Rotary Club of Gloucester

AMANDA Chamberlayne, a relative newcome to our club, is unnecessarily modest. She admits to not having had a conventional 'career' nor does she have any professional qualifications but there's little doubt she's graduated from the university of life with flying colours.

Since moving into Ashleworth Court as a newly wed at the age of 22, Amanda has been a wife, mother, gardener, shepherd, antiques dealer, fundraiser, B&B proprietor, owned a pedigree herd of Dexter Cattle (all with Biblical names) and organised a series of annual drama workshops for children. At the start of last month, Amanda expanded on these various roles in a fascinating job talk.

At various times she has brought up four children under the age of six, farmed a flock of sheep with 60 ewes, helped raise between 000-000 for the local church, made her own jam, marmalade and bread, ran an antiques business, and organised the feeding of up to 60-70 parents and children during her annual drama workshop.

Amanda said it was the workshops, which had given her the greatest sense of pride. For 13 years she ran a workshop week for 30 children aged between 10 and 18. This involved providing a campsite, feeding the children and making costumes, props and scenery for a production which started from scratch and climaxed with an evening performance in front of parents.

Amanda's talk inevitably included only the edited highlights but she has obviously led an extremely diverse and busy life both domestically and in the community.

She and her husband Humphrey have now moved from Ashleworth Court and embarked on a new phase in their lives. This seems to include fund raising for the village hall, organising a panto and medieval feast, looking after houses in Ashleworth, France and Australia, caring for grandchildren - and joining Rotary.

A wonderful and informative insight into the world of silver was given to more than 50 Rotarians and their partners at a splendid evening meeting in November.
The speaker was Cheltenham jeweller Nigel Dimmer co-owner of Martin and Co in the Promenade.

Nigel is the third generation to carry on the family business, which was started by his grandfather George, a former town mayor, at the turn of the last century. Nigel delighted his audience with a selection of items he had brought and which he allowed members and guests to handle. He said they had been chosen because of their uniqueness and unusualness in more modern times.

These items included a gravy boat with an area for hot water to keep the contents warm, a silver drinking cup which collapsed for travel, a ladies visiting card case and grape scissors
There was also a marrowbone spoon of which Nigel has about a dozen should anyone be interested as a possible present.

What was particularly interesting was that at no time did Nigel mention the value of the items he brought - unlike television programmes where value seems to be uppermost in most peoples' minds.

Nigel also told members about racing's famous Cheltenham Gold Cup of which Martin's has been the custodians for decades.

He explained that his company was also responsible for commissioning and 'making' replicas of both the Gold Cup and the Hennesey cup each year and which cost about £8,000 each.
Throughout his talk, Nigel spoke enthusiaistically and passionately about both silver and the items on display and stressed that silver was a material to be used and not hidden away in a bank vault .......... so get out those silver tea services and start having Sunday afternoon teas.

Congratulations to Richard Graham and Clive Hannis who were recently inducted as new members of our club by President Robert Hall. We wish them well and offer them our fellowship. We hope to carry more information about our two new members in the next edition of In Gear in April.

Rotary bonhomie was very much in evidence at the annual Christmas luncheon to which a number of distinguished guests had been invited. These included the Mayor of Gloucester Harjit Gill, a number of Rotarian wives and widows and Captains Fred and Elaine Eardley from the city corps of the Salvation Army.

This was Rotary at its best............a delightful meal, plenty of fellowship against a background of laughter and cracker pulling, wonderful carol singing and - in the true spirit of Christmas - the receiving and giving of cheques.

The latter were presented to President Robert by the Salvation Army captains following the charity concert earlier in December while Robert, in turn, passed the money to a grateful representative of the Star College at Ullenwood, which is his chosen charity for the year.
There was even a moment of pride when President Robert presented a Paul Harris Award to Graham Howell, a well deserved recognition of years of service to both Rotary and the community (a report of which appears elsewhere in this magazine).

And as if this wasn't sufficient to ensure that a great time was had by all President Robert generously provided bottles of wine to add to the excellence of the festive fare.
In a short speech the Mayor paid tribute to the work of Rotary and in particular to the 'wonderful job' it did during the flooding chaos during the summer.

The beautiful singing was provided by the King's Harmonists, King's School students who, under their accompanist Derek Harris, performed a selection of carols and songs from England, Wales, France, Poland, Germany and Venezuela.

Their performance set the seal on a smashing lunch after which Rotarians lingered to wish each other the compliments of the season.

What is a PHF worth?

WITHIN our ranks we now have several Paul Harris Fellows - members who have received Rotary's highest honour following years of distinguished service to the club and the community. As awarded in our club a Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF) is a benchmark of service against which we are all measured. It is a very special honour awarded to the few for exceptional services.

Yet this concept of the PHF is not one accepted worldwide. In some areas - particularly Asia - PHFs are purchased and some clubs can claim a 100% PHF membership.
To understand this dichotomy one needs to research the origins of the award which was founded in 1957 as a means of raising monies and the profile of Rotary Foundation in memory of the movement's founder Paul Harris.

Since then Foundation has grown into one of the world's largest independant charities funding global educational, humanitarian and peace programmes. Polio Plus, matching grants and scholarships are just three programmes with which our club is particularly associated.
To fund this enormous expansion of Rotary's 'outreach' a PHFwas awarded to those who contributed $1,000 to Foundation, in one donation. Subsequently this was amended and stage payments up to $1,000 dollars were allowed. When the total was achieved the donor could nominate a candidate for a PHF award.

The candidate could be a club member, the member of another club, national or world leaders, or even members of one's own family.

Later the financial obligation was amended to allow Rotarians to club together to gift amounts sometimes over several years until the $1,000 target was reached when the donors were then allowed to name the PHF recipient.

Thus the PHF for distinguished service was born - a just reward for exceptional service, generally to a Rotarian by ones Rotary peers. Today for every $1 dollar gifted by a district or club to foundation, the donating district or club is credited with $1 by Foundation for the acquisition of future PHF awards.

Inadvertently therefore we now have two separate concepts of what a PHF means. The outcome has been that where clubs have chosen to give PHFs for distinguished services there is a discouragement to making a personal gift to Foundation as this would be interpreted as 'buying the award'.

The result has been that in those areas where the distinguished service approach has been adopted there is considerably less giving to Foundation than where clubs continue to follow the original concept of giving in support of Rotary Foundation.

In its wisdom Rotary International has taken the view that both concepts are equally valid. Such a view becomes clearer when one realises that over $70m is contributed to Foundation annually and of this 80% is still raised from the 'purchase' of PHFs. There are currently 700,000 PH Fellows in the world whose fellowships have funded the backbone of Foundation's charity work.

So a Paul Harris Fellowship has to be understood in the context in which it is awarded - clearly Rotary's work could not be fulfilled without PFH income while the awarding of a PHF for exceptional services is an incentive to all Rotarians to aim higher and truly put 'Service Before Self.'

I was introduced to District life at a very young Rotary age. I have been in Rotary less than six years and, as in other activities, have adopted my father's maxim, which applies to most things (except Northern Rock and Equitable Life), that the more you put in, the more you get out.

And thus I became involved with District activity at Rotary age 3.

During the last four years I have learnt that the main function of a District officer is to enable, support and augment the activities of the Rotary club - the strength of the Rotary movement.

This is achieved by providing information and the training of elected, incoming club officers and by the development - on a wider basis - of certain activities such as Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Group Study exchange, the care of Ambassadorial Scholars, the organisation of a District Conference and the inter club competitions (including the Gloucestershire speciality, skittles).

All these activities and others bringing awareness of a wider movement to the members of a club.

For while the strength of Rotary is the Rotary club it is the harnessing of the energies of a number of clubs working together that makes Rotary such an effective organisation.

Look at what the District 1100 Tsunami Appeal did in 2005 - a new village, a new school, fishing boats and equipment for many communities - and the 2007 Flood Appeal which generated cash to renew much needed community facilities to the tune of £250,000 in this District alone. On the lesser scale there are six local clubs combining in the ITSA project for Tanzania and on the bigger scale there is Polio Plus - Rotary's biggest success story.

District 1100 is one of 29 Districts in RIBI, all with about 60 clubs - in 1100 there are now 64. In the world there are approximately 600 Districts and they all answer to Rotary International in Evanston.

RIBI is an anomaly - a national organisation that has no counterpart anywhere else in the world, a national body that is not officially recognised by RI. Which means that clubs in the UK have a greater level of support and leadership than elsewhere.

Only in RIBI are District officers elected - elsewhere they are appointed. Only in RIBI is there a national programme of training incoming District officers resulting in a far greater uniformity of purpose. Only in the UK is there a national centre to coordinate Rotary activities.

We are very fortunate in this country to have our Rotary so well structured and organised for what is a relatively small price. And it is continually evolving.

RIBI now has a professional CEO and is streamlining its operations at Alcester - code for looking at the cost of what it does. And, as in all organisations, it never pleases all its people all the time. But our Rotary clubs are more effective for having not only the back up of a District structure but also the structure of RIBI.

On a more local note it is encouraging to learn that in this zone which includes 12 clubs in Gloucester, Cheltenham and the Stroud valleys membership in the first six months of this Rotary year has increased by 4% - 17 new members.

It would be even more encouraging if this was the case throughout the District and throughout RIBI but unfortunately it is not. But let us not be afraid to tell people the good news and not always dwell on the bad.

CHRISTMAS is a time of rejoicing and reflecting. At one and the same time we are thankful for familes, friends and all the good things in life while reflecting on all the trials and tribulations which continue to beset mankind all over the world.

Some of these challenges were brought to mind immediately after Christmas when Rotarian and Salvationist John Smith gave an extremely thought provoking talk on the work of the Salvation Army throughout the world - and in Gloucester.

John outlined how former Methodist minister William Booth had taken his evangelical Gospel of Salvation to the poor and destitute in the East End of London in the mid-Victorian period.
It had never been his intention to start a new church but to encourage those he had converted to join local churches. Sadly the churches of the time balked at the prescence of the grubby poor in their pews and the shunned newcomers had nowhere to go but back to William Booth's mission - so the Salvation Army was born.

From the outset the new movement had a strong social outreach, caring for bodies as well as souls providing the hungry with food, the homeless with accommodation and the destitute with hope.
Now well over 100 years on John outlined some of the splendid work the Army is still involved in through its ministry in 111 countries. In addition to hostels for the homeless there are care homes for the vulnerable - both old and very young; day care centres open to all and support programmes for service personnel both here and abroad.

Its wide ranging health programmes particularly focuses on the scourge of HIV/AIDS and John spoke feelingly of the work the Army is doing in Estonia which has the highest incidence of the disease outside of Africa.

On the education front John outlined the Army's work in training teachers and nurses and of its care for the disabled and blind.

Changing direction from the national to local scene John said that the citadel hosted a weekly drop in three-course lunch for 60-70 people as well as a luncheon club for the elderly. At the other end of the scale brownies and guides already met there and they would be be joined by newly formed packs of cubs and scouts this year.

During the flooding emergency last summer the Army manned refreshment facilities and served 5,000 bacon rolls and 10,000 cups of tea to both the rescuers and the rescued.
Referring to Christmas 2007, John said that the Army had distributed 200 bags of toys and around 500 food parcels as well as providing rousing musical visits to care homes and hospitals and playing for charity concerts at the Cathedral, at Highnam and also for Rotary's presidential charity at the Citadel (a report of which appears).

In conclusion John touched on the work of the Army's missing people's bureau which has an amazing sucecss rate of between 80-90%.

While it was a sobering presentation highlighting a catalogue of man's needs both here and abroad it also highlighted the excellent and self sacrificing way in which the Army's personnel is addressing the issues.

As usual John was modest about his own 'foot soldier' contribution yet no-one can doubt his motivation and sincerity. John is a glowing example of someone who lives according to the precepts in which he believes and strives to spread a Gospel of love.

As for the Salvation Army the Christian text of 'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven' would seem entirely appropriate.

Mission Statement

The Salvation Army is a worldwide evangelical Christian church and human service agency.
Its message is based on the Bible; its motivation is the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Its mission is to proclaim his gospel, to persuade people of all ages to become his disciples and to engage in a programme of practical concern for the needs of humanity.
Its ministry is offered to all persons, regardless of race, creed, colour or gender.

For the past 10 years the Gloucestershire Life Education Trust has been taking a health education message to thousands of young schoolchildren by means of specially designed high tech mobile classrooms.

It was an initiative launched and largely funded by Rotary Clubs in Gloucestershire and although it is a separate organisation, club Rotarians such as Nigel Halls and David Seed still play a prominent role in its development.

At a December meeting members were given an update on the current work of the Trust by Annette Collins. She is one of the highly competent educators who use a range of innovative age related programmes to capture the imaginations of children aged between five and 11-years old and to leave lasting memories.

The first such classroom was launched in 1997 and by the Spring of 1998 it had already visited 4,000 primary children in 19 schools from the Forest of Dean to the Cotswolds. News of the quality and impact of its work spread and by 2002/3 it was visiting 94 schools involving 17,550 children with 95% of schools rebooking immediately following each visit.
In January 2004 a second mobile classroom was lauched and in 2006 alone a total of 28,291 pupils from schools all over the county received a visit.

Even so there are still some schools on the waiting list!

This year, its tenth anniversary, the Life Education Trust, is committed to buying a replacement mobile classroom and has launched a campaign to raise 000 towards the overall cost of 000.
Throughout its existence local Rotary clubs and individual members have played a significant role in providing money and expertise in running the Trust whose patron is Carolyn Elwes and whose chairman is Brian Smith.

In an interview earlier this year Brian said that as Trust chairman he saw at first hand how the visits of its mobile classrooms were not only supported and appreciated by the county's health education specialists and teachers, but they were thoroughly enjoyed by the children.
"As a Trust we are determined to give every one of the county's 40,000 primary aged children the knowledge to enable them to make healthy choices in what they eat drink and put into their bodies. It is common sense this education must start early in life. If we wait until they are teenagers it will be too late for many of them." Brian added.

Trust Factfile

* The Life Education concept was brought to this country following a visit to Australia by Prince Charles. Most counties now have a similar programme.
* Last year 17 schools in Gloucester with 5,521 pupils had a visit from the Life Education Trust.
* The Life Education programme costs around ,000 per year to run - a third of which comes from the Local Education Authority, a sixth from fund raising and a half from schools themselves.
* The schools are charged a day or half of this if the unit only spends half a day there.
* The educators see 90-95 children per day and stay at larger schools four/five days.
* The unit (28ft long and 7feet wide) can cater for around 30 five year-olds and 22 11 year-olds per session. A session can last from 30 minutes for five year-olds to an hour for 11 year-olds.
* The programme content is carefully structured starting simply and building year on year.

IN the past our club has presented Rotary awards to non-members who have made a significant difference in the community around them. To this end we have handed out sporting 'Oscars' to local sporting coaches and other awards to people whose efforts have enhanced the community around them Their service over many years - and in many cases still continuing - make them worthy recipients of Rotary awards.

Yet there are other unsung local 'heroes' much closer to home whose contribution to Rotary and within the wider community are deserving of recognition.

As a club we have been sparing in handing out Rotary's highest award - the Paul Harris Fellowship - to some of our own members who have distinguished themselves within and outside the movement. This omission was partly addressed over Christmas when our club council honoured four stalwarts with Fellowships for their work both for the club and in the wider world.

In the case of COLIN EYNON, the wider world has certainly been his canvas thanks to his work with matching grants for international projects. His diligence and determination has ensured the success of a large number of projects in third world countries all over the globe. This has often meant working with several clubs both in this country and abroad to achieve a satisfactory result.

Colin joined the club in 1976 and was president in our 75th year (1994-95) and although he has already been awarded the Fellowship twice on neither occasion was it at the behest of our own club.

This was rectified at the club's Christmas dinner when Colin was one of three recipients to receive Rotary's top award. Colin said afterwards that the award was particularly special since the nomination had come from his home club.

The second award went to the club's popular former treasurer NIGEL HALLS, who joined the club in 1983. Within our ranks he is known as a great lover of sport, both rugby and cricket, as well as enhancing any conversation with his acerbic wit. However outside the club he has given years of unsung service as treasurer to major county charities including the Life Education Trust and the Fluck Trust.

The third recipient was TREVOR PICKEN, who joined our ranks in 1969, was president in 1982-83. As a Rotarian, Trevor was one of the main instigators of our link with Rodez - a 25 year link which the entire Picken family celebrated with a musical soiree when our French friends visited earlier this year. He was also instrumental in establishing the party at the Home Farm Trust which he conducted which his usual elan and which not only gave great pleasure to those at the Trust but for most of us signalled the start of Christmas. Beyond Rotary Trevor has been a musical inspiration to many of all ages in local banding circles and is today President of the Stroud Brass Band Festival.

Last but by no means least a Fellowship was presented to GRAHAM HOWELL at the Christmas lunch later in December. Graham, who has been a member since 1976, was president in 1992-3 and in addition to his stalwart support of Rotary (particularly as chairman of the club's 75th anniversary committee) has a record of service in Gloucester which is second to none
This includes work with the Citizens Advice Bureau, the JetAge Museum, as a governor of the Gloucestershire College and as a former chairman of the League of Friends of Gloucester Hospital ....to name but a few of Graham's many outstanding contributions to the community.
Graham, Trevor Nigel and Colin all share one other attribute............none sought recognition for their service - they just got on with it. Whilst we rightly applaud the four of them for what they have achieved, let us not forget that the awards are also a recognition of their personal qualities of integrity, endeavour and self sacrifice.

It is also right to say that behind each of them is a loving and often long suffering spouse who is equally deserving of our congratulations. So our thanks also go to Rosemary, Brenda, Joy and Audrey.

CLUB AWARDS

To date the club has presented 12 members and former members with Paul Harris Fellowships Awards These are:- David Seed (1994), Leo Soble (1997), Ken Watson (1998), Andrew Hurley (1998), Bill Murray (2000), Peter Nesbitt (2004), Robin Morris (2005), Roy Lewis (2006), Nigel Halls, Trevor Picken, Graham Howell and Colin Eynon. The latter has also had two jewels to his PH award from District and from the George club in South Africa.

?? The club has also awarded Paul Harris Fellowships to three non-members John Mendoza (1987) for work with matching grants, Catherine Hamlin (1994) for her work with the Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia and Iris Lewis (2006) for services to the community.

A 'Certificate of Appreciation' which equates with a PHF award is given to an organisation or group which has provided significant service to Rotary. To date our club has presented three of these. In 1997 one was awarded to the Inner Wheel Club of Gloucester, in 2004 one was presented to the Salvation Army and in the following year a third certificate went to Barnwood Park School

Former club member Derrick Chapman now with Worcester South was presented with an award by the Rodez Rotary Club in 1997 when he cycled from Gloucester to Rodez.

Our club currently has in excess of $20,000 in credits so could award up to 20 PHFs or Certificates of appreciation

Existing recipients

Some of those at the club's Christmas dinner who are either recipients of the Paul Harris Fellowships or representatives of Rotarians who received the award. From the left are Robin Morris, Roy Lewis, Colin Eynon, Andrew Hurley, Ken Watson, Ruth Murray (representing her husband Dr Bill Murray), President Robert Hall, Nigel Halls, Trevor Picken, Janet Hayward (widow of former Rotarian and PHF holderTony Hayward) and Peter Nesbitt. The only other current club member awarded a Fellowship, but who wasn't there on the night, was David Seed. Graham Howell, was also unable to be there when this picture was taken, received his Fellowship certificate at the Churuistmas luncheon later in December.

THE remarkable sum of more than 00 was raised at the Gloucester Salvation Army's annual Christmas Charity Concert for President Robert Hall's chosen charity, the National Star College at Ullenwood near Cheltenham.

Howard Johnson writes that 'once again thanks go to the sterling services of past president John Smith and the local Army corps who provided the perfect start to the Christmas season for club members and civic dignitaries who attended the concert along with Helen Liley, the Star College's corporate fundraiser.

John, a Salvationist, compered the concert with his usual humour and warmth. The highly talented Army Band musicians, under their accomplished conductor Clifford Matthews, set the tone with a rousing opening, which emphasized the sheer joy of Christmas and the chosen hymns gave the large congregation ample opportunity to show the same joyful enthusiasm.
Appropriately for an event supporting the National Star College, the concert's theme was young people - a theme supported by the Army's choice of guest performers. Young soprano Laura Brand is a Salvationist who, in her childhood, sang in the National Youth Choir of Great Britain for two years. Her first two contributions, the Christmas song 'Most Wonderful Time of the Year' and 'Music of the Night' from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera were charmingly sung, with a lovely smile and marvellous clarity on the top notes.

The King's Harmonists are students from King's School and under their accompanist Derek Harris, they performed a selection of lovely carols and folk songs from Poland, Germany and Venezuela. They mixed these with interesting versions of other Christmas music such as 'Away in a Manager' arranged as a spiritual, a harmonised version of 'O Holy Night' and 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas' in a jazzy style.

The youngest soloist was Will Norman, a cornet player following in the footsteps of his grandfather, sitting beside him in the Army band. A Chosen Hill pupil, 12 year-old Will was sensational in a fautless performance of 'Trumpeter's Lullaby' in which the sympathetic accompaniment led by Clifford Matthews allowed the youngster to shine.

Will returned later to display a calm temperament and the accuracy of his playing in the Winter movement of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons.' He has also learned to acknowledge applause gracefully, something some adult performers fail to achieve.

There were two nicely sung carols from the Salvation Army Songsters under Philip Webb, following the youth theme with an invitation to children to join Jesu's side at the crib.
Helen Liley then delivered an appeal on behalf of the college and the young people with physical disabilities or acquired brain injury who are helped there to achieve the same hopes and aspirations as the rest of us. The collection afterwards raised more than 00 and Helen concluded with an invitation to all to visit the college on one of the occasions when their young people's many talents are on display.

Salvation Army Captain Fred Eardley's Thought for Christmas invited us to respond now to the needs of the present day, just as the innkeeper who had no room saw a need and prepared a place in the barn for the pregnant Mary.

The truly genuine warmth and friendship of the Salvation Army members never fails to send us away with Christmas goodwill in our hearts.

Fourteen starters turned out for the club's annual Christmas Golf competition - unfortunately only 12 finished - Ken Watson and Mike Westbury having to bow out half way round.

The weather was unseasonably mild - so much so in fact that Pat Collins played in a short sleeved shirt. Considering the rain over the previous week the course was in a fair condition.

The rules of the competition were pretty simple with every competitor contributing a prize, usually an unwanted Christmas present, although in the case of Tony Tetley he brought two bottles of wine from his extensive cellar.

One of these was won by Bob Short and although some members suggested Bob could lay it down for another day it was eventually agreed that 'Blue Nun' tended not to improve with age.

First prize went to former club treasurer Ron Ring with 37 points followed by Bob Short with 36.

Close on his heels were David Tetley, Howard Johnson and Nigel Halls, all with 35. Tony Tetley scored 33, just in front of Ian Stuart and John Sargent on 32. Colin Rogers recorded a brave 31 with Pat Collins on 30. Last but by no means least was Clive Kingscote on 23.

Caption: Our pictures recapture some of the day's fellowship with the winner Ron Ring (right, top) ooking somewhat smug (as indeed he had every right to do) and runner up Bob Short (right, bottom) who could hardly contain himself with excitement at the prospect of discovering which elegant bottle of wine he had acquired from the Tetley cellar.

Skittles

Consistent Colin skittles 'em over

Colin Dunford (like Ron Ring) has every reason to smile. Here we see him receiving the club's in house skittles award from senior vice president John Sargent in the absence of President Robert Hall. Well done Colin.....a well deserved trophy.....Jack Limbird would have been proud of you.......