Rotary Club of Gloucester

Anne Carter who came to address the club recently brought home the scary facts of dementia in Gloucestershire and Alzheimer disease in particular. Anne made us all appreciate that dementia is a major health factor these days and in doing so enlighten us as to the support that she and her dedicated team at the Alzheimer Society are able to give

Up FATHER Christmas, alias John Millington of Twigs Garden Centre gave our club a belated festive present when he handed over a cheque for £840 - the proceeds of the money raised by club members who had acted the role of Father Christmas during weekends in the run-up to Christmas last year .

ROTARIAN Pat Denying of the Droitwich Rotary Club and his wife Jan took time out of their busy schedule to tell members how they spend one month each year working in a mobile dentistry unit in Kenya.

Rotarian dentists from around the world take it in turns to run the project so that with the aid of two permanent employees they are able to provide a dental service in an area of Kenya which would otherwise have to reply on primitive local medicine men or travel hundreds of miles for help.

During Pat and Jan's fascinating talk members were shown photos of dentistry being carried out in the back of a large 4x4 - no easy task. However the relief they offer is evident since long queues form wherever they go. In addition to the mobile facility, there is also a permanent base. While the dentists give their time free via the 'Rotary Volunteer Programme' patients have to pay the equivalent of £1 per treatment which helps to cover the cost of the two employees.

One interesting anecdote was that in Africa it is the custom for men to be first with everything. However when a dentist visits they tend to allow the ladies in first to see if the dentist is any good.

In giving a vote of thanks Alun Rees, the club's own dentist commented on the on-going dental crisis in the UK and mentioned the long queues which formed in Scarborough when a new dentist opened recently.

A COUPLE of requests have been made to the club recently by Sue Smith - the first for the Gloucester Emergency Accommodation Resource (GEAR) and the second for Women's Refuge.

Sue writes: "Some of you may remember Brian Jones from Gloucester Emergency Accommodation Resource (GEAR) coming to the club a few months ago to talk about this homeless project.

"He is now requesting a few volunteers to help some of their clients with basic skills. Some need help with writing and laying out letters, some need help with basic computer skills. At the Vaughan Centre in Southgate Street, where they can go for refreshments, counselling and health care, there is a computer room with five computers. They would very much like some help with basic computer skills in order to make more use of the facilities.

"This is not a formal request and there is no long term commitment, just some friendly help for those less fortunate than ourselves who are trying to get back on course with their lives."

If you have time in the afternoon, during the period from 2pm-3.30pm and would like to help, please let Sue Smith know

Her second request involves Womens Refuge.

She writes: "Are you redecorating a bedroom? Please do not throw away your old single bed linen - it is needed by the Women's Refuge. As you can imagine many of the children there are extremely stressed and their beds need changing at night, so a large stock of bed linen is required.

FROM hospital porter to project manager for the new Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Great Western Road is the continuing story of Irwin Wilson who spoke at the club recently.

Irwin may have started as a porter but since then he has help positions in every area of the health service both in administration and nursing.

As the health service project manager for the new hospital he gave members a polished presentation with the help of a laptop and projector.

Irwin explained the intricacies of NHS funding and said the new hospital is to be leased from the Gloucester Health Partnership. This is the body which will provide all the buildings and facilities for the new hospital - and if they don't deliver, then they don't get paid.

The hospital will cost . GRH will pay lease fee per annum for the hospital for 30 years after which they will own it outright.

Other monies will come from Pied Piper (the local children's charity fronted by Rotarian Peter Hickman) which will donate m; the Ronald McDonald charity ,000 and the three city-based Rotary clubs 000.

As members will be aware the 000 will go towards the building and equipping a parents' overnight room in the children's wing of the hospital. The club is sharing the cost with Gloucester North and Gloucester Severn.

SOMETIMES Rotary gets things done without becoming actively involved itself. This was particularly true in January when the club presented a 00 cheque to the charity REACH which is a support group for children born with limbs - normally hands - missing.

It was a cause close to the heart of former member Malcolm Higgins whose son has a part of an arm missing. Malcolm who was a club member while running Kwik Print in Southgate Street is now living and working in Essex.

Most of the money (00) came from a Gloucester Sporting Club event, which had been donated, to REACH following the presentation on its behalf by one of our members. The club added the additional monies to top the cheque up to 00.

The presentation was make to REACH representative - appropriately a Rotarian - Frank Letch from Crediton who was born without arms and signed in with his toes when he arrived at the club.

Frank's positive attitude and his determination to overcome such an adversity impressed members and he has now been invited to return to the club later this year to address at an evening meeting.

In accepting the cheque he told members that the charity was 25 years old this year and one of REACH's annual highlights was an annual camp in Southampton for children with only one hand.

We look forward to hearing more.

Back to school to lend a hand

ROTARY'S theme for this year 'Lend a Hand' has become a reality in Gloucester as 11 members of our club and three wives take part in a numeracy skills project at Calton Junior School.

In fact the project was oversubscribed by members who helped out at the school on every day they were needed.

David Seed who set up the link between the club and the school said it fitted in well with the Rotary theme and with President Clive's wish for members to get more involved with our local community.

He said that the Rotarians and their wives had found the experience both extremely interesting and very worthwhile.

The headmaster, who was very appreciative of the club's commitment, had now asked if it was possible to continue our involvement into the summer term and David is now getting in touch with the volunteers to check if they wish to continue and convenient timings.

David is aware of the need for better communications between the school and the volunteers to prevent wasted journeys.