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District 1080 NewsCovering Norfolk, Suffolk, North Essex, North Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire Editor: Rodney Howell, Rotary Club of Diss and District

ServiceSelfAbove

District 1080 News - August 2011

August 2011 District Governor - Tom Griffin

First LastIndex

At the end of the Rotary year 2010/11, Hugh Davies (R/C of Gt Yarmouth) retired after having served as D1080 Foundation

Officer for the maximum possible term of six years, so it is instructive to look back on the achievements of those years by considering the following statistics:Between 2005/06 and 2010/11 we hosted 73 Ambassadorial Scholars from around the world and we sent out six of our own plus two “Poor Country” scholars and one Peace Scholar.We undertook six GSE Exchanges – with Argentina, Turkey, Australia, the Philippines, Bangalore (India) and Southern Illinois (USA).103 District Simplified Grants were paid out to 47 different clubs and 26 Matching Grants have been obtained for a range of projects, principally in Africa.At the time of writing, final figures for the district’s donations to the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Programs Fund in 2011/12 are not available but, assuming a level consistent with previous years, it is likely that the aggregate giving to this fund over the six years will be only slightly short of £500,000. The district has never been lower than ninth (out of 29 in RIBI) in any year and has been in the top five in three of them.As for Polio Eradication donations, we were within £400 of taking the top spot for giving in 2009/10 and over the three years from 2007/08 to 2009/10 the total raised was nearly £150,000 (the figures for 2010/11 are still to be released at the time of writing).All in all, this is clearly a proud record of consistent achievement and is testament to the effort that Hugh put in over his years of office. Not that he is taking it easy in retirement – he has become Assistant Governor East!

HUGH’S PROUD RECORD OF

FOUNDATION ACHIEVEMENT

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Disclaimer: Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Editor or RIBI. Every effort is made to ensure that the magazine’s contents are accurate. Information is published in good faith but no liability can be accepted for inconvenience arising from error or omission. The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or

length. Contributors must ensure that all material submitted is not in breach of copyright or other laws.

District Governor: Tom Griffin Editor: Rodney Howell

We welcome all contributions from individual members and clubs covering events and activities throughout the year. Wherever possible, please supply copy in an editable format by email and include any images as

attachments in as high a resolution as possible.

District 1080 News

In this issue The Six RsYes, I know it’s supposed to be the Three Rs, but I don’t like doing things by half. Actually, it was a Rotarian at one of my club visits in July who talked about the Three Rs of Rotary; that Rotary should be Relevant; Respected; and Reported. I shan’t embarrass him by naming him but thanks.RelevantThis idea ties in well with RI President Kalyan Banerjee’s priorities of Continuity and Change – Continuity so that we keep the things that matter; the essentials of Rotary. And Change so that we adapt to adjust to the world we currently inhabit and recognise the changing aspirations and expectations of our current and future membership.For too many people the image of Rotary is of a bunch of old fogies meeting for lunch. We should be wary of reinforcing that inaccurate and unfair caricature.RespectedRotary does an enormous amount of good in the world, but, sadly, never seems to get the recognition it deserves. I don’t know the solution; perhaps some of the readers of “1080 News” will have some suggestions. What I do know is that, by reason of their good works, Rotary clubs up and

down the land are recognised and respected in their own communities and it is this respect that, above all, we must seek and retain if we are to continue to attract and retain good Rotarians.ReportedBut not to the Police! This goes back to my earlier points about our image and about being respected in the community. Our local media has changed over the last few

years; my experience is that local papers are no longer content to print photographs of men wearing chains handing over cheques. But they are interested in what’s happening in their communities and we do ourselves no good if we hide

our lights under bushels. So don’t be shy about telling the world (OK, your town) about the good your club has done this month, this year.RecognitionMy fourth “R”. Now, we all know that the Paul Harris Fellowship is not an award for service or for merit but I’m glad to say that, in this country, we mainly regard

it as such and long may we do so. It is with this thought in mind that I found it gratifying to be present at the award of two Paul Harris Fellowships in the last few weeks.Those of you at the District Handover on 29 June will have

seen Rodney Howell present a PHF to his wife Norma as a token of the great support Norma has been to him in his Rotary career and especially during his year as District Governor. A lovely touch, and well deserved.Then, at my first official appearance as DG, Saxmundham Rotary Club presented a Paul Harris Fellowship to their outgoing President, Jon James. Last year, Saxmundham celebrated the 40th anniversary of its Charter with an ambitious and innovative project, “Sing Out”. This involved two hundred or so children from a number of local schools performing at Snape Maltings. For this event, the club commissioned two new musical works. Over the previous couple of years, Jon did a prodigious amount of work to ensure the event’s success and the club recognised his efforts with the PHF. Well done, Jon!RegistrationIt’s still not too late to register for the 2011 District 1080 Conference. As you know, this will be held in the Holiday Inn, Norwich North on Saturday 8 October. For those who want to enjoy the fun and fellowship of the weekend, on the Friday evening (7 October) there will be a dinner-dance, and on the Saturday evening our after dinner speaker will be TV Vet, Steve Leonard.You can come to just the Conference, or just the Friday evening, or just the Saturday dinner – or any combination of the three - just don’t forget to register by 24 September (use the button above left).

Tom’s Talk

The Monthly Message from our District Governor

August6 Wroxham Bure Valley (Charter Night)8 Swaffham10 Harleston11 Cambridge Rutherford24 Soham Staploe

September6 Lowestoft East Point19 Norwich Marchesi North Walsham20 Norwich Blackfriars Norwich St Edmund21 North Norfolk Cromer & Sheringham26 Letchworth Howard29 King’s Lynn Trinity

Tom’sVisit

Diary

Readers’ LettersComments from around the district

The Griff on GrafhamThe latest news on our RYLA

Foundation ContributionsWhere is your club in the league table?

One year to go!The Olympics countdown has started

Young Citizens ChallengePromote our youth

Youth Speaks and Young ChefAll the plans for the competitions

Still Some Way to Go?The latest bash at our public image

PlusClub News fromaround theDistrict

ReminderAs I said last month, I’d like to visit all 77 clubs in 1080 during my year in office – so a gentle reminder to those clubs which haven’t yet got round to inviting me to do so.

Click

on the arrow to go

straight to the page

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NEWSIn BriefLetters to the EditorIf you have a comment, a suggestion or a grouse on any Rotary subject, please email the editor and bring it to the attention of your fellow members

Click Here

AND A HAT FOR DESSERTAnd now we have a

[communications] wall!  Great idea, but if anyone climbs this wall and falls off, or attempts to push a vulnerable adult over the wall, who will they contact to ask why not or how to do it?I have lost count of the number of times I have made the point that Health and Safety and Protection need a little more profile and, as long as the leadership, at both District and RIBI level ignore, relegate or simply fail to mention these subjects, they are setting a powerful negative standard.No, I do not want a badge or recognition for me personally, I just want to ensure that the message is out there and that leaders and officials are on board.  If not, then I might as well give up entirely.Keep smiling – it is a safe and healthy practise and does

not require any permission or certification.

PS - Can we run a sweepstake on the number of clubs in D1080 who have actually appointed, or published details of in their directories, of a member with responsibility for H&S matters and Protection matters?  If it amounts to more than 30% I will publicly eat a copy of the Regulatory Reform Fire Order.

John PhillipsR/C of SudburyD1080 H&S Officer.

Please accept my apologies for omitting you – nothing personal, I assure you. I will have the matter addressed in time for the August issue. To everyone else – Let’s make him eat that document. I will serve the sauce personally at a District Council Meeting.

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR DGEWith immediate effect, a new generic email address has been set up for DGE Trevor Sayer as follows: dg1213@rotary1080.org.ukPlease use this in preference to his personal email address.

THERE’S A MAP FOR THATThat’s the proud boast contained within a recent mailing from RI that offers the opportunity to “View RI districts and zones on an interactive map powered by Google Earth”. It goes on “New to the RI website, this feature allows you to search for a district or zone, then see a map of it in your browser”.Those calling for the abolition of RIBI must have already had their way because, when I tried the new facility, it steadfastly refused to recognise Zones 17 and 18A (i.e. RIBI) and did not want to know about District 1080 although it would disclose districts in Japan.Have we become part of Belgium? I think we should be told.

FOR POTENTIAL MEMBERSCheck out the new addition to the RIBI shop - ‘What is Rotary?’. This 6-page A6 sized leaflet gives a brief overview of what Rotary is and the sorts of projects in which Rotary clubs are involved, as well as interesting facts and figures about Rotary’s impact on polio eradication. Ideal for new member attraction! Use as a hand-out or as an aide-memoire when talking to potential new members.

ARE YOU LONESOME..?Many people choose to

spend Christmas in many different ways. Some flee to the sun, some go to a hotel but many opt for the traditional family feud in front of the television. This winter, I tried something completely different, although I didn’t actually choose it; I spent Christmas week in isolation in Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge with swine flu. Apart from not feeling well, one of the worst things about a stay in hospital is the boredom and loneliness, so I resolved to try to do something about it as and when I was fit again. Consequently I am now a volunteer visitor at Addenbrooke’s, spending time talking to patients who may not otherwise see anyone from the outside world. Addenbrooke’s

being a centre for certain conditions, patients can originate from some distance; one chap I spoke to lives in Southampton and had been in hospital for five weeks so far. As a volunteer visitor I am part of a team, all of whom have the same aim - to give patients a break from the routine of boredom and loneliness where periodic blood-pressure checks can be the highlight of the day. With Addenbrooke’s being such a hub, and with so many patients coming from some distance, it would be good if the visitor service was better known and used. If any Rotarians know of anyone who would appreciate a break in the day, call 01223 586616 and we will do our level best to see them. We listen well, too!

Geoff GriggsIPP R/C of Soham Staploe

MAKING THINGS FOOLPROOFOne correspondent has complained that the buttons for downloading the Foundation documents in the July edition did not work - They do work but, because the documents are located in the secure Members Area of the RIBI website, you have to be logged in first.There is a warning notice to this effect issued by the site and all you have to do is to log in using your default browser and click the button again. I had assumed that the readers could work this out for themselves but I will try to remember to point this out wherever and whenever it occurs in the future.

SERVICE OFFERED

Philip Jefferies, JVP of the Stowmarket club, has

two daughters, Beth (20) and Alison (22) - Beth spent eight months last year working in an orphanage in Peru and, since returning home, has started a three-year Nursing course at the University Hospital, Norwich; Alison has completed a Forensic Science degree at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Both girls are looking to volunteer for a project overseas, Beth has four weeks available during August and Alison is available now for several months.For any Rotary Club in our

district, or outside, that requires help overseas with a project - all the girls are looking for is accommodation, preferably with a Rotary family, and they will arrange their own travel arrangements and so on. Both are well used to community work and have been brought up with “Service above Self “.There is also a bonus as Beth has a friend who has also worked in the Peru and who would be willing to join them.Please help these girls give service and contact Philip on 01449 781087 or via email. Robin WraightAG South

@

GET ME OUT OF HERE

On the Communication Wall, can you please add an

“Escape”“ Button? Not being a computer buff, my only way to get out of it [The July Magazine] seems to be to switch off my computer.Please tame your boffins, and remember those less adept at this computer stuff! Gordon InnesR/C of Letchworth Howard

If you read page one of the July edition you will find all instructions as to the operation of the newsletter under the heading “Don’t Panic”.You already have the “Escape Button” on your computer – it’s at the top left hand corner of your keyboard and marked “Esc”.Please give it another go.(For the avoidance of doubt, the instructions given were as follows:You are viewing in full-screen mode - use the buttons to navigate (read this page in full first). To regain the normal Adobe Reader framing, press the “Esc” key top left of keyboard.To Zoom In, press “Ctrl”+”+” and to Zoom Out, press “Ctrl” + “-” . To return to the full-screen view, press “Ctrl”+”0” ).

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NEWSIn Brief

ENTER NOW FOR DISTRICT GOLF COMPETITION

The D1080 Rotary Golf Day is to be held at Thetford Golf Club on Thursday 22nd September 2011 and more entries are sought for this enjoyable event. Entry forms can be obtained by emailing Allan Gosling.

@

HELPING CURIE TO CAREAt the start of his year, the

2010/11 President of the R/C of Cambridge Rutherford, Guy Turvill confirmed that he was keen to ensure that funds from events in the year were to be earmarked for the Marie Curie cancer care charity. With this in mind, a speaker from that charity, Victoria Beckinsale, attended a lunch meeting on 23rd September last year and provided the club with details of their magnificent work. The Community Service Committee of the club, under the chairmanship of Richard

Morris,  put their efforts into a couple of major events in the year, a fashion show and a golf day, for the charity and both were highly successful.The club was then in a position to invite Victoria Beckinsale to a meeting held at Queens› College on 16th June when Guy presented her with a cheque for a total of £9000. (See photo above).Victoria was able to confirm that this money would buy a significant number of qualified nursing hours for local cancer sufferers in Cambridgeshire.

TRAINING FOR FREEThe Bury St Edmunds Volunteer Centre is offering free courses for members of volunteer organisations to improve their skills and knowledge in a range of courses that have been running from April 2011 and continue until February 2012.The sessions are described as being “packed with practical tips and useful resources” – You can attend many or just a few workshops or send different committee members to different sessions. Topics covered include: Health & Safety/Risk Management, Marketing & Publicity, Organising Events and Managing Volunteers.D1080 Training Officer Paul Tabiner has further details and any club within striking distance of Bury St Edmunds should contact him if they wish to learn more.

As at the middle of July, we have 40 candidates for

the event, which compares very favourably with the same period last year and ensures the success of a RYLA course in 2011.Following a very positive meeting at Grafham Water, we can feel confident of a good RYLA, with a programme that is largely similar to previous years, with one or two small tweaks - evolution rather than revolution. The optimum number is between 45 & 50, so additional candidates will still be welcomed.Following my telephone contacts, candidate details have now been supplied and I have built a database of the candidates for circulation and communication to the candidates, sponsors and clubs. I contacted the candidates in late July and supplied them with joining instructions, kit list, Aims and Objectives, Grafham Water map, spider diagram and an outline of the programme. As is normal practice, the actual programme content is not revealed in advance as the week is designed to be a progressive development process.RYLA is an excellent

opportunity for Rotarians to become involved either by active participation, being present at the “Meet Rotarians” event 4pm on Sunday 4th September, participating in the “Investors and SWOT Analysis” presentations, forming part of the audience for the student mini-lectures or being an invited guest at the “Formal Dinner”. Indeed, alternatively, why not just turn up at any time during the week, when I or Grafham Water staff will be on hand to welcome you (although candidates may be

out on active “duty” that day)? Grafham Water is an excellent venue to visit with or without the family.Rotarians and Company Sponsors are invited to participate in the “Investors proposals” on Monday at 6.45pm on 5th September, for which the skill set required is: business acumen, presentation skills, positive feedback and challenging questions. An evening meal will be provided

by Grafham Water Centre before the Investors Panel. For the SWOT Analysis Panel on Tuesday at 5.30pm on 6th September, the skill set required is: understanding of personal development, teamwork and presentational skills. Finally, a Rotary audience is required for the mini-lectures on Saturday 10th September at 9.15am. Indications from those who wish to be involved is requested as soon as possible and, as always, I strongly recommend all those involved to view the RYLA web pages by clicking the button below.

Contact me on 01473 730316 or 07712 069626 or email me by clicking the button below.

The Griff on

GrafhamAn update on the RYLA Week to be held this Autumn

by AG Robin Wraight - RYLA 1080 Coordinator

With more and more Rotarians producing their own Rotary stationery, posters and other printed material it is worth noting that there are strict rules as to the exact shade of Rotary Blue and Rotary Gold that should be used.The Pantone reference for the blue is 286 (coated and uncoated stock) or use the CMYK breakdown of 100-66-0-2, and the gold Pantone reference is 123C or CMYK 0-17-100-0. All Desktop Publishing programs will give you the opportunity to create these colours (they may be called swatches) so do that and name them Rotary Blue and Rotary Gold and they will always be available for future use at any time.

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FOUNDATIONForum

byD1080 Foundation Officer

Steve Munns

D1080 FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTIONS 2010/11On the following page

you will see the total contributions for the last Rotary Year, from each of our clubs. As well as showing the club total donations for the Annual Programme Fund (APF), we have shown the average contribution per club member. The total membership of your clubs has been gleaned from the RI Membership database, so it may well be incorrect, as this has to be updated by your Club Secretary or President.I intend to publish our APF contributions every three months to help Club Treasurers and those who are Sustaining Members. By giving you this information you are able to track your donations and, if need be, instruct me to help with corrections. This last Rotary Year, District 1080 donated $112,537.08 to the APF, which means that, in three years time, we shall have half that sum credited to our District Designated Fund. Remember that our ability to provide funding for projects is directly linked to what you as clubs and individuals donate to our charity, your Rotary Foundation. I work on the “perhaps” dream, that every Rotarian donates the equivalent of $100 per year to our charity. That’s just 18 pence a day. The wonderful news is that we have ten clubs in our district that reached and passed the $100 per member target – congratulations to you all, and keep up your support

for our charity.Disappointingly, we have seven clubs who have decided not to donate to our charity, with a considerable number of other clubs making just a token donation. It could be that some of these clubs did not ensure that their donations were received by 1st July, but these will be corrected in the next contributions list in three months time.Whether or not your club has donated to the Rotary Foundation, the District Foundation Grants Sub-Committee would still wish to be informed of any projects that you may have, that could possibly be eligible for a Matching Grant. Yes, it’s amazing, but true, that you don’t have to donate to the Rotary Foundation to receive funding! However, if everybody stopped donating, we wouldn’t have any funds, of course.Alongside the APF contributions are the gifts to the Polio Challenge. Unfortunately, we have twenty five clubs that have made the decision not to raise funds for the Challenge in this last year. This is a shame because, as long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high. Remember that the fight to eradicate polio is very much dependent on our donations.

What makes Foundation special? •  Every humanitarian project supports Rotarians’ service activities•  The  core  humanitarian  projects  and  the  educational programmes bring clubs and participants together across national and cultural boundaries •  Operations are entirely driven by grass roots initiatives from Clubs and individual Rotarians

Is Foundation too complicated? No, is the simple answer. I have never been a mechanical person, yet I drive 12,000 miles a year. I know that I turn the key, put fuel in the tank and when the light comes on I get the car serviced.Your charity is the same. You do projects, put cash into the fund regularly and when your “light” comes on you call the mechanic (that’s me). Now what is complicated about that?

Members of the District Rotary Foundation Committee

There may be questions that you want answered about different aspects of our charity, so I’ve listed the individual members and their email addresses. We are willing to come to your clubs to give talks and presentations, so just get in contact.

Rotary Foundation Chairman Steve Munns Steve.Munns@btinternet.comHumanitarian Grants Chairman John Gillespie john@gillespie6246.fsnet.co.ukGSE Coordinator Kate Secker secker733@btinternet.comAmbassadorial Scholars & Peace Scholars Hilary King hilarychris@btinternet.com

How Did Your Club Do?

See Next Page For

Full Details

Page 6 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

Annual Programme Fund Giving Polio Challenge Members 10-11 £ Totals £ per capita $ Totals $ per capita £ Totals $ TotalsAttleborough 13 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00Aylsham 22 150 6.82 238.22 10.83 630 1000.00Baldock 40 194 4.85 309.56 7.74 408 669.74Beccles 34 538 15.82 897.93 26.41 2765 4300.12Brandon & District 24 1000 41.67 1639.34 68.31 0 0.00Broadlands 28 61 2.18 100.00 3.57 500 819.67Bungay 30 1031 34.37 1684.28 56.14 0 0.00Bury St Edmunds 33 1281 38.82 2097.40 63.56 0 0.00Bury St Edmunds Abbey 27 50 1.85 78.13 2.89 500 793.65Cambridge 49 2695 55.00 4277.82 87.30 1187 1811.98Cambridge Rutherford 38 1250 32.89 1901.13 50.03 856 1259.47Chatteris 20 674 33.70 1089.37 54.47 200 317.46Cromer & Sheringham 22 800 36.36 1311.48 59.61 0 0.00Dereham 21 513 24.43 805.97 38.38 0 0.00Diss & District 54 3689 68.31 5872.74 108.75 3114 4942.86Downham Market 33 2140 64.85 3344.26 101.34 140 222.32Ely 37 711 19.22 1121.78 30.32 1150 1825.40Ely Hereward 24 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00Fakenham 31 1000 32.26 1515.15 48.88 0 0.00Felixstowe 32 2250 70.31 3584.44 112.01 0 0.00Felixstowe Landguard 31 1982 63.94 3144.06 101.42 0 0.00Framlingham 27 100 3.70 155.50 5.76 500 793.65Gorleston-on-Sea 34 57 1.68 87.23 2.57 0 0.00Great Yarmouth 34 2690 79.12 4398.73 129.37 750 1229.51Great Yarmouth Haven 47 2305 49.04 3658.61 77.84 750 1229.51Hadleigh 19 170 8.95 278.69 14.67 462 756.72Harleston & District 15 300 20.00 476.19 31.75 300 476.19Haverhill & District 16 100 6.25 158.73 9.92 1058 1734.43High Suffolk 13 50 3.85 79.37 6.11 0 0.00Holt & District 27 375 13.89 596.03 22.08 0 0.00Hunstanton & District 28 1000 35.71 1639.34 58.55 0 0.00Ipswich 42 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 909 1433.19Ipswich East 59 3000 50.85 4545.45 77.04 159 242.71Ipswich Orwell 27 1474 54.59 2291.36 84.87 159 242.71Ipswich Wolsey 23 50 2.17 78.13 3.40 160 242.78King’s Lynn 30 565 18.83 897.61 29.92 766 1250.26King’s Lynn Priory 33 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00King’s Lynn Trinity 33 1488 45.09 2431.25 73.67 500 819.67Letchworth Garden City 27 2136 79.11 3455.28 127.97 409 669.74Letchworth Howard 21 1621 77.19 2457.13 117.01 447 727.54Littleport 22 870 39.55 1413.81 64.26 250 367.65Lowestoft 52 1638 31.50 2679.74 51.53 769 1220.43Lowestoft East Point 37 2000 54.05 3102.45 83.85 1317 2090.48Lowestoft South 31 450 14.52 713.05 23.00 68 108.63March 32 92 2.88 148.22 4.63 0 0.00

Annual Programme Fund Giving Polio Challenge Members 10-11 £ Totals £ per capita $ Totals $ per capita £ Totals $ Totals

Mildenhall 13 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00Newmarket 26 1231 47.35 1955.58 75.21 2000 3278.69North Norfolk 19 29 1.53 47.54 2.50 1000 1639.34North Walsham 21 989 47.10 1536.38 73.16 249 397.12Norwich 52 1674 32.19 2620.57 50.40 1668 2662.87Norwich Blackfriars Breakfast 23 1725 75.00 2664.58 115.85 600 983.61Norwich Centenary 16 190 11.88 306.05 19.13 500 819.67Norwich Marchesi 17 2000 117.65 3154.50 185.56 0 0.00Norwich South 34 340 10.00 515.15 15.15 0 0.00Norwich St Edmund 29 2352 81.10 3708.23 127.87 1338 2193.44Norwich Thorpe St Andrew 21 1300 61.90 491.80 23.42 0 0.00Reepham & District 31 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00Royston 35 2800 80.00 4474.90 127.85 4508 7075.97Saffron Walden 41 1850 45.12 2888.26 70.45 0 0.00Sawston District 23 460 20.00 734.12 31.92 1158 1844.96Saxmundham & District 26 1443 55.50 2291.65 88.14 404 661.80Soham Staploe 24 50 2.08 79.37 3.31 358 587.05South Cambridge 23 1353 58.83 2214.20 96.27 1000 1639.34Southwold & District 22 7 0.32 11.48 0.52 2300 3650.79Stowmarket 29 1697 58.52 2685.16 92.59 114 3164.47Stowmarket Gipping Valley 17 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2347 528.69Sudbury 25 162 6.48 255.21 10.21 3926 6221.33Sudbury Talbot 11 554 50.36 901.99 82.00 0 0.00Swaffham 30 1259 41.97 1994.98 66.50 1600 2496.39Thetford 29 556 19.17 847.12 29.21 400 634.92Watton & District 28 650 23.21 1031.75 36.85 0 0.00Whittlesey 19 550 28.95 901.64 47.45 330 500.35Wisbech 16 50 3.13 75.76 4.73 1000 1587.30Woodbridge 34 1050 30.88 1597.12 46.97 500 787.45Woodbridge Deben 29 493 17.00 773.78 26.68 0 0.00Wroxham Bure Valley 32 40 1.25 66.04 2.06 2179 3459.00Wymondham 30 598 19.93 957.26 31.91 1075 1707.13 Zero Clubs 7 7 25 25

Page 7 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

JAN

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OCT

NOV

DISTRICT AND CLUB EVENT CALENDAR2011

9th August - The fight against Child Slavery by Mark Little - R/C of Diss

7th Sep - District Executive Meeting at Riverside Hotel, Mildenhall, 6pm.18th Sep - Lowestoft East Point Charity Cycle Ride

1st Oct - D6510 GSE Team Arrive8th Oct - District Annual Conference, Holiday Inn North, Norwich19th Oct - District Council Meeting at Park Hotel, Diss. Meal from 6pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm. NB: Resolutions for CoL must be presented at this meeting.25th Oct - Ipswich Wolsey Charter Night, Belstead Brook Hotel29th Oct - D6510 GSE Team Depart29th Oct - Annual Peace Seminar, Bradford.

18th-20th Nov - RI Institute, Hinckley Island, Leicester21st-23rd Nov - RIBI President’s Visit to D108026th-27th Nov - RIBI Mid Year Review, Coventry.

7th Dec - District Executive Meeting at Riverside Hotel, Mildenhall, 6pm.8th Dec - Cambridge Children’s Christmas Carol Concert

15th-21st Jan - RI Assembly, San Diego.26th Jan - District Council Meeting at Park Hotel, Diss. Meal from 6pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm.

16th Feb - District Executive Meeting at Riverside Hotel, Mildenhall, 6pm.18th Feb - District Officer Training (DOTS) at Park Hotel, Diss, 9am.

10th Mar - R/C of Diss “Queen Tribute Night”, Corn Hall, Diss22nd Mar - District Executive Meeting at Riverside Hotel, Mildenhall, 6pm.26th Mar - Joint Meeting of Monday Night Clubs, Belstead Brook Hotel28th Mar - District Council Meeting at Park Hotel, Diss. Meal from 6pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm.30th Mar-1st Apr - RIBI Assembly, NEC, Birmingham.

2nd-4th Apr - Inner Wheel Conference.13th-15th Apr - RIBI Conference, Bournemouth28th Apr - District Assembly

6th-9th May - RI Convention, Bangkok.16th May - District Executive Meeting at Riverside Hotel, Mildenhall, 6pm.

2012

Have you ever experienced the regret of organising that keynote fundraiser only to discover that another Rotary blockbuster is in

direct competition on the same night? Do you want to increase attendance by bringing a special speaker or activity to the attention of your fellow Rotarians some months in advance?If so, then this is the spot for you. Let me know the date and brief details and I’ll post it on this page to assist in planning and for others to make a note in their diary.

“Pay attention or I’ll sack the lot of you”(DOTS is on 18th February 2012)

One Year to go to London 2012!

“Get involved in plans for exciting new legacy projects in D1080” says DGE Trevor Sayer

The weekend of 23-24 July saw dozens of events

taking place across East Anglia to celebrate one year to go to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These events were all part of London 2012 Open Weekend, a UK wide celebration of art, culture, sport and all things that make up the London 2012 Games. Organisers challenged communities across the country to celebrate the start of the ‘one year to go’ countdown to the Games by organising community events and activities to coincide with these dates. I am sure that many of you took the opportunity to be part of the exciting activities taking place in your area!The 2012 Olympics and Paralympics provide a unique opportunity for every Club in RIBI to get involved in the spirit of the Games and help build a sustaining legacy in their local communities. As a District, we are committed to ensuring

we get as much as possible from this once-in-a-lifetime event, both leading up to the Games as well as from the post-Olympics legacy. Please visit the District 1080 Olympics Blog at: http://olympics1080.blogspot.com for the latest on what is happening

in our local communities. If your club is planning any activities before, during or after the Olympics then I would like you to let me know.The Games are being held

in my year as District Governor and I have already started to look at some new exciting legacy projects that I hope clubs would like to get involved in across East Anglia. In this regard, I wish to ask fellow Rotarians who would like to get involved in helping me develop projects for the Rotary Year 2012-13 to get in touch, as soon as possible, on the specially created email address: olympics@rotary1080.org.uk

Page 8 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS Your Monthly Insight into

Recruitment and Retention

byRoger GreenD1080 Membership Chair

So who is leading membership in your club? Well...............

Without membership we can do nothing.

Well that’s the challenge. It must be fairly self-evident that clubs need members in order to keep giving service to their local communities and to the international community.So, if membership is so fundamental, how high up the list of priorities is your club placing it? Is there a report on membership to club council each time it meets? When you have a business meeting, is there a report on membership or is it buried in something else? What events are your club intending to run in the next three months in order to

gain new members? Who is responsible for leadership in matters relating to membership in your club? In many clubs, leadership for membership is notionally with some form of Club Service committee, probably led by the President Elect. But, at the same time, the President Elect has a thousand and one other jobs to accomplish. How much time, realistically, can the PE be expected to devote to the membership challenge? A growing number of clubs appoint one member (or a small group) to have special responsibility for membership. That is their focus for the whole

year and I shall be happy to support them in every way possible. Such a strategy will really help to place membership at the top of the agenda. And it’s not too late for this year - Even though all the club committees are in place and running, would it be too difficult to find one member to take special responsibility for membership and spearhead the club’s activity in that area?The membership specialist in a club is likely to have a dual role. Finding ways to attract new members is vital. Retaining current members, though, is of equal importance and monitoring the mood of the

current membership will help. Who is the most likely member to leave? Who is feeling fed up with Rotary? Who doesn’t feel that they have a role to play within your club? If you can discover that, might it be possible to motivate the wavering member before it is too late?Last year, a representative from each club was handed a copy of ‘Ideas for Action’. Who picked it up for your club? Perhaps they took it home and read it. Perhaps they shared some of the ideas with the club. Perhaps they passed the pack on to someone else. Dare I suggest that perhaps they took it home and lost it? Where is your club’s copy of ‘Ideas for Action’ now? How much use has your club made of it? How much use is your club making of it? The pack is full of ideas borrowed from places where they have worked for clubs and it took six months to produce. We’d like to add to the information already in the pack. We know you want more information on mentoring because you have told us so but what else would you like?Please appoint a member of your club to have special responsibility for membership and then tell me who it is.

@

Since announcing the date for the 2012 District Assembly, the District

Leadership and Training Committee has met to consider the detailed feedback received from participants who attended the 2011 District Assembly and PETS. The purpose of this meeting was to develop a plan for 2012 to ensure that the preparation for incoming Officers and Committee Chairs is effective, relevant and worthwhile. The agreed outcome from this meeting has resulted in the following new arrangements being set up:District Assembly will be in the form of plenary sessions only.  Delegates will be the Presidents Elect, Senior Vice Presidents and incoming Committee Chairs. The purpose will be to advise delegates of the District Strategy developed around the key RI and RIBI themes, key District projects and other projects in which clubs are being encouraged to become actively involved. With regard to the posts of Club Secretary and Club Treasurer, in those clubs where the Secretary and/or Treasurer will be new to post on 1 July 2012,  these Officers will be invited to attend separate preparation sessions that will not form part of the District Assembly. These sessions will be led by Rotarians experienced in these roles. The Presidents› Elect Seminar (PETS) will be fundamentally different in this Rotary year. Local sessions will be held for Presidents Elect and Senior Vice Presidents and these will be led by the Assistant Governors. The sole purpose of these sessions will be to prepare the Presidents Elect to effectively preside over their club and for the Senior Vice

Presidents to effectively support their Presidents. In order to accurately reflect the purpose of these sessions, it has been decided to remove the word training from the title and to replace it with the word preparation, hence PETS will become PEPS. This change of name will be brought to District Council in October 2012 for ratification. Assistant Governors will work in conjunction with members of the District Leadership & Training Committee to ensure that a high quality programme is prepared and delivered consistently throughout the District for incoming Presidents and Presidents Elect. A separate communication from AGs will follow to advise Clubs of the detailed arrangements.The above arrangements will ensure that there is no duplication of information at these meetings and will reduce the need for Rotarians from across the District to travel to central venues, on more than one occasion in the year, for preparation for the following year.In addition, much greater use will be made of the District Website and electronic information on relevant routine matters such as Health & Safety, District Databases, development of websites and so on - these packages being circulated to appropriate Club Officers by email.The District Leadership and Training Committee and the District Executive are committed to deliver these changes and to build on this new approach for future years.

Paul TabinerLeadership and Training Committee

CLUB LEADER TRAINING UPDATE

Allan Jagger (R/C of Elland) has several business interests, mainly in the mechanical engineering field. He has served for 25 years as director and, for the past 14 years, as chair of a charity that provides work-based learning and education services for young people in West Yorkshire. A Past President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, Allan has served Rotary as RIBI Foundation Committee chair, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, Rotary’s $200 Million Challenge Committee member, and host area coordinator at the Rotary Peace Centre at the University of Bradford. He has received the Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. He and his wife, Rose, are Major Donors and Bequest Society members.

NEW RI DIRECTOR FOR RIBI TAKES

OFFICE

Page 9 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

Our D6510 GSE Visitors

GSE Team Leader Ronald E Oberneir is married with two children and has three grandchildren.He is retired and was a Director of Aviation Quality Assurance with Military and Civilian Aerospace.

Adam Testa is aged 30 and is a Journalist and Features Reporter covering local government and the community and writes on various topics for Life and Style Magazine.He would like to visit newspapers, magazines and digital media organisations to understand how the media is represented over here.

Ericka Iles is 30 and a Dental Assistant who assists dental operations and surgery and periodontal surgery.She “would like to gain a better understanding of the National Healthcare Services system”.

Courtney Goodman is 26 and works in Non-Profit Corporate Management and Fund-raising.She assists community development in five counties in southern Illinois including the recruitment and training of volunteers.She would like to talk to individuals and organisations in similar fields over here.

Nicole Craig is 40 and married with two children and her vocation is Education.She works as a University Instructor supervising and mentoring students. She is also a director of an Early Learning Centre.She would like to observe local pre-schools, primary schools and universities.

Rotary cash helps Sunflowers grow

Sudbury Talbot’s new president, Laraine Green

together with outgoing president, Phil Ivins recently paid a visit to “Boxford Sunflowers” to hand over a £500 donation towards their plans to develop the group’s outdoor activity area.Already the group offers complete care for local children aged from two years to 12 years, with a Breakfast Club, Afterschool Club as well as Pre-school sessions, from 7.30am to

6pm during term time.“We’re now urgently fundraising to develop our outside area so that we can get full use of our new premises, and this donation will be a great help,” said group manager Moira Grant.Laraine, herself a recently retired teacher, was most impressed by the atmosphere at Boxford Sunflowers, and remarked what a “great idea it is to provide sessions all day throughout term-time to help parents who need to work.”

I had hoped, as your Disaster Co-ordinator, to have an

easier Rotary year than 2010/11, and just to be able to wish you an inactive new Rotary year in disaster terms but, as you will have heard already, we have had the first disaster appeal of the year all to early – by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), supported by RIBI.As an old East Africa hand, this brings back memories to me and we are, of course, used to aid agencies using pictures of starving children to tug at our hearts and purse-strings, but this is not a case of a few people being short of food. 10,000,000 people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and North Uganda are desperately short of food, with famine about to be declared, following two years with no rain and many previous years of inadequate rainfall. Whether or not this is due to global warming, the situation is truly desperate, with hundreds of thousands on the move to

try to find food and water.This is not a case for emergency boxes (though the charities concerned always need more boxes to build up stocks), but the DEC consists of the 14 best British charities, who work not just to bring food and water, but to deal with the basic development problems. You may have heard the Chief Executive of DEC explain that the charities work tirelessly to introduce more appropriate farming methods to these areas, as well as the direct disaster relief. I have seen these charities working in the field and the money goes straight to the field projects not through sticky government hands.If you can, please give individually (with Gift Aid) - the easy way is by googling “DEC” - or by direct donation from your club charity account.

Paul RyallDistrict Disaster Co-ordinator

Famine in the Horn of

Africa

RIBI Directory for 2011/12 now availableThe RIBI Directory is available online only via the restricted Members’ area (login is required). The directory has been compiled from information provided via the global database, which is updated by individual Club Secretaries through the Member Access portal and the RIBI Secretariat. Misuse of the directory is taken very seriously and Rotarians are reminded that members have not given consent for any of their details to be used by Rotarians or any other party for the purpose of circularisation, including marketing/mailing/contact purposes. 

Page 10 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

International UpdateYour Insight into a Worldof Rotary Service

The East African Disaster

At the time of writing, the advice from RIBI is to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Meanwhile, Aquabox, Water Survival Box and Shelterbox are all monitoring the situation and awaiting requests for assistance. However, in a world without any natural water, the immediate need is not for filtration or purification. The logistical challenge is to “tanker in” sufficient water for the rapidly growing numbers of refugees. The aid requirements are clearly enormous and complex and by the time you read this the needs may well have unfolded.The only certainty is that our help and compassion are needed now.

Club International Returns

Over half of clubs have, as yet, failed to provide details of their completed international programmes for 2010/11. This is despite of my writing and cajoling the outgoing officers on several occasions. This information is important since the totals will be collated alongside all other districts in RIBI and our figures could be far below their true worth. So, a plea to everybody reading this – please ask your club

International Officer if they are still getting round to it! The information is needed urgently and I can let you the necessary form.

Disaster Relief or Development Aid?

The current (incomplete) figures show that we have delivered £120,000 worth of international aid in the previous Rotary year including £52,000 of disaster aid. At the District Assembly, we had a short debate on the subject of “Disaster Relief or Development Aid?” and I have an uneasy feeling that the amount of disaster funding delivered by clubs may be increasing to the detriment of longer term development projects. I fully agree that Rotary clubs are well placed to react swiftly and take their collecting buckets out into their local high street. Those who have rattled buckets will be fully aware that there is

nothing like a “good” disaster to open peoples’ wallets. This is Rotary time well spent because we raise the profile of our club in the local community as well as highlighting the relief work done by Rotary “box projects” and other Rotary supported charities.My concern is that too much of clubs’ hard won international budgets might be diverted to disasters since it is very much easier to just send off a cheque to a chosen “box project” than it is to actually research, plan and see a development project through to the end. Remember that Rotary Foundation grants are there to help with long term projects. We have all paid into the Rotary Foundation and it is up to us to help distribute the funds. The District Simplified Grant does exactly what it says on the tin – it really is that simple to get the money. A well planned project can benefit from District and TRF funding. It will help developing communities to be self reliant and be far more resilient if disaster should strike.I urge all clubs to plan carefully for the coming year and ensure that their international budgets are put to the very best use.

The John Grant Trophy

A final appeal - This handsome trophy (Above left) is awarded at the District Conference for the best Club International Project in the preceding year, which will be profiled at the conference. Please let me have details of your club’s completed projects.

by Richard PitherDistrict 1080 International

Service Officer

Sanitation First

Clubs throughout District 1080, plus our neighbouring Districts 1240 and 1260, are pledging funds for this ground-breaking project and an application has been submitted to DfID (the UK Department for International Development) for external funding. We are confident that the application has all the right content and, by the time that you are reading this note, we should know if it has passed through the first stage of selection.

If you do not already receive the Sanitation First newsletters please let me know or register on the website by clicking on the button below.

1080AID

Clubs are encouraged to continue supporting Aid to Hospitals Worldwide both with hard cash and with recyclable goods. Last Rotary year, the total of 1080AID donations was £12,714 and it is estimated that this will facilitate something over £500,000 of medical aid, which will have a profound impact on millions of lives. A

full 40ft container of 1080AID has already been sent to Bangladesh, courtesy of the R/C of Bury St Edmunds Abbey and this was featured in their

local press. Other D1080 consignments are scheduled for Uganda, Burma, and Sierra Leone.Please consider 1080AID as part of your club’s programme this year and see if we can improve on last year’s total.

A Response to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

When the R/C of Norwich offered to host a Japanese Ambassadorial Scholar little could the members guess where it might lead. Nao Iwashita was studying at the UEA when the Japanese disaster struck. This prompted them to send nearly £2,000 directly to the R/C of Matsudo Chuoh, her sponsoring club. Since then they have been visited by a delegation from her home club, which presented some very touching letters of thanks from the club and from the District Governor.They hope to maintain this international link, born out of adversity.

Page 11 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

Among the presentations made by outgoing

Governor Rodney Howell at the District 1080 Handover on June 29th were the certificates in recognition of successful nomination to the RIBI Young Citizen 2011 for Izabela Pawlic and Suzzannah Rawlinson. Izabela and Suzzannah were second and third award winners respectively in the Sudbury Rotary Young Citizen of the Year Awards, which also saw 17-year-old anti-knife crime campaigner Holly Watson take top honours and go on to become one of the RIBI Young Citizen winners.All three young ladies, who have each achieved so much of merit in their local communities and wider afield, were guests

of D1080 dinner at which Tom Griffin took over the reins from Rodney.Holly gave a brief update on how her campaign has continued to progress and news of her top level meetings with leading figures in the world of criminal justice, including Cherie Blair QC and a special Home Office Forum on tackling youth crime.The individual achievements of Holly, Izabela and Suzzannah are many, and certainly deserving of the recognition they have gained through the local Young Citizen Awards and national nomination. But, while I’m proud to have been involved with organising those awards and for putting them forward for the RIBI awards, I’m absolutely certain that they

are not the only young people in District 1080 worthy of nomination.This assertion in no way detracts from what these young ladies have achieved, but with 77 clubs in this district, covering some 46 different towns and cities, we should be nominating far more young people for the Young Citizen’s Awards.Nationally, we have 1855 clubs in RIBI. If only 10 per cent nominated someone to the Young Citizen’s awards that would produce more than 180 nominees. How many were there for 2011? Just 67!As Young Citizen Award representative on the District 1080 New Generations Committee my message is simple – “We can do better”.

This year, please look for ways that your club can help celebrate and recognise the many good things being achieved by young people in your local communities.You don’t necessarily have to run your own local Awards as we do in Sudbury, although I’d love to see that happening much more widely across the district. There are other ways you can find suitable candidates to nominate for the RIBI Young Citizen Awards. Keep a check on your local media for the good news stories about what young people are doing, whether it is working for local charities or helping others either in their own families or in the wider community.

Talk to the citizenship leads and sixth form mentors in schools; leaders of youth groups, including the uniformed organisations such as Scouts, Guides, the Cadet forces, St John Ambulance; church leaders, your local neighbourhood policing teams – in other words anyone who is involved with young people and knows from first-hand experience that many of them are doing excellent work in the community.Check who is being put forward locally for other awards such as: the Police Young Person of the Year (YOPEY) scheme; community champions, organised by many councils and numerous other local schemes. These are all rich sources for discovering potential nominees

and, as is evidenced by Holly’s multiple awards across a range of different organisations in Suffolk and beyond, good ideas and initiative can win recognition through many different avenues.Let’s see if in 2012 we can increase our nominees for the RIBI Young Citizen’s Awards from this year’s total of the three to something closer to double figures. Although not the prime objective, a spin off from organising your own Young Citizen Awards, is the opportunity provided for good, positive local publicity for both the young person concerned and the nominating club or group of clubs.If anyone would like me to talk to their club about how they can get involved in the Young Citizen Awards, either by running their own Awards locally or nominating for the RIBI awards, please contact me.

Challenge to promote Young Citizensby Valerie Goodchild, R/C of Sudbury Talbot

L to R: Suzzannah Rawlinson, Izabela Pawlic and Holly Watson, the three winners in the R/C of

Sudbury’s Young Citizen Competition 2011

YOUNG CITIZEN Valerie Goodchild 01787 374470 @

Letchworth Howard’s new president Julian Bedingfield (see photo, left) checks his chain of office for size at the handover at the start of the new Rotary year.

“As a relative newcomer to Rotary it is an honour to become President of Letchworth Howard,” says Julian. “I hope I will be able to build on the progress made by previous presidents”. “For the last two years our major international effort has been to support the eradication of polio. Worthy though that is, I hope, in the next Rotary year, we can look more at local charities, such as the Hertfordshire Air Ambulance and the Keech Children’s Hospice, among others. At the same time, we must also be ready to support overseas areas when disaster strikes, as recently happened in Haiti and Japan - Working together I am sure we can achieve great things.”

DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS? WYMONDHAM BUCKETS AID SOMALI FAMINEOn Saturday 16th July, the R/C of Wymondham held a bucket collection at the local Waitrose Store for the DEC appeal for the Horn

of Africa crisis. Well over £800 was collected and the club itself agreed to top up the amount so that a total of £1,250 could be sent to the DEC.The collection was organised at very short notice, the store only being contacted about the appeal five days before the collection. Despite such short notice, and partly because the request came from Rotary, Waitrose agreed, realising that the Horn of Africa crisis required an immediate response. There was enthusiastic attendance by club members, resulting in three or more Rotarians collecting at any one time throughout the day.Despite the current economic climate, the amount collected was substantial and demonstrates not only the generosity of the customers at the Wymondham Waitrose store but also how deeply we are all affected by the suffering of the people of East Africa.

Page 12 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

YOUTHSPEAKS

Get ready to stand and be heard at the national RIBI Youth Speaks competition

Calling all young oRaToRS

(Students must be aged 11-18 to enter)

Rotary Internationalin Great Britain & Ireland

FabulouS pRizeS…including prestigious trophies

and cash prizes

To enter, contact:

Organised by the Rotary Club of

www.ribi.org/youth

District 1080 competitions for RIBI Young Chef and

Youth Speaks will be held again in the 2011-2012 Rotary Year. The D1080 finals for both competitions will be run concurrently, as has been the case in previous years, on a Saturday in late February 2012. The exact date is expected to be finalised within the next few weeks.In previous years these have been enjoyable and rewarding events and the organisers hope that more clubs will consider entering a candidate either or both competitions this time.To help with planning, it is important for clubs to state their

intention to enter competitors by Friday 30 September 2011 at the latest. Please advise the relevant organiser of your intention to do so by this date (see below for contact details).As in previous years, it will be the responsibility of clubs to organise and administer local rounds of the competition. With this in mind, this announcement has been made earlier than in previous years so as to enable clubs to make early contact with schools as most will have established programmes and events well before the start of the new school year in September 2011.Entry forms and Rules are downloadable from the District 1080 website for both competitions. These can be adapted to local needs. If Rotarians wish to receive the forms and other paperwork by e-mail, please contact the organisers and they will be pleased to send them by return.Local rounds of the Young Chef should be completed by Friday 16 December 2011. This will

give time for the organisation of area cook-offs, if necessary, in order to achieve eight contestants for the district final in February 2012.Local rounds of Youth Speaks Competitions should be completed by Friday 10 February 2012. The schedule limits the total number of places available to eight or nine teams, whether Intermediate

www.ribi.org/youthIn association with

Rotary Internationalin Great Britain & Ireland

Create a stir in the kitchen with the national RIBI Young Chef competition.

Fabulous prizes…including a trip to Tuscany, a day’s tuition at a Michelin-star restaurant and cash prizes.

Calling all young CheFs(Students must be aged 11-18 to enter)

To enter, contact:

Organised by the Rotary Club of

Bob Hopcraft: bob@icteachers.co.uk

District 1080

or Senior, allocated on a first come, first secured basis. If there is a great deal of interest area rounds may be necessary.Further details will be circulated early in September. If any clubs wish to have more details of either competition, or if you wish for someone to speak at your club, please contact the organisers as detailed in the panel to the right.

FREE Posters

available NOW!YOUTH SPEAKS

John Hunting01223 834476 @

YOUNG CHEFBob Hopcraft01462 630926 @

Action

Required

The Rotary Club of Lowestoft East Point welcomed its new President at a Handover Dinner held at the Hotel Victoria on Tuesday 28th June 2011.Incoming RIBI President Elect Ray Burman and his wife Victoria, who is also a Rotarian, were guests of the club. They had spent the day in Lowestoft: the East Point club organised a buffet lunch that was attended by incoming club officers from other local Rotary clubs. During a lively question and answer session Burman explained the development of Rotary in the UK and the world as it seeks ways to increase membership. The retiring President, David Collins thanked the club for an enjoyable and exciting year before handing the chain of office to Rotarian Pat Peters who thanked the members for electing her as the 14th President of the club. President Ray addressed the members and guests and wished the East Point club well during the next Rotary year and congratulated the club for its support of Waveney Sailability, where he had spent time during the afternoon and had talked to some of the disabled sailors who use the charity’s facilities.

14th BUT FIRST

THAT WHICH WAS LOST IS FOUND

The organisers of the D1080 Quiz are indebted to the Rotary Club of Ipswich East for the replacement of the Runners Up Trophy which had gone missing since the club won it in 2009/10. A shiny new shield is being passed on to joint winners 2010/11 Diss and Woodbridge Deben to share before the next final at the end of this Rotary year.

Page 13 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

In an issue of my District Governor’s Newsletter in the

last Rotary year, regular readers will recall that I brought to your attention an article in the Daily Telegraph’s “Social Stereotypes” series that described an allegedly typical Rotarian. This was actually quite supportive and clearly written by someone who had quite a deep knowledge of Rotary and who resisted the easy pot-shots. In the last few months, we have also had some (mostly) positive BBC Radio 4 coverage in the

form of two dedicated half-hour documentaries and a long discussion/interview on “You and Yours”.If these can be regarded as two steps forward, I would like to draw your attention to one step back in the form of an article published in the July 2011 issue of The Oldie magazine.The piece purports to be an account of a river cruise by the author, one Roger Lewis, aboard the MV Edward Elgar “from Gloucester Docks to Slimbridge and back” in the company of a

group of Rotarians. The article is entitled “Gently down the stream” and is further sub-titled “A tiny cabin, no ventilation, a tedious skipper – and twelve members of the Bedwellty Rotary Club. What’s not to like about a river cruise?” It went on to describe the voyage from hell with 18 passengers made up of “the most loathed ethnic minority on the planet: the elderly or middle-aged white middle class” including twelve from the “Bedwellty Rotary Club”. (Closer reading of the article reveals that what he meant was six male Rotarians plus wives, as sketched left).He describes the party in detail – the Rotarians fit every possible stuffy stereotype from pompous optician to “small-town solicitor’s clerk” and, of course they are all men. The wives were similarly described and they were all, apparently, called Bev. Apparently, at mealtimes, the men were on one table and the women on another, “it was like the Taliban”. After dinner, in a scene likened to Hercule Poirot and Death on the Nile, the men went on deck and smoked cigars.So there we have it, Rotary is all male, misogynist, pompous, obsessed with detail and cigar smoking. Wives, and they are all wives apparently, are total air-heads concerned with nothing but gossip, clothes and gin.Now I know that you never let the truth get in the way of a good story and there is always an element of “changing the names to protect the innocent” in these stories so I wondered how much of this was total

fiction and how much could have been true. A little research reveals that there is indeed an MV Edward Elgar that plies its cruising trade out of Gloucester Docks so the author may well have made the voyage described. There is, of course, a place in South Wales called

Bedwellty but, unfortunately, it does not have a Rotary club but the next town down the road, Bargoed, does. Could this be the true source of the Rotarians described?I went onto the Bargoed club’s website to find that it had last been updated in 2006. There was a section entitled “About Rotary” which contained a club programme with events only listed for five of the months in 2006 – presumably the club was closed for the majority of the year. The main page tells us that Rotary is currently celebrating its 100th Anniversary (that was in 2005, for those of you who have forgotten). A link entitled “Article of the month” leads the reader to a report on Youth Speaks 2005 (helpfully translated into Welsh). “What’s New” promises a booking form

for the D1050 2006 District Conference “in the near future” and “Contact Us” gives details of one Duncan McIntosh, who sounds somewhat off his home turf. I didn’t dare click on the tab entitled “History”.The point is that I, who was looking for evidence that the

picture painted of Rotarians was wrong, was given no indication that Roger Lewis wasn’t right from what is the Rotary Club of Bargoed’s window on the world. Why is it impossible for clubs and their members to pay some attention to our image? No website at all is better than one that has not been touched for five years. It is no good complaining about us not getting a positive image in the media if the portals through which many people will make their first contact do nothing to dispel that impression.If we don’t then, however charming the Rotarians of Bedwellty actually are, people are going to suspect that articles such as the one I have described are the truth and nothing but the truth and make their choice accordingly.

The Editor considers the latest bash at our public image

Still Some Way To Go?

The MV Edward Elgar on one of its voyages along the River Severn

Rotarians according to Roger Lewis

It was like a touring production of Kingsley Amis’s Booker-winner The Old Devils.

We didn’t have a small-town solicitor or lay magistrate with us, as is usual, and I’d thought mandatory with Rotarians ....

Then the wives ... these women changed their clobber six times a day.

After dinner, the men went out on deck to smoke cigars - we could have been in a Poirot episode sailing up the Nile, not moored up next to a field in Frampton that had a Shire horse in it. The women swept to the bar for the gin-and-tonics, having first nipped to the cabin for another costume change.

“

““

“

Page 14 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

Fifteen local charities and organisations (see photo

below) celebrated receiving £17,782 from the Rotary Club of Sawston District that had been generated from the 2011 Sawston Fun Run held on 10th May (see phot above).They received their donations

at a presentation evening held in the Henry Morris Hall at Sawston Village College that brought the 2011 event to a finale. The fun run, the largest community-led event in the area, attracted over 1100 entrants and took the

cumulative amount donated to local charities to over £353,000.The event was first organised in 1986 by the Community Education Department of Sawston Village College. The Rotary Club of Sawston District has organised and expanded it since 1991.

FUN RUN CASH DISTRIBUTED

Proof only. Please email your thoughts and comments to me:

Tops4Charity@Yahoo.co.uk & always cc your reply to : jonathan.hmmond@norfolk.gov.uk; Thanks, Best regards, Jon Hammond

Rotary District 1080 Community Services supporting the Matthew Project and helping the Environment too.

a

When you have got a sack of rinsed plastic tops, please bring them to next District Council Meeting.

Contact: Keith Tovey (RC Norwich: District 1080 Com Voc Chair) k.tovey@uea.ac.uk 01603 452157

Rotary District 1080 Community Services Supporting the Matthew Project and

helping the Environment too.

Help the Community and Protect the Environment

One of the concerns of local communities in recent

years has been the increasing misuse of substances, and alcohol particularly, among young people. This should be something of concern for Rotary and, on the D1080 Community and Vocational Service Committee, we now have Robin Pivett (R/C of Woodbridge) who is the committee member responsible for this area. There is now a significant initiative in the Norfolk area, which has recently been extended into Suffolk, through the Matthew Project. This project was set up in 1984 and provides professional Drug Awareness education to 20,000 young people each year, as well as providing individual professional advice, counselling and support to those in need. Some Rotary clubs are already supporting the work of this project.Recently, the opportunity to assist this project has been extended as plastic bottle tops, which cannot normally be recycled, can, if collected separately, be converted into cash for the project. At least one Rotary club is now collecting plastic tops, not only from members but also from a small business and a local church. The only requirement is that the tops are not the large variety such as coffee jar tops and that they are rinsed beforehand.

This is an excellent way, at no charge to Rotarians, to help both the local community and at the same time to help the

environment. While the normal collection point to which the tops can be taken is the All Saints Centre in Norwich, it will be more appropriate for Rotary

clubs if a central repository is provided at each District Council Meeting. The Rotary Club of Norwich

has agreed to coordinate this collection and take them to the All Saints Centre so this will require no special effort by clubs in the district.

says Keith ToveyDistrict 1080 ComVoc ChairDistrict 1080 Environment Officer

PHF for GuntherDereham PDG Andrew Lawrence (left in picture), together with other members of the club, recently visited past D1080 News Editor Gunther Oeschle at his home, where he has not been enjoying the best of health, to present him with a Paul Harris Fellowship for his services both to the district and to the club.

Page 15 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

The directory of club officers has been released and

distributed to clubs although the delay can be attributed, says District Database Officer Paul Jeffery, to the less than timely response of many clubs.Ultimately, of the 77 clubs in D1080, only 66 clubs provided the required information and, of those 66 clubs, seven provided only officer information with no update on the details of the overall membership.Based on the data provided, there are 2253 members in the district and, between 2010 and 2011, the district lost 292 members and gained 160 new members. Although this sounds catastrophic, much of this can be put down to the deletion of records relating to members that left in previous years but were never notified.“My estimate is that somewhere between 60 and 75 per cent

of the membership records changed in some way during this update - many changes preceded 2010, meaning the clarity of the database has significantly improved, says Paul.

“I have consumed over three man-weeks of effort to date implementing the 2011 update”, he continues.  “Apart from the

sheer volume of the changes, the main cause of lost time was because only a small minority returned the information in the way requested. Many, for example, simply deleted the line of a retired member - I had to find the name of the member by process of elimination”.Paul now intends to complete the following:To update the District committee memberships; To complete the design of the club membership report; To update the details of the ‘missing’ clubs, if they submit them.“This project has been somewhat larger than I expected”, Paul says in summary.  “I have confidence in the database and its increased accuracy and that the job was worth doing, but I can only trust that it will be felt valuable by the users.  I apologise for the late despatch of the product”.

Clubs without an accurate Directory

entry are:ChatterisEly HerewardHadleighHaverhill & DistrictIpswichLowestoftLowestoft SouthNorth NorfolkNorwich MarchesiNorwich SouthWroxham Bure Valley

CLUBS DELAY RELEASE OF DISTRICT DIRECTORY

Over the last couple of years you have been asked to

support a programme that has had several names. “Thanks for Life”, “Focus on the Crocus”, “Windows of Opportunity” and “Rotary Day”, have all been promoted. It has been a little confusing at times, I must admit, as the idea to encourage “joined-up Rotary” by bringing all the “Avenues of Service” together, has only resulted in separate marketing formats. The initial idea was, in fact, branded “Purple Pinkie” – another name! – and initiated in District 1240, with the idea to have one day for all the clubs to promote donations to the Polio Challenge. It has always been accepted that donations towards the polio challenge should be collected from the public rather than from the club members, who should already be personally supporting the Rotary Foundation. The event was a great success, both in collecting donations and also promoting Rotary. The following year the district governors on the General Council decided that they would endorse the idea throughout RIBI, and they named the promotion “Thanks for Life”.Many of our clubs have supported the programme and raised money to support the challenge, as well as promoting all aspects of our organisation. However, because of a decision by the incoming governors,

there is no nation-wide “Thanks for Life” equivalent planned this year; but the 2011/12 district governors have all agreed that they wish to use “Rotary Day” to promote Rotary, and, in particular to promote the Polio Challenge, although the organisation will be devolved out to the clubs.

As I’ve visited the clubs, I have been questioned as to why it was decided to hold “Rotary Day” in one of the coldest months of the year. Collecting in the streets and out-side supermarkets in February, has not been successful and the cold has seen off some of the older members! Of course, 23rd February is the anniversary of the first Rotary meeting, and the district governors must have felt that this was as good a date as any other.But this year, as I said, there we have no district-structured

initiative – what does this mean? As on all previous occasions, if your club does not wish to support a “Rotary Day”, then it is your decision. However, polio still needs to be eradicated and funds are still required for the fight. Membership of Rotary is falling and a day promoting the deeds that we do both locally and internationally, can only help to spread the word. Also, we still have events involving community and vocational services, whereby we need support and the local knowledge from our townspeople. What better way to market ourselves but with a “Rotary Day”? And when will that be? It will be whenever your club wishes to hold it, of course. You could work with the other local clubs in your area, choose your own event and then make contact with schools, churches, shopping centres and suitable businesses. How about having a school “Dress-down Day” with fundraising? The kids could wear something purple and then get sponsored washing cars. Put on a “Tribute Band Show” – Diss Rotary Club raised £3500 this year with an ABBA concert. What about a Cross-country cycle ride? Aylsham Rotary Club did one of these from Lowestoft to Whitesands Bay, St David’s Head, in May this year – and they all survived! How about

WHEN IS ROTARY DAY?Foundation Officer Steve Munns provides the answer to Clubs’ question

collections at Railway Stations and Supermarkets with full Rotary merchandising?Then there are the “Windows of Opportunity” - select an empty shop and put on a display area, for promotional “End Polio Now” activities, and try to involve your community in your Rotary deeds. I’m sure many of you have run these events over the last couple of years and are already planning the next. If you have been waiting for direction from district level, then guidance

from the District Foundation Chairman will have to do, I’m afraid! But please let me know your plans and I’ll share them with the other clubs each month – it’s always better to follow best practice, rather than try to re-invent the wheel.I would encourage you to provide me with information about future events. Also, please feed-back on what you have done in the past and what you are planning. This may give other clubs the incentive that they require to support “Rotary Day”.

Insight

Page 16 of 16District 1080 News - August 2011 First LastIndex

Communications Wonder WallDistrict Governor

Tom Griffin

Imm.Past DGRodney Howell

DG ElectTrevor Sayer

DG NomineeRichard Mayer

District SecretaryDiane Harber

District TreasurerKeith Bosanko

AG EastHugh Davies

AG South EastPeter Senior

AG North WestJune Snowden

AG North EastRichard Mayer

AG WestDenis Bishop

AG SouthRobin Wraight

AG South WestJohn Holme

Comm/VocKeith Tovey

FoundationSteve Munns

InternationalRichard Pither

Marketing & PRMartin Brocklebank

MembershipRoger Green

New GenerationsSharon Ridgeon

ConferenceJohn Gillespie

Leadership & TrainingPaul Tabiner

ExtensionEddie Higgins

DirectoryPaul Jeffery

Group Study Exch.Kate Secker

RYLARobin Wraight

Youth ExchangeArchie Poulter

RotaractDudley Gowen

LiteracyPaul McIntee

Health & SafetyJohn Phillips

Charitable TrustBridget Youngs

TRF GrantsJohn Gillespie

Ambass. ScholarsHilary King

PRTony Collett

Rotary EastTony Pickering

1080 NewsRodney Howell

Sgt at ArmsBrian Annis

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