Lunch time meeting -Laurence Wood Director Cabin Scotland Ltd

On Thursday 30th January 2020 President Ewen Macdonald welcomed 15 Club Rotarians and guest speaker Laurence Wood to this our lunch time meeting, which was held at the Gilvenbank Hotel, Glenrothes. 

On reception, this week was Geoff Sampson with Walter Fletcher saying grace.

Our guest speaker this week was Laurence Wood from Freuchie a Director of Cabin Scotland Ltd who gave us a talk on his constructional aid work on behalf of All Hands Volunteers and UN Migration. Laurence since graduating from Dundee school of architecture in 2005 has worked in international post-disaster design consultancy for charities and inter-governmental organisations in Mississippi, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. His experience includes significant ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ training and supervision, construction design and sustainable initiatives for local communities affected by typhoons and hurricanes. As a design and build practitioner in these areas, he has been involved in the collective building of over 800 homes for displaced families. Rather than commercially focused architecture he has always been interested in building for vulnerable people in need of shelter. He is passionate about the design and rapid construction of shelter for typhoon and seismic prone areas, with consideration in the training and development of affected residents and displaced people. Working in this field, he has been fortunate to have collaborated with extremely talented engineers and inventors who bring new technology to aid programs. Their use of first principle design and implementation is one of the reasons he has continued to work on international projects, and he hopes to bring this simple technological approach to students.  Having previously returned to the school of architecture to present on his post-disaster work and impart his enthusiasm for this sector, he was invited to join the staff in 2016 as a part-time studio tutor in 2nd and 3rd year, both in Dundee and Wuhan University in China. In addition to this academic teaching, many of his international projects involved training young volunteers and students in building projects. He believes that there is a great satisfaction in physical work, building and building their own designs and learning new skills away from the drawing board.

The Rotary vote of thanks was given by Iain Oates.

Forthcoming events commencing this week are Wednesday 5th February - Judging of Young Photographer  - Gilvenbank Hotel  6:30 pm. The 3 local High Schools are participating with the theme this year is ‘Through my Eyes’  

Thursday 6th February – Young Musician Competition – Glenrothes High School 6:30 for 7pm.  This is a showcase of musical talent.  There is a prize for best vocalist and best instrumentalist from the 3 high schools. A great evening lasting a couple of hours.

Wednesday 19th February – young Artist – Auchmuty High School with the 3 high schools showcasing their artistic talent.   

Thursday 20th February Primary School Quiz Auchmuty High School 6:30 for 7pm Another big event in our calendar where the local primary schools compete in the annual Rotary quiz.   

Sunday 1st March - Swimarathon – Carnegie Leisure Centre Dunfermline time TBA

This coming week’s meeting on Thursday 6th February 2020 will be a lunch time meeting to be held at the Collydean Community Centre. please meet at 12.45pm for a 12.55pm start. This week our speaker will be Rose Duncan who will tell us all about her role and what her centre brings to the community.

If you were interested in supporting the community and international projects get in touch by Private message on The Rotary Club of Glenrothes Facebook page. You will be made most welcome