotarians  enabled 41 children and 26 staff and parents from The Ridge Academy, Cheltenham to enjoy a day out at Cattle Country. The event is part of the annual Kids Out initiative in which Rotary collaborates with theme parks and other venues to provide more than 50,000 children with learning difficulties and other more serious conditions with a wonderful experience.

A Train Ride and Lunch in Broadway 11th June 2019

A Group of 31 Cheltenham Rotarians and Guests enjoyed ( Despite the poor weather) a Steam Train journey to Broadway from the Racecourse Station in Cheltenham.

An excellent lunch was served at the Russell's restaurant in Broadway. After which the group made its way back to Broadway station for the return journey

We are grateful to Peter Watson for making the arrangements.

Thursday 6^th June 2019 Club AGM and Club Assembly

The Club held its AGM at the New Club on Thursday 6^th June

The Club Officers for 2019/20 were approved. Also agreed were the Club Annual member’s subscription of £100, honorary members and the Club Auditors.

The President elect for 2019/20, Michael Rouse gave a presentation on his aspirations for his presidential year. The District representative present was Ann Bartholomew  

Susie Barclay-Edwards Joins Cheltenham North June 2019

We were pleased to welcome Susie- Edwards as a new member of Cheltenham North

Susie was inducted by the President Bet Phillip at our meeting on the 6th June and we extend a warm welcome to our membership.