Visiting Other Rotary Clubs Abroad (The Greenings on Holiday)

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!

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

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

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

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)

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!

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!