When the going gets tough, the tough keep going!

New Team takes Click 4 Action eRotary Forward

Cheers to every one in Click 4 Action eRotary

We are pleased to announce our new team as from the 1st November, 2014 President Janice Mason takes over the reigns, to support President Elect Mary as she prepares to take on the President mantle in 2015/16. Janice will also lead the new Treasurer Team that will help manage the eRotary finances, becoming the Treasurer with a team in 2015/16. James Lovatt has been elected President Nominee for 2014/15, James brings a wealth of experience in Rotaract, RIBI and website/social media, we are pleased and excited that he is eager to help take our eRotary forward. James will also continue as part of the Webmaster team for us and we are in the stages of upgrading our website as we move forward. Tim continues for now as the Secretary, but is planning to hand this on in 2015/16. Debbie Vance has agreed to help coordinate a Mentoring Team to help new members feel art home in eRotary, whilst learning more about eClub involvement. As we continue to develop our team we hope other members will join in with the teams we are creating to ensure that our work is a team effort and no one member is having to carry the burden. We remain committed to ensuring that our eRotary engages our members and responds to their passions as we develop Rotary for busy people in the 21st Century.

What we’ve achieved so far

So far we have already achieved our plans including the involvement in Peace One Day in September and in October a really good Mental Health Awareness Day at the Cafe Bliss in Worcester as part of our efforts for World Mental Health Day. We were please to see the launch of the Malmesbury and District Foodbank which we are a co-partner in and the launch of Safe Places Swindon, where we are partners in the Steering Group. Plus we’ve launched this year’s Young Writer’s Competition (please help us to promote). Rotarian David has been busy helping District 1100 with our bid for a Vocational Training Team and a Global Foundation Grant to send a team to help the FSCI Charity in Bulgaria with developing Social Enterprise for young people leaving care.

There is still much to do to complete our plans for 2014/15

We intend to put achieving the District 1100 Equality and Diversity Charter Mark as one of our goals for 2014/15, so we are leading by example in making E & D Central to all eRotary achieves. As part of that we want to make eAwareness a key part of our programme, particularly in raising awareness about Disabilities in our Communities and how we can ensure needs are catered for and that everything is accessible. We are already committed to Autism Awareness, Mental Health Awareness, Let’s Loop Swindon for people with Hearing Aids and we want to assist with the website development of Show me the access.

We’ve had the ambition to develop an online shop, as mentioned above our website is to have an overhaul, as part of this we hope to have a Let’s Loop Swindon page and incorporate an online shop to help organisations we support sell their goods and help us raise funds. Hoping we can sell some lovely things made out of ties from our Tied Up with Rotary project helping to support charities and End Polio Now.

We will run our annual virtual balloon race to help raise funds to purchase a Disaster Box, we intend to continue to support Roll Out the Barrel and with our Christmas Song project we hope to help water sanitation in Gambia. We will continue to develop our eDraw to help raise funds for the Rotary Foundation and a new charity to be announced.

Environmental Issues still remain a key priority and we hope to get involved in Earth Day whilst encouraging all our members to be extra practical when recycling at home. Above all we want to learn more about the transition movement and encourage this kind of community enterprise and sustainability.

Membership Development remains a key to all we do

We will continue to develop our menu of opportunities in joining eRotary, especially Family Membership and our offer of provisional membership for those who are interested in seeing if eRotary works for them. A key to our community efforts will be the Rotary Community Corps, in Malmesbury with the Flood Defences and in Swindon with Let’s Loop Swindon, our hope is that we can encourage other Rotary Clubs to adopt this way of forming a team to volunteer where there is a need or project in our communities. We will also continue our relationships to develop support for Uplands Educational Trust and our Uplands Interact Club, plus support PN James to develop the Rotaract Hub.

We believe once you’ve become a Rotarian you’ve joined a network of 1.2 million members in over 200 countries. Learning and experiencing International Rotary is really important for our membership, so we intend to arrange some international exchanges and encourage members to attend international opportunities.

Together we will working to 

eRotary does it Sewing, Writing and in the Loop

We continue to work on our development of the Rotary Community Corps, a Rotary International programme that allows us to get more involved in our communities through Service and with partners to make a difference in a world where more caring by us all is needed.

Swindon RCC now has 15 members set to make Swindon a Champion Town for Hearing Loops in the national campaign by Hearing Link to Let’s Loop the UK. Rotarian Dave King this weekend is speaking at a District Conference to encourage other Rotarians to get involved in this important work, whilst our RCC Team have been hitting the shops this week starting our audit.

RCC Volunteer Steve

Monday saw RCC Member Steve on the trail completing the audit form, RCC Members Lauren and Lin were out mid week and in heavy rain RCC Member Lynda was determined to ensure on Saturday she was doing her bit and it was encouraging to find that out of six locations visited, two had working Hearing Loops. What is apparent is that we need to create more demand from hearing aid wearers and more knowledge about what Hearing Loops are and how they work. You can help, please ask whether public buildings or shops have a Loop System and please help us share articles from our Let’s Loop Swindon Facebook Page. Plus we still need volunteers and opportunities to give talks about why we are dong this work.

Help us encourage those future Writers

Do visit the competition page for entry details at WorcesterLitFest, wouldn’t it be good if we had loads and loads of entries from our creative young people? please encourage schools, youth groups and individual young people to get involved.

Sewing In for Polio – yes RCC members and eRotarians continue to Get Tied up for Rotary, sewing those ties and being creative is the order of the day, plus plenty of chat, whilst helping to raise vital funds to End Polio Now

We are still looking for groups who would be interested in working with us on this project.

Making a Mug Rug now that’s a new design

We will supply the ties and patterns, you help with the sewing, sales of items on a 50/50 basis with our 50% going to the End Polio Now funds to close the gap.

eRotary wants to encourage everyone to keep Mentally Fit 

First of all help promote the need for open discussion about Mental Health and get people learning more about the issues and helping it to become a top topic like Physical Health is. You can find good articles on our Mental Health Facebook Page

Get people involved in different creative activities in their communities so that they can relax, share without the stress and be part of a caring community of people. We hope to encourage this on our day in Worcester at the Cafe Bliss, great food, a warm welcome and plenty to take part in, as we Celebrate together World Mental Health Day – see you there?

Finally

• Don’t forget to visit this week’s eClub programme from a very talented woman. Mary Cohen thinks Rotary is a Can Do Organisation, what she can help us do in the community could be quite exciting.
• Have you bought your tickets this year for our eDraw, a Win Win situation awaits you, 50% to Rotary Foundation which aids some really amazing causes and a chance for yourself to Win 50%.
• This week in Swindon we see the relaunch of Safe Places, Click for Action eRotary is supporting the work to re-establish this excellent scheme across Swindon.
• Please help eRotarian James promote the establishment of the Rotaract Hub, an initiative to get younger people 18 to 30 involved in online work with the Rotary Family.

Come and join us and do Rotary, as we can offer opportunities for busy people in the 21st Century…Opportunities to Join

 

Cheesed Off – Can eRotary give you a boost?

Have your heard about Let’s Loop Swindon?

Whilst so many people are on those much needed holidays, here at Click 4 Action eRotary we are excited to build our plans for the coming year. This week we have applied for our new charter for our Rotary Community Corps to help with our partnership project Let’s Loop Swindon.

We are pleased to be working with Rotarian Dave King who works with the national charity Hearing Link and partners Voluntary Action Swindon, Swindon Borough Council, Swindon Equality Coalition, Zurich Community Trust and developing links with the Great Western Hospital Audiology Department. Please help our new volunteers to promote this initiative and on Facebook as we are also trying to raise awareness, help by sharing the Let’s Loop Swindon posts.

Get Tied Up with Rotary continues during 2014/15 and we still continue to look for new sewers to help us turn over 1000 unused ties into glamour accessories. Calling all would be sewers, we are having a Sew In on Saturday 4th October, join Rotarians Janice Mason and Jill Harwood as we get creative and turn neckties into bags, necklaces, spectacle cases, pencil holders, a time for fun, chat and food.

Things planned in the pipeline

President Sinead and Rotarian Enda are soon to meet to get into place our plans for International Peace Day 21st September 2014. If ever the world needs encouragement for this, it is now.

President Elect Mary, Rotarians Martin and Polly are soon to meet to start working on preparations for World Mental Health Day 10th October, 2014 with the theme ‘Living with Schizophrenia’. We want to encourage everyone to talk openly about Mental Health and encouraging people to keep their’s fit.

Rotarian Polly is looking for members of Click 4 Action eRotary to act as judges in our Young Writers competition to be run in the Autumn and to help promote it through libraries and schools.

Our Youth Officer Pa Modou needs your help in the Song for Water. Have you read our programme for week commencing 7th August?

Plans are well in hand for the Malmesbury & District Food Bank to launch in September and the first every Rotary Community Corps in RIBI is helping with these developments along with Flood Defences. District Governor Martyn Harwood is to visit this team lead by Rotarian Ray Sanderson on 20th August, so it was good to see a great article in the August edition of Rotary Today edited by our own Rotarian Allan Berry.

Rotarian David Pratt is still working on the District 1100 plan to send a Vocational Training Team to develop a Social Enterprise Model in Bulgaria working with the Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion and linked to a Rotary Foundation Global Grant. So don’t forget everyone to help promote our monthly online eDraw. Rotarians David, Kate and Margaret are really keeping this going and need all our members and friends to help promote and sell, just £12 a year and you could be one of those lucky winners, plus help us to contribute to the Rotary Foundation.

Rotaract Hub is now under way again with one of our newest members, Rotarian James Lovatt using all his enthusiasm and knowledge to develop this online opportunity for younger people 18 to 30 years, who haven’t got a Rotaract Club they can join. New website can be found at Rotaract Hub.

Cheese, Wine and Bidding all to help Enterprise

Following up last month’s article, plans are well in hand for our Online Auction and we are still seeking items, so please continue to ask around and look out any items that can help us raise funds for Enterprise in the two charities Human & Hope Association in Cambodia and the Uplands Educational Trust in Swindon. Rotarian Maria who visited the project in Cambodia is working on a Ploughmans and Wine Tasting which will help celebrate and raise more funds for these worthy causes to be held in early October.So Click 4 Action eRotary is always seeking new people to get involved in our Menu of  Opportunities and join us in the Magic of Rotary. No need to be cheesed off, come and get involved in all our different activities that are done on and off line.

 

Rocking with eRotary

There was great interest on Saturday 3rd May in our new Rotary way of using the necktie, no not around the neck as would be expected of all Rotarians at a normal meeting. Our re-cycled neckties are helping to raise funds for End Polio Now by becoming beautiful bags, necklaces, glasses cases and bangles. We raised £70 towards End Polio and were able to show that Rotary Rocks as part of the Festival of Rotary in Worcester Guildhall, networking with other Rotary Clubs from the Worcester area. There was a lot of interest from visitors and an opportunity to talk to Clubs about plans for 2014/15, plus a young woman was interested to learn more about our Rotaract Hub, which our new Youth Team will be helping to create in 2014/15.

Rocking and Quacking to finish the job

On Sunday 4th May we were at the St.James City Farm in Gloucester, finishing the job (see Newsletter about this at Help us finish the job) started in our first year as an eClub.  It was great to be able to complete the Duck Pond, which is really looking good and the ducks were reluctant to leave while we planted the shrubs. This was a great opportunity to get our new Family Members involved in our activities, the Parkes family Lucy, Rob and Joe; The Parker family Nicky, Terry, Luke and Zachary; the Mason family apart from the boys as it was best they didn’t come as they might have liked the ducks! and Rotarian Katharine, all set to and had fun trying to herd the ducks into the shed, drilling the holes and planting. The pond is a real picture now and its construction was even helped by the Gloucestershire Fire Service, who supplied a Fire Service hosepipe to help drain the pond when required.

Talking of Ducks and Spalding Fun

eRotarians Cyril and Charlotte were helping to sell little plastic yellow ducks to the public in Swindon for the Famous Duck Race on Monday 26th May, at £1 a duck the Rotary Club of Old Town do a fantastic job and last year sold over 10,000 ducks.

For more details please visit The Rotary Club of Swindon Old Town Famous Duck Race.

Another of our eRotarians Kate Alexander has been working on the Spalding People’s Parade, for which our Click 4 Action eRotary are helping in a small way to sponsor the event.

Help us raise more to help others

 

Next Rotary Year we are intending to have a Silent Online Auction to raise funds for The Rotary Foundation. To start things off Lucy Parkes has donated a Signed Gloucester Rugby Ball, what can you donate to help in this activity? Let us know at info@1100rotaryeclub.org

Bags of Fun and Community Act with eRotary

Meet the Governor a good informal opportunity

Yesterday (Sat. 16th November) it was a pleasure to meet District Governor Jan Harris, as we held an informal meet up in Gloucester. Jan spoke about how she followed our activities and our continued way in which we achieved our goals and recruit new members. President Janice inducted our newest member Jill Harwood, while Jill showed off the bags she’d been making for the Tied Up in Rotary Project towards the End Polio Now Appeal, her bags have already brought in £30.

Our Tied Up with Rotary project is really gaining wide spread support, with plans still in the pipeline. We are now making articles to order from ties from loved ones departed, made out of their favourite tie. We do need more sewers, all patterns supplied and we have loads of ties and offers of stalls to sell them at, please ask groups that might be interested in helping us with this project, WI’s, Lunch Clubs or people you know who’d be interested in helping.

Developing the Rotary Community Corps – Community Act 

Ray Sanderson our eRotary Community Officer is currently exploring the establishment of our first RCC Community Act Group in Malmesbury. Can we do the same in Swindon? President Janice and Secretary Tim were invited to a presentation by the Life Education Mobile Classroom team for Wiltshire. Swindon has a similar Classroom, however it needs a team to help move it around Swindon to the Schools who want to use it, can we create a RCC Community Act Group to help this project to continue in Swindon?

Bags of Fun giving Service in your Community

Let us work together to help attract younger people 18 to 25 to join Rotaract and become volunteers in their community, the Rotaract Hub has been established so individuals can join into an online network, become a Rotaractor and assist in local community projects. Click 4 Action eRotary would like to work in partnership with Rotary Clubs in the UK to help refresh Rotaract, especially where it is impossible to form new Rotaract Clubs. Work with us and we can help you engage with young people, give them a platform to exchange ideas and meet others, while helping you with local projects. If interested in working with us please email: info@1100rotaryeclub.org

Did you read this weeks programme about How can Rotary help the issue of Youth Unemployment? Could involvement in Rotaract help?

News of Projects happening now – view our last Click 4 Action News Update

• Have you ordered your Light for Life?
• Don’t forget you can help us raise funds by selling items on – you can view the account as it currently stands by migrating to ebay and in the search field type 190954506604 Contact Sinead if interested.
• Register online with Easyfundraising again this will help us raise funds very simply when you purchase online what you want.
• Please don’t forget to promote the eDraw for funds for The Rotary Foundation.

News of Activities to come in 2014

• 11th January – Post Christmas Party, combine your trip to the Sales with a get together at Jimmy’s in Bath, great fun, food and fellowship.
• February – help us raise funds with our annual Virtual Balloon Race in aid of the British Heart Foundation and End Polio Now.
• March – two events to book in your dairies: our President Event in London on Saturday 22nd and our Autism Awareness Workshop on Saturday 29th March.

Finally we are looking forward to building new relationships with our Twin Rotary Club in Germany – as Ray Sanderson reports on his recent visit to Bad Hersfeld- Central Germany.

During October of last year I was privileged to be invited as Mayor of Malmesbury to attend the Lullusfest in Bad Hersfeld. You might ask why? Well in 780 ish a monk from Malmesbury had the calling to go to Germany, how he did it is another story (which will hopefully be a essay competition for both children over here and in Germany). So like Lullus I travelled alone, into the unknown. They treated me like royalty, took me everywhere, personal driver, interpreter, and guard. During my final speech I said tongue in cheek “I will be back”.

 Well, this year the invitation arrived for a return visit, but it was addressed to the Mayor of Malmesbury, Ray Sanderson, so I had to decline it, because unlike Europe their Mayors are in position for 5/6 years, not one year. So I emailed them and told them the reason I had to decline, and should I give it to the “New” Mayor. Guess what they said “NO” we want you and no one else, so off Margaret and I went on the 12^th October, taking with us, Margaret’s sister and husband. We enjoyed the ten days we had there, the first five days being wined and dined all day and night.

One of the most memorial able occasions was the Rotary Club meeting. We arrived at the Strad Hotel in the centre of Bad Hersfeld, was greeted by the President and Rotarians, some of which I met last year. Had a drink, then was told that the meal was in the Lullusfest, so the president treated everyone to a half a metre long “hot dog”, the on a funfair ride that frightened the life out of those that took up his offer. On medical grounds I was not able to accept. I exchanged banners, I was given one by my old club “RC of South Cotswolds and in return they gave me one to take to RCSC (which I did last week). I am pleased to inform you that they are very keen to link with us, and at least five couples will be coming over in March/April next year to enjoy our fun and fellowship. I did take the opportunity to promote our tie project for End Polio  Now! I need 7000 ties if we are going to tie Malmesbury to Tetbury on Good Tieday (Friday). Below is a photograph of the Rotary Club meeting and a Civic meeting during which again I promoted the “Ties”.

E-Rotarians do it Internationally

The month of June sees big changes to our Rotary@1100 website.  It is having a complete overhaul to enable it to be easier to use for our members and to provide a better public outward face for our visitors. This will be taking a few days at the beginning of June so please be mindful if you visit our welcome page. It will be good to hear your feedback once the changes have taken place.

Young Writer’s Flash Workshop 

The story board takes shape

Saturday 25th May was a Young Writer’s Flash Workshop at St.John’s Library in Worcester, in preparation for our Young Writer’s Competition in partnership with the Worcestershire Literary Festival (WLF). The young people attending were introduced to techniques to build their stories, the young people in the younger age group showed us the pictures they had drawn and how their story was being developed. All those who attended the workshop will be taking part in the WLF Young Writer’s Competition please help promote to others you may know – but hurry, closing date is 1st June.

The theme was 13, so this was a story taking place on Island 13

Developing the story’s character

Rotary@1100 Theme for June is International

June sees many Rotarians across the Rotary International family preparing for the 104th Convention in Lisbon. Therefore this month our E-Club theme will be International. We want to encourage our members to visit one of the other 114 E-Clubs throughout the world and find out how their Club works and give our greetings from our members. We’d like to invite Rotarians from other parts of the globe to visit our Club as well. We would like our members to make friends with other Rotarians in at least two different countries, find out about their culture and customs, then share whatever they find out with the rest of the E-Club. During the month there could be reports of your travels, sharing of different recipes, aspirations of where you’d like to visit. President Tim and President Elect Janice will send reports on Facebook as to what they are learning at the convention and who they have met. Sakuji Tanaka challenged us during his year as Rotary International President to take the theme Peace through Service in all our Rotary activities, so consider all the things we’ve done over the past year and reflect on whether Rotary@1100 has achieved this aspiration?

Finally we are very keen to develop our Rotaract Hub. Do you know any young professionals, students or young entrepreneurs 18 to 30 years who could be encouraged to help make a difference in their community and the world? One of our current members has written an excellent article ‘Life a shared experience‘ please visit and read. Steffy certainly has aspirations to help this year’s Rotary theme Peace through Service, can we build our Rotaract membership to help her make it happen?