On the road with Santa

Xmas is a special time of year for lots of people. My Rotary club has been taking to the streets at Xmas each year for many years – my first thought when I started was that it was all about collecting some money for charity, but it’s much, much more than that. Over the years we’ve become part of people’s lives; to many we mark the start of their Xmas, their children come out to see Santa and some, having been those children when we started our rounds, now bringing their own children out. For us it’s actually a joy, not a chore – seeing the faces of the children (and many adults!) – and afterwards we have the satisfaction of counting the proceeds and then using them to benefit local charities (see the picture for an example from Friday 18 Dec). This year our main beneficiary is the Harefield Hospital MRI Scanner Appeal. Recently, Dr Tarun Mittal from Harefield visited the club and spoke to us of how the scanner will benefit patients with heart complaints. We will be delighted to give them the major part of our proceeds.

This year has been marked by a reasonable covering of snow and biting winds. We actually had to cancel one round (Monday 21 Dec) because of the weather – mostly because we couldn’t get Santa’s float out of the garage and our collecting team couldn’t get to the start point! However, we’ve enjoyed it and will be back next year for more. My heartfelt thanks go to the 30 members of the club, wives and husbands, friends and other Rotarians without whom this fantastic effort would not have been possible.

Merry Xmas & a Happy New Year

Young People Speaking Out

Last night I had the privilege of being at the local heats of the National Rotary Youth Speaks competition. Hosted at Swakeleys School and organised by the Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon in conjunction with the other Rotary Clubs in the borough (Pinner, Ruislip-Northwood and Uxbridge) the competition saw teams compete in Intermediate and Senior classes.

In the Intermediate class the St. Helens School team of Billie Hubble, Isobel McVey and Isobel Moseley presenting “The Teenagers Guide to Health & Safety” fought off competition from teams from Harefield Academy, Swakeleys School and Ruislip High School. Nice to see that thieir views on Health & Safety were exactly in line with mine - the world has gone mad! I particularly enjoyed the tale about having to wear lab coats and goggles in Science to undertake the dangerous experiment of combining salt with water!!

The Senior class had been decimated by illness, but the remaining two teams from St. Helens School and Uxbridge College fought a very close battle with their competing subjects of “Global Warming” and “Slang: Backward or Revolutionary”. Narrow winners were the Uxbridge College Team of Chairperson Muska Nizami, Speaker Ismaila Ngum and Vote of Thanks by Sabyha Khan.

The winning teams go forward to a zone final in Slough in the New Year (and thence potentially to District and National rounds).

Presenting the awards, Mayor of Hillingdon, Councillor Shirley Harper O’Neill praised the poise and delivery of all the competitors, commenting also on the persuasive arguments for their causes – those that were there now know what “Wagwan” means (It’s Jamaican slang derived from “What’s Going On”) and when to use it (anytime you need an alternative to “Hello”). Pictured are (L-R) Uxbridge College Government & Politics Lecturer Julian Thomas with the team - Muska Nizami, Ismaila Ngum and Sabyha Khan. Ismaila was most impressive - it's a long time since I saw an audience greeted with "Good morrow, gentlefolk....." (outside a theatre that is).

Isn't it great to see young people doing something positive for their future?