LATEST NEWS FROM ROTARY

by Bill Parkinson

Rotary Club of Coventry 200 CLUB -

Welcome to the new 200 Club - a very easy way for you to support our Rotary Club whilst having a bit of a flutter. Coventry Rotary Club is registered with Coventry City Council enabling us to operate a 'Small Society Lottery' under the Gambling Act 2005.

Here's how it works - 

Complete and sign our Membership Form below and Standing Order Mandate for £5 per month per number. You will then be allocated one or more membership numbers which automatically enters you into our next monthly draw.
We do hope that Rotarians will invest in at least two, three or four numbers - hopefully more to sell to family, friends, Inner Wheel and other Rotary Clubs.

Once fully set up, a draw will take place on the first Monday of each month at our Club Meeting and a very special and larger festive draw at our Christmas Meeting. 

The prize money over the year will amount to 40% of the total membership monies received. The remaining 60% will go to our Charity Account to help fund our chosen worthy causes.
Each participant has an excellent chance of winning.

 FESTIVAL OF CHRISTMAS TREES

Dear Ken,
I have attached the photograph we have taken the day ICT received a donation from the Rotary Club of Coventry to support the work of Chiedza; in case your club wish to use it for its newsletter. An article about this generous donation (including photograph) is available on our website with a link to your Club.
Gieds is extremely pleased with this gift as it will go a long way in supporting the out of school programme.

They informed me that with the current hardships in Zimbabwe more and more children need that support. In any case we will submit in due course a short report to your club on how the money has been applied and the progress made with the out of school programme.
Best wishes
Wahiba

Members of Interact PK, based at President Kennedy School Academy in Coventry, have been exceptionally busy in the last few months collecting the ring pulls from drink cans. They have amassed what must amount to many thousands to be sent to the charity Purple Community Fund in Southampton for onward transmission to the Philippines. There they will be made into a range of products to be sold to support families in need through employment and education.

Following its establishment with the advice and support of the Rotary club of Coventry, Interact PK has continued to operate under our guidance. This project is just one of the activities it has been involved in since it was formed in 2016.

The students have also raised funds for local and international charities and have been involved within the local community in actions such as litter picking and helping young children with reading skills.

Members of Interact PK benefit from learning how 'businesses' are structured and operate and gain confidence from their interaction with staff, other students and the local community. From its inception, Past President Ray Thompson and President Judy Ryan have been prime movers in supporting Interact PK and they like everyone at the Rotary Club of Coventry have been pleased to see the club grow and flourish. We wish them every success with future projects.

STRAWBERRIES AND SONGS

A summer tea party with music

On a lovely hot sunny afternoon, Wednesday 24th July, over 55 people turned up at Woodside Avenue Church Centre to enjoy strawberries and cream, scones, cakes and tea. The aim of the afternoon was to raise money for the  ISALS Project Harare, in Zimbabwe.

Also on offer for the very appreciative audience was a programme of songs and music provided by Woodside Church Minister Mark Rowland who sang a range of songs, Anna Leeson, a very talented young musician who played the oboe and Joyce Watson who ably accompanied many of the items.

Past President Keith Chapman was our able MC guiding the audience through both halves of the musical programme. During the interval we all tucked into our strawberries, scones, cakes and tea which had been prepared and were served, among others: Sue, Jenny, Wendy, Janet and Mary ably assisted by members of Rotary. The food was delicious and plentiful.

As part of his opening remarks and welcome Keith gave a short presentation on the important work of Chiedza Child Care Income Saving Scheme and Lending Project (ISALS) in Harare South District, Zimbabwe. The Rotary Club of Coventry International Service Committee is supporting this important project, aiming to raise £2000, 

The purpose of the this project is to increase the level of income and security of 1800 poor and vulnerable households in Harare, particularly those headed by widows or single parents; those orphaned or vulnerable children at risk of dropping out of school; those with disability and also those with who one or more family members living with HIV. Each targeted household must have at least one child under the age of 18 years.

The project provides training in income saving and lending, project and financial planning and micro-enterprise management. Since 2015 the project has created 150 savings and lending groups providing benefits to an estimated 1800 participants.

Profits from ticket sales and donations from the Retiring Collection raised over £400 + Gift Aid and will ensure that the International Committee reach their goal of £2000.

Well done to everyone involved in planning, organising and running this very successful event. What could be better on a lovely warm summer afternoon?  A good time was had by all!

Rotary Tree Planting Ceremony at The War Memorial Park

The Tree Planting Ceremony was held at The War Memorial Park in Coventry on 25th February 2018. As President of the Rotary Club of Coventry. I was honoured to greet the following guests to the park -

• RI President Ian and his wife Juliet
• RI Director Brian and his wife Max
• Vice Chairman of the Rotary Foundation Ken and Lynn Schuppert
• RIBI President Denis Spillar
• 1060 DGN Gary Dancer
• 1060 DGE Bala Jaspal and PDG Paul Jaspal
• PDG Scotland Roddy Duncan
• Pam Harison - Canada
• Sheila Hurst - USA
• Spree Vallipurm - London
  

Along with PDRI Peter L. Offer, it was Rotary Club of Coventry PP John Hartley and VP Michael Hammon who were instrumental in arranging for the Hiroshima Memorial tree to be nurtured, delivered and planted within the park, without both of whom it would not have happened. Thanks also go out to the other Rotary Clubs of Coventry - Phoenix, North, Breakfast and Jubilee for their contribution.

The day itself was bitterly cold but the sun shone and all those present dismissed the cold and enjoyed the ceremony where I gave a brief history of the tree and introduced RI President Ian who gave a short speech prior to placing the tree and digging the first sod of earth.

All those present then had the opportunity to place the soil around the tree. The tree will now be cared for by the City of Coventry's Parks Department.

The full story of the Hiroshima Memorial trees goes back to 6th August 1945 when the Atomic Bomb destroyed Hiroshima City. In the spring of 1946 it was noticed that a tree which had been located near the Head Post Office and apparently destroyed, began to show signs of life and shoots were showing from the root stock. The Japanese council officials had the stump transferred to the site of what was to become the Peace Park. In the following years when the tree seeded, these were collected and put into sachets of 24 seeds as tokes given by the Mayors of Hiroshima to international dignitaries who visited the city as symbols of peace and reconciliation throughout the world.

In May 2008, Mr Jose Hiraga, a friend of PP John Hartley, visited Coventry and brought a packet of 24 seeds for the Council to germinate and plant the trees around the city. These were presented to Lord Mayor Dave Batten in the presence of George Miles, the then Chairman of Coventry Association for International Friendship. There was always an intention to plant a tree in the Memorial Park although enquiries with the Parks Department some time after revealed no evidence of any seeds which had germinated. John had however removed six seeds from the packet prior to the presentation. Three were given to George Miles and three to Mr David Carriage from Nuneaton. Unfortunately George Miles died. Mr Carriage however, eventually managed to raise two of the three seedlings. After nearly ten years these are now 14 inches high. One of which we have just planted in the War Memorial Park. We are informed that when mature the tree could reach 35-40 feet. 

Robert Villette President Rotary Club of Coventry

Youth Speaks Competition 2020

Youth Speaks, A Debate 2020 was held on Friday 24th January in the drama studio at Bablake School. There were eight teams from Whitley Academy, Stoke Park School, Sydney Stringer Academy, President Kennedy School and Coundon Court School. A wide range of subjects were addressed by the teams and the students did very well giving the judges, Andrew Turner, Lynn Fairbairn and Richard Lapworth a difficult task in choosing winners.

As usual the event was successful in large part to the support and work of Rotary Club of Coventry members. President Judy Ryan not only welcomed everyone but also presented certificates to all competitors and the winners. PP's Terry Bond was MC and kept the evening rolling along, Ray Thompson and Phil Hodgson were timekeepers, Kevin Vaughan acted as photographer, Robert Villette was questioner and Ken Holmes gave a short talk about the international aspects of Rotary's work. Members, partners and fiends worked hard to provide refreshments.

The competition runners up were President Kennedy School with their chairperson Arya Bassi being chosen as best on the night. The winning team was Sydney Stringer Academy - Team 1 and their proposer Ridica Alam was best speaker in the competition.

The event was a great success and the new format proved popular with teams and many audience members. No doubt more to come in 2021!

WHAT IS ROTARY?

Rotary initiated the Polio plus campaign in 1984 when there were hundreds of thousands of cases worldwide. This year there were just 343.

Each member enjoys business as well as social networking opportunities, whilst giving something back to those less fortunate and having a great deal of fun at the same time!

THE ROTARY CLUB OF COVENTRY CALENDAR OF MEETINGS DURING COVID-19

ZOOM MEETINGS WILL BE HELD AT 12:30 PM ON THE 1ST AND 3RD MONDAY OF EACH MONTH UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR WHEN ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE REVIEWED AND FURTHER INFORMATION POSTED ON THE WEBSITE. A LINK TO ENABLE MEMBERS TO JOIN THE MEETINGS WILL BE EMAILED TO MEMBERS IN THE DAYS PRIOR TO EACH MEETING.

June 2012

September 2012

December 2012

April 2013

September 2013

March 2014

June 2014

December 2014

March 2015

June 2015

September 2015

December 2015

December 2016

April 2017

July 2017

October 2017

April 2018

June 2018

Contact us

If you have any queries, or wish to join Rotary Club of Coventry, simply complete this form and our Club Secretary Ros Thomas will be in touch in due course.