Rotary Club of Gloucester

A DINNER party conversation resulted in club member Clive Kingscote going on safari to central Africa in July. Former Newent Rotary president Ray Bell who was present said he was accompanying Newent School pupils on a visit to Kenya. They were involved in a project to install a water harvesting system for a school there where there is no safe running water. Ray said he would welcome a travel companion and Norma Kingscote quickly volunteered her husband Clive.

Clive writes: "I thought little about it until the bills came for flights, injections etc and a briefing meeting at Newent School where we met the senior students, two teachers and one dad who were going to Kenya. Ray and I were to join them part way through their visit
"I won't bore you with details but had it not been for Ray's planning, the tie up with the Kisumu Rotary Club and my knife and tools, the project may have failed. Instead it was completed just in time despite numerous difficulties and now provides some 13,000 litres of water storage for the
children.

Apart from the school project to which our club and Newent contributed, Ray and I visited a slum of some 6,000 people (one of several) which reduced us to tears, talked to local businessmen, teachers, workers, students etc and got a better understanding of a country which has so much potential and full of such lovely people.

While there we looked for potential projects as requested by President Howard. We turned down two but felt strongly for a third, which was for a water supply for a medical centre only a few kilometres from where we were working

This centre has a building served by one doctor and a nurse. The doctor also had his house there, a limited amount of rain water and a small solar panel to provide a little power for his instruments. The centre had been funded by 2,000 children from this county in 1999 and partly constructed by some of them! A plaque on the wall says it all. And it is the only medical centre for a radius of 15 kilometres.

We understand the water table was not too deep and have requested the Kisumu Rotary Club to investigate and assess the cost for a hand water pump and concrete liner. With both the Newent and Gloucester clubs providing the cash and with the possibility of a matching grant the total cost may not be more than £4000.

Kisumu has a population of 600,000 and a surrounding rural population of some seven million, When we visited, the British Council building there faced closure and the workers were to be made redundant by the end of last month. This facility has worked with over 126 UK schools giving much needed help and guidance to visitors and channelling much needed aid to a poor part of Kenya. The country's capital Nairobi is five hours away over rough roads or one hour by expensive plane. Ray and I and many others are furious with the UK Government's lack of sensibility and we hope to have started a fire under this scandal!

Clive Kingscote

SPORTING activities at a Gloucester youth club have been given a boost thanks to the donation of several items of equipment by the club who was bought with the help of a matching grant from district.

Well in excess of 00 was spent by the club on meeting a wish list for equipment from the Echoes Youth Centre at Coney Hill.

The club has now acquired a full size tennis net and posts, a junior tennis net and posts, a basketball hoop for under 14s, an electric ball pump, netball posts for girls netball, a Warrior two-stroke court blower and a JCB power court jet wash.

The presentation was made by club president Howard Johnson who was accompanied by past president Martyn White who is also a city councillor.

This is the second year our club has made such a grant. Last year we presented a financial contribution towards the provision of a multi-use games area in Fieldcourt Drive, Quedgeley, and we are actively seeking a similar project for next year

AN incredible amount had been achieved during Rotary's first 100 years ......the scourge of Polio had been met with two billion inoculations, 3.5 million people had had their sight saved, the response to the tsunami in south east Asia had been incredible and UNIEF had been established largely as a result of Rotary initiatives.

However July 1st officially marked the start of Rotary's second century and there were still enormous needs which required addressing particularly in Africa ..... so said Ken Corrigan the incoming District Governor who hails from Pershore.

At a lunchtime meeting he specified those African needs as being health, literacy, hunger and water but acknowledged there might well be needs closer to home.

To emphasise this he recalled his Governor training visit to the USA where he and other Rotarians packed food parcels ....not for Africa's poor but for the countless thousands of Americans who depended on such handouts.

Such needs could only be met if Rotary could constantly replenish its ranks.
'We need more and younger recruits' was Ken's call and to help clubs achieve an RIBI target of one net new member this year, he said he was organising a District Road Show which would make presentations in the principal centres of population in his district. 'And don't forget that 52% of our target market are the ladies' he added.

In addition to recruitment, two other national goals this year was to raise money for Mercy Ships which visited African ports to carry out vital surgery and, closer to home, to provide cash for more Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. He also stressed the continuing need to contribute to Rotary Foundation, the movement's own charity.

In answer to a questioner who asked what Rotary was doing about AIDS. Ken said it was a massive problem and Rotary had sought to find an area where it might be effective. To this end it was supporting Rotary Africa Home which sought to provide education and care for children who had been orphaned by the disease.

Thanking Ken for his visit, President Howard Johnson said they shared similar ideals of fellowship and service and wished the District Governor every success.

OUR successful Group Study Exchange candidate is Stephanie Preece, (pictured above) news editor of The Citizen. She has kindly agreed to tell In Gear about herself and how she feels having been chosen:-

"I still do not think it has quite sunk in. A place on the GSE trip to Mumbai in January is such a fantastic opportunity, I'm really grateful to Rotary and The Citizen for making it possible.
"I was born in Gloucester almost 32 years ago and grew up in Tuffley. My mother's family has been in the city for generations, and my grandfather was a freeman of the city. My father's family is from Ledbury and I live in Worcester so I know the north of your district pretty well.
"I went to school at Harewood Infants and Junior schools and Ribston Hall High School where I first decided on a career in journalism. I was editor of the school magazine Ribus, which confirmed my desire to be a reporter.

"After leaving school I went to Portsmouth University where I gained a BA Honours degree in geography and then to the Centre of Media Studies in Cardiff, where I gained a post graduate certificate in print journalism. Then like all budding reporters, I wrote to every editor in the land pleading for a job.

"I joined the Worcester Evening News in 1996 as a trainee reporter covering everything from court and inquests to features and murders. I learnt to drive a bus, ride a horse and travelled abroad with the Army to Belgium, Bosnia and Northern Ireland. During my time there I was promoted to education reporter and later chief reporter, but in December 2000 I moved to the Oxford Mail and Times as assistant news editor.

"I was to stay in Oxford for four happy years, being promoted to deputy news editor and news editor. However, for the last two years I had been commuting daily from Worcester, where I had bought a house with my partner, Stuart, and at the end of last year I decided to look for a job closer to home.

"Landing a job on The Citizen was a dream come true. As my local paper it had inspired me to enter journalism and I was well aware of how good it was, so I was delighted to join the team in January where I am now news editor.

"However, little did I know the job would also lead to me visiting Mumbai. Having been through the selection process, I'm really excited at the prospect of learning more about our visit and eventually finding out about life and in particular journalism in India."

Congratulations to Gloucester Severn who retained the trophy following the annual golf tournament between the three city clubs. Our picture shows a delighted Severn team...Colin Harvey, Trevor Martin, Simon Hewer and Richard Colley. But every cloud has a silver lining since Severn will have to organise the event again next year. There was one triumph for our club however when that old campaigner David Corbett received a liquid prize for the longest drive from organiser Steve Markham.

In Brief

Our club sponsored two entries from the Crypt School and supported two entries from the Royal Grammar School at Worcester in the RIBI competition for Young Persons Design and Innovation ......... a competition won by the Worcester School. Apparently the Worcester school couldn't seeking support locally so our Youth Activities Committee stepped in with an offer of help. At the grand final, District 1100 won five of the 10 prizes with Edward Wilson from the Royal Grammar School winning the first prize of 00 plus a major piece of porcelain presented by the Wedgwood company.

RI is calling for volunteers to take part in a sponsored World Swim Day for Malaria on December 3. Between one and three million people die from the disease annually. It can be prevented. Every raised will prevent 50 deaths. How? By sleeping under a bednet and avoid being bitten. Rotary can help by supplying the bednets....millions of them. But swimmers are needed. Go to www.WorldSwimForMalaria.com if you know of a club, school company ....of if you're interested yourself.

The club date for Kids Out next year is June 14th again at Cattle Country at Berkeley. Tony Cullimore, the adventure centre's owner, is being invited to the club for lunch to thank him for his generosity in supporting the event.

The club has agreed to donate to the District team to attend the Disabled Sports Team Championships.........but our club's initiative has not been matched elsewhere. Underfunding in district means there is now some doubt whether there will be a district team at the event.

RICHARD Dennery, Gloucester's favourite American (and also a Friend of the Rotary Club of Gloucester) gave an amusing talk on his walk in the footsteps of Dick Whittington earlier this year.

The walk, which was arranged to mark the 400th anniversary of the famous tale, started from Dick's birthplace at Pauntley and finished in London where he was Lord Mayor on no fewer than three occasions.

Our Richard, who is Gloucester's City Centre manager, started out from Pauntley on Friday, May 27th and took his leave of Gloucester during the Medieval Fayre the following day.
Along with a core of six other walkers - plus the occasional day guest - Richard made his way to London via Cirencester, Lechlade, Faringdon, Wantage, Maidenhead and Richmond. Only occasionally did they escape Shank's Pony such as a boat trip on the Thames. Most days were spent foot slogging and most evenings comparing blisters.

But it was worth it in the end when London's Crier accompanied them on the final stage of their journey to the Mansion House where they received an official welcome and then toured the sumptuous property which contains m of paintings and a chain of office!!

To make the ending even sweeter those on the walk raised more than 000 for charity.
Richard also commented on the three day legal conference associated with Dick Whittington which was later held in the city and attracted 90 lawyers from across the world.

FOOTNOTE - Richard also commented on the massive coverage the walk received in the media and the excellent references to Gloucester's ancient heritage .... which has got to be good for tourism.