Charity Gift Evening 2

President John Spittal opened the meeting with good news resulting from the members’ efforts selling raffle tickets for all last week at the Balgove Larder. A sum of £1079.20 was raised, and is likely to be enhanced by another £400 once all collections are returned. And further enhanced by a generous American tourist who did not buy a raffle ticket but donated $20!

The three charities which will benefit from this year’s forthcoming charity golf tournament at Kingsbarns were announced as Fife Young Carers, Friends of Craigtoun, and TCCL (Tayside Children with Cancer and Leukaemia).

Speaker for the evening was Margaret Lawrence, a volunteer representative of “Just Trading Scotland” (JTS).

Margaret explained that the organisation was set up 10 years ago to assist overseas impoverished or remote smallholders – mostly in Malawi and Kenya in Africa – to have their produce marketed in the UK. The organisation’s title refers to “Fair and Just trading”.

The group believe most large trading companies have little interest in the source of their produce and the people providing it and have only profits in mind.

Malawi, for example, is an extremely poor country with only rice and tobacco as its main sources of income. For obvious reasons the tobacco industry is much less profitable than in the past, so rice has become the only worthwhile export from the country’s mainly very small farms.

It has been the case until recently that most farmers’ own families were going hungry, far less profiting from their crops.

JTS funds have helped to provide water pumps to aid irrigation, ploughs, rotivators and – more importantly – the education and means to maintain or repair them. Also funding the provision of oxen to pull the equipment.

These items have been of major help, as most of the farming community are elderly and have difficulty hand-ploughing and so on. Largely because HIV has decimated the male population aged between 20 and 40.

Research has shown that thanks to JTS involvement a big improvement has taken place in the rice quality and supply, childrens’ education, housing and the income from sales of their produce. Growing quantities of white and brown Kilombero rice from Malawi are now arriving by ship at Greenock on a regular basis.

President John thanked Margaret for her talk and presented JTS with a cheque for £200.

Member Ewen Allan took the floor to announce that club funding for the very popular planters on Largo Road adjacent to the community hospital will see upgraded replacements and seating facilities completed by next month.

Concluding a full evening’s business, member Bruce Rollo told of the Rotary-funded “Kids Out” programme, which runs fun days out and other events annually for children with physical or mental disabilities. Last year the programme allowed 31,000 families to enjoy days out which they would otherwise have been unable to either organise or afford.

Bruce revealed there would be such an event at Craigtoun Park on Friday June 7 of this year, which will involve 19 children and their carers. Club funds and discounts from Craigtoun Park would be in place.