The David Digest. District Governor s Newsletter

Transcription

1 The David Digest District Governor s Newsletter September New Generations. Building Communities, Bridging Continents T he first two months have passed very quickly and from the 22 clubs visited so far, the enthusiasm for the year ahead is absolutely wonderful and I am sure it is the same over the whole District. The clubs visited during August included Brixton, Hammersmith, Chelsea, Snaresbrook & Wanstead, Canary Wharf, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Chiswick & Brentford, The City and Shoreditch, Bush Hill Park, Greenwich and Chingford. Again, both Carole and myself were made most welcome and it was wonderful to note that all the clubs had good programmes planned for the year and all the members were looking forward to a successful year. Rotary in London Magazine. Following the death of our Editor the late Len Gibbs, PDG Alan Coleman has agreed to assist with the production of the next edition. With the help of a small committee, Alan hopes to get the next edition out very shortly. Inner Wheel. No reports have been submitted, but again please remember that any female relative of a Rotarian can join Inner Wheel. For further information, please contact IPDC Valerie Bunn Wansfell@aol.com Rotaract. The theme for 2010/2011 is Rotaract. Think About It! which aims to raise the profile of Rotaract amongst Rotarians in the District and to get active support for existing clubs and help form new clubs. Future events: September (TBC) - Rotaract District Fundraiser for National Deaf Children s Society by HH&GG

2 Page 2 David Digest September 2010 News from the Committees: Community & Vocational Key Dates: October 5 th Vocational Service Seminar, RIBI, Alcester April 9 th 2011 Rotary Health Day May 7 th Rotary Environment Day June 8 th Rotary Kids Out Day The committee will be collating feedback from clubs who participated in 2010 Kids Out and Rotary Health Day, analyse feed-back and make any necessary changes for 2011 activity It will also undertake a similar exercise with Dictionaries4Life Events Key District Events for this half year are: Focus on the Crocus Trafalgar Square 1 st October. District Council at ISH on 6 th October. Pall Mall Charter Evening 9 th October. District Conference at Eastbourne 15 th to 17 th October. RIBI President s visit to District. 21 st to 24 th November. PEPS York Gate, Thursday 7th December. Carol Service. Monday December 13 th at St Marylebone Church. Next half year: New Year Day Parade (TBA) AGs training - York Gate, all day, Saturday 12th February. Young Chef Final, Saturday 12 th February. Youth Speaks Final, Saturday 19 th February. District Council at ISH on 24 th February. DOTS - York Gate, Tuesday 1st March Youth Makes Music, Monday 14 th March Dragon Boat Race, Sunday 15 th May. District Council at ISH on 19 th May. District Quiz Final, Tuesday 24 May. Sports Dinner, Tuesday, 7 th June. 2

3 Page 3 David Digest September District Conference Date 15 th to 17 th October at Eastbourne. Additional items: Saturday afternoon debate will be chaired by Rotarian Stephen Pound, MP for Ealing North House of Friendship will be called London Showcase, project managed by AG Alan O Neill. Registration fee for Friday, Saturday and Sunday is 45 pp, after 17 th September, this rises to 55 pp. Foundation Polio returns for from clubs would be re-examined to ensure that contributions to the campaign had not been accidentally overlooked. Dollar contributions returns from clubs would be re-examined to ensure all figures for were Accurate. A-Z of Foundation to be produced for distribution to each club to inform members about Foundation s role International The focus would be to visit as many clubs as possible to explain the role of the committee and to secure continuing support for Shelter Boxes. Youth Opportunities Youth Speaks, Young Chef, Young Writer, and Young Photographer. Each of these competitions will have Finals in 2011 Membership Services A Rotary Alumni gathering will take place at York Gate on September 23 rd. There will also be a reception at York Gate for new members, (date to be confirmed). 3

4 Page 4 David Digest September 2010 New Club Development. IPDG Martin has been appointed the New Club Liaison Officer and he will take on special responsibility for Pall Mall, Surrey Quays, Queensbury, Tower Bridge, and Newham. Martin will work alongside Leonard Specterman and David Smith. Stratford a new club was in early stages of creation Communications Thanks for Life Campaign has been launched for the second year, Focus on the Crocus with a launch of crocus planting activity in Trafalgar Square on 1 st October and RIBI looking to get into the Guinness Book of Records with record number of crocuses planted. Communications Rally in the autumn Plan is to link up with international Rotary campaigns including the final inch Polio activity London Olympics Eve with Clive Amos attended meeting with Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. London Olympics Rotary is not a corporate sponsor, its direct involvement in the games is as a body of volunteers No free tickets to watch events Rotary is invited to organise community events in support of the Olympics Thames Pageant involving all the Rotary clubs along the river will be developed London Olympic Games Organising Committee representative to address District Council. News from the Clubs. The Rotary Club of Chelsea and The London European Orchestra join together to present an evening of musical masterpieces in aid of Trinity Hospice. Enrico Marconi has collaborated with M Antonio Pappano with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He has worked with artists such as Placido Domingo, Byrn Terfel and Y. Bronfmann. He is the principal conductor of the Music Fest Perugia, a piano festival he co-founded. Georges-Emmanuel Schneider studied under Ruggiero Ricci for 8 years. His repertoire features the Bartók solo sonata in its original version. Described by Kurt Pahlen in 2003 as one of the best violinists of his generation, Schneider has a unique talent for sharing the emotions of music with the audience. Rohan de Saram has performed with top world-class orchestras performing in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. He made his debut at the Carnegie Hall in 1960 with the New York Philharmonic, playing Khachaturian s Cello Concerto under the baton of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. Until 2005 he performed in the 4

5 Page 5 David Digest September 2010 Arditti Quartet. Ivo Varbanov studied with Hungarian pianist Ylonka Deckers and at the Royal Academy of Music on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship. In 2001 he formed the Voland Quartet, a two pianos and percussion ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Carnegie Recital Hall and the Philharmonic Hall in St Petersburg. Trinity Hospice provides the only service in our community dedicated to delivering specialist care for people at the end of life, meeting the physical, practical, emotional and spiritual needs of an individual. Trinity cares for over 2,000 people every year in their homes and in our inpatient centre. Booking: Contact Rtn. Urs. Halter: bushalter@o2.co.uk or from the Cadogan Hall tele: or online or direct from Trinity Hospice by contacting Julia at Jphillips@trinityhospice.org.uk or Special 35 tickets which include entrance to the Conductor s Party and drinks are only available from Trinity Hospice. National appeal. Pakistan Floods The worst floods for 80 years have devastated large areas of Pakistan killing 2000 and affecting 20 million people who have had to flee their homes. The news from the Districts is that Rotarians have responded quickly to the request for clean water and shelter by supporting the box projects. Lifestraws, initially sent 3000 straws via Lifebox and since then have sent their total stock of 11,000 which equates to 7,000,000 litres of drinking water. The straws are ideally suited to this crisis as it allows the user to take surface water, pass it through the filter and drink it. Water Survival Box, have been working tirelessly with their partners Humanity First UK to get much needed supplies to where it s needed most. So far 400 Water Survival Boxes have been despatched. The following was received from Humanity First UK: Once again, WorldWaterWorks Limited has come up trumps with its Rotary Water Survival Boxes. The devastating floods in Pakistan have left millions displaced and destitute. Your boxes are helping them to cope in difficult conditions in places such as Muzaffargarh, Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar and Dera Ghazi Khan. The speed of your response has allowed us to get these boxes to the needy within days of the disaster. ShelterBox, have responded magnificently as always. They sent 1000 tents which will house up to 10,000 people who have lost their homes. This is in addition to the emergency goods which are contained in the Shelterbox which is almost always first to disaster areas. Lifebox, have been transporting Life Straws. Aquabox, has agreed to send 30,000 of Aquaboxes and Aquafilter and they continue to need our support. They have asked that any boxes which are with clubs or schools should be returned as soon as possible to help the effort. Impact Foundation, which Rotary has supported in India, has a man, on the ground, who has set up a camp for 2500 people supplying tents. He speaks the language and is aware of the local culture which is beneficial in this situation. The tents which cost of 65 are all made locally so this also helps the local economy. Donations to these charities should be sent to them direct and not to RIBI. President Jim Moulson has launched a Pakistan Flood Appeal, which will be administered by the RIBI Donations Trust, to support long term sustainable projects which will be required to help rebuild devastated communities. All donations to this appeal should be made payable to the RIBI Donations Trust and sent c/o RIBI, Kinwarton Road, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 6PB. 5

6 Page 6 David Digest September 2010 Next Issue: The next issue will be published during the first weeks of October. Keep up the good work - Build your communities and Bridge those Continents. David S. District Headquarters 6 York Gate, London NW1. Tele: secretary@rotaryinlondon.org. District Governor: dg@rotaryinlondon.org. 6