John's Rotary Presidential Blog 2009-2010

Convention Day 4 - WOW!!

2010-06-24T15:37:00.005+01:00

Well, it's not often I find myself lost for words when looking for ways to describe a Rotary event, but Wednesday's final day at the 101st Rotary International Convention was close. An unexpected opening to the day came from Ontario's Lieutant-Governor, Hon David C Onley. He's a shining example of what can be achieved by one who has the strength of character to work past his disability and work to change the perception of people with disabilities, particularly in the workplace. A polio victim, he spoke passionately of the need for everyone to see ability not disability in those they encounter.

We elected as our President for 2011-2012 Kalyan Banerjee, of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India. He told attendees about his first encounters with Rotary in India. "I loved the way the Rotarians seemed to enjoy meeting friends and enthusing about community service projects to benefit hundreds of people," he said. "I decided then that I must be a Rotarian as soon as I could make it."

Bob Mazzuca, Boy Scouts of America chief scout executive, described himself as the warm-up act for the next guest, of which more later. He set out clearly why Scouting is still an integral part of American culture - without encouraging young people to lead more active lives we stand at risk of this generation being the first where their health and lifespan will be worse than that of their parents.

First real treat of the day was from Dolly Parton. On the face of it an unlikely choice for a staid organisation which just shows how wrong that is on both counts!! The philanthropist and literacy advocate went on to explain her foundation’s Imagination Library , which promotes reading among preschool children by providing them with a free book each month from birth until age five. The programme has grown from its base in her home state of Tennessee, USA, to other communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Dolly told us she was inspired by her father, who was illiterate but "one of the smartest people" she knew. "He knew it was a crippling thing not to be able to read and to write, so he was proud when people would call me the 'book lady.'" Opening with "9-5" Dolly also treated us to her unrecorded work inspired by her advocacy "Try".

But all this was just for openers. After this uplifting morning session we took off for a trip up Mont Royal, a park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800's (he also designed Central Park in New York, amongst many others). Views across Montreal were cloudy but worth the trip - we failed to notice the 5.0 earthquake on our public bus trip back to the city - not sure whether we missed it or it was down to the suspension on the bus.

And back for the finale - would it be worth it? Absolutely!! Our final session opened with a superb perfomance from British tenor Russell Watson who had the 12,000 plus audience on their feet with a mxiture of operatic and show tunes. A rousing start. Outgoing Rotary International President John Kenny rounded out his year with an emotional reflection on his year in office followed by a rallying call from incoming President Ray Klinginsmith. And then, to cap it all, a mesmerising hour-long performance from the incomparable Cirque du Soleil. Impossible to capture the feats of strength and agility in words - you have to see it to believe it's possible - and definitely don't try this at home!

Where to go from there? Well back to a favourite restaurant for dinner - a reprise for Les Pyrenees in Rue St Paul. This time we found ourselves in company with a family of Rotarians from Cornwall, Ont and Victoria, BC - take a bow Chris & Barb, John & Linda Edgell who rounded off our visit to Montreal with true Rotary fellowship. We wish John all the best with his upcoming Presidential year - may it be as fruitful and enjoyable as our past year has been.

And now - well we're off to Toronto, via an enforced stop at Oshawa, Ont - VIA Rail is terminating all services outside Toronto during the G20 period. So we'll let you know how we get on!!

Convention Day 3 - Royalty & Terrific News!

2010-06-22T20:57:00.002+01:00

Convention plenary sessions are a mixture of the prosaic formalities of a vast international organisation coupled with addresses from worthy and occasionally stand-out brilliant orators. Today paid tribute to the partnerships that Rotary International has made with other service organisations over decades. Rotary Foundation chair Glenn Estess updated us on the outstanding work of the charity despite economic setbacks - our continuing response to the Haiti earthquake disaster being a notable example and the progress of our fundraising efforts towards the Gates Polio Challenge now top the $133 million mark. Jo Luck, CEO of Heifer International explained how partnership with Rotary is furthering their development work.

We were graced with the presence of Queen Noor of Jordan who spoke of her determination to work for lasting peace in the Middle East and of her work for a nuclear free world.

But the standout highlight of the day for me was Dr. Bruce Aylward, Director, Global Polio Eradication Initiative, World Health Organisation. Bruce was outspoken in his praise for the work of Rotary - highlighted the extraordinary achievements of the last two years, following a period when polio seemed to be fighting back against our efforts. He described how we "have Polio on the run" with no new cases in Uttar Padesh or Bihar in the last six months and those in Nigeria showing a 99% drop in the past year. On the Afghan/Pakistan border there are now permanent immunisation stations to catch all of the children migrating across the border. And the release last year of a new bivalent vaccine which has increased the possibility of permanent immunisation by 50% has further helped our efforts. None of the work of the last two years in West Africa, in Uttar Padesh & Bihar and would have been possible without funds and the time of Rotarians through the Polioplus initiative. We have in thsoe two years fundamentally changed the game in our favour. It's just not possible to stress though how vital it is that we continue - polio continues to fight back - this year has seen more than 300 children paralysed in Tajikistan, with a migrant attack of the polio virus strain recently tamed in Uttar Pradesh. Adults have died, travel has been banned - this vital work must continue.

Dr Aylward closed by saying "Rotary's decision in 1985 challnged the world to change the course of history by eradicating this crippling disease. Rotary is the heart & soul of the largest global health effort in history".

Convention Day 2 – Women & Children First!

2010-06-22T20:50:00.004+01:00

Many of the programs of Rotary are focussed, either by design or by inevitability, on improving the lot of children and more prominently women. Whether we are providing safe water or helping with literacy programmes these inevitably tend to beaimed at children as the most vulnerable and on women as the driving force for improvement in communities.

Our day started with breakfast with our RIBI (Rotary in Britain and Ireland) colleagues. Our talk from past Rotary International Bill Boyd drew together the multiple impacts that education can have; raising the hopes of slum children so they can have a better life; the importance of the education of girls & women – more educated mothers have lower incidence of HIV/AIDS, fewer and more healthy children. And yet in the countries at the lower end of the economic scale education rates amongst children of secondary school age is below 30%, with girls below 20% or lower.

The day’s plenary sessions continued the theme – with Fr “Rocky” Evangelista focussed on his work with street children of Manila and Marie-Irene Richmond-Ahoua presenting an award for Rotary’s work in immunising the children of West Africa against polio. Fulbright & Rotary Peace scholar Marios Antoninou set out the role of education in reducing the perpetuation of past conflicts in the minds of today’s children. And finally, award-winning author Greg Mortenson spoke of his work with Afghan villages in building education as a “weapon of peace” Partly as a result of his work, there are 10 times as many Afghan children in education now compared with 10 years ago, although there remains much to be done.

With all this talk of the importance of women in building healthy communities it is shocking to find that Rotary has only one female Director this year and none next year. Seems like something needs to change!

On a lighter note we finished the day off with dinner at Bonaparte in Vieux Montreal (fabulous food – you must go there!) in the company of Irish expatriate John McGuinness, an ex-colleague from the early/mid-90’s at Deloitte where we set about building the consulting practices of the emerging former Soviet-bloc economies. Great company as ever - gift of the gab now available in 7 languages

RI Convention 1st Day Impressions

2010-06-20T21:58:00.009+01:00

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”

(Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy)

It's always great to be reminded of the power of the organisation you belong to and when it's an organisation that has as its sole purpose the service of others then you really feel it. Being with 17,000 like-minded souls is good for regeneration. From the more than 200 countries of the Rotary world we've all gathered in Montreal to celebrate our service to those in need.

Rotary International President John Kenny spoke evocatively of his trips during his year seeing the impact we have in the world. To Haiti where we acted impressively quickly in providing immediate needs and will continue to help the rebuilding process. To Bandar Aceh, where more than 250,000 lost their lives in 2005 for the opening of a Rotary built health centre from the ground up. To China where an orphanage cares for the unwanted - too many of them abandoned girls. And to Ramallah in Palestine for the chartering of a brand new Rotary club - opened with the cooperative spirit of Rotarians from Israel and Jordan working together - good news in a region where good news is scarce.

And back at our hotel to an e-mail from our own club - where we've raised more than £3,370 for two local charities - Michael Sobell House Hospice & Grangewood School for children with severe learning disabilities - 1,400 at the Ickenham Festival Gala Night witnessed the drawing of our Meal for Two promotion in co-operation with 18 local restaurants - 18 lucky people now have a voucher for a night out worth at least £90. Thanks to all those who bought tickets and all the restaurants that took part - we're proud to be able to make the contribution to two such worthwhile causes.

Alway good to round of the day with a good meal and today was no exception with a warm welcome at Les Pyrenees in Rue St Paul. Stumbled on it by accident - the next visit later in the week will be by design! Great ambience, great value.

Beginning the Canadian Adventure (en route Toronto - Montreal on VIA train)

2010-06-19T18:24:00.001+01:00

So far our Canadian Adventure has gone like a dream. Great flight (thanks Air Canada) – smooth passage through Toronto and out of the airport in our Nissan Sentra in under an hour. Lunch stop at Niagara on the Lake (or NOTL as it’s known), the more genteel mother town of the brash Niagara Falls destination. We can certainly recommend The Grill on King if you’re ever there for a visit, although we reckoned that the Niagara region wines, while generally OK, were overpriced for their quality against our more usual Aussie and Chilean (or South African) favourites. We’d definitely recommend staying in the Marriott Fallsview at the Falls, simply outstanding views of the Falls – what a view to wake up to or come back to or frankly at any time of the day or night.

Friday in the hands of Magnificent Tours for the Full Monty of attractions in and around the falls area – great taking the tour – we went to loads of things that we wouldn’t have gone to on our own – and learnt more facts than we can remember or imagine about the world’s premier waterfalls (not the highest, but definitely moves the most water – equivalent to 1 million bathtubs full every minute. Do the tour if you’re ever in town, things not to miss – Journey behind the Falls, an up close & personal view of the magnificence of the massive waters; the Skylon Tower for an all-round view of the area and over to Buffalo and Toronto; and, of course, the perennial Maid of the Mist voyage for that drenching with fresh water mist.

Excitement on our way to Toronto’s Union Station came in the form of complete road closure of the access to the station – including the rental car return location. Which gave us a personal police car escort through the area – now there’s something that won’t be available next week during the G20. And the train is full of Rotarians from near and far (near being downtown Toronto; far, apart from us, being our closest neighbours in the carriage from Antigua and Grand Cayman)

More from the Convention and Montreal as the week progresses.

Towards the RI Convention

2010-06-16T16:54:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow we set off for Canada - first to Niagara for obligatory sightseeing, then by train up to Montreal where we'll be in company (probably) with more than 20,000 Rotarians from around the world. Then to Toronto where it seems we'll be with some rather less desirable company - the G20 leaders and their predicted entourage of denmonstrators. Promises to be an interesting take on sightseeing!

Hoping to get some stuff up here - and maybe some pictures as well - while we're away.

Stay in touch!!

President's Weekend Away 14-17 May 2010

2010-06-01T16:53:00.001+01:00

As is our custom and this year was no exception, we trooped off for the weekend on our President’s whim. This year’s whim was to base ourselves in Yeovil and explore the surrounding areas of South Somerset and Dorset, where Joan & I got engaged some 41 years ago!

Our hotel, the Yeovil Court, set just outside the Town Centre on the way to West Coker was ideally placed for our weekend – good accommodation, good food, pleasant staff – highly recommended!After dinner Friday night we sampled some of the local produce – with speaker James Crowden entertaining us on the history and traditions of cider making (produce courtesy of Bridge Farm Cider).

Saturday morning (and the rest of the weekend) saw us in the company of Ron, our extremely patient driver from Taylors Coaches. Firstly to the Fleet Air Arm Museum where our guides led by Keith Saxon enthralled the entire company (yes, the ladies too!) with the history of the air service of the Royal Navy – well worth a trip – could be worth more than the 2 hours or so that we had.We can recommend the food too – we had a splendid buffet within the museum – suffice to say there was ample even for the most determined eaters. An afternoon at Clarks Village at Street satisfied the ardent shoppers – it was actually quite noticeable that there were more purchases by the men in the party than could be considered normal! We took a trip into the country for dinner at the excellent Kings Arms at Charlton Horethorne, where we were well taken care of and extremely well fed and watered – most certainly worth a detour if you’re in the area – they have rooms too.

Sunday began with some drizzle, which definitely hadn’t been ordered.Nevertheless, we set off for Forde Abbey, by which time it had stopped precipitating, where our private guided tour was well worth the trip. The former monastery has been lovingly preserved in private hands – we all agreed that we wouldn’t want a) to cut the grass or b) to pay the heating bill!Lunch – terrific bread and cheese – at the picturesque Haselbury Mill, which boasts a newly constructed tithe barn (we did wonder who pays the tithes these days, but then it is licensed for weddings………). And so to Lyme Regis, where the weather really let us down – just when we could have done with a bit of sunshine the heavens opened for most of our couple of hours – however, if you find yourself in the same position, we recommend the museum, worth a look, and the many coffee and tea houses. We rounded the weekend off with dinner at New Farm Restaurant, a little off the beaten track, but worth seeking out, where Jane & Crispin have tastefully converted this lovely Ham stone building, originally a working farm run by Jane’s family since the late 1800’s, into a delightful restaurant.They’re not normally open on Sundays but nice people that they are they opened up just for us and proceeded to fill us with excellent food and drink – in complete privacy!

All in all, a great weekend, super company, terrific food – we’d all recommend the area and all the places we went to.

Birthday celebrations/President's Night

2010-04-22T11:36:00.004+01:00

Each year my Rotary Club (Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon) celebrates our President’s year in office with a function. It’s accepted practice that at this event the President is recognised; and he/she in turn recognises the achievements of the club during the year and is then generally treated to some sort form of gentle digging. This year was no exception with the added twist that the evening also doubled as my 62^nd birthday party. Within the hallowed halls of Northwood Golf Club, decked for the evening with Watford FC banners and featuring a fantastic golf bag birthday cake, Past President Terry Ruby was generous in his acclamation of the way in which I've led the club in this year and I recognised that the considerable strides the club has made are thanks to the sterling efforts of the Club Council and indeed all the membership. And then the fun started! In my younger days I was noted for having a passing resemblance to Benny from Abba (although I insist that as the years have gone on I now look more like Bjorn); I've also been noted for having attention to detail, particularly in matters administrative. It was thus entirely fitting that I was treated to an extraordinary rendition of the never-to-be-repeated (hopefully, Ed!) “Admin King” (to the tune of Abba’s Dancing Queen) by Rotarians Terry Ruby and Mark Grimwade abetted by Jean Heard and Anji Katz.

And then we got on with the professional entertainment. TV regular Dr Richard Wiseman used his professional skills as both a psychologist and magician to bamboozle and educate his audience in the science of Mind Games.

All in all, it was an evening not to be missed, to the delight of the entire assembled company and their slightly overwhelmed President. There are more pictures on the club's website on this page

(Photos by Alex Lakey)

Hands On Rotary (A District Conference Update)

2010-03-23T15:44:00.004Z

I’ve just come back from a cracking weekend away with my Rotary District for our annual conference – this year in Eastbourne, where the weather could have been better!

Conference emphases change with the direction set by our District Governor for the year and our DG this year, Terry Kenyon, chose to showcase “Hands On Rotary” – with the programme being designed to show what our District (and others) have been doing in their communities and internationally, with particular emphasis on work in Africa. Rotary International President’s Representative Tom Thorfinnson from Minnesota told movingly of his team’s work bringing clean water to 100,000 people in Haiti (before the earthquake) and how the resources of that remote area unaffected by the recent disaster are being stretched by the influx of more than 30,000 internal refugees from the devastated capital.

Ex GMTV workout “girl”, Lizzie Webb showed us how young offenders in the Thames Valley can be turned round by exercise, and Robin Tatler told us of the Homeless World Cup, where football is being used to improve the self-esteem of homeless people from more than 50 countries.

We heard moving stories of how dignity is being provided to people in Malawi building businesses with microcredit schemes; in Kenya, by caring for HIV/AIDS sufferers or their bereaved dependants, young & old and in Uganda by the practical provision of visiting doctors and nurses to a remote hospital, supplemented by supplies of medical equipment unaffordable there.

It wasn’t all that serious, though! We had loads of great fun, terrific entertainment and most importantly the opportunity to meet up with our fellow Rotarians. The particular highlight we (Joan & I) had was to host one of the speakers at the conference, Lisa Morris (pictured). Lisa’s connection with Rotary came through going to South Africa as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar in 2004-5. She spoke at our District Conference in 2006, her warm Geordie dialect and effervescent personality captivating the audience. After she spoke my wife Joan (a previous President of our club) talked to her and was amazed to find that no one had asked her to join Rotary, a failing which she promptly rectified! At that time Lisa wasn’t able to join, but we signed her up as a “Friend of Rotary” – she’s helped us with collections, been to our social events and become a personal friend. Critically, Lisa plays netball and up to this year her team has always played on Wednesdays, our meeting night, which has not made it possible for her to join us. However, the team has had an outstanding season and will be promoted and thus playing on a different night. Last Friday we received her application to join our club and, all being well, will officially join us on April 7th. Lisa’s dynamism wowed the conference crowd in 2006 and again in 2010 – she’s just the person we need in Rotary and we’re immensely proud to have her with us.

Raising money for Polio Eradication

2010-03-07T12:02:00.004Z

My Rotary Club (Elthorne Hillingdon - www.hillingdonrotary.org.uk) ran a very special event to raise funds to help meet our commitment to the $200 million challenge set by Bill & Melinda Gates. Rotary in Britain and Ireland (RIBI) used the anniversary of the founding of Rotary (February 23^rd) to hold a week's worth of events (running from February 20^th to February 27^th) specifically with this objective.

On Saturday February 27^th we held a Gala event – three course dinner, plus a one-hour one-woman show, Royal Mistresses, starring Jean Heard, for the extremely reasonable price of £25 per head, with all profits from the ticket price, plus any additional efforts during the evening going towards the Gates Challenge. During the course of the evening we raised a total of £2,100, and our other activities during the week took us to £2,750.

This week, Rotary has been active with the UN & Red Cross in West Africa - targetting the inoculation of 87 million children - we hope this will stamp out this crippling disease from the area and make the whole of Africa polio-free.

Raising Money for Haiti

2010-03-07T11:53:00.004Z

The last month has seen us very active in raising money. We'd always planned to do a big event if February during "Thanks for Life" Week (celebrating the efforts of Rotary towards Polio eradication), but we were interrupted in our preparations by the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. With a quiz night and concert hastily organised we raised enough for 5 Shelterboxes. Founded by Cornish Rotarian Tom Henderson, ShelterBox responds instantly to disasters all around the world delivering aid as quickly as possible to the people who need it most. At a cost of £500 each, each box contains:

Shelter
At the heart of every ShelterBox is a ten-person tent. It is custom made for ShelterBox by Vango, one of the world's leading tent manufacturers, and is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high winds and heavy rainfall. Internally, each tent has privacy partitions that allow recipients to divide the space as they see fit.

A smile
Every box contains a children's pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. For children who have lost most, if not all,their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.

Warmth and protection
In addition to the tent, the boxes contain a range of other survival equipment including thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets, essential in areas where temperatures plummet at nightfall. Where malaria is prevalent mosquito nets are supplied, as well a life saving means of water purification. Water supplies often become contaminated after a major disaster, as infrastructure and sanitation systems are destroyed, this presents a secondary but no less dangerous threat to survivors than the initial disaster itself.

Self sufficiency
A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters can be found in every box. These items enable people to improve their immediate environment, by chopping firewood or digging a latrine, for example. Then, when it is possible, to start repairing or rebuilding the home they were forced to leave.

We raised £3,500 in a matter of weeks, to send seven Shelterboxes and help 70 people.With our neighbouring clubs sending a further 13, 200 people in the affected areas have somewhere to shelter from the elements.

“Thanks for Life” - Being on The Radio (Again!)

2010-02-04T18:36:00.002Z

Time to sing the praises again of the terrific volunteers who run our local radio stations Hillingdon Hospital Radio (www.radiohillingdon.co.uk) and Hayes FM (www.hayesfm.org), our local community station. As part of our Polio Eradication “Thanks for Life” initiative we’re making every effort we can to tell people what we do. So this week I’ve been on Hillingdon Hospital Radio on Tuesday and Hayes FM on Thursday. Thanks to presenters John Stanley and Gordon Baxter respectively for the welcome, the airtime and the very smooth way they handled it all. In case you missed it (and why did you?) the link below will take you to the full interview.

Eradicating Polio – a Work in Progress for 20 years

It’s now more than 20 years since Rotary International teamed up with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the US Centre for Disease Control to rid the world of poliomyelitis. This crippling disease, mostly affecting children, at that time claimed almost 1,000 children EVERY DAY. Now thanks to the efforts of 20 years, there are less than 1,600 cases per year and Polio remains endemic in only 4 countries in the world.

How has this been achieved?

In 1955, Jonas Salk developed a vaccine for polio, using deactivated virus. Albert Sabin followed in 1963 with an easy to administer oral active vaccine, which is also highly effective. Routine vaccination for polio is standard in many countries as a result. The last case of natural Polio infection in the UK was found in 1982, and ten years ago the continent of Europe was declared polio-free. But the fight goes on: one of the problems is that diseases don’t recognise land borders, so that even though many countries are no longer endemic, cases do occur as the disease (and carriers) cross boundaries to neighbouring countries, particularly those surrounding Nigeria; the ease of air travel also creates risks as well.

Thus the campaign goes on – despite the investment of more than $6 billion over twenty years ($850 million from Rotarians) we must completely finish the task – otherwise the work of twenty years will have been wasted.

Challenges to polio eradication

Health experts agree that these primary challenges must be overcome in order to reach the goal of polio eradication:

- Halting the spread of the poliovirus in the four remaining endemic countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan), which continue to export it to polio-free areas

- Curbing the intense spread of the poliovirus in northern Nigeria and western Uttar Pradesh, India

- Rapidly stopping polio outbreaks in previously polio-free countries

- Addressing low routine-immunization rates and surveillance gaps in polio-free areas

- Maintaining funding and political commitment to implement the eradication strategies

The Final Push

A key feature of Rotary’s commitment to the cause has been the input of individual Rotarians, giving of their time to travel to countires in needof assistance to help administer polio vaccine. Rotary’s own charity, The Rotary Foundation has been consistently committed to the provision of funds. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have saw for themselves the importance of completing the task of eradicating polio. Over the last 2 years they’ve committed into our care $355 million of their money, if Rotary raises $200 million. In a little over a year we reached $100 million of the target (October 2009).

Rotary in Britain & Ireland (RIBI) has designated one week in February (coincident with Rotary’s anniversary on FEbruray 23^rd) for a national effort to raise the profile of this campaign and to raise funds.

The Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon are running a dedicated event in February 2010, during “Thanks for Life” week (a Rotary in Britain & Ireland event), celebrating the work of Rotary in the effort to eradicate polio and pushing us further down the path of meeting our $200 million challenge. A Gala dinner, together with a one-hour one-woman show – Royal Mistresses starring local actress Jean Heard will be held on Saturday February 27^th. (Sorry, you can’t have a ticket, they’ve all gone!) Also on that day, our Rotarians will be in evidence at larger Tesco stores, distributing information and collecting donations (we’ll be at the Tesco store in Yeading). During the month of February we & the other Rotary Clubs in Hillingdon will also have a poster campaign in vacant shops – look out for our massive spread across the junction in Ruislip Manor if you’re in the area from Saturday 6 February.

On the road with Santa

2009-12-22T12:31:00.004Z

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

2009-12-02T14:09:00.011Z

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?

Thanks for Life - Thanks to Rotary - End Polio Now

2009-10-26T12:00:00.002Z

Rotary’s enduring goal for the past twenty years has been the eradication of Polio. For those of us in “Western” countries, polio has long been little more than a vaccination which everyone has, but it isn’t that long ago that the sight of children (and adults in later life) crippled by polio was common. I was reminded of this by a “friend” who dug out some old school pictures from my youth (thanks Alan!). For those who want a good laugh at my expense click here, or here, or even here. In a couple of the pictures there’s a guy who had a withered arm and leg (not that it’s obvious) – as a result of Polio. In the late 70’s I worked alongside another guy a little younger than me who wore a heavy caliper on his leg – as a result of Polio as a child. These sights are now thankfully rare here.

Polio is now endemic in only four countries, Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan – largely as a result of the outstanding efforts of Rotary International (in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the Centre for Disease Control). In the last twenty years, Rotarians have contributed more than $800 million towards the eradication of polio and moreover have given their time to give firsthand help to the teams immunising children in remote areas. In a couple of those countries where polio is still endemic there are big practical issues in getting the message (and the vaccine) delivered safely. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that immunising children (or even getting acceptance to do so) in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan is a challenging and dangerous exercise – to say the least! The other problem, of course, is that diseases don’t recognise land borders, so that even though many countries are no longer endemic, cases do occur as the disease (and carriers) cross boundaries to neighbouring countries, particularly those surrounding Nigeria.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have seen for themselves the importance of completing the task of eradicating polio. Over the last 2 years they’ve committed into our care $355 million of their money, if Rotary raises $200 million. In a little over a year we reached $100 million of the target (October 2009). To see more of the work of Rotary in this area watch this short video on YouTube. For what Bill Gates had to say to Rotary in January 2009, click here.

Help us to end polio – send a donation, or better still, come and join us and help us on an on-going basis. Send me a mail to find out more. You can make a donation of £5 easily by texting POLIO to 82010 (UK only).

The Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon will be running a dedicated event in February 2010, during “Thanks for Life” week (a Rotary in Britain & Ireland event), celebrating the work of Rotary in the effort to eradicate polio and pushing us further down the path of meeting our $200 million challenge. I’ll be posting details of this nearer the time.

Being on The Radio

2009-10-06T16:33:00.006+01:00

We’re trying to encourage people to join Rotary. It maybe not for everybody, but it’s surely for more people than currently belong. So many people have so much to give and we need them to come and help us. But how do we tell them why they should?

This conundrum reveals the principal reason for this blog, for this entry and why I’ve been hawking myself around the local radio stations to carry the message to as many people as possible. Being in the London suburbs, we don’t have too many stations devoted to our particular area, most cover the entire metropolis, and beyond, and also have little incentive to do much for the local community – their licence doesn’t demand that they do to and it doesn’t bring in any revenue – Q.E.D.!

The exceptions in our area, and where I’ve been made to feel really welcome, are Hillingdon Hospital Radio (good for a captive audience) and Hayes FM, our local community station. Both run by dedicated volunteers they were only too happy to spend 20 minutes talking about the Rotary movement, both locally and internationally. Click on the play button below to hear the full Hayes FM interview.

Visiting Other Rotary Clubs Abroad (The Greenings on Holiday)

2009-08-20T21:21:00.002+01:00

Being away on holiday (or business) gives the opportunity for another dimension to the benefits of being a Rotarian – meeting with members of other clubs in their own environment. Joan and I have been travelling – first to the Bahamas and now in Fort Myers, Florida, an area we know well, having been here every year since 2004 and which we like enough to have bought a house here.

In Nassau (Monday August 10th) we visited the Rotary Club of New Providence, a thriving and dynamic club with 40 members. In many ways, this club epitomises what Rotary should be – a representative selection of the professions in the community – lawyers, accountants, police officers for example, working members giving of their free time to serve. At any Rotary meeting you hear of the minutiae of what makes the club tick, the way the members respond to each other, the upcoming works in which they are involved – New Providence were looking for members to join in the project to renew the roof on a community building that weekend.

We were, as always, made most welcome by President Warren and his fellow members – in Rotary tradition we handed over a memento of our own club – a map of the area we cover (see picture of me with the club officers).

And so to Fort Myers, where we visited The Rotary Club of Fort Myers South on Monday 17th & 24th August. A regular visit for us, we’ve been visiting the club since 2005 when Joan was President of our club. This year our friend Victor Mayeron (proprietor of The Mucky Duck - Captiva's Dining Must!) is President of the club - leading almost 130 members in significant efforts for their community and beyond. On our visit on Monday August 17th they recognised the nine students at Berry University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Edison State College who will receive scholarships this year, variously funded by current Rotary members, in memory of past members and from the club’s own Foundation (as distinct from The Rotary Foundation). It is abundantly clear that the club is contributing massively in helping these disadvantaged students for whom a college education would otherwise be beyond reach.

It’s great to see how other Rotarians are helping those around them – great for us to see what ideas we might take on as well!!

"Strokes for The Stroke Association" - Our Charity Golf Day raises more than £9,000!

2009-07-22T16:59:00.003+01:00

Yesterday saw the 15th Annual Charity Golf day run by the Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon. Being President, I got to pick the charity that we give all the proceeds to. I picked The Stroke Association – and this is why:

Every five minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. That’s an estimated 150,000 people per year. In the last 5 years we’ve lost two of our members to Strokes. 20 years ago my father suffered the first of several strokes that took away his independence and blighted the last 7 years of his life. Last year a 57 year old work colleague was struck down – he’s struggling to walk and to return to work.

33 intrepid teams of 3 made their way round the Batchworth Park course, taking their part in a modified Stableford competition. It has become something of a tradition for us to have many returning corporate entries, who rate our day as the best organised they attend, and this year was no exception. Tube & Bracket company teams toned down their outfits for the day – they claimed the ‘men in black’ were so dressed in deference to the Credit Crunch. The weather was a little unkind, sporadic rain showers though did not dampen the enthusiasm of the teams for the competition.

There were winners – individual winners, team winners, booby prize winners. But much more important than the winning was the atmosphere – everyone having a great time in the knowledge that the outcome would be a substantial donation to an extremely worthwhile cause. Who knows, today we might have provided somebody with a life more worth living as a result of help from The Stroke Association.

My thanks go to everyone in our club, their partners and their friends, who turned out, as they always do, to measure longest drives and nearest pins, direct around the course, provide drinks, provide the best Tombola (on which our takings will be matched by Barclays Bank, to a £750 limit), mark scorecards and all the other jobs that make our day slick and enjoyable. Thanks to Batchworth Park (MY golf club) and its members for allowing us to take over the course for the day. Thanks particularly to every team for their entry - without you there would be no Golf Day. But special thanks to Terry Ruby & Tom Marsh, not forgetting Robin Burrows, for the dedication and diligence that has made this event so successful for so many years. This year has been especially challenging because of the economic climate – I’m very proud of the enormous efforts they put in to fill the card today.

I’ll update this post when we know the final outcome for the charity – we’re hoping for £7,500+.
GREAT NEWS!! - OUR TOTAL IS MORE THAN £9,000!!

The one downside of being on this side of the day is that I didn’t get to play – kept hoping a team would turn up one short – had my clubs in the car boot just in case – but no such luck.

My Rotary

2009-07-02T09:50:00.003+01:00

This is an edited version of the acceptance speech I gave at my installation as President at our changeover event Wednesday July 1.

"I’d like to thank the club for electing me as President for this year. I regard this as a singular honour and I will do my best to serve the club to the best of my ability. It’s also a particular pleasure to see so many friends – thank you all for being here.

Those of you that use the internet for shopping or booking holidays will have noticed that you generally have to create an account and this leads you into a part of the site called My Amazon, or My E-Bay. So, this evening I’d like to tell you about My Rotary. My Rotary starts when Joan first came along to talk to Elthorne Hillingdon and was subsequently asked to join. At that time I couldn’t quite see why she wanted to, and even less did I want to join her in meeting weekly with a bunch of Rotarians! But time moves on and things change. But why; why did I become a Rotarian?
- There’s the warmth of the welcome. Right from our first encounter, at Brendan (O’Rourke)’s President’s drinks I’ve always felt particularly welcome in this club
- There’s going to District Conference in Cardiff and discovering that this weekly dinner club was rather more than a bit of local fundraising – have to say that watching some of the presentations I’ve seen at District & RI conventions highlighting the extraordinary things that we do as an organisation is humbling – take Alan Wolstencroft’s work in Sierra Leone, to which we contributed last year, or RI President DK Lee’s memories of a mother with a dying child in Africa, for example
- I’ll draw a veil over my first Golf Day of which my memory is arriving back at the clubhouse teeth chattering and shivering all over having sat at the 17th in the freezing cold and drizzle all afternoon! Subsequent ones have been a whole lot better and I’m really looking forward to this year’s on Tuesday 21st July – if any of you can muster another team of three, we’d be really delighted
- There’s the simple things, like Gordon Sadler’s remarks on the video that we did for the silver ball celebrating 25 years of the club when he said that what he valued most from being a Rotarian was the fellowship & friendship
- There’s visiting Tanzania and South Africa on holiday and realising that the developed world needs to help the less fortunate
- There’s the unashamed pride in what Joan (Greening, my wife) achieved as the first lady President of the club (I am, of course, blessed to be the first President of this club to have succeeded their spouse in the role – I have no illusions about how hard an act that is to follow but no doubt that I will get from Joan all the support and strength that she has given me throughout our life together).

So I joined, and was honoured to be inducted by Joan – shortly before we went off to Chicago for the Centenary Convention – with 45,000 of our closest friends.

The closest friends things is what for me epitomises being a Rotarian – doesn’t matter where you are in the world, a local Rotary club will be delighted to have you visit and will share with you the same shade of camaraderie and insults as if you’d know them all your life. I’ve found this personally at clubs we’ve visited together in the US, Bermuda and elsewhere in the UK. Last year I did a 160 mile round trip to Dubai for the evening to attend the nearest Rotary club while I was working in Abu Dhabi – it was, as usual, well worth the trip.

So my Rotary is about belonging, being uplifted, in the company of like-minded friends, trying to be part of making the world we live in a better place and helping those in need. What I want above all from my year as President is that we start to move to a position where this club can continue to support the community and the world for another 30 years. This means that we must focus, above all else, on increasing our membership and on making ourselves attractive and accessible to a new generation of Rotarians.

I’m particularly heartened to see that the BBC seems to have started a subversive campaign to make Rotarians out of 6-10 year olds. Those of you with young children or grandchildren will be familiar with Tronji – the latest TV/game phenomenon for the 6-10 range. From the same stable as the Teletubbies and In the Night Garden it is taking the UK by storm – this year’s Xmas requests will all be Tronji related, you have been warned. What interests me is the parallel between Tronji world and My Rotary. Tronjis are seeking happiness in their world and in Peopleworld. They recruit from Peopleworld to help them in their goal, each using their own skill to help bring happiness about. There are clear moral, but non-denominational messages throughout the programme and a desire to inform. And then it struck me – the company behind this programme must be engaged in a secret putsch to build Rotary membership in the year 2040.

Now wouldn’t it be just typical of Rotary to have such a great idea and keep it a secret? Please don’t keep Rotary a secret – ask your closest friends and relatives to join. Those of you who are here tonight and are not yet Rotarians, we look forward to welcoming you into the Rotary family.

Thanks for listening (or in this case reading!), thanks being a part of this club – I hope you will all continue to be a part of us for a long time to come".

More on the RI Convention - Mia Farrow Headlines Day 3

2009-06-23T18:45:00.012+01:00

Day 2 included one of the highlights for any UK delegate – recognition of the outstanding work of RC Helston & Lizard with their baby, Shelterbox (www.shelterbox.org). Founder Tom Henderson spoke matter-of-factly of the incredible size of the achievements Shelterbox has achieved in the nine short years since it was conceived; Response teams sent to 57 countries; currently more than 1m people who call a Shelterbox tent home; most recent despatches to Sri Lanka to help those displaced by the action in the Tamil areas; in Pakistan and in Gaza. Shelterbox remains one of the few organisations sufficiently trusted to enter Burma following the catastrophic devastation there. Tom focussed though, on the conduit that allows his teams to function effectively – the 32,000 Rotary clubs that can provide real, current information on what is really happening and required. Truly – ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

For me though, the theme that came through loud and clear in Day 2 and 3 was of the intrinsic linkage between the individual themes that Rotary has set – Polio eradication, projects in Water, Health & Hunger and Child Mortality.

Clarissa Brocklehurst from UNICEF, talking on Water, Hygiene and Sanitation, or as she preferred it, Taps, Soap & Toilets, spelled out some simple facts – the vastly prevalent cause of child illness comes from lack of clean water supplies – 88% of infant diarrhoea-related illness (that kill) stem from lack of water & inadequate sanitation. This includes water-borne polio. 2.5 billion people in the world have inadequate sanitation, 1.2 billion have none (Yes, NONE). 1.2 million children die in this way each year. And yet all of this can be solved by simple, traditional technologies.

In most places where water supply is at a distance, water is carried by women and young children. Typically this is at the cost of their education. Yet the children of educated and literate mothers suffer illness less. This seems like a breakable cycle to me!

Many speakers dwelt on the need for us to complete the task of polio eradication, and on the recognition that the work of Rotary has received from world leaders and governments. We have only four countries to go (in terms of endemic polio) but cannot rest – outbreaks in those four countries can infect neighbouring countries as well – diseases do not recognise borders!

This work could not continue without the support of the Rotary Foundation, our own charity. The global economic crisis has meant that we have had to trim our programmes somewhat, but we still have outstanding achievements to recognise – 100,000 in the Dominican Republic who now have access to water, 23 schools, housing 12,000 students in Sri Lanka. Just a couple of the 2,500 matching grants projects funded by Foundation each year. However, we cannot rest – as Foundation Chair Jonathan Majiyagbe commented on the economic crisis – “those who are suffering the most are those who already had the least”.

Jonathan’s words were echoed by Tuesday’s highlight speaker, Mia Farrow. A polio victim at the age of nine, Ms Farrow knows only too well what the eradication of the disease will mean. Adopted parent of a paraplegic Indian polio victim (amongst her 14 children) she has put her own life and heart into helping others. A UNICEF ambassador, she drew us in with her lighthearted tour of her early career and life before silencing us with her heart-rending stories from the atrocity-ridden Darfur region. A compelling speaker with a compelling message – we must move our governments to do more.

Conventional? - Not on Your Life! - UN Secretary-General at Rotary Convention

2009-06-21T22:34:00.003+01:00

There’s nothing so invigorating as seeing Rotarians celebrating Rotary and nowhere more exciting to do that than the annual Rotary International Convention. Returning to Birmingham after 25 years, the NEC has provided an ideal venue for this year’s convention.

Amongst the 20,000 delegates from Rotary’s 154 countries, four Rotarians and their partners from Elthorne Hillingdon made the short journey up the M1 (or M40). Basing ourselves in Coventry, a short rail journey from the NEC looked like a good idea and would have been had it not been for a complete absence on Sunday of suitable rail services to get us there on time!! That, though, was the only issue with the arrangements. Registration and logistics could not have been better organised, setting things up beautifully for the opening plenary session. Complete with razzamatazz that would have graced the West End stage, our entertainment was drawn from our UK host country and our President’s native Korea. A succession of superb acts followed one another, from Morris, Scottish and Irish dancing through Korean opera singers and drum dancers and the band of the Coldstream Guards. Closing the entertainment programme, Birmingham’s Youth Choir were joined by Korea’s Little Angels in “You Raise Me Up” – which could well be a strapline for Rotarians the world over!

The serious business of convention on Day 1 was in the hands of RI President DK Lee, who spoke movingly of his hopes for a reduction in child mortality born from his unforgettable visit to an African village and seeing the issue first-hand. President DK was somewhat upstaged by his fellow-countryman, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. A surprise addition to the programme, Excellency Moon congratulated Rotary on the progress we have made, in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, in reducing the incidence of Polio to just four countries.

It’s only when you look around a convention hall like this, at the number of Rotarians each doing their bit to help the world that you realise just how much poorer the world would be without Rotary.

"Club Assembly" (Our Programme for the coming year)

2009-06-05T18:33:00.001+01:00

Last Wednesday we had our “Club Assembly”. This is an important date in the Rotary calendar as the new leadership team presented the club with their plans and ambitions for the year (our year runs from 1 July to 30 June). Amongst the things we’ll be doing will be:

· Eradicating polio

In February 2010, we’ll be supporting Rotary’s “Thanks for Life Week” (21-27 February 2010) which will culminate in a gala event (for the whole of the UK) to which Bill Gates has been invited. We’ll be working to raise the profile of our work in PolioPlus and raise funds towards Rotary’s commitment to match the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donation. Within our club we’ll be planning a specific event for this week.

· Advancing the recognition and public image of Rotary

We’ll be increasing our efforts to make us more visible in the community. We’re updating our website and working with our local press connections.

· Expanding/using Rotary's unique vocational service commitments

We shall be maintaining our fine programme of work, run by Rotarians using their own talents, with young people through Rotary’s Youth Speaks competition, working with schools on improving Literacy, helping budding school leavers with Mock Interviews and running a Photography competition for schools. We will also be maintaining our work in our local community through our Stroke Awareness campaign and by providing transport for Seniors.
We’ll be searching out a flagship project internationally in one of Rotary’s key target areas of Water, Health & Hunger .

- Membership

We’re targeting to increase the membership of our club by 10% during this coming year

During the year I’ll be giving updates on what we’re doing and how we’re getting on.

Play up Pompey!

2009-06-05T18:31:00.001+01:00

Over the weekend of 29-31 May, I led a party of 21 Rotarians and their partners on a weekend of exploration and enjoyment based in the Queen's Hotel, Southsea (we rated it "Excellent). Our destination was the choice of President Derek Knight (we have a "President's Weekend" away every year). Assembling during the course of Friday and following dinner in the hotel we were treated to the talents of Madeleine Salvetti, a Blue Badge guide who came to us through Portsmouth’s excellent Information Services. Madeleine took us on a virtual tour of Portsmouth through the ages, which proved to be an invaluable tool for our time in the city.

Saturday was spent in and around the Historic Dockyard and Spinnaker Tower. The gorgeous weather gave us the perfect setting for a day outside – don’t miss either of these if you’re in the area. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending our dinner venue either, Bistro Montparnasse was a truly exhilarating end to the day – this must be one of the (if not THE) top restaurants in the area – food was imaginative, exciting and the service impeccable. This place must be in line for a Michelin star at some stage. Tell them we sent you!

Sunday saw us over to the Isle of Wight on the hovercraft, on the Island Line train to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and thence by a short coach tour to Osborne House for lunch and the afternoon. The continued superb weather was perfect for another day mostly outside enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of England (ah that nostalgic whiff of coal and steam smoke that took us all back to the bygone days of our youth!). Dinner in Annie Croft’s cellar at Lemon Sole provided yet another fitting culinary end in a very different setting to an excellent day. If you love fish – go here.

And so back to reality on Monday for all of us. A group of Rotarians doing what comes naturally – enjoying each other’s company and fitting a lot into a short time!

Who Needs Rotary?

2009-05-10T10:58:00.004+01:00

Going to Rotary meetings at District level can usually be relied on to give me a lift about why I’m in Rotary and yesterday’s District Assembly was no exception. Around 280 of us squeezed into the Majedski Theatre at Reading University to go through how our District intends to support us over the coming year and what particular emphasis is preferred. We saw evidence of the power of Rotary in the words of Bill Gates – see video footage of his announcement of a further $250 million of support for our work towards the eradication of Polio worldwide and his passion for helping us achieve this goal – and this is man who isn’t even a Rotarian – he just believes in the integrity and worth of our organisation. We were also reminded by incoming Rotary International President John Kenny that the work of Rotary is rooted in the strength of each and every Rotary club – kind of makes it seem quite important that those of use taking up office in July do something worthwhile, then!

We also saw a video clip entitled featuring the work of Rotary, particularly with children around the world, to “You Raise Me Up” – brought a tear to my eye – and I was not alone – when we’ve checked the copyright use I’m hoping to include it here.

Update - the video has now been remastered with a different track to overcome copyright issues. Watch this - oh & by the way - have that box of tissues handy!!

I’ll be saying more about the specifics of the worthwhile things we’ll be attempting for the next year during the coming weeks, together with more about our continuing work on Polio.

Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon AGM

2009-05-07T13:55:00.001+01:00

Big step forward last night. We’ve confirmed the team that will be leading the club through its various aspects in the coming year. I’ve been very lucky to assemble a very strong team to help me. In addition to my already-elected successors David Thorpe and Norman Jones, with Alan Lane as Treasurer and Alan Prue as Secretary (together with current President Derek Knight);

Joan Greening will be dealing with our efforts to recruit more Rotarians and in publicising our work;
Terry Ruby will be leading our Fundraising efforts and our work with and for the Rotary Foundation;
Mike Udall will be taking our Service Projects forward.

In the next couple of weeks we’ll be putting our programme for the year starting July 1st together – most of us are off to our District Assembly on Saturday where we’ll be sharing our ideas with those of others in the District (1090 - from the Western edges of London out to Oxford to the NW and West towards Swindon)

For starters........

2009-05-02T17:30:00.001+01:00

This blog is meant to be multi-purpose. It’s intended to: keep members of the Rotary Club of Elthorne Hillingdon up to date with what their mad President for 2009-2010 is up to/thinking about in the run-up to and during his Presidential year; and also to keep casual observers up to date with what Rotary is about, why we’re important contributors to the communities of the world in our own small ways and finally to occasionally (perhaps) mildly amuse anyone who reads it

To find out more about our club, click here click here. For the latest news feed from Rotary International go here