Rotary Club of Gloucester

Yuims Akhtar, mine host of Gloucester's New Inn - the club's present venue - has been so impressed with Rotary's onging humanitarian work that he and his wife has supported our club's charity fund with a generous contribution. Here we see Yuims handing over a cheque to club President Robert Hall.

A FACT-PACKED overview of the consequences of last year's catastrophic floods in Gloucester and Tewkesbury was given to club members by Chris Griffin, deputy chief of the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Services.

He said that the deluge in July had come after the wettest 12 weeks on record and when the ground was already saturated. Heavy rain in Wales had also added to the problems.
During the immediate flood period his service took 17,500 telephone calls of which 2,500 were received in just 24 hours, they had attended 1,400 incidents, deployed 20 rescue boats and rescued 529 people.

His service co-ordinated the work not only of statutory agencies but also voluntary organisations and put saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure services such as electricity and water top of the priority list.

Chris said the Mythe Water Works at Tewkesbury, which was flooded and out of action, served 155,000 households and 350,000 people.

During the period from the 22/23 July to August 1 five million bottles of water were distributed and more than a 1,000 bowsers deployed (not all of which were returned).
He said that without the help of the military the disaster could not have been managed. Such was the scale of the problem that an army unit destined for Afghanistan was diverted to duties here in Gloucestershire.

Nowhere was their contribution more critical than at the Walham National Grid station which distributed power to 600,000 properties in the county and which had prompted fears of a potential countywide evacuation.

To ensure its continued operation a kilometre of flood defences were built in nine hours by personnel from all over the country, six high volume pumps were deployed and fire and rescue crews remained in situ for five days.

Just under 200 metres away the Castlemeads Electricity sub-station, which served 55,000 properties, lost power but was up and running again only 15 hours later.
Chris's presentation was absolutely superb and gave us a fascinating insight into how the Fire and Rescue Service dealt with emergencies as Gloucestershire's flooding drama unfolded last July.

It is thanks to those like Chris and the many others (including an Italian hovercraft) who came to the aid of striken local residents that the flooding problems were handled as well as they were and only one person died in the actual floods.
An incredible effort for which we thank you.

Richard Graham, one of two newcomers to our club, appears to be the sort of member whose been there, seen it ...and got the t-shirt to prove it. In response to a request for a few details of his life so far Richard writes:

"I was brought up in the North Cotswolds, cycling miles to pick fruit and peas for pocket money as a boy, and have had a base within 20 miles of Gloucester all my life, as do my parents, one sister and my brother.

"I won a history exhibition to Oxford, flew in the University Air Squadron, won a prize from Harold Macmillan and played four sports for the university. But I enjoyed most captaining the Christ Church cricket team from digs opposite the ground, and next door to the Cricketers Arms. "I swore I wouldn't work in the City then, and 'fled the creditors to the colonies' to work with Swires, mostly as an airline manager with Cathay Pacific. I lived in several different countries, learnt languages and travelled all over the place. When Mitterrand was nationalising banks (sound familiar?) I was general manager in France, and then in the Philippines. Here the days were livelier - strikes, death threats, a deportation order, Marcos and his gold and cricket under gunfire. Happy days.

"I thought it was time for more of this and less of airlines and became a diplomat, serving in Kenya, Hong Kong and China, organising programmes and writing speeches and reports for Mrs T, Geoffrey Howe and Douglas Hurd. These were the days of ending apartheid, ending civil war in Uganda and handing over Hong Kong and building bridges with China. I was latterly consul for Macao and British Trade Commissioner China.

"Returned to London where I joined Barings to open the first investment banking group office in China. Ran the office for four years, listing the only British joint venture on the Shangahi Stock exchange and the first Chinese company on the London Stock Exchange. Founded and chaired the British Chamber of Commerce and refounded and captained the Shanghai Cricket Club (a side of eight nationalities, but the real challenge was translating the rules into Mandarin). Best of all my wife Anthea missed the flight to Hong Kong and gave birth to the first British baby born in China since the Revolution.

"Met Anthea in Kenya. She was waterskiing on one ski between hippos and crocs and got engaged a fortnight later. We married on April Fools Day with a guard of honour of Maasai warriors. Anthea ran the Welfare Group of the Shanghai Expats, and saw a lot (too many) Chinese orphans which led to the charity Care 4 Children - the first UK charity foster care programme which joint ventured with the Chinese government.

"Left China the same day as Chris Patten. Been with Baring Asset Management in London ever since, rebuilding the business post which was Nick Leeson's own goal. Was on the China Britain Business Council, chair the IFSL Pensions Group, advised the Shadow Cabinet on pensions, stood for the European Parliament for the SW of England in 2004, became a councillor and then decided to stand for Parliament - only in my home county. Selected by Gloucester December 2006. Currently renovating a house in Westgate, and spend as much of Thursday evening to Sunday evening in Gloucester. Elevated to the Gloucester Rotary Club last month!

"The story continues........

MARK Hurrell is no stranger to our Rotary Club both as a speaker and a guest at club events and - as before- he provided plenty of food for thought when he spoke at a lunchtime meeting earlier this month.

Mark, who is in charge of BBC Radio Gloucestershire, has been living in Gloucester for 18 years although he's only been in charge of the local radio station for nearly six. His working life started in the oil industry but he joined the BBC as a presenter in 1978. His career has included a brief spell on Radio One as well as four years in television in Bristol.

Although he's had immense experience on several stations over many years Mark told us he has a particular affinity to Gloucester where he lives with his wife Julia and their two sons.
In his spare time Mark is an ardent supporter of the Cherry and Whites as well as classical singing.

Mark had a particular reason to smile when he spoke at the club since, according to the latest listener survey, 100,000 people now tuned into Radio Gloucestershire regularly.
This had been achieved with a staff of only 35 although this number was being reduced by two as a result of BBC cutbacks.

Mark thought the upswing in local listeners might be due to the role local radio played during the summer floods of last year.

No fewer than 12,000 people contacted BBC Radio Gloucestershire at the height of the July floods, there were millions of hits on the firm's website and the station continued to broadcast for far more hours than usual.

He said that his station aimed to keep people up to date with developments as well as asking critical questions of Severn Trent and broadcasting a live police conference by the Chief Constable.

Mark felt that the difficulties experienced during the floods had had one positive result in that it had created a greater sense of community.

Speaking more generally Mark said that his station sought to mirror everything which was happening in the community - both the bad and the good - and he invited Rotary to use the station to spread the good news of what we are doing.

On the horizon Mark forecast more competition and more choice although he said that local radio stations would soon be available on digital receivers.
He was warmly thanked for an excellent presentation by David Seed.

Gone but certainly not forgotten. Bill Murray was the sort of Rotarian who lit up any event he attended with his wicked wit and many talents.

On page three Trevor Picken has written of Bill's accomplishments as a musician particularly with the Murray Mints. Here we recall two other archive moments featuring Bill again from a few years ago.

On the left we have a picture of Bill in South Sea Islands garb and a very youthful Trevor Picken taken in January 1983 during the latter's period as President. We're not sure what Bill was up to but he was certainly enjoying himself.

Pictured above are Howard Johnson and Bill performing a Flannigan and Allen song - 'Underneath the Arches' which they performed to entertain Rodez visitors at St Barnabas Church Hall.

THE wealth of expertise in the Gloucester Civic Trust was again demonstrated to Rotarians when Phil Moss a senior member spoke about our club's current 'home' - the New Inn in Northgate Street.

Phil was the third Trust member to address the club in three weeks. First up was Rotarian Robin Morris the Trust's long-serving chairman, then came Marilyn Champion who spoke about the Trust's plans for St Michael's Tower (a report of which appears opposite) and then came Phil.

Phil has researched, written, lectured and guided thousands of people around the city and cathedral and on this occasion showed a little of his extensive knowledge in a fascinating talk about the New Inn.

It is one of the finest example of a medieval galleried inn in Britain today and was built between 1430 and 1450 by St Peter's Abbey (now the Cathedral) for the growing numbers of city visitors - many of whom were pilgrims to the tomb of Edward 11 murdered at Berkeley Castle in 1327 and buried in the Abbey.

The New Inn was built under the supervision of John Twyning, the Town Monk, and on completion catered for more than 200 people at any one time, housed mostly in dormitory type accommodation. At this size it was one of the country's largest inns.

Phil focused on some of the inn's more interesting paraphernalia. These included a lion and serpent locked in combat and representing the triumph of good over evil and two heraldic shields. The older one incorporates the arms of the de Clare family who were Earls of Gloucester while the second, the Tudor coat, was granted to the city in 1538. This includes the roses of Lancaster and York, the boar's head from the badge of Richard 111 and horseshoes and nails to represent the city's ironworking industry

Over the centuries landlords have taken every opportunity to improve trade by providing entertainment and meeting facilities. The city's first recorded Real Tennis court was installed in the rear part of the building and by 1649 had become a popular attraction for the more athletic citizens.

The second half of the 18th century saw the New Inn become a noted venue for the unusual and bizarre. Its enterprising landlord Mr Nelson sought to increase custom by providing facilities for the many travelling shows passing through the city. Among the promotions he offered were Maria Theresa, the 86cms (2ft 10in) tall Corsican Fairy, the Royal Family modelled life size in wax, a memaid captured off the Mexican coast and wild animal shows that included leopards, llamas, lions, tigers and hyenas.

Phil also mentioned some of the celebrities who have visited the Inn. These included Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, Bernard Shaw and the Hon C.S. Rolls of Rolls Royce fame.
The Inn continues as a popular place for entertainments and its medieval setting is an ideal venue for regular appearances of the local mummers and morris dancers.

Rotarian John Lovell (who just happens to be Civic Trust secretary) voiced the members' appreciation of Phil's excellent talk.

WHEN Julian Weston (right) chartered trains manager for Cotswold Rail spoke to the club many expected a sales pitch about his company's Heartland Railtours .......... described as a 'true getaway' for that 'really special day out' in his firm's brocheure

But we were to be largely denied. Apart from two brief mentions Julian spent his time recounting the history of rail travel since its inception during the Victorian period.

He began with the clash between Robert Stevenson's narrow gauge and Isabard Kingdom Brunel's wider gauge rail track that resulted in absolute chaos here in Gloucester where passengers from Birmingham to Bristol had to swap trains (and gauges) before continuing their journey. We're told that even Queen Victoria had to walk the quarter of a mile between the city's two stations in order to board her Bristol-bound train on Brunel's wider track ....... she was not amused.

Eventually the Government decided in favour of the narrower gauge in 1864 and throughout the next 60+ years the railways expanded until in its heyday in the 1920s no fewer than 13,000 steam locos provided services along 23,000 miles of track.

The Second World War and its aftermath proved a watershed in rail history. Lack of investment and increasing losses led to nationalisation in 1948. Despite this and a investment boost in 1955 rail's decline continued and by 1962 with operating losses of m 'something had to be done'

That 'something' was Dr Richard Beeching, a former chairman of ICI who waved his now famous axe with disastrous results. Thousands of miles of track were closed with the result was that many places in the UK were left with no public transport whatsoever.

Since then there has been a resurgence of interest in rail particularly with privatisation in 1993. Now with with diesels and electric trains to the fore, passenger numbers have exceeded the previous record set in 1923.....but with a third of the route mileage which then existed.
All in all a thought provoking talk spiced with a couple of poems ..............

John writes:- "I flew to Toulouse and then went by train to Rodez where I found Valerie and Olivier Fleurquin waiting to take me to their home. A quick change and we were off to eat with Olivier and Eric Hatt. During the meal I was asked if I was interested in some golf the following day.

"The next morning dawned sunny but cold and after breakfast with their American Rotary student exchange I spent time exploring Rodez and then in the afternoon Valerie, Olivier, Eric and I played nine holes of golf, which I'm pleased to say the English won.

"Back to the house for a quick shower and a check of the French in my speech and away to the restaurant to meet other club members and their partners. By way of explanation the Rodez club meets rather casually every Thursday evening and then usually on the fourth Thursday in the month they enjoy a more formal dinner " At the restaurant I was presented with a glass of bubbly and introduced to this year's president Hugues Menatory. Then I paid 25 euros for a dinner of foie gras, roast duck, dessert, cheese and biscuits, coffee and of course the obligatory glass(s) of wine.

"With the main course over I was introduced and explained the reason for my visit. I reminded members that to mark Rotary's centenary both Rodez and Gloucester had agreed a joint project in Ecuador. Last summer I had visited Ecuador and in particular Santo Domingo where my accompanying party of Gloucester scouts had painted three school sanitary blocks provided under the matching grant.

" I said that I had much pleasure in conveying the grateful thanks to them of all three schools and the Santa Domingo Rotary Club. Furthermore I should like to present to them a framed collage of the project. Hugues graciously received the collage and I was then able to enjoy the rest of the evening, which included welcoming a new club member. President Hugues passed the collage around the diners and I accompanied it to explain the project in more detail.
"After a quick shop for cheese and pate on Friday morning I returned to England for my grandson's christening. In conclusion I greatly enjoyed some great French hospitality and our friends in Rodez were pleased to know their money had been well spent."

One member has a 19 year-old daughter who would like to spend two months in England to practice her English with, if possible, some work experience. Any offers of help would be gratefully received.

FIFTY years ago in February 1958 one of main agenda items for the newly-formed Junior City Council was whether or not St Michael's Tower at Gloucester Cross should be demolished.
The members' recommendation was that the tower, like the former parish church of which it had been a part and which had been demolished two years earlier, should also go. Fortunately, for posterity, wiser counsels prevailed and the 543 year-old medieval tower was saved.

However, the city fathers who took the wise decision to save the tower, would have been amazed at plans for its future outlined to Rotarians at a lunchtime meeting at the end of January.

Gloucester Civic Trust stalwart Marilyn Champion said that despite being a listed building and ancient monument, the tower was at risk from years of neglect. For a period it had served as the city's Tourist Information Centre, but it had been unoccupied since 1998 due to the poor condition of its interior.

However, since August 2007, the City Council had agreed to lease the building to the Gloucester Civic Trust, which had ambitious plans to make it a 'Tower of Learning' in the heart of the city.

Already Marilyn's dedicated tower team of 15 volunteers incorporating a wide range of expertise, had raised 000 from local trusts, charities and individuals.

However the main focus of her team's work was to prepare a National Lottery Heritage bid for ,000. This had been submitted in December and a decision is expected in June. If successful the tower will acquire a new floor, kitchen, toilets, storage area and a new entrance.
When finished it would offer an affordable city centre venue, which would seat 54 or accommodate 100 standing. Part of the money will also be used to provide vital equipment to enable a range of activities to be staged there which would give the tower a new future.
Marilyn said that in preparing the bid her team had held a comprehensive consultation exercise. This had involved holding seven open days at the tower (each of which had been attended by more than 200 people) and by contacting no fewer than 233 community groups and schools in the city.

Their response had been enormously supportive and her Civic Trust group was now in the process of drawing up a programme of activities to take place in and around the tower.
In particular the team had devised three 'signature' activities. The first involved using state-of-the art audio-visual equipment to provide local groups with a chance to record their own 'doorstep' histories. Thirty organisations including the Gloucester Rugby Club, schools neighbourhood associations, youth groups and even Under 5s had already signed up for the project.

The second 'signature' activity was the production of six audio trails of the city 'gate' streets using Trust expertise and local actors. These trails could be downloaded from the website at a modest charge but would be free to local people visiting the tower.

The third activity would be a series of cultural, musical and arts and crafts activities of appeals to young and old alike. To this end the Gloucester Academy of Music and signalled their intention of using the venue to showcase the talents of their students.

Marilyn's powerful presentation during which she spoke cogently and persuasively without notes underlined the immense efforts the Civic Trust is putting into preserving and promoting the city's heritage.

ONE of the club's staunchest members - Dr Bill Murray - has died. He was one of Gloucester's best known GPs and a man who worked enthusiastically in many areas of local life. His funeral service, which was attended by many Rotarians, took place at a packed Sandhurst Parish Church

Bill committed his professional life to the city through his practice in London Road but he was also a stalwart member of the League of Friends of Gloucester Hospitals and, for 50 years a member of our Rotary club. During that time he was awarded Rotary's highest honour, the Paul Harris Fellowship, and when he stepped down he was made a life member and presented the club with a silver plate, which was used as a Rotarian of the Year award.

Bill was born in Scotland in 1920 and became a passionate sportsman. He loved athletics, rugby, cricket and golf. The latter he started to play as a youngster but continued into adulthood. He was captain of Stinchcombe Golf Club in 1965 and for the Seniors in 1987. He continued playing for the senior section until he was 80.

Bill attended Glasgow University where he qualified as a doctor in 1943. Towards the end of the Second World War he joined the navy as a Lieutenant Surgeon and in his own words 'cruised the Mediterranean looking for the War.'

During this time he met his first wife Berry and they married in 1946. Rhod and Carole arrived in 1947 and 1948 but sadly Berry died in 1959 leaving Bill to bring up his two young children. In 1960 Bill married Ruth and their two children Steve and Nikki were born in 1962 and 1966. He was a dedicated family man, strong on discipline but always warm and supportive.
After moving to Gloucester Bill devoted himself to his patients and worked tirelessly to ensure they received the highest standard of care. Nothing was ever too much trouble, no request too daunting.

Music was a huge part of Bill's life. He could play several instruments including the drums, piano and the pipes, but latterly favoured the piano. He played for himself and others with equal gusto and in retirement he and a few other Rotarians formed 'the Murray Mints.'
Bill had a wicked sense of humour and had a joke ready for any occasion, having practiced them many times on his long suffering family.

The last two years were hard for Bill and his family but this time was made more bearable by the outstanding care and love of the staff at Magdalen House.
He was a husband to two, a father to four, grandfather to seven and a friend to numerous others.

A tribute paid at his funeral service ended with these words: "We all wish him love and peace and give thanks for the amazing life that was Dr Bill."
We in turn send condolences to his wife Ruth and her family.

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TREVOR Picken adds his memories of Bill's musical prowess and of the renown group the Murray Mints.

"I first heard Bill playing the piano at our Rotary old folk's party at the King's School in the 1970s. He played by ear and entertained guests with many popular old songs which they thoroughly enjoyed.

He was later joined by the late Mike Bartlett on drums. When Bill heard I was involved with a brass band he invited me to join the group. My euphonium was not the best instrument to use so I made an Eb valve trombone from some parts I had in my collection and joined the group.
Once we had settled a repertoire we began to look round for more musicians. A new Rotarian John Welsh came next on clarinet/saxophone. He could read music and added quite a lot to the band.

It was about this time we decided that we needed a NAME so I coined the name "The Murray Mints" - the too good to hurry band! I learned years later that Mike Bartlett never liked this title!

We played at a few other Rotary social events and also co-opted more members. Graham Choyce occasionally played his accordion and Iris Lewis played both guitar and string Bass with us. A little later we persuaded John Redman to bring his trumpet along and play some Jazz, which was his forte.

Mike Westbury played along now and then but mainly did solo turns, being an ex professional! Much later after Mike Bartlett had left Rotary Patrick Daly came on the scene and took over the drum seat.

We had lots of fun led by Bill and when he retired from Rotary I handed him our stand banner labelled "The Murray Mints" which I believe he treasured as a reminder of the fun we had together. He inspired us all and was in his element when playing jazz and our simple form of dance music.

This is only a tiny part of Bill's contribution to the Rotary movement but the part I will remember best."

JOINING our club during her year's stay in Gloucester will be Rotarian Genevive Flight of the Umuahia Club in Central Nigeria. Genevive is on secondment to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for a year and hopes to be a regular visitor to our club. Here we see her being given a warm welcome by President Robert Hall.

CLIVE Hannis, one of two recent newcomers to the club, lives with his wife of 23 years Carol and their two children Kayleigh-Marie (17) and Adam (13) at Abbeymead. Clive and Carol are directors of 'Champions Media' a marketing company specialising in the promotion of local SME's (Small and Medium Enterprises) through a wide range of initiatives.

These include "thebestof Gloucester" and the recently introduced "thebestof Cheltenham" - both of which champion and showcase only those businesses dedicated to providing a first class experience to their own customers/clients.

Clive, aged 44, was educated at Shurdington Primary School where he learnt the 3Rs and then spent the rest of his school days avoiding learning (apart from History) at Chosen Hill School in Churchdown.

His first job after leaving school at 16 was at Hodges, a traditional gents' outfitters with branches in Cheltenham, Stroud and two in Gloucester. This is where Clive learnt his love for customer service and still recalls his first sale on his first day!

The shop was quiet and the manager had popped out for five minutes to buy some cigars. No sooner had he left when a gentleman came in to purchase a new flat cap. After selecting his cap he left with his new purchase of £6.78p. Upon the manager's return, he saw the sales slip and started to laugh as Clive had charged the gentleman his hat size of 6 7/8s!!!

After two years Clive joined another gents outfitters - "Austin Reed" - which is still situated on The Promenade in Cheltenham. Clive recalls that working these was just like being on the set of Grace Brothers in BBCs "Are You Being Served" with parodies of all the main characters, being played out in real life.........and no, he wasn't Mr Humphries!!!

At 20, Clive and his then fiancée, Carol, were looking to buy their first house and much as he enjoyed Austin Reed, the sad reality was it didn't pay enough to afford a mortgage. Therefore Clive applied for a job at Leonard Stace, a paper converters based in Cheltenham. This was followed 18 months later by a move to ICI fibres (now Invista) in Brockworth where Clive spent 19 happy years in various roles until 2005 when he took advantage of redundancy to fulfil his ambition of starting his own business.

Clive and Carol formed their company in early 2006 recognising a niche in the SME sector. Using their ethos of customer service above all, they have established a strong business with over 300 clients and rising. Also having now been joined in the company by fellow director Simon Bullingham in August 2007, they have recently taken on their first members of staff to further help growth.

Clive and Carol's hobbies include golf and squash/tennis - both of which were put on the back burner last year but both he and Carol are determined to put that right this year by joining the East Gloucestershire Tennis Club!!!

Last but certainly not least, Clive is hoping to become a valued member and friend of Rotary for many years to come.

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The club also welcomed Genevieve Gold Flight and Lorraine Hannam as new members earlier this month......making six new members so far this year. More details of both Genevieve and Lorraine will appear in the next edition of In Gear.

TWO happy events - and one sad one - are recorded in this edition of In Gear.
On this page we see a line-up of mobility scooters which Rotary paid for to replace those lost to the city during the summer floods of last year. Second and third from right are the club's Senior and Junior Vice Presidents John Sargent and Jeremy Keck respectively. (photo courtesy of The Citizen)

On the left are Rotarian Roy Lewis and his new wife Chris. The picture was taken at their wedding at Frampton-on-Severn Parish Church last month. Our very best wishes to them both for a very happy marriage.

On a less happy note we record the death of Bill Murray, a member of our club for 50 years and a well deserved recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship. Several members attended the funeral service at Sandhurst Church where Bill and his wife Ruth had been regular attenders. A report and pictures of Bill appear on page two.

25 YEARS ON..................This is the Gloucester Rotary Swimming team of 1983 which entered a Swimathon organised by Glevum Round Table for charity with 50% going to the organisers and 50% to Gloucester Rotary charities.

As you can see the team was a credit to Rotary. From left to right are Roy Lewis, Ray Bell, Tracy Bell, Stan Cummings, Peter Sanigar, Colin Rogers, Mark Hodges, David Corbett and Barry Osborne.

Of those who are no longer members of our club Ray Bell is now a member at Newent, Stan Cummings lives in Australia, Peter Sanigar, is still living locally having been our club president and Mark Hodges is now a member of the recently formed Nailsworth Rotary Club.

Sadly we have lost touch with Barry Osborne who, at the time the picture was taken, was city engineer and had joined Rotary because both his father and brother were Rotarians. We understand he has now retired and continues to play the organ at several Masonic lodges.
Tracy Bell is now married with children and is a successful architect with green credentials. She has designed several eco-friendly hospices as well as several other notable public buildings.
The team raised several hundreds of £s for our charities as well as helping themselves by losing a few pounds in training.

We have Colin Rogers to thank for this Blast from the Past. If any member has other nostalgic photos which they would be willing to share with others through In Gear I'd be delighted to see them.

THE fascinating history and continuing work of the British Red Cross was explained to members by Melanie Ball, who is in charge of the Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Avon branch of the charity, at a February lunchtime meeting.

She said the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant who had been appalled at the suffering of thousands left to die on the battlefield after the Battle of Solferino in 1859.

He proposed the creation of national relief societies, comprised of volunteers, trained in peacetime to provide neutral and impartial help to relieve suffering in times of war. In response a committee, which later became the International Committee of the Red Cross, was established in Geneva. The founding charter of the Red Cross was drawn up in 1863.
Henry Dunant also proposed that countries should adopt an international agreement, which would recognise the status of medical services and of the wounded on the battlefield. This agreement - the original Geneva Convention - was adopted in 1864.

In July 1870, following the outbreak of war between France and Prussia a public meeting was held in London as a result of which the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was formed and rendered aid to both warring armies during the Franco-Prussian War and in subsequent wars during the 19th century under the protection of the red cross emblem.

In 1905 the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was reconstituted as the British Red Cross Society and granted its first Royal Charter by Queen Alexandra who who became President of the Society. The society required a huge number of skilled volunteers if it was to be prepared for its wartime role. In 1907 a permanent structure of local branches was set up (including Gloucestershire) and extended the presence of the British Red Cross to communities around the country.

The Voluntary Aid Scheme was introduced in 1909 and ensured that Voluntary Aid Detachments were formed in every county in England whose members would provide aid to territorial medical forces in times of war. As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement the British Red Cross is committed to, and bound by, its fundamental principles. These are humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

During both World Wars trained Red Cross volunteers rendered invaluable service on both the home front and near the front lines including the liberation of Germany's infamous concentration camps. They also organised a tracing and messaging service which enabled POWs who had been posted as missing to renew contact with home via a postcard. More recently they have been involved both in the UK (during both the 1947 and 2007 floods) and in organising emergency appeals for disasters abroad such as the Boxing Day tsumani of 2004.

Perhaps one of their better known servicers is providing equipment such as wheelchairs to enable the elderly and infirm to continue independent living.

It was appropriate that the vote of thanks was given by Robin Morris, a knight of the Grand Order of St John, a sister humanitarian organisation

AN attempt by the Government to fight the flab by encouraging young people to become more active in a whole range of sports was explained to club members by two managers of the Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury School Sports Partnership.

Alan Beard and Cheryl Stennett said that their partnership was one of five similar organisations in the county all dedicated to inspiring participation of young people in sports and nurturing the sports leaders and coaches of tomorrow.

The partnerships were established in 2000 and since then the Gloucester City and South Tewkesbury Partnership had established links with 69 secopndary and primary schools and through these links with community groups and sports clubs.

Every school had the expertise of a School Sports Co-ordinator, a qualified teacher who is released for two days a week to increase opportunities and raise standards in P.E and School Sport in their own school and community and work alongside teachers based at local Infant, Junior, Primary and Special Schools.

Through such input it was hoped to extend and deepen interest in sports not only in individual schools but by organising tournaments, festivals, coaching and leadership courses and building links into the community.

Both managers also stressed the range of sports on offer which, in addition to the usual field sports, included dance, orienteering, kick boxing, golf, climbing and even health and beauty.
Several teachers and senior pupils had been encouraged to undertake professional training and coaching courses

Alan and Cheryl both emphasized that the initiative was still in its early stages and hoped there were ways in which Rotary could become involved - thus raising the profile both of Rotary clubs but also of the partnerships themselves.

Who knows by enoucraging poeople to look and feel better through sport we might inspire future generations of sportsmen and women to aspire to greatness.