Rotary Club of Gloucester

In the last edition of In Gear we wrote about the experiences two Tunisian girls had had when they visited England under the auspices of our own Rotary club and that of Sousse in Tunisia. They stayed with the families of Emily Russell and her friend Vicky Walker. Quite recently Emily and Vicky were guests of the Delporte family in Tunisia. This is Emily's account of their visit.

STEPPING onto the aeroplane cold and wet, I waved goodbye to my family and said farewell to England which was one of the most independent things I have ever done. Then little did I realise when I stepped off the plane in Tunis that it would be hot and humid at a temperature of 38 degrees.

The scenery being dry and sandy was a very different sight to the Cotswolds where I live. After a good night's sleep we went to a mosaic museum. It was amazing to see building after building, floor, walls and ceilings covered in the most exquisite mosaics. We were fortunate to go up to a tall tower and look at the amazing surroundings which included a bright blue sea and a soft
yellow beach.

I could not think of any better way of cooling off so that afternoon we went snorkeling in the Mediterranean and I saw big, small and colourful fish swimming around my legs.

As Sousse is in the north east of Tunisia, the Delporte family decided to take Vicky and I to the South. After an eight hour bus journey we arrived at Douz and the start of the Sahara desert. While there I was privileged to ride on a camel which surprised me as it was much different from my normal ride on a horse.

Overall I felt my trip to Tunisia was not only extremely educational but lots of fun. I hope to return to see my friends in Tunisia in the near future.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Delporte family for their hospitality, the Rotary club for its generosity and my family for being so supportive in what was a holiday to remember.

On Friday January 7 Emily and Vicky will be visiting the club to give an illustrated talk on their African adventure

ONE of the last things Gloucestershire Regiment soldier Ray Peart saw on God's Earth was the inside of an electrical cupboard in the Divis Flats in Belfast in July, 1973. It had been booby trapped and a bomb exploded in his face. Two colleagues were killed. Ray and another soldier badly injured.

Despite three operations to recover some sight and remove shrapnel from Ray's body, he has never seen again. Yet in adversity Ray's has shown the sort of courage normally shown on a battlefield.

Since that tragedy more than 30 years ago Ray has not only overcome a crippling handicap but, at the same time, has raised tens of thousands of £s for charity.

Appropriately for a former soldier Ray visited the club day after Remembrance Day and was presented with a top Rotary community award after he had spoken of his life and of his work for the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

As President Angela Seddon commented: "There are very few community service awards we give to people but Ray is particularly deserving for his fundraising work and we're very proud of him."

In his talk Ray spoke about his early life in Gloucester. He had been born in St Mary's Square but later moved to Coney Hill where he attended both the Infant and Junior schools. From there he transferred to the Hatherley Boys' School and later worked in farming and at the Gloucester Foundry before joining the army in 1966.

Ray showed early promise and won awards for best recruit and for physical training in Exeter before joining the Glorious Glosters in Chester. He subsequently did tours of duty in Cyprus, Berlin (where he spent two years) and in Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

After the explosion in 1973, he spent months receiving medical treatment before going to St Dunstan's near Brighton. Here he acquired a whole new range of skills such as typing, reading braille, mobility, telephony, carpentry and wrought iron work.

His love of sport continued and in 1976 he represented Great Britain in the pentathlon event for the visually impaired at the Olympics in Montreal. An achievement which was rewarded by a visit to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister Jim Callaghan and various sporting icons, including his favourite Henry Cooper. About the same time he received his first guide dog and began work for Barclays Bank.

Since then too hardly a year has passed for more than 20 years when Ray hasn't organised some sponsored event to raise charity cash. These have included walks, mountain climbing, horse riding, diving and even riding a tandem around Gloucestershire with Father Christmas.

The events have benefited a range of charities and good causes from Winston's Wish and Cloud 9 to the causes closest to his heart such as those aiding soliders who have served in Northern Ireland and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Ray, who visited the club with his fourth guide dog, told members that such a dog cost between 000 and 000 to train and maintain from 'cradle to grave.' He also touched on the history of the organisation and the training necessary to match dog with owner.

Ray was thanked by David Corbett a friend of many years who in paying a tribute to Ray also said that he was a reminder of what our soldiers had gone through and were still doing so today in Iraq.

In a letter to the club, which was penned by his friend Gerald Dwyer, Ray said he had been surprised and honoured to receive the award and would always treasure it. He also thanked the club for a cheque for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association he had also received during his visit.

John and Pauline Smith
Sincere Christmas Greetings to our many friends in Rotary and to all who read this message. Also Peace and Happiness in the New Year.

John & Pauline

Ken and Caroline Watson
Wishing everyone warm greetings for Christmas and also for the New Year

Ken & Caroline

Clive and Norma Kingscote
Christmas Greetings to Rotarians and Inner Wheel members and best wishes for 2005

Clive & Norma

Ian and Wendy Stuart
To all our Rotarian friends and families. Wishing you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year

Ian & Wendy

Colin and Tess Rogers
Fond Christmas Greetings to Rotarians and their families far and near and hope you all have a healthy New Year.

Colin & Tess

The above Rotrians will be making a financial gesture to a worthy cause in lieu of sending Christmas cards.

A LOCAL charity with lots of money to spend was the subject of a fascinating talk by Peter Sanigar, a former club president and a club member for more than 20 years.

Peter who is clerk to the trustees of the Fluck Convalescent Fund traced the charity's history from its foundation in the late 1920s.

Peter explained that there had been an underspend of the charity's income for many years, as a result of which it now had more than ,000 which it could distribute to beneficiaries.

A beneficiary had to be a woman of child (male or female) under the age of 16 who was considered to be of poor financial means and who is sick infirm or convalescent after illness and is resident either in Gloucester or the former Gloucester RDC area.

He explained that no application would be accepted from a member of the public but had to be submitted by a responsible third party i.e. doctor, health visitor, nurse, teacher etc.

Peter explained that the average grant was between - and that in the past cash had been made available to youngsters successfully nominated to go on Cloud 9 visits to Disneyland.

The speaker was thanked by Nigel Halls - who just happens to be one of three trustees who are also club members - the other two being Ken Watson and Peter Nesbitt.

Peter was an engaging speaker and it was a pleasant experience for us to see him back at the club - albeit for a one off occasion.

It's Christmas already and what a busy six months we've had. I would like to thank every club member for their hard work and support. We knew the Centenary Year would create extra work and with our numbers diminishing it has fallen on us all to unite to ensure we have a successful 12 months and I believe we're doing just that.

The fashion show in September made a fabulous 00 towards my charity of the year - The Prince's Trust - with over 160 guests attending on the evening. Our Auction of Promises in October produced a fantastic 000+ towards our Centenary Project for a children's room at the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. And an evening of entertainment by the Stuart Singers last month brought us to our target.

Meanwhile the numeracy skills support we provide at Carlton Road School has been very well received and will continue.

Our International Projects have been active with the completion of a project to provide buggies/strollers to the Association for the Physically Disabled Daycare Centre in George, South Africa.

I have as your President been very honoured to give awards for Outstanding Community Service to the officers and crew of HMS Gloucester and more recently to Ray Peart.

Still to come is the Salvation Army Christmas Charity concert on Sunday, our annual Christmas collections and a few of our members will be 'Father Christmas' once again at Twigs Garden Centre.

And so to the New Year, the dust certainly won't have time to settle as we launch into our Centenary.

We have a new Girls Football competition to organise, holidays for disadvantaged families, and Kids Out. Social events will include golf, skittles, a snooker competition and a cocktail evening and hopefully we may even manage a tea-dance.

We celebrate Rotary Centenary in February at Conference in Torquay and then in March we join with the Rotary Clubs of Gloucester North and Severn at a celebration Centenary Ball. In May we host our twinned club Rodez, and I ask that we all show fellowship to our visitors and take part in planned activities where we can.

My goodness what a Year !

I would like to wish a Very Merry Christmas to you all and to your families and thank you so very much for your continuing help and support. I really appreciate it.

AN evening of music at Barnwood Park High School by the delightful Stuart Singers last month proved doubly successful. Not only was it immensely enjoyed by the audience of around 200 people but it also brought in around 00. This means the club has now raised its 000 needed towards the parents room in the children's wing at the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, a centenary project shared by Gloucester North and Severn.

Founded in 1992 the Minchinhampton-based singers are a 65 stong mixed voice choir of whom more than 40 thrilled us with a concert of singing appropriately called 'That's Entertainment.'

The choir's members are drawn not only from the immediate locality but also from Stroud, Cheltenham, Tetbury and here in Gloucester.

Two faces in particular were familiar to club members Barbara Seed and Linda Corbett, who were two of the choir's talented soloists. Barbara despite struggling against the remains of a cold sang an Ivor Novello number Waltz of my Heart while Linda reminded us of a Gilbert and Sullivan favourite Poor Wandering One.

The light-hearted programme was ideal to dispel the gloom of a wet November evening. From the moment the choir processed in to the school's hall to the chant of a Zulu song, to their last number, Cole Porter's evergreen Anything Goes there was a mixture of melodies which would have been familiar to most in the appreciative audience.

The choir was conducted and the songs introduced by Gerry Palmer while the accompanist was Barrie Cooper.

This year could be a landmark one for the choir since by the end of this month they hope that their concerts (12 - 14 a year) would have raised ,000 for worthwhile causes since their formation just over 12 years ago.

In her concluding remarks President Angela thanked both the choir and the large audience for coming. She also thanked the concert's sponsors, the governors of the High School (headed by Peter Nesbitt and David Corbett) and the committee headed by Tony Tetley. All in all a popular evening of smashing singing which could well be repeated.

N Since writing this article we understand that the choir has now exceeded the ,000 landmark.....congratulations