April Fools Day is still alive.

April Fools Day lives on. Many of the more mature readers will remember a famous BBC broadcast, back in the days of black and white pictures, of the spaghetti harvest with scenes of orchards of trees festooned in bunches of pasta laces ready for harvesting. Broadcast on 1st April 19??.
Rumour has it that a well-known Rotary club secretary devised a new Rotary Logo for a novel ‘friendship’ group, which was to promote the idea of Rotarians cycling to meetings. It consisted of two Rotary roundels/wheels being used as wheels of a bicycle with a free-drawn frame superimposed.
This was sent by email to RIBI marketing department. The response was immediate and ‘reprimanding’, pointing out that the logo contravened all accepted RI rules on the use of Rotary emblems etc. “Please redesign the logo so that it abides by the constraints of RI rules”.
When it was pointed out by someone else, that the email was sent on April 1st, the recipient humbly apologised and agreed that he had been “had”.
Who said that there is no fun in Rotary and that we cannot accept when we make mistakes?

WE'VE DONE IT !!!

We did it !! And there’s more to come.

Twelve months ago Rotary clubs throughout Britain and Ireland were taking on the challenge of raising £1million in a week to help Rotary International achieve its aim of ridding the world of the last few cases of Polio and producing a Polio-Free world.
This week is was announced that the sum already accounted for, that clubs have raised during the last week of February this year, has exceeded the target. Yes, and there is still more to come. How much more, you ask? Only time will tell.

Plymouth Lord Mayor shows an interest in Rotary projects.

Wow! What a week we are having! “Thanks for life – End Polio Now” week is well under way and will not finish until 28th February. All over Cornwall, Plymouth and West Devon the Rotary clubs of District 1290 have been taking the message into schools, clubs and to the general public. What ‘Message’? Raising the awareness and knowledge of how the crippling and life-threatening disease of Polio has done to generations of people here in Western Europe, has been afflicting children all over the world until recent years and now remains in just four small pockets worldwide.
Thanks to the work of Rotary, the generosity of Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation and money donated by people in every corner of the world, where Rotary clubs exist Polio is almost a thing of the past. Very soon we will be able to say “Good bye Polio – Thanks Rotary”.
If you did not see the great activity that went on throughout our area on Tuesday, keep your eyes open for the collectors who will be stationed at Tesco stores on Saturday 27th.

Yes! I said ShelterBox as Hospital wards!

So! What's this? Twice in one evening!

I did not show this image in my earlier writing. It has just come through to me. This lad has lost part of a leg and a ShelterBox is his cubicle in the hospital!

Rotary does it again!

Once more Rotary and Rotarians lead the way in humanitarian aid. The devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has killed more than a thousand people and left an estimated 2.5 million people homeless, has dominated our news recently. What has not been so well publicised, though, is that Rotary’s own ShelterBox had response teams there within 36 hours and now more than 1000 boxes have arrived and are being used as hospital wards as well as shelter for those who lost everything.
If any of you have been to a supermarket over the past few days, it is quite likely that you will have found a team of Rotarians armed with collecting tins and buckets outside the main doors. Some will have had a demonstration ShelterBox on display, as well!
Many, many, many thanks for the amazing sympathy and generosity shown by the public. The message is coming from all quarters that sums between £1500 and £2000 have been given by you in a single day. You have helped Rotary and ShelterBox make like more bearable for so many unfortunate people. The task is not finished. There is still a long way to go. Please continue with your support.

Yes! I’m back again! It’s been too long since I put something on the web. My unexpected stay in hospital, some eleven days, knocked the stuffing out of me. Three or four weeks of enforced inactivity, afterwards, left a backlog of Rotary ‘duties’ and visits to be caught up on. Now I am almost restored to strength, it is ‘head down and get on with it’.
All the Rotary clubs in our district were fully occupied over the Christmas period and large sums of money were collected, to be used to provide support and aid to a wide variety of good causes. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard and to the great generosity of the public, who, despite the tightening of our belts because of the financial situation, gave freely and in many cases more than last year. If I learn of exactly how much was raised by our 41 clubs, I will let you know.
Now! Happy New Year to everyone. Are you keeping to those resolutions? A new year and a chance to renew the efforts. There is a lot planned for the coming months.
Watch this space. Sorry - no 'photo.

Thanks for Life

Hi there happy reader! Yesterday I suggested a search engine entry. Even better, try typing in ‘Thanks for Life’ and see what you get. You will be led to a range of pages that will tell you what Rotary is doing around Great Britain and Ireland and several links for individual Rotary clubs and what they are planning. Having seen it, why not get in touch with your nearest club to see what you can do to help.

Spot the difference! Is this a Cornish Chough?

Don’t say I didn’t tell you! A much more mundane two weeks have gone by! Not to say that I have been sitting at home doing nothing or haven’t driven very far. The Government is certainly getting more than its fair share of income from me in the form of Fuel Tax and VAT, especially as the price of petrol is rising rapidly again. But all these journeys have been smooth, even if I did get held up by tractors and roadworks!
I have kept up the pace with visiting Rotary Clubs around Cornwall, none in Plymouth or Devon, recently. I have also been up to Alcester, to the Headquarters of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. I was there for a day long committee meeting to discuss the progress being made and future plans for the various activities and projects being undertaken by Rotary Clubs in these isles to help the youth and elderly, the disadvantaged and those in need, of our own communities and those abroad. What a lot is being done! I might be accused of bias but I have to say “Well done, Rotary”.
I was amazed at just how much was done to help the victims of the flooding in the Severn Valley and in the North East and, of course, the international aid to disasters around the world being provided by Rotary’s flagship programme, ShelterBox.
Competitions for young people in the areas of music, singing, public speaking, cooking, technology and art, to name a few, are all about to get underway again very soon. Watch out for news items in the press and on the TV.
Of course, 24th October was World Polio Day. Not really a celebration. It is more of a recognition of the fact that, although we in Western Europe have not seen an epidemic of Polio for more than 50 years – in fact, many of our younger generation don’t even recognise the name or know what Polio is – there have been some 1000 new cases registered in a small part of northern India, in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, so far this year. Rotary International has been working with WHO and UNICEF since 1985 to try to eliminate Polio worldwide. They have almost achieved their goal but the final push has to be made. Type ‘End Polio Now’ into your search engine and you will be given dozens of links that will tell you more of what is being done by Rotary and its partners. Go on! Give it a go!
Even better still, get involved.

Who Chose the wrong days? Weather-wise!

Thank goodness my back was up to doing some driving, having covered almost 700 miles visiting Rotary clubs and functions since making myself return to operative-mode. This included five meetings in six days! It was especially good, though, to be present at one Rotary club’s 50th anniversary celebration. There was a splendid five-course meal, if you include the birthday cake, interspersed with musical entertainment. It was all concluded with dancing until 1.00 am, at least for the young and fit!
The joint venture between another Rotary club and the local branch of the Soroptimists was a tremendous success financially, as well as being real fun. I have learned that the proceeds of the collection made in Dingles, Plymouth and the Celebration of Youth Music Concert have enabled a cheque for £5000 to be donated to The Precious Lives Appeal. Well done everyone concerned. Rotary is certainly proud of your efforts.
Early this week, I was setting off from Newquay airport to fly to the Isles of Scilly to visit the Rotary club on St Mary. It was a little cloudy but calm and we all had some good views of the north coast of Cornwall on the way down. I had not been to St Mary for over twenty years and it was almost as though time had stood still. Hugh Town was much as I remembered it. After a good meal, lots of fellowship and some good story telling, I crept back into the hotel to try to get some much needed sleep - after dosing myself up with the cocktail of painkillers given me by the doctor.
The next morning was grey, very wet and windy! After a late breakfast, I sat in the lounge having a cup of coffee when I managed to just hear an interview on Radio Scilly, in which my visit to the Rotary Club of The Isles of Scilly was mentioned. Gosh! I never expected to be famous enough to have my visit recorded on radio!
By lunchtime panic began to set in. I learned that there had been no flights to or from the islands because of the weather. Was I going to get home? Luckily, the weather improved and by mid afternoon the planes were shuttling back and forth in an attempt to catch up on the schedule.
I eventually took off about 45 minutes late. And what a flight! The little 16-seater was being buffeted about by the wind while stationary on the ground, with the wind getting under the broad, flat wings. Getting airborne was not too bad but once up we were certainly driving along a road with a lot of big potholes!
Then landing at Newquay was an experience I will remember all my life. I could see the lights on the runway ahead through the cockpit windows and they swung from one side to the other, disappearing either side of the plane. It was rather like sitting on a float and sliding down one of those snaking water chutes at a summer theme park. Or, imagine being a counter coming down a snake on a Snakes and Ladders board. Just before touch down the plane was facing the runway at about 45 degrees and at the last moment the pilot deftly threw the plane round to land in a straight line. As we slowed and came under full control, there was an automatic, spontaneous round of applause from all the passengers, which included Andrew George, the MP for West Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly. I reckon the flight matched the excited discussions at his meetings, mainly concerning the upgrading of the Ferry Link.
I bet the next blog-bit will not be anywhere near as adventurous!

We have a good laugh in Rotary - as well as work hard

The end of September draws near. It won’t be long before Rotary clubs all around the country will making final touches to their plans for the Christmas activities; parties, celebrations, carol concerts and major collections by going door to door with Father Christmas and his sleigh or having them outside supermarkets and in shopping precincts.
It was good to see Rotary working with yet another charitable organisation. After recently joining forces with the Oddfellows to run the Young Singer of The Year Competition, one Rotary club has worked with Soroptimists International, Plymouth Branch. They had a ‘Wishing Tree’ in Dingles for five and a half days and then put on a ‘Celebration of Youth Music’ in Theatre 1, The Levinsky Building, at Plymouth University. It was a wonderful display of the full range of musical talents of young people. Both of these raised much-needed funds for The Precious Lives Appeal of Children’s Hospice South West. You will have seen the news item on TV showing the first turf being cut ready to make a start on the new facility being built near St Austell, Little Harbour.
I was delighted to be asked to take part in Plymouth High School for Girls’ “Shake, Rattle and Role” - Social Enterprise Day Activity. This was organised by the Tamar Business Education Partnership. As a representative of ShelterBox, I, and another, gave a presentation to a class of girls about the work of ShelterBox. The girls were set in groups, and each group then had to devise a presentation of their own which was to persuade the general public to make donations to our cause. Similar things were happening in three other rooms with Water Aid, Jeremiah’s Journey and Transplant Sport UK as other organisations taking part.
The winner in each charity group then went forward to a “Final”, in the afternoon, which was judged by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Plymouth.
The rest of my week, after that, was spent mostly in a horizontal position suffering from some awful back pain. Vast quantities of prescribed painkillers and much laziness appear to have produced the desired effect and I am now about to restart my routine of visits to clubs and other activities.