Rushden Rotary News

Our new District Governor David Kendrick addressed the Assembly.

Members at Lunch after the Assembly

OPEN EVENING

Come along and learn more about Rotary and see how we help people and organisations locally, nationally and internationally.

Rotary is not a religious nor an exclusive organisation – our Members are men and woman from all walks of life. Our club has a full and varied social programme which will appeal to all.

 We are always looking for men and women of all ages who feel that they could make a real difference to society and would like to be part of our Club. Come and join a friendly group of people who have a passion to support the local and the wider community. 

For more information please email me anton.rudgalvis@btinternet.com or call on 07542 822385. 

Refreshments will be available on the night – places are limited so please call and confirm your attendance.

We look forward to seeing you on the night!

Rotary does Radio

Anton Rudgalvis has recently recorded a podcast – thanks to Beat Route Radio – outlining the Rotary Club of Rushden.

https://beatrouteradio.co.uk/podcasts/

To hear this, simply click onto the link above, and it will take you to the Beat Route Radio website. Scroll across to “Get Involved”. There is a drop down menu entitled “Podcasts”. Click on this and Anton should be close to the top of the page. Click on the link to play the podcast.

This interview/podcast was recorded live and was due to be 10 – 15 mins but Ian Griffiths (Station Manager) kept the questions coming and Anton kept the answers coming ….so it’s longer (and it includes a thunderstorm as you will hear). Enjoy! 

If you are really up to date, it’s also on Spotify (Fame indeed for one of our Member!)

 THE CALVERT TRUST

The Rotary Club of Rushden have again played a prominent role in delivering a fantastic experience to adults with a disability. The weeks course in the Lake District is designed to promote independence and to change the lives of people facing bigger challenges in life. Far too often they are told what they can't do whereas Calvert Trust's mission is to show them just what they can do. In the vast majority of cases that is more than they have been led to believe and more than they expect. The value of its what you can do that matters is so refreshing which is how it makes such an impact.

This year we have just returned having taken a group of 25 participants with an age range of 18 to 54 and a wide range of disabilities. The gulf in ages was mainly due to a couple of individuals recovering from acquired brain injuries later in life. The recovery from covid was most apparent in that this visit returned to the normal practice of sharing the centre with another group from the east coast of Scotland. The guys we take are generally strangers at the start of the week and the social interaction within the group and within the centre as a whole is equally important in changing perceptions. 

The week wasn't without its challenges for the team of Rotarians tasked with supporting everyone. Two days into the week and after activities had finished for the day one of the guys slipped off on his own for a stroll in the woods behind the trust's property. A full scale search was put in action as soon as the absence was noticed. Thankfully everyone these days carries a mobile phone and contact was soon established. What was less helpful was the admission that Rhys couldn't find his way back and when asked what he could see as a landmark he replied 'trees'. Safety wasn't a concern but the myriad of paths still meant that it took over an hour to find and return him. Whilst independence is the ambition we did suggest that unaccompanied walks weren't a great idea until the orienteering element had been delivered. To his credit he was happy to seek support for walks for the rest of the week. 

Safety aside Rhys's story highlights what The Calvert Trust is all about. It's not about curtailing anyone but embracing the challenges presented and firing up an enthusiasm to do more than you think is possible. Two of the activities delivered , the horse riding and the water activites, are important elements as they can both be carried on with the established charities Riding for the Disabled and Sailability when the group returns home. Of the remaining activities probably the one that has the biggest impact comes under the umbrella of rock on rope. Delivered over more than one day it includes rock climbing, abseiling and descending both in an indoor climbing wall and at designated outdoor locations. There is also the centres own version of a 'Go Ape' style high ropes course followed by a 200 metre zip wire descent through natural woodland. These activities really push boundaries but they are also the ones where you see the joy and pride of achievement.

The final activity of the week was a Lakeland walk. For the week we operate in three groups but for this two options are provided and everyone gets to choose which one they want to take on. The higher level walk was up Catbells which is one of the Wainwright’s bagged by hill walkers; as well as challenging it is also one of the most beautiful walks around and it's views adorn many a biscuit tin or box if chocolates. What was heartening was the number of the team that took this on. It demonstrated that the group had bought into the challenge and wanted to get the most out of the week. Even Debbie who had mobility issues following her brain injury wanted to do that walk but missing the coach the next day might have been on the cards.

At the end of the week everyone gets a certificate of achievement and a photo album filled with pictures of the activities tailored to each individual. They are valuable in in many cases treasured reminders of what everyone can do when they are faced with challenges back in their everyday lives. The journey back on the coach is always quiet as exhaustion kicks in. There are always tears when we get back to the rendezvous in Leicester but at the same time you can see everyone walking just a little bit taller.

The Tulips are in bloom at the Rushden Rotary Wall Garden

Higham Ferrers Junior School Choir

Last week saw the Rushden Club stage the Young Musician of the Year Competition which was superbly facilitated by The Ferrers School.

The Choirs’ Section is aimed solely towards the current Junior / Primary Schools in Rushden and Higham Ferrers which, unfortunately, was limited this year by some Schools suffering from shortage of time to devote to their choirs post-Covid!  The Choirs competing were Southend, Alfred Street, and Higham Ferrers Junior Schools with the latter School being adjudged the winners of the Choirs Trophy.

The Winning School sang a superbly poignant rendition of No Wars Will Stop Us Singing whilst Southend sang A Million Dreams and Alfred Street had Unstoppable in their repertoire.

In the soloists / duets section of the Competition Jamie wowed the judges with his Heart of Stone from Six the Musical and he took the Intermediate Prize.  The Senior Section followed with an amazing selection of instrumental solos featuring Drums, Piano, Guitar, and Vocals with renditions as varied from Foo Fighters, Pachelbel, Grease, Stevie Wonder with the Winners being Alex and Will with a Guitar Duet of Morenita do Brazil, which earned them the applause of the night. 

The adjudicators were musician, composer, author and broadcaster Nigel Simeone of Rushden and Peter Smalley Head of the County’s Music Centre (NMPAT). Both experts were amazed at the quality of the Young Musicians and found it difficult in deciding the winners of the categories.

Prizes for the Evening were sponsored by The Elizabeth Groome Music Charity which was founded in memory of a very talented Musician and Teacher. The Aim of the Charity is to improve, develop and maintain education in, and the appreciation of, music in all its aspects. The Charity awards Bursaries to Young People for the continuance of their Musical education.

Junior Schools’ Quiz

Last week The Rushden Club hosted the Annual Junior Schools’ Quiz at Rushden Academy for all the Rushden and Higham Ferrers Junior Schools.

The teams from each School consisted of four members, mostly from year 6 and all the teams did exceptionally well with Whitefriars Primary School coming top of the leader board with a 72% success rate bt with the other 5 teams close behind.

Whitefriars School were presented with the Harry Cockburn trophy for the second year running with all teams receiving Certificates of participation. 

Prison? Me? No Way!!!

During their Learning for Life Day, around 150 Year 9 students of Rushden Academy had the opportunity to take part in a number of workshops focusing on crime prevention and the choices each pupil could face during their lifetime.  The first event of an action packed day to prepare them for the variety of follow-on workshops included a session by the British Red Cross complete with a CPR demonstration, a session with an ex offender (looking at life choices), a convicted murderer demonstrating what wrong choices she had made in life, a workshop looking at the role of the emergency services and one final one looking at low level anti-social behaviour.

A portable Prison Cell was on hand to demonstrate what it would be like to live in such a small, locked-up, space. After being ‘released’, words such as ‘horrible, dirty, terrifying and intimidating” were used to describe what the experience would feel like if it happened to them. 

Most of the pupils listened with intent to the tales of the visiting ex prison officers and ex policemen who, quite forcibly and graphically, explained the consequences of any wrong choices they might make in the future.

A very worthwhile day for the impressionable young pupils who all said they had learned a great deal from the day.

BBC Radio Northampton covered the event, which was funded by Rotary Club of Rushden. 

On March 4^th The Rushden Club hosted The Northampton Male Voice Choir in a Concert at the well-appointed Ferrers School. Over 170 guests enjoyed the superb tones of the Choir which was directed by their effervescent Musical Director Stephen Bell.

The Choir’s Repertoire included the standard favourites Fly Me to the Moon, Bring him Home, Bohemian Rhapsody and Danny Boy. Local singer Ellie McAspurn joined the Choir for the evening and apart from singing with the Choir’s backing sang a number of solos including If I Loved you and Hopelessly Devoted to You, in honour of her Grandfather and Grandmother who were in the audience and who celebrated their Wedding Anniversary on that very night!!

It was a great night’s entertainment, which raised around £2000 for Rotary’s Youth Programme and other Rotary causes, and which will become an Annual event I am sure.  

To follow this, the Club are hosting Jonathan Reynolds and his Musical Company, at the Bede House in Higham, on April 1^st, in a Concert labelled as West End & Broadway – The Magic of the Musicals!! All profits are destined for The Bansang Hospital Appeal.

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The Garden at the Rotary Wall after a good weeding yesterday. The crocuses at the top have gone over but soon the Tulips will be in full bloom.

Several people commented that they likes the planting last year!

In March the 'Purple for Polio' crocuses were in full bloom in Hall Park

There were three different planting styles by our Rotarians! Can you guess which of us planted which.

Our Crocuses in the Church yard at Higham.

88^th Charter Night 22 February 2023

The Club celebrated its 88^th Charter with an evening of food, drink and musical entertainment at The Stanwick Hotel. 

President Elect Rick Nunley acted as MC for the evening, introducing President John who welcomed some 50 Members and guests.

District 1070 Governor Elect, David Kendrick outlined a special Citation which has been awarded to our District with the following words: 

“District 1070 received a Rotary International District Citation because more than 50% of Clubs in the District were awarded Club Citations (including your own Club).    We were the only District out of the 25 Districts in RGB&I to be awarded one and, as far as I can ascertain, the only RGB&I District to get one for the past decade.   To put things into perspective, the 25 RGB&I Districts were awarded 163 Club Citations; our District was awarded 41 of them (i.e. 25%) which is an excellent result”

To close the evening, we were entertained by the Raunds Ukulele Orchestra who played a varied selection of tunes which had feet tapping and a number of Rotarians even exercised their vocal chords.

Here’s looking forward to the 90^th Charter…it has to be a special Celebration!

In early March forty members and guests spent the evening at Rushden Lakes enjoying “Pudding, Putting, and Pubbing”.

The evening began at ‘Heavenly Desserts’ dessert restaurant, enjoying some of the many delicious desserts they offer and piling on the pounds. 

Next came 18 holes of golf and the chance to burn off some of those recently added calories. The venue, however, ‘Paradise Island’ is an indoor crazy golf course and doesent involve too much exercise.

It was a most enjoyable hour or so judging from the whoops of delight, laughter, and frustration.

Finally, we met up again in The Hopmaster pub to compare scores and award the extremely expensive prizes. The men’s individual winner was Mark Winfield and the top lady was Carol Bliss, both on scores of 41.

The winning team, giving off gallons of testosterone I’m told was Pro Girardi and the lads. The evening was rounded off nicely with a few drinks.

Turkish/Syria Earthquake Appeal

Over the weekend of 25 and 26 February the two Rushden Rotary Clubs combined their efforts and organised a bucket collection at Rushden Lakes for the Turkish/Syrian Earthquake Disaster Fund. A total of £440.00 was collected over the two days which was a great effort by all concerned. The picture shows some of the Members of each Club together with Donna French, the Centre Manager for Rushden Lakes.

Prior to this event, The Rotary Club of Rushden had already donated £1000.00 to the Disaster Fund.

District Governor Steve Howe visit

We were pleased to welcome Steve Howe to our meeting on January 11^th.

One of Steve’s themes in Environment and this is an area which will, we feel, play an important role in our Club as we move towards the new Rotary Year. I am sure we will hear more of this from our incoming President Rick Nunley.

The Rotary End Polio campaign continues to be run and Steve explained that between Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an astonishing figure of US $ 2.6 billion has been be donated since 1985 and Rotary International has pledged a further $50 million over the next three years.

Steve also outlined a number of changes within Rotary - much of which is aimed at increasing membership and looking at innovative ways of raising awareness of Rotary. As a Club, over the past 2 years we have very much bucked the trend when it comes to increasing our Membership – this is really positive!

The image shows Steve and our President John Curson with a limited edition print of a picture that Jennifer Jones (President of Rotary International) has asked all the District Governors to use to raise money for Polio. On the night, our Club donated £160.00 from members contributions 

The Rotary Club of Rushden welcomes another New Member

At our Meeting on January 11^th, we were delighted to welcome Angela Capper as a new Associate Member

Angela has been a director of Target Autism Training and Consultancy for over 10 years. She previously worked for the local authority as a special educational needs advisor. Alongside her business partner, they are commissioned to work in many of the county's schools supporting staff working with students who have social communication difficulties. Outside of work, Angela enjoys going to concerts and shows and exploring international cuisine. She have three grown up children who are all independent and who no longer need a parental taxi service! Angela says she is looking forward to having more spare time over the next few years and also looking forward to helping The Rotary Club of Rushden to continue to make a difference to our local, national and international communities.

Welcome Angela!

History In The Making………

On the 17^th November 2022 we celebrated the birth of a healthy baby girl, Senna Matilda Ludlam, who said “hello” to the world and who weighed in at 7lb 9oz (in old money!). 

Senna’s Mum is Stacy Ludlam whose employer is Wilson Browne Solicitors, one of our Corporate Members. Stacy has been a regular attendee at many of our meetings and along with a number of colleagues has attended many of our social evenings.

I think I’m right in saying that this is the first time in the history of our Club that a baby has been born to one of our serving Members….so congratulations to Stacy (and of course her husband). We are all looking forward to baby Senna paying a visit to one of our future meetings.

SPECIAL AWARD FOR MEMBER GLENIS HAYNES

Most of us went for the Covid vaccines during the recent pandemic.

But Glenis went further than most in her help and service. She attended the clinics as a volunteer through rain , snow, and cold. And for this she has been awarded by our District this 'Avenues of Service Award'

Glenis is one of many people who have gone above and beyond, and are rarely thanked for their contribution in time of need. And we thank her!

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At our Business Meeting on 30th November at the Stanwick Hotel, we were delighted to introduce three new Full Members to our Club. President John Curson is shown formally welcoming all three and from left to right we have Susan Perkins, President John Curson, Graeme Cook and Gina Lawless. 2022 continues to be a successful year for New Membership (…..in fact there should have been an induction for an additional three Members who could not be at the Meeting so watch this space for more news soon). A big Rotary welcome to all three of you!

Back in the Summer (when the weather was warmer!) we were delighted to welcome Glenn and Sharon Chapman as Associate Members to the Rotary Club of Rushden. Rick Nunley (who was standing in for President John Curson on the night) is shown formally welcoming Glenn and Sharon to our Club. We’re delighted that they have joined us.   

Christmas Celebration

On a cold and frosty December 14^th, more than 50 Members, partners and friends enjoyed our Christmas Celebration at the Stanwick Hotel.

President John Curson welcomed all the attendees and we then sat down to a hearty Christmas Dinner – and from we could see (and hear), there were many compliments about the quantity and quality of the food.

After Dinner, The Reverend Chris Youngman delivered a Christmas message – and according to Arthur Wright he was impressed with what our Rotary Club does in terms of community involvement. He also told a really amusing joke which involved George Clooney, Lionel Messi, Donald Trump, a schoolboy and the Pope!

A raffle followed with a number of donated gifts and the main prize being a large food hamper. This was won by Carol Bliss who immediately donated the contents of the hamper to Encompass – all the food being delivered to the Charity on the following morning. 

A surprise (and quick!) auction then took place with the prize being an Aston Martin experience at Silverstone – the winning bidder was Carol Bliss with a bid of £120.00 so we are looking forward to Carol sharing her James Bond (or should that be “M”) experience next year.

The raffle produced £221 on the night, and in addition to the significant bid of £120 from Carol for the auction, a further donation totalling £341 will now go to Encompass – Food Bank Rushden. 

The evening ended with a selection of Christmas songs – modern and traditional -  sung by Perfect Resonance. What a great way to end a really enjoyable evening. I know many Members will be sad (or possibly happy) that The Rotary Choir did not have the opportunity to test their vocal chords with Christmas carols – but no doubt they will be back in good voice next year.

Many thanks to all those who donated prizes, supported the raffle and helped with the event in any way.

                   The Rotary Club of Rushden

         ROTARY NEWS for December  2022

Rotary on the Environment Cause

In November a group of Rotarians from the Rushden Chichele and Rushden Rotary Clubs assembled to plant 120 hedgerow whips at the Irthlingborough Wetlands.   The site has recently had visiting ospreys and the Rangers at Rushden Lakes are keen to see more of them.    Accordingly, they have erected an osprey tower in order to encourage them to settle and breed in the area.   However, the tower is near to a public footpath so it is necessary to provide a barrier between walkers and the birds.   Cue Rotary to the rescue and, with thanks to the Woodland Trust for providing the whips, eight hardy souls battled the intemperate weather to plant a hedge adjacent to the path.   This is part one of the exercise, the next step will take place in March 2023 when we will assess how successful the initial planting was and reinforce any areas that require it with additional hedging.    This initiative will also have the added benefit of providing shelter for birds such as dunnocks and blackcaps who more naturally reside in and around hedgerows.

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THE ROTARY CLUB OF RUSHDEN IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ROTARY CLUB OF RUSHDEN CHICHELE AND THE ROTARY CLUB OF THRAPSTON AND RAUNDS

ROTARY’S AID FOR OLGA, FROM UKRAINE

 The three Rotary Clubs in East Northamptonshire, Rushden, Rushden Chichele and Thrapston & Raunds, have clubbed together to buy a mobility scooter for a disabled Ukrainian lady called Olga who has a hip problem and is in need of a hip replacement. Unfortunately as a Ukrainian refugee reliant on the NHS the potential waiting time is very long.         An official presentation was made on November 15th at the home of Olga’s daughter who lives in Rushden. Olga was fortunate to be able to escape the Russian bombing of Krasnograd at the beginning of the war but her neighbours stayed behind and lost everything.

 Olga’s daughter, Iuliia Chiritoi writes…

 Olga is my mum. She is 72 years old and had worked as an accountant for over 40 years before she retired. She comes from a small town in Ukraine called Krasnograd which is near Kharkiv where she has lived all her life. The Kharkiv region has been under missile attacks since the beginning of the war and my mum's house was one of many that were damaged. Fortunately, she was here in the UK when that happened so her life was spared, not like her three neighbours. 

 She arrived in the UK on 6th of March.  Her journey wasn’t easy and it took 3 days but she overcame all the difficulties - 28 hours of train journey and two flights to join me and my family here in Rushden. 

 Mum is a loving and caring person who loves spending time with her grandchildren so my family is happy that she is in a safe place now. Unfortunately, she had to leave her son and partner behind in Ukraine as they are unable to leave the country. 

  Kind Regards 

Iuliia Chiritoi

Rotary in the Anglia region has raised over £150,000 in support of the people of Ukraine. By working with Rotary Clubs and other charities in Poland, aid and practical support has been given directly to the Ukrainian people in greatest need.

The Mobility scooter was provided by CareCo who generously waived the assembly and  instruction fees.

We were lucky enough to have this event covered by BBC Look East News on the night!

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WORLD POLIO DAY - 24 OCTOBER 2022

“As Monday 24 October was World Polio Day, it was particularly relevant to have Hugh Holden from Uppingham Rotary Club as our Guest Speaker. Hugh is the District Foundation Chairman and he gave an informative presentation detailing Rotary’s quest to eradicate polio from the world. Since 1985, Rotary’s key humanitarian policy has been to rid the world of polio and the number of cases is down by 99.9% - but the fight goes on. 

President John Curson is shown presenting Hugh with a cheque for £350.00”

Minor Sports Fun for Clubs

Last week the Rushden Club were hosted by the Kettering Huxloe Club at the Kettering Midland Band Club in a friendly minor sports evening of challenges and fun for all! Among cries of “No coaching on the sidelines” followed by loud guffaws, the two Clubs vied for superiority on the skittle table, the pool table, the dart board and the domino games. No-one was upset at losing their games, however, the winners were witnessed dancing around the room giving high fives to other contestants. The Rushden Club narrowly won the overall ‘contest’ which meant that they ate their well-deserved pizzas with more gusto!!!  

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Young Achiever Award 2022

Last week President of the Rushden Club visited Rushden Academy and presented the Cliff Hale Trophyfor a Young Achiever at the Academy to Grace Pownall-Lunnon a very worthy recipient. 

The Academy described Grace’s special attributes for their choice for the Award were that she is dedicated to her studies, is a leading member of the Student Leadership Team and also heads the Charity team. The Head of the Sixth Form stated that “whenever there is a job where she needs a student representative, Grace is always the first to step forward to offer her services! She is an absolute credit to the Academy!”

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Trees to commemorate the Life of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Another Green bonus for Rushden when the two Clubs decided that, after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, they would like to commemorate his life with a lasting tribute; after all he was an honorary Rotarian of two clubs, one in Scotland and the other at Eton. They also recognised the wish of the Queen that the planting of trees would be an ecological way to mark her Jubilee. The two Clubs therefore combined the two events and sponsored the purchase of four well grown trees to be planted in Rushden’s Hall Park with Rushden Town Council’s blessing. This project has now been completed.

President of the Chichele Club said “We bought trees that will provide all year round interest with different colour foliage and as the year goes by and the structure of the trees themselves will be of interest - some multi- branched with others plainer The tree types are:-.

                          Acer Palmatum - Bloodgood
                          Acer Palmatum - Fire Glow
                          Soborus  Aucuparia - Multi Stem
                           Tilia Cordata Xmongolica -  Harvest Gold

There will be a plaque on the trees with a Commemoration to Prince Philip from both Rotary Clubs.  Visitors to the Park will be able to follow the growth progress of the trees for hopefully hundreds of years to come.

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                   ROTARY CLUBS OF RUSHDEN - LITTER PICK TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2022

Our team was made up young recruits who wish to start a new Rotaract club locally soon, along with members of our club and members of the Rushden Chichele club. We collected around 12 sacks of litter and various items including furniture and other discarded items. This is our first venture into helping out with improving our local environment through litter picking and should be considered as another worthy effort by all members who took part.

Aid to the Pakistan Flood Victims

The Rushden Club has also recently purchased another Shelterbox which has gone to the Pakistan flood victims. The boxes contain vital equipment to help the victims survive the atrocious weather and wet conditions- it will hold a disaster relief tent for a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children's activity pack.

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Rotary Continue Helping Rushden Foodbank

On 30 August 2022 Rotarian, Rick Nunley, presented Sara Owst the Manager of the Rushden foodbank with a cheque. This generous gift was made possible by a donation of £1,500 from Croyland Mega Store. The Foodbank makes up food parcels with goods needed to get people in need an adequate meal for a few days.

The Food Bank is part of the renamed Encompass organisation which is very active in Rushden.

A big thanks to Rick for all his efforts.

Croyland Donation!

: Pictured from left to right are Mark Swindells, General Manager of Croyland Car Megastore, Jason Hines Enterprise Rent a Car Remarketing Sales Executive, John Curson president of the Rotary Club of Rushden with the club’s treasurer Mark Darnell.

CROYLAND COMMUNITY CASH BOOT

         Croyland Car Megastore Donates Cash to Support Local Good Causes

Community causes will benefit from a windfall of hundreds of pounds donated by Croyland Car Megastore to the Rotary Club of Rushden.

The Rushden dealership officially presented the donation of £1,500 to the local rotary club, which will be distributed in the area.

Mark Swindells, General Manager at Croyland Car Megastore, said: “Croyland is thrilled to once again support many members of the community with this charity collaboration donation made in conjunction with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

“Croyland cares about our community and this latest cash boost demonstrates how much we continue to support all the local good work that goes on to help families and people in the area. This is the second time we have collectively been able to make a significant donation to the community and is one of the many ways we continue to support numerous local causes, clubs and charities in our area.”

Rotary Club of Rushden treasurer, Mark Darnell and president, John Curson, visited Croyland to thank the Croyland team for their generous support and officially receive the donation. 

John Curson of the Rotary Club of Rushden said: “We are pleased to continue to be associated with the community minded Enterprise and Croyland Car Megastore, and thank them for their generous donation of £1,500 to the Rotary Club of Rushden.

“The Club have been actively supporting the Rushden Foodbank – Encompass Charity- over the past few years, which provides essential support to those in need in the town. It is intended that the donation will be used to provide more support for their ongoing requirements in the near future.”

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RUSHDEN ROTARY NEW MEMBER

On August 10^th at our Business Meeting at the Stanwick Hotel, our newest Full Member, Kevin Bird, was inducted into the Rotary Club of Rushden. President John Curson formally welcomed Kevin who has progressed from Associate Membership and we are delighted that he has chosen to become a fully accredited Member of our Club. John outlined that this was a really positive start  to the Rotary Year. Kevin is someone you would certainly want on your Quiz Team and he has already been signed up as the Quizmaster for the Schools Quiz at Rushden Academy on March 14^th 2023. Welcome Kevin!

VISIT TO CHESTER HOUSE - 27 JULY 2022