Rotary Club of Gloucester

The death of someone important can have a devastating effect on a young person. Yet given appropriate support and information, children and young people can be helped to understand what has happened and can be helped to rebuild their lives.

This is the objective of Winston's Wish a local charity which has pioneered help to young people who have suffered a family bereavement.

It also offers practical support and guidance to families, professionals and to anyone concerned with a grieving child. The value of its work has now become so well recognised that the charity has been used as a service model for many other organisations both in the UK and further afield.

Sue Major (pictured on the right with Senior Vice President Howard Johnson), who has had personal experience of the value of its services, gave a stimulating presentation of its work at a lunchtime meeting

Whether death was sudden or expected, Winston's Wish works closely in practical and creative ways with all members of the family to create an atmosphere in which grief can be shared and the young person can be supported.

The charity works with around 200 -220 bereaved children and their parents or carers every year. Nationally through the telelphone help service Family Line it has supported more than 16,000 children and young people in its first two years.
On a practical basis its work is carried out both on a group and an individual basis.

It also organises CampWinston a weekend event attended by children between 5 - 18 where children can share their grief and learn to rebuild their lives.
An accomplished speaker, Sue gave a thought provoking talk which was much appreciated.

IT SEEMS rather curious when a mum says that one of the happiest moments of her life was when her son crashed into the wall and took the paint off the skirting board. However all becomes clear when it becomes known that her disabled son who had been immobile all his life was experiencing for the first time the freedom which a wheelchair provides and for the first time was acting like a 'proper child.'

This was an anecdote told to club members by Matt - who didn't want his second name revealed - who spoke about the work of Whizz Kids a charity established in Bristol in 1990.

Since then it has provided more than 4,000 wheelchairs and walking aids. It now has a waiting list of many thousands because of the NHS's limited resources.

Matt himself was giving his first ever talk as a regional volunteer having raised money for the charity with a series of marathons and half marathons over the past five years.

He explained that before a wheelchair or walking aid was provided each recipient was assessed by a mobility therapist and then the unit was specially designed.

Matt also stressed that the charity depended entirely on voluntary contributions for its work - much of it coming from sponsored activities, corporate sponsorship or from organisations life Rotary.

EXPERIENCES of 26 years in local TV and radio were recounted by Mark Hurrell

managing editor of BBC Radio Gloucestershire at a September lunchtime meeting.

Mark's career started by bobbing around in the Mediterranean in a ship broadcasting pop music to the Middle East. Since then his career has included spells on Radio One, commercial radio and The World at One.

He initially came to Gloucester in 1990 in charge of programme in the BBC station but subsequently moved to Points West in Bristol and then to a Radio station in Stoke before returning to BBC Radio Gloucestershire as managing editor in July 1992.

His hobbies include singing (he's in two choirs) and he has been a season ticket holder at Kingsholm for 10 years.

Mark told members that his station had 80,000 listeners a week and that it mirrored what was happening in the county.

He said a sense of community was vital to the ethos of the radio station and to this end he was particularly pleased to have formed partnerships with The Citizen and with Gloscat.

He recalled how The Citizen and his radio station had been involved with the club's hugely successful campaign to raise money for charity and how the paper had helped his station's campaign to raised cash for seven county charities in seven days.

With reference to Gloscat he told of how the college and radio station had combined to set up a unique Learning Centre to open up new opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds who may have thought further education was not for them.

FRANTIC training prior to a deployment to the South Atlantic were the principal items of news from HMS Gloucester received in an e-mail by Chris Soane from Lt Cdr Mark Bye, the ship's liaison officer with the club.

Marc tells us that having returned to the UK in early June the summer was largely taken up with maintenance, summer holidays and covering for a possible firemen's strike.

In an update on the ship's activities which he wrote to the club towards the end of September, he said the ship was preparing to go to sea on October 11.
The period immediately before this and for the two weeks immediately after sailing would be taken up with training to cope with scenarios in which the ship had been bombed or set ablaze!

Then after a brief period of leave HMS Gloucester is due to sail from Plymouth for a four month deployment to the South Atlantic.

Marc adds that the next realistic time for visits by club members would be after the ship's return from the South Atlantic since before then all the ship's time will be taken up with training and deployment.

Look Good Feel Great Fashion Show

Look Good, Feel Great was an apt title for the fashion show at the beginning of September which raised in excess of £1,000 for the Prince's Trust - President Angela Seddon's chosen charity for her year in office.

Nearly 200 people - including District Governor Paul Charter and his wife - packed St Andrew's Church Hall at Churchdown for the first major event during Angela's presidency.

They weren't disappointed. It was an outstanding success mainly due to the tremendous efforts put in by a small band of organisers, superbly marshalled and led by Sue Smith who welcomed those who attended and introduced the evening.

Fashions for all occasions were on show. These included wet weather clothes, evening wear, night wear, special occasions, Autumn fashions, bridal wear...and much more besides. It was a collection which offered, in the words of President Angela, real clothes for real people at real prices.

The show was staged by Just in together with Nightingales which have shops in Churchdown, Winchcombe and Stow-on-the-Wold and an excellent commentary was given by Jean Ford.

The models included many familiar faces including Pam Tracy a former Gloucester Mayor and Iona Robins a former city mayoress. Others known to club members were Audrey Hughes, Karen Kingscote (Clive's daughter-in-law) and Ginny Ring.

Full marks too to club members Julian Farr, Robert Hall and Jeremy Keck who bravely modelled men's outfits by Beaus and Balls. They were suave and debonair and delighted a good humoured audience........although behind the scenes the odd glass or three of vino seems to have been necessary to settle the nerves.

Thanks should also to those club members who sponsored the occasion or organised raffle prizes.

To underline the excellent work of the Prince's Trust some of the trade stands which added to the evening's interest were run by young entrepreneurs who had been helped set up their businesses by the Trust.

It was a great evening to launch President Angela's term and its success guarantees that the show, which was started in Clive Kingscote's year of office, may well be around for a few more presidents yet!

FELLOWSHIP and fun were two of the main ingredients to the success of the club's auction of gifts and promises at the King;'s School, Gloucester earlier this month.

The event, which had been masterminded by a committee under the chairmanship of Colin Eynon, was to raise cash towards the centennial project being shared by the two other city-based Rotary clubs.

This is to provide and equip an overnight room for parents and relatives of seriously ill children in the new children's wing of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Along with Gloucester North and Gloucester Severn, our club has committed to raise 000 towards a joint target of 000 to provide the facility and the auction was planned to raise most of the club's share.

It will be some time before the final figure is known but bids at the event were in the region of 00 and certain lots which were withdrawn at the event may yet be sold to enhance this figure.

In total there were 122 pledges - a remarkable reflection on the tenacity of the organising committee.

Welcoming everyone, club president Angela Seddon thanked Rotarians from nearby clubs including those in the city, Stroud and Worcester who were supporting the occasion. She also paid tribute to the sponsors and advertisers who had helped offset the cost of a nicely produced programme and catalogue.

A delicious three course meal, followed by coffee/tea and chocolate mints was rapidly served and enjoyed before club member and well known local auctioneer Bob Short took charge of proceedings and started disposing of the lots.

On the evening the top bid of was for a week's self-catering in a house at Los Alcazares in Spain owned by Rotarian John Weygang and his wife Mary.

Running a close second was a bid for a three course meal for eight to ten people prepared by 1999's TV Master Chef Lloyd Burgiss who was one of our guests for the evening.

The only other bid to top was a week's self catering accommodation for eight in a cottage in Polzeath in Cornwall which had been kindly donated by Patricia Manners which made .

Another good earner was a personally signed copy of 'Highgrove - The Gardens' by the Prince of Wales donated by our president which realised .

A luxury day plus overnight accommodation at Le Spa given by Peter Nesbitt was sold for while an evening with Howard Johnson as cook and sommelier for a four course dinner with French wine for four to six people raised .

The nature of the lots on offer meant there was something within the pocket of most people and many items attracted keen bidding although with others auctioneer Bob had to use all his skills and persuasive charm to push the price to a realistic figure.

Our president certainly knows the formula for an eye-catching picture. Here we see her at the Nigel Mansell World of Racing Museum, which contains memorabilia of his hugely, successful racing career as well as several golfing tournament trophies.

It is based at the attractive Woodbury Park Golf Hotel and Country Club near Exeter.

Angela got to sit on the wheel of the car with which Nigel won the 1992 Formula One championship when she organised a golfing day and evening dinner there in aid of the Prince's Trust of which she is the regional fundraiser.

Also joining her for the occasion was a team of local golfers including Clive Kingscote, David Seed, Colin Rogers and Ray Bell.

The Gloucester team was one of 24 which took part during the day. Both Nigel himself and his son Greg were among the competitors.

While our local lads didn't win anything the Trust did since Angela's efforts realised £7,000 for its work with young people