Active locally in the community and internationally.

Local communities

Covid: foodbanks; domestic abuse; hospice care; facemasks and other protective clothing; homelessness; laptops for children.

In the course of the Covid pandemic, we have been contributing to local foodbanks, Thanet Foodlink, the Gap project in Broadstairs and the Salvation Army in Ramsgate and we will continue to do so so long as funds permit. In addition, we have made donations to Oasis, dealing with domestic abuse, and to the local Pilgrims Hospice.

We have committed funds to support a local group of sewers Thanet Facemasks who, by mid July, had provided 12,000 masks for essential workers across Thanet. We have also given funds to the Kent Coast Volunteers Hub for protective clothing for volunteer workers providing a community transport service to get people to their NHS appointments. Funds have also been directed to Porchlight, for their work with the homeless, and to Age UK.

And, most recently, we have givenar 5 Chromebooks for the children at  Millmead Children's Centre. Also, we have been supporting Margate Rotary Club in collecting no longer wanted computer laptops to be redirected to local schools. These have been generously given by friends, family members and the people of Thanet. They are electronically cleaned and set up with an up to date educational programme. We have collected over 50 so far and are still open for business, if anyone wants to get in touch.

All else: boxing nights; pantomime and concert; scouts and sea cadets; young families; hospice care; homelessness; sponsored walk; fireworks and litter picks; other good causes.

For 14 years, in partnership with Ramsgate Boxing Club, we organised charity boxing nights at the Margate Winter Gardens raising around £440,000 which has been used for the benefit of many good causes  at home and abroad.

We have continue to raise money and provide pleasure and enjoyment for the children from Millmead Children's Centre and children from other local schools with a Christmas pantomime at the Sarah Thorne theatre in Broadstairs. And, at the other end of the age range, there have been concerts at the Pavilion in Broadstairs by the Broadstairs and St Peters Concert Band to help keep all our spirits up, especially those who are at risk of feeling isolated from the community.

We had some Covid  concerns - sadly now realised - about our planned sponsorship  of the pantomime Puss in Boots on 11 December 1920 and the Pavilion concert earlier in the year. The pantomime was cancelled and the concert postponed for the foreseeable future. But as we edge towards the release of lockdown, we are starting to plan again and the signs are that we will have our pantomime this December

Most Decembers we are to be found at  the Broadstairs Tesco store waving our collecting buckets while the boys and girls of the local Scouts and Sea Cadets offer to pack customers' shopping for a small donation. Again, Covid determined that it did not happen last year. 

Our club make regular donations to Millmead Children's Centre, to Porchlight helping to deal with homelessness and to the Pilgrims Hospice. We were particularly proud last year to organise our first charity walk along the Thanet coast in support of these causes and for our own charity funds.We raised some  £7500. We have recently completed this year's walk and reckon that we have raised over £5,300.  So over £12,800 over 2 years which we think is pretty impressive.

And we have made the occasional donation to the Sarah Thorne theatre, recognising its importance in bringing drama and entertainment to the community, as well as providing a venue where many groups can organise their own money raising events. The theatre has had to close for the time being because of Covid. This was a great shame, but we are hopeful for the coming December.

We are members of the Broadstairs and St Peters Chamber of Commerce and are happy to help raise money at the fireworks displays which are so enjoyed in Broadstairs.

We have supported many more good causes and have taken the opportunity to work alongside the Broadstairs Town Team in a beach clean at Viking and Stone bays. Throughout the year we aim to respond sympathetically to requests for support from various bodies.

We look forward to working with the many other wonderful community organisations who are so important in Thanet.

International

Polio and Covid; refugees; disasters in the Caribbean; hospitals in Uganda and in Nepal; eye treatments in Cambodia; help in Venezuela; close working with Rotary clubs in Belgium and France; having fun.

Alongside other Rotary clubs, we support  ' End Polio Now ' . The continent of Africa has recently been declared free from polio, so that this dreadful illness is now endemic in just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is likely that the field workers currently administering the polio vaccines will be deployed to help with any Covid vaccinations which might emerge. And indeed, it may be the case that helping the international response to Covid will become a priority for our club.

Please see our separate page  describing our support for  'End Polio Now'. and the importance of trusting vaccines.

In recent years our club has responded to the needs of refugees in Kent and to those caught up in the  hurricane disasters in the Caribbean. We have donated a substantial sum towards hospital services in Uganda (please see separate page Working in Uganda) and funded a portable anaesthesia machine in Nepal.

We are longstanding supporters of ShelterBox which helps provide shelter for people caught up in disasters overseas. We took possession of a ShelterBox last year which we hope to put on show when Covid allows. Look out for this and see what a difference it can make to the lives of families in crisis.

In addition, last year we were able to raise funds and send a donation to Healing Venezuela, a charity providing assistance with health services in that country.

We have close relations with 2 clubs in Belgium and France (Comines and Bourbourg. You will find links to their facebook pages if you check in the Links page on our website.) Alongside Comines and other clubs in France and Belgium, we and Rotary District were able to make a financial commitment  last year to a marvellous project in Cambodia providing eye treatments by boat for the people living along the Mekong river.(Please see separate page Les Yeux du Monde.) The project has been  supported by Rotary Foundation, which means that it will benefit from even more funds.

It was our turn last year to invite Comines and Bourbourg to join us for a weekend in Greenwich. We were set fair for a fantastic time in May when Covid brought things to a halt. We've not given up and will aim to do it in 2022. 

Covid aside, we don't wait for specially organised weekends to socialise.We have developed many long friendships and there are many visits to each others' clubs.

Fun and Fellowship

Our Vocational and Sports and Entertainment colleagues had plans for us with possible visits to Margate caves and an interesting evening learning something about the Windfarm off the Thanet coast.

We like to stretch our legs and look forward to our country walks, rounded off with a deserved pint. Perhaps also a bit of clay pigeon shooting? Covid put paid to all these plans, but thanks to the marvellous vacinnation programme there may be a way through. Crazy golf and a meal at Quex is now planned for 21 June. Who would have thought this could cause such excitement?