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Could business partners help your Christmas campaign?

Could your club do with a helping hand on your Santa’s Sleigh this Christmas. The Business Partnership team will work with the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce to canvas for volunteers from the business community to support with your Christmas activities. Contact partners@rotary1220.org today and let them know what you would like help with.

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Haiti earthquake – more aid desperately needed!

AQUABOX has responded promptly to the devastating earthquake which hit Haiti on August 14. Our volunteer teams immediately concentrated on stepping up production of Aquabox water filters, and an initial consignment of both community filters and family filters left our depot in Derbyshire on September 17, to join an Air France air freight consignment to the Haitian capital Port au Prince.

This Aquabox consignment will ensure that thousands of people in Haiti – one of the poorest countries in the world – will at least have access to clean, safe water for drinking, for cooking and for washing. But the sheer scale of the disaster means that much more aid is desperately needed.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Tiburon peninsula, about 150km west of Port au Prince, at 8.29am on August 14. The scale of the damage is horrifying – it is the worst natural disaster the world has seen this year. As of September 7, at least 2,248 people were confirmed to have been killed, and the number of injured was estimated at 12,000 and rising. At least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 900 aftershocks were recorded in the following weeks.

Les Cayes, Haiti’s third-largest city, was the closest to the quake, and suffered massive damage. On August 18, the Haitian Civil Protection General Directorate reported that more than 60,700 homes had been destroyed, and 76,100 others were damaged. At least 53 medical facilities suffered partial damage, six were totally destroyed, and the quake damaged or destroyed more than 300 schools.

The Haitian government immediately declared a state of emergency, and on August 30 Unicef reported that that at least 650,000 people – 250,000 of them children – were in need of humanitarian aid. An estimated 81,000 Haitians had no access to safe drinking water.

Faced with numbers like this, you might think that you couldn’t possibly make a difference. You would be wrong! One Aquabox family filter costs about £30, and has the capacity to process up to half a million litres of water over its life.

The basic human need is about four litres a day to sustain life – so just one Aquabox family filter can provide life-saving water for scores of people, day after day, week after week. The larger community filters, intended for use in schools, hospitals and community centres, can help to save thousands of lives. And because Aquabox is run almost entirely by unpaid volunteers, nearly all your donation goes directly to making more water filters, and shipping them to where they are needed most.

Will you help us? We need to assemble and pack more filters, and to get them to desperate communities in Haiti as fast as possible. Aquabox can’t do anything about the massive destruction or the thousands of injured people in Haiti, but we can ensure that desperate Haitians at least have access to clean, safe water. Because without that clean, safe water, in a very short space of time nothing else matters.

Please support this vital work. Go to https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Aquabox-Haiti2021 and give whatever you can. Thank you!

Posted in: Aquabox

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Sheffield Vulcan Rotary lighting a beacon for the Queen

Sheffield Vulcan Rotary are pleased to report that The Queen’s Pageant Master, Bruno Peeks, has informed them that they are the first Club in Rotary GB&I to register with him for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Event, and will be lighting a beacon on June 2nd 2022 at 10pm to celebrate it.

It will be a private event. Rotary GB&I hope that 70 Clubs will be involved, one for each year of the Queen’s reign. Registration with him, automatically records our involvement in a book to be presented to Her Majesty.

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The Laligurash Community Hospital – Nepal

After years of planning the Laligurash Community Hospital opened its doors to patients on the 17th May 2021. The 15-bed hospital is located in a remote region of the Himalayas in Eastern Nepal and serves a scattered population of 10,000 people.

The hospital has been sponsored by the RC of Wollaton Park, supported by the RC of Altadena, the RC of Lalitpur Midtown, and the generosity of several donors; and has been equipped with the help of a Global Grant from Rotary Foundation.

Since opening its doors, the hospital has been treating 20 patients per day, and its staff have been travelling to the surrounding areas to treat villagers affected by the Covid virus. Unable to work, many of these villagers are in desperate need of food.

If you can help with a donation, please contact Rtn. Chris O’Brien, obrien.chris24@btinternet.com

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Rotary litter-pickers join forces

Almost 300 people are now regularly taking part in the Mansfield Rotary Club Just Bin It litter-picking campaign to clean-up the town and surrounding area.

Rotarians are providing litter-pick tools free to anyone who will pick up litter around their neighbourhood, roadsides, pavements, parks and schools.

The campaign has been running since September and is gaining support from young and old.

Two regular supporters of the project, Debbie Williamson and Ann-Marie Cordon, joined together recently to clean up in Clipstone. They collected four full bin bags from Sixth and Seventh Avenues as well as the short sections of Mansfield Road and Forest Road.

Debbie also cleared rubbish at a park near her home and on Clipstone Drive, Forest Town.

Ann-Marie Cordon has also reported encouraging feedback from residents.

She said: “I was tiying up near Ruby Newsagents (Clipstone) and the lady who owns the shop kindly donated 30 black bin bags for me to use — and said when I run out I only have to ask and she will give me more.

“It’s so nice to know that people appreciate what we are doing.”

Mansfield Rotary is committed to providing a litter-picking tool to anyone who wants to play their part in keeping their neighbourhood clean.

Those interested are asked to register on Mansfield Rotary’s website — https://mansfieldrotary.co.uk/mansfields-big-clean — or call 01623 706540 and leave a message.

Kate Allsop, president of Mansfield Rotary Club, added: “We are still appealing for residents in the Mansfield area to come forward and litter pick in the vicinity of their own homes or whilst they might be out exercising or walking their dog.

“Let’s all make a positive difference to our town in these difficult times.”

Posted in: Mansfield

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Ending Hunger- The Campaign So Far

Blog by Sophie Badham, student at Nottingham Trent University

Sophie Badham

With food banks already stretched to their limit, the COVID pandemic couldn’t have hit at a worse time.

However, a group of keen Rotarians made it their mission to step up and put a stop to thousands of people going to bed hungry.

Rotary4foodbanks is a project providing a sustainable supply channel for the future. The scheme dispenses food donations to food banks cost effectively and enables them to purchase foods at the most competitive price with the cash donations they receive.

The scheme has proven to be a huge success, with Rotary4foodbanks donating an initial £150,000 which has already enabled the regular supply of up to 60 food banks in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire area.

Local food banks can’t thank the scheme enough and say Rotary4foodbanks have saved them this year.

An army of volunteers are busily getting to know food banks on a personal level by carrying out interviews each week to find out specifically what is needed for their area. This means that many more families are getting the food they need!

With the summer months approaching, and the promise of life going back to normal in July, unfortunately it is inevitable that the level of support shown currently will decrease considerably. Many furloughed people will return to their jobs, and others will rightly so enjoy their summer socialising with friends and family. But this is when food banks and thousands of families will suffer.

With the age group of volunteers being 30-60-year-olds, there is a want and need for younger people and students with more time on their hands, to turn their attention to food banks and provide fresh and innovative ideas.

As a student, I understand that this might be easier said than done, but as I become more and more aware of this crisis, the urge to offer my help becomes ever stronger.

There are many ways to get involved, whether it be technical support, distribution, packing, or even raising awareness on your own social media accounts.

We are the future, and together we can make a difference!

Who do we contact?

I want to join the project team – John Cavey (rotaryfoundation1220@gmail.com)

I can help with physical distribution – Lesley Reynolds (lesleyreynolds1@msn.com)

You can support Rotary4Foodbanks through our JustGiving page

Posted in: Rotary4Foodbanks

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Wirksworth Rotary Club Makes French Connection

Using the wonders of Zoom technology, members of the Wirksworth Rotary Club enjoyed an excellent evening of joint fellowship with the Rotary Club of Valreas Nyons in France on Thursday 25th March. During the meeting, we heard presentations on the activities of our respective clubs. It was interesting to learn that our two clubs shared many common projects, for example we have both been supporting our local foodbanks during the Covid pandemic.

We were joined by Roz Adamson, Aquabox Trustee and Bakewell Rotarian, who gave a very informative talk about Aquabox, which generated much interest from the members of the French club. 

Their President, Sarah Cook, is a former colleague of Wirksworth Rotarian Roger Cassidy from their time as members of Marlow Thames RC, hence the connection. Having spent 5 years living in France, Sarah is bilingual and was able to translate between French and English for everyone. She is also an Aquabox Ambassador in her adopted country.

Posted in: Aquabox, Wirksworth

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Famous TV presenters pay tribute to inspirational young people at Courage Awards

The president-elect of Mansfield Rotary Club and famous television presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford led the praise for 11 inspirational children and young people at the annual Mansfield Rotary Club Courage Awards.

The event, now in its 30th year, was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic and a total of 75 people logged on to Zoom to celebrate with the 11 brave young people.

Karen Johnson, president-elect of the Rotary Club, said: “We hope everyone enjoyed the event, despite the changed circumstances, and that they were impressed with these young people and were moved by their stories. We doubt there was a dry eye on screen.

“It is a privilege for Mansfield Rotary Club to present the Courage Awards, which reflect our own motto of Service Above Self.”

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, well known for fronting This Morning, recorded a special message for the event. 

They said: “We would like to pay our tribute to the 11 young people who are being honoured.

“You are an inspiration to all of us in these very difficult times and, despite the covid pandemic, we are sure that the parents and carers of the nominees are delighted that these awards are going ahead — albeit in a virtual format.

“So well done. And congratulations to everyone involved.”

The 11 young people were: Leoni Bragg and Abigail Cross, of Meden School, Warsop; Owen Brown and Rachel Tweedie, of Portland College;  Adam Hooley, of Reach Learning Disability; Corey Root, of A Place To Call Our Own; Annabelle Pye, of West Nottinghamshire College;  James Slaney, of R.E.A.L. Education; Daisy MarieStanley, of The Beech Academy, Mansfield; Connor Summerell, of Samworth Church Academy, Mansfield; and Joshua Stead, of The Joseph Whitaker School, Rainworth.

To read their stories of courage, click here

The 11 all received a plaque from the Rotary Club and a civic citation from the Mayor of Mansfield, Andy Abrahams.

The recipients of the awards had been nominated by their school or college for “exemplifying moral and spiritual courage in the face of personal adversity and difficulty.”

Education Mutual was the event’s main sponsor.

Others sponsors were: Tyler Bros (Sutton-in-Ashfield) Ltd, HW Martin Waste Ltd, Asmech Systems Ltd, Portland College, Hall-Fast Industrial Supplies, Mansfield Building Society, Fidler & Pepper, Hopkins Solicitors, Mansfield Garage Doors, The Rose Bower, Bee Noticed, Alison and Phil Constantine, Overton Electrical and Ravenshead Consultancy.

Posted in: Mansfield

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Rotarians call on public to continue litter campaign

Mansfield Rotary Club is again urging people to take part in its initiative to clean up the town — the Just Bin It scheme.

Rotarians are providing litter-pick tools free to anyone who will pick up litter around their neighbourhood, roadsides, pavements, parks and schools.

Throughout winter many supporters of the campaign have continued to help keep their locality clean by picking up rubbish.

One Mansfield Rotarian, Stewart Rickersey, said he and his wife had recently filled three rubbish bags with assorted rubbish.
But he added: “It’s a constant effort to keep our streets tidy.

“The mindless few continue to drop their litter, lottery tickets, cans, covid face coverings, empty cigarette packets and much more that would be impolite to mention in print. Often the rubbish is dropped within a few yards of a letter bin.”

He added that Mansfield Rotary is committed to providing a litter picking tool to anyone who wants to play their part in keeping their neighbourhood clean.

Those interested are asked to register on Mansfield Rotary’s website — https://mansfieldrotary.co.uk/mansfields-big-clean — or call 01623 706540 and leave a message.

Kate Allsop, president of Mansfield Rotary Club, added: “We are appealing for residents in the Mansfield area to come forward and litter pick in the vicinity of their own homes or whilst they might be out exercising or walking their dog.

“Let’s all make a positive difference to our town in these difficult times.”

Posted in: Mansfield

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