Melton Mowbray Rotary Club History

In this section are held items that appeared on the News page of the web site, largely relating to club events and activities.

This section was started in early 2006, and contains news items from June 2004 onwards. The intention is to transfer items from the news pages once the projects or events are no longer active. They are in (approximate) date order, with the index in alphabetical order.

A small group from the club flew to Bournemouth in early September 2004, to visit the Rotary Club of Ferndown, on the outskirts of Bournemouth. Our excuse was that a previous member of the Melton Mowbray club, John Bartholomew, had moved down to the New Forest a few years ago, and is now a very active member of the Ferndown club - indeed he is now the secretary, bulletin editor, and incoming Junior Vice President!

The real excuse, however, was that our member John Dehnel fancied an interesting private aircraft flight - John has been flying for 5 years - and knowing that there were at least three private pilots in the Ferndown club.... The rest is history.

Our President, Tony Rifugiato, and 3 members of the club (Marshall Pobjoy, David Ward, and John) duly drove up to RAF Cranwell, where John's flying club is based. We had tried to do this trip in mid-August, but the summer thunderstorms on the day planned had made it not advisable. This time though, the weather was perfect - blue skies with an occasional fluffy cloud to enliven the scene. At Cranwell we prepared the club's Grumman AA5 plane: although a 4-seater, its weight restrictions meant we had to travel with an absolute minimum of luggage - one toothbrush shared between all four.

We flew initially to Turweston, a small airfield near Brackley - about 3/4 of an hour. On the way, and just south of Leicester, we overflew the maize maze at Wistow - well spotted by eagle-eyed David.

Lunch was in the lovely market town of Buckingham, then taxi back to the airfield for a second 45-minute flight down to to Bournemouth International airport (aka Hurn airport). John was relieved to find a rather larger runway than at Turweston - I like a challenge, but life is much easier landing on nearly 1 1/2 miles of tarmac than the apparently tiny runway available for the first landing!

We were greeted at the airport by John Bartholomew, his wife Linda, and one of the flying members of the Ferndown Rotary Club, Bill Field.

Then Linda and John began their hospitality, taking us back home for a very welcome tea before setting off for the Rotary Club's evening meeting.

This evening was the District Governor's A visit to Ferndown club, so we had the chance to hear the aims and aspirations of district 1110. Ferndown is clearly a thriving and lively club, and we all had a good time meeting so many of the members before and over dinner.

After a good night's sleep by all (oh, I forget to mention the nightcap first) Linda treated us all to a splendid cooked breakfast. John was a little concerned about the extra weight in the plane, but this proved unfounded.

We took off from Bournemouth about 11:30, for a 90 minute flight back to Cranwell; quite uneventful with excellent views of central southern England all the way back.

So what will be the next trip? Certainly the Melton Club would be very pleased if some of the Ferndown flyers and friends could fly up to the Midlands some day for our club meeting - the invitation is open. And for our club - the sky's the limit.

Five members of The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray, including President Tony Rifugiato and President-Elect David Morris, visited Warsaw in November 2004 to take the first step in entering into a twinning relationship with the Warszawa-Wilanow Rotary Club.

There are eight Rotary Clubs in Warsaw, which all form part of Rotary District 2230. Earlier this year President-Elect David and Rotarian Ben Abbott made contact and visited five of these clubs. The Wilanow club was recommended by them because it was similar in size to the Melton club and, because many of their members were ex-patriots from a number of other countries, it conducted all of its meetings in English - a language common to them all. Also the Wilanow club were actively seeking a European club to twin with after several years of trying to form a link with an Asian club. The current President of Poland is an honorary member of the Warszawa-Wilanow Rotary Club.

It was proposed that the two Rotary Clubs should enter into a joint Declaration of Friendship for one year. Subject to this working out satisfactorily, the two clubs would then formally agree to a Twinning Charter. The Wilanow club had agreed to the Declaration of Friendship before meeting the representatives from the Melton club; this was signed by President Alojzy at the meeting. President Tony initialled the document pending obtaining the Melton club's full agreement and commitment on his return.

It is anticipated that, during the first year of the relationship between the two clubs, members of each club will attend the other club's Charter Night. Eight members of the Polish club agreed spontaneously to visit Melton for their Charter Night on 17th March; President Alojzy thought that this number would almost certainly double. The Warsaw Wilanow Club will be ten years old in April 2005; they have never held a Charter Night before and plan to hold the tenth anniversary of their Club Charter on the 9th April. Many members of the Melton club plan to attend. Also District 1070 Governor Andrew Cowling has agreed to be present.

During their recent visit to Warsaw the members of the Melton club also met Assistant District 2230 Governor Wojciech Brochwicz-Lewinski. He and three members of the district team are promoting a major fund-raising initiative to help the victims of the recent Beslan tragedy, when around 300 children were massacred. This is a three year project and proposes to provide computers, text books and practical help in teaching English to the young people in this small Christian country. Amongst other things, every member of District 2230 has agreed to pay a levy on their annual subscriptions to raise funds. The members of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray agreed to present to their club plans to assist with the fund raising efforts.

The following is a summary of some of the presentations made by various members to the club on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Rotary International, at the club meeting in February 2005.

The Rotary movement was born on 23 February 1905 in Chicago, with a meeting of four men who wished to develop friendship and fellowship among professionals and business leaders while supporting their community. They were: Paul Harris (a lawyer from Vermont), Hiram Shorey (a merchant tailor), Silvester Schiele (a coal dealer) and Gustavus (Gus) Loehr (a mining engineer).

The Rotary movement, to be renamed Rotary International in 1924, quickly spread overseas, and in 1929 reached Melton Mowbray.

On 23rd February 2005 Rotary Clubs across the globe celebrated the 100 years of Rotary. The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray incorporated a review of the club's history in its meeting, given by those who remember it all personally (or at least, with regard to the earlier years, knew and know of those involved). What follows is a summary of the presentations made, covering the 1940s to the 60s, then from 1985 to the present day. Also included is a reflection on Women in Rotary, following the induction of a significant number of lady members to club from 2000 onwards.

Bob McCord's history of the Club from the Second World War up to the late 60's.

One of the first things I found was a poem describing a MELTON ROTARIAN of 1939 which I think is as true today as it was then . It goes something like this:

During the War years there was very little Rotary activity, no Conferences or Inter Club visits; everyone was fully stretched carrying on their vocation by day and A.R.P or Home Guard Duties at night and weekends. However, Melton Rotarians soon provided a get you home service at the expense of their precious petrol ration, this for Forces Personnel who found themselves stranded in Melton and unable to get transport to outlying villages. This was a much needed and appreciated voluntary scheme. Immediately after the War, the Rotarians used their driving skills in a different way. The single ambulance in Melton was only manned 8 hours a day, and was operated by a member of the hospital staff. Outside these hours no ambulance was available even for emergencies until Rotarians undertook to provide drivers for urgent cases at any time during the night There was no Maternity Hospital in Melton at that time, so Emergency drives to Leicester Royal Infirmary were by no means infrequent. This very necessary and valuable service was maintained for many years, in fact until the NHS appointed full time employees.

In 1947 the Club entered a most unusual competition, the R. C. of Hobart, Tasmania set a challenge to the Rotary Clubs of GB, to submit an account of their town and the conditions under which they were living immediately after the war. The people of Australasia had for so long been starved of uncensored news coming out of the UK . As an incentive to reply, the four winning letters would be broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Network, and the Clubs chosen would receive a special food hamper. Imagine the surprise, when some months later one of the members received a letter from his sister saying how thrilled she was to hear the Broadcast about her native Melton Mowbray. The Special Food Hamper duly arrived and was enjoyed by all.

In 1950 the only County without a Rotary Club was Rutland, so the Melton Club set the procedure in motion to form the R.C. Oakham later to change its name to the R.C. of Rutland.

In the Presidential year of 1949/50, Ladies in Rotary was formed to give Rotarians' wives the opportunity to meet socially, and of course assist in Club Fund Raising which it does to this day. Charity Funds have benefited immensely from their activities and on several occasions in the past they actually raised more money than the men. It is interesting to note that at this time, they were involved in providing Ever Green Teas. They are still involved and surely must hold the record for this commitment.

Sporting Challenges started in the 50s. There were Cricket, Bowls, Golf and Skittles matches against the Grantham Club. The Oakham Club was challenged to a Shooting Competition for the much-treasured Dick Turpin Trophy. The trophy itself has had a chequered history, it has been mislaid and threatened with being sold, but it has survived and is at present held by the Melton Club.

Polio Plus is a relatively recent Rotary campaign, but you may have seen from the extract of Andrew Aikman's diary, he attended the first R.I. Conference after the war. He heard a presentation given to the Medics by a Dr. Salk on his attempts to immunise against POLIOMYELITIS. Andrew was somewhat skeptical at that time, but as we now know Rotary with other organisations is hoping this year to rid the world of Polio. It might also interest you to know that this conference was held in Paris and Ken & Florence Westmoreland were amongst the delegates who travelled all the way by Barton's Bus. I don't know if it was a single decker or a double decker bus, but I'm sure it must have been an adventure.

The Swinging 60s - President John Roper introduced the idea of one main charity per year instead of small donations to numerous projects. His objective was to start a Chiropody Clinic for the elderly at Gloucester House. The Club provided the equipment for a qualified chiropodist at a cost of more than £300 (which at the time was a considerable sum of money) The Clinic continued way into the 70s. In 1962 a Charter cum Ladies Night took place instead of the previously poorly attended charter nights, Maybe the cost of 17/6 per head or 87 1/2 pence in new money had something to do with more than 200 people attending. District involvement was noticeable too, with 3 members of the club taking District Office - Frank Skinner Vice Chairman, Frank Parker District Extension Officer and our own Ken Westmoreland Conference Secretary.

1968 being the 40th anniversary of the Club, 3 of the founder members presented the Club with a Silver Cigarette Box, in appreciation of their 40 years of fellowship I think at that time most of the members were smokers; Today it is totally the opposite.

Another significant event during this era was the enrolment of 4 new members under the age of 45, which dare I say it, probably brought the average age of the club below 70.

We set up a separate Charitable Trust. Much good can be achieved through projects which require finance. We have organised many events to raise funds including -

Women have been associated with Rotary for over 95 years - unfortunately the first 75 of these were spent trying to join it.

So today, as we celebrate 100 years of Rotary, it is perhaps important to remember that women were only allowed to become members less than 18 years ago.

The first Rotary Convention was held in 1910, which is the same year that our founder member, Paul Harris, married Jean Thompson. It is perhaps ironic that Paul welcomed Jean into his life in the same year that women were refused entry into Rotary for the first time.

They say that behind every successful man there is a woman, perhaps that is also true of the Rotary movement. The contribution of women to the success of Rotary has always been in a supporting role until, as members, we can now actively participate on an equal basis.

The addition of women to the Rotary family represents the single greatest force for growth in Rotary International. In this centenary year there are now approximately 140 thousand female Rotarians throughout the world. 2,350 of them are Club Presidents and over 50 are District Governors. Perhaps within the next few years one of them may become a member of the Board of Directors and eventually the Rotary International President.

It was in the year 2000 that Melton Mowbray welcomed its first female members and we now have a total of 6 women in our club.

I was approached a couple of years ago to consider becoming the first Lady member of the Grantham Kesteven Rotary Club. My husband was also going to join this club and I thought that it might not be such a good idea. It's a bit like husbands teaching their wives to drive. It seems like a good idea at the time, but in practice it creates more problems than it solves.

My involvement with Rotary started by supporting my husband's Club on their Annual Golf day 2 years ago. The event organiser did a fabulous job with lots of money raised for a local charity. Experiencing the terrific atmosphere of the day and being a small part of the success gave me a real buzz. It made me want to help out again the following year.

It brought back memories of the first big fund raising event that I organised for the Grantham Junior Chamber many years ago. Upon reflection I realised that, through Rotary, I could help others whilst building new friendships. This is what first attracted me to Rotary and I was delighted to become a Rotarian in my own right 12 months ago.

Having spent the last 5 years working in Melton, joining Rotary gives me the opportunity to put something back into the town. It means that I am part of a professional organisation that addresses the needs of the wider community. I can interact with other like-minded people and establish contacts with Rotarians both locally and around the world.

In 2004 my husband and I met with a group of Rotarians as we sailed from Japan to Thailand. This was a completely new experience for me and it was great to find out a little bit more about Rotary Clubs in Australia and America. It was here that I discovered how easy it is to make friends through Rotary.

In addition, the real bonus is the fellowship that we all enjoy through those activities that are organised for our family and friends.

I am sure that you would all would agree with me that in the 20th Century women had a tough time getting recognition both in business and in Rotary. However, as we move into the 21st century this is all changing. Perhaps today, as Rotarians, we have more to celebrate than anyone else. I therefore wholeheartedly recommend the Rotary Movement and Women in Rotary.

A team of five from District 1070 visited Australia - District 9670, New South Wales - in March and April 2005 for a Group Study Exchange. The Melton club supported both the team leader and one of the team members for this Rotary Foundation exchange visit.

Group Study Exchange is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 in the initial years of their professional life, The programme provides travel grants for teams of young participants to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. For four to six weeks, team members study the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

Rotarian John Dehnel from the Melton Mowbray Rotary Club was selected by the District as leader of the team, to ensure the visit ran smoothly, and that an interesting and challenging vocational visit was available to the four young professionals who made up the team.

District 9670 forms part of New South Wales, from the coast around Newcastle (north of Sydney), out west to Bourke about 400 miles west across the Great Dividing Range. District 9670 is approx. 420 x 160 miles (almost exactly the same size as the whole of England). We travelled close on 800 miles visiting 9 Rotary Clubs across the District.

There are 23 districts in Australia (cf. 29 in UK), and 52 clubs in District 9670 (89 in 1070) .

We were able to study the industry, commerce, culture, and social life of a wide variety of types of Australian towns. We were hosted by Rotarian families in all the towns we visited, and were privileged to be part of their lives for a short while. So we saw Australia in a way not achievable by other means.

Each of the team members spent much time visiting their vocational counterparts. Lisa was able to visit, for example, community health centres and hospitals. Melanie went to schools and to several art centres and exhibitions. Nicola spent her vocational visits in supermarkets and wineries(!). Tracey saw hospices and hospitals, and participated in home visits with the local nursing staff. There is no doubt that all the team developed personally, helping their careers and their understanding of other cultures.

We found the GSE visit a fascinating experience. We had the fortune to be a team of great individuals, all very different, but coming together as a good team; we each gained enormously from the exchange. We met many, many kind, thoughtful Rotarians and their families, and many others in Australia only too pleased to help make our trip a success. It was a delight to meet them all.

The support we got from District 9670 and all the clubs was superb, with a well planned programme vocationally, culturally, and socially.

Thank you to DG Michael McNamara, his team, and especially GSE chair Alan Moir for their hard work and support. Thank you to Rotary Foundation for making this exchange possible.

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray took 177 children, helpers and Rotarians for a day of fun and excitement to Wicksteed Park at Kettering on Wednesday 8 June. Our 115 children from Birch Wood Special School and the Grove School were part of the 2060 children from all parts of our Rotary District who enjoyed a great day with excellent weather.

We took three coaches and two minibuses, and provided everyone with a Kids Out tee shirt and packed lunches. We are grateful for a donation from Masterfoods towards the costs.

Our President for 2004-05, Tony Rifugiato has strong links with Sicily; his father was born there. So, continuing a tradition of club visits to various countries, Tony and Kay organised a visit in June 2005 to Sicily for members and friends of the club. We flew to Palermo, and travelled around the island visiting many of the varied and magnificent historical and cultural sites. Below are some pictures from the visit.

Eight village IT centres are now in full operation, with four more in various stages of being set up. The one in Sogod visited during our club visit at Easter 2004 is pictured above. John Dehnel visited a second project in Sudlon, high in the mountains of central Cebu, in May 2005, and together with Bernie and Acs handed over a batch of educational software. We also visited the training centre in Cebu where the young adults (approximately aged 18-25) who will run the centres about to be opened are taught not only computer skills but a wide range of general business skills, so that they can run the computer centres as financially self-supporting activities.

On 24th September 2005 David Shepherd, the world-famous wildlife conservationist and artist, spoke about his life and experiences with large jungle animals, the RAF and the Royal Navy, and how it all came together in his current passion, the David Shepherd Wildlife Trust. The Trust raised over £5,500 from the sale of pictures, prints, memberships and other memorabilia, which together with the few hundred pounds raised from tickets and the raffle will all go to support endangered species worldwide.

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray is pleased to have been able to support such a worthwhile cause. We thank the Loughborough Grammar School for supporting us in hosting this event.

contest in Melton on 29th September 2005. Modelled on the TV programme the X-factor, young pop singers from the area were invited to test their skills in front of a panel of Melton's pop music judges and an audience of 75 in the Sarson School.

What a great afternoon of pop music we had. 18 contestants entered, all hoping for the chance to make a professional recording of their music at Melton's Roar Recording Studios. The owner, Joe de Bie, had donated this as a first prize, to give the winner of Pop Potential their first step on the ladder to stardom. Joe was one of the three judges. Tony Rifugiato, the owner of Melton's music centre MelTone, and Lornette Ford, the vocal coach and professional singer joined Joe on the adjudication panel.

The 18 contestants each sang a song they had chosen, then "faced the music" as the three judges made comments about their performance. Without exception the judges were impressed with the abilities and with the courage of all 18 to put themselves forward for such an event. After much hard discussion 6 contestants were chosen for the final - it was to have been only five, but the choice was that hard.

All 6 then performed again, with much interest in the audience as to how much the contestants would have learned from the judges' comments after their first performances. The standard was again superb, and yet again the judges had a real problem to decide on a winner. After much debate, they chose the winner of Pop Potential - Melton Mowbray 2005 to be

We look forward to this becoming an annual event - bring your friends next year!

Members of the club with their partners attended the District 1070 conference in Torquay over the weekend of the 30th September to 2nd October 2005. There were many excellent presentations illustrating projects that Rotary is running and supporting:

The Melton club also ran a display over the weekend of our work in the Philippines, showing some of the health, education, and livelihood problems we are trying to help overcome, with some of the success stories alongside.

Editor's note: if anyone has any interesting, informative, or just plain embarrassing photos of the conference I'd be happy to add them to this story. John.

Next year's conference is in Eastbourne, from the 29 Sept to 1 Oct 2006. If any club members and partners wish to attend this conference please let Ben Abbott know as soon as possible.

Discussions about the potential seaweed project have begun in November 2005. David Collins attended the latest "seaweed congress" in the north of Bohol recently. The Rotary Club of Tagbilaran will host the next one, in Tagbilaran. The major practitioners of the seaweed industry in the Philippines have agreed to work with RC Tagbilaran supporting the pilot project we propose to fund there.

"Baby and I went to the first ever Seaweed congress held up on the north end of the island. We made many good connections. We met Oscar A. Monzales , the Secretary General of the Seaweed Industry, of the Philippines. We are arranging for a first ever Rotary Sponsored Seaweed growing seminar to be held in Panglao . I will let you know how it goes.

Oscar said that the area which I was hoping to use is ideal for seaweed growing and offered to help us with the setting up of the cooperative for that purpose. As we indicated before, it is not expensive to set up.Under $500.00 USD will get us off the ground.

There are other depressed fishing villages on Panglao, and Bohol which could also benefit from seaweed farming. We will try Doljo first then evaluate the results. There are several other potential fishing villages along the coast to be considered. According to Oscar, the seaweed industry is well established on the north end of the island near Taliban, with good potential near Ubay.. This is good news, because we now have a club up there. RC Ubay was established during my term as President. We have a good team on the ground up there and they want to get going with a project.

I think that seaweed seminar and seedling materials would be a good project for the Ubay Club (down the road of course). As usual , I want to try one first, to find out the pluses and the pitfalls before spending more time and money."

On 9th January 2006 the club heard a moving talk from Mike Bowden about organ donation. Mike urged all members to sign up to the NHS organ donor register, and to spread the message wherever possible.

Mike and his wife Veronica lost a son a few year ago whose life would have been prolonged, if not saved all together, had organs been available. This prompted them to do all they can to publicise and promote organ donation.

Should you wish to find out more or to sign up click on this link to see the NHS Organ Donor web site (in a new browser window).

The Melton Rotary Club's meeting on the 30th January 2006 was spellbound by the speaker for the evening, Nigel Macknight, who spoke about his ambition to recover the world water speed record for the UK. We heard of his childhood dreams, and how his focus and drive have led to a boat now being constructed at East Midlands Airport, with hopes to attempt the record in early 2007.

The Melton Rotary Club's meeting on the 30th January 2006 also had the pleasure of the company of Anna Wieczorek, the incoming president of one of the Warsaw clubs, and her partner and child. She spoke about her club, the many projects they are involved in, and her hope to involve the Melton club in some of these, particularly in children's education in the poorer parts of Poland and the Ukraine.

A potential project between our two clubs was proposed early in the 2005-06 Rotary year, to assist in the redevelopment of Beslan. The status of this possibility is outlined in the attached Word document (use the usual club password to open it).

Anna's personal web site, with further information about her book publishing work is at: http://www.annawieczorek.pl/

The Rotary Club of Warsaw Sobieski was chartered on 4th February 2006. The President of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray, accompanied by Rotarian Geoff Theobald and their wives, attended on behalf of the Melton Rotary Club, as part of the support from the Melton club for the founding of the Sobieski club.

At our club meeting on the 6th February 2006 we had a presentation from District International chairman, Chris Chew, on Hope and Homes for Children.

This is a charity which works with AIDS orphans in southern Africa, provides them with family homes, and works with children orphaned or abandoned by war. For more information please click here to see the Hope and Homes web site.

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray was pleased to present Chris with a cheque for £1,000 to support the appeal for funds which Rotary in Britain and Ireland will pass on to this worthwhile cause.

Leyte is an island about 250km x 50km, to the east of Cebu and Bohol. Guinsaugon, the devastated village, is on the south eastern corner of the island. Some of the rescue efforts are being directed from Cebu, the city we know so well, as the logistics are relatively easier from there and it is the major city in the region

It looks like about 1000 people will have perished, and innumerable other familes in the area will be missing husbands, wives, children and other loved ones.

Jun has e-mailed again to update us on the current situation in Leyte - which is not improving fast!

Despite all the publicity of donations pouring in, sadly they have not filtered down to the 3,000 evacuees in St. Bernard. It's now more than a month since the mudslide tragedy.

Gov Len is down in Southern Leyte with Rico right now to give money to the evacuees so they can have something to make up for their lost livelihood. Just talked to Gov Len a while ago and she says the 3,000 evacuees need cash for their food and daily needs. The government has done virtually nothing for them.

PE Rico Rentuza my club's incoming president who hails from the place is heading a medical mission to St. Bernard in Southern Leyte to attend to the health needs of the survivors.

An NGO called Project Athena named after the heroic municipal nurse who was doing her duty at the schoolhouse when the mountain collapsed on them, are looking after their daily needs, and they are short of cash.. The NGO is made up of professionals from St. Bernard working in Cebu with relatives in St. Bernard.

Gov Len is one heck of a Rotary governor. She drove her car all the way from Davao ( that's the southernmost point of Mindanao) with loads of goodies solicited from friends through the mountains and valleys of Central Mindanao, crossing the straights in Surigao by ferry to the southern tip of Leyte. Not only did she brave obstacles posed by nature- going through the Philippine version of Marlboro Country but she also went into no-mans land inhabited by Communist rebels, Muslim rebels and all sorts of bandits. For a lady, she's got more guts than most men. I hope Rico brought his videocam with him because that would be a great news item on local TV.

A further e-mail from Jun, confirming the plans they have for helping to reconstruct the lives and livelihoods of those who have lost so many of their families:

11 villages have to be relocated. We are signing a letter of commitment with a housing NGO. They will take care of the shelter needs. We will focus on getting them started on farming and other livelihood so they can sustain themselves.

My incoming president's aunt was an awardee of the outstanding Rural Nurse in the Region. A hero, she was leading the celebrations of Women's Month in the school house which had a day care center. She was doing a seminar for mothers on early child nutrition when the mountain fell on top of them. Her husband is a nuerosurgeon working in the Cebu City hospitals. We plan to have the hospital built in her memory and run by an NGO composed of doctors and medical professionals from Southern Leyte working in Cebu City.

ST. BERNARD, Southern Leyte -- It was one of the town's best performing public schools, its pupils especially excelling in math competitions and academic exams. That was Guinsaugon Elementary School before it became a virtual tomb last Friday.

Three days after a massive landslide, the fate of pupils full of promise despite their poverty, and of teachers dedicated to their calling despite their meager pay, remained uncertain.

Earlier, rescuers retrieved the remains of Gloria Navos, the teacher-coach of the Grade III pupils that emerged as champions in last year's Math Challenge. She also mentored this year's team that won 3rd place in the same competition.

Along with more than 50 bodies taken to a barangay hall now serving as a makeshift morgue, Navos was positively identified through her wedding ring, District Superintendent Erlinda Diaz said in an interview yesterday.

Presumed trapped in one of the four GES school buildings are Navos' 2006 team of Grade I math wizards, Aira Mae Solis, Jeffrey Coquilla and Marvin Berdon, according to Diaz, citing records of the annual contest among the 27 public elementary schools in St. Bernard. The Grade I pupils' victory was no fluke: Also this year, the GES teams from Grades II, III and V all placed 2nd in their respective categories, Diaz noted. The school has long built a sterling reputation with its classroom aces. Diaz said it ranked No. 2 in terms of the average scores posted by its pupils across all levels during the District Achievement Test last school year. If other major indicators are considered, like the Division and National tests, GES was ranked 3.5 overall that same year, she said. "It's never far behind when it comes to academics and teachers' performance," she said, noting that while Barangay Guinsaugon may be relatively poor compared to urban villages, she doesn't recall it having alarming cases of malnutrition or dropouts among its pupils.

The school official said GES pupils must have been "reviewing" for this year's division test scheduled on Feb. 24 covering the key subjects English, math, science and Makabayan when disaster struck. She believed the majority of the pupils finished with their morning recess and were inside their classrooms when portions of nearby Mt. Kan-Abag came tumbling down on the village at around 10:30 a.m. that fateful day. Official figures placed the number of GES students at 246. Diaz said the campus was already there, occupying its otherwise idyllic spot by a lush mountain, the day she first moved to St. Bernard in 1968. This means the villagers had never considered the school -- or their homes -- to be in a dangerous location, she noted. That was until Mt. Kan-Abag moved and bitterly snapped the winning streak of the school's fledgling math Olympians and budding topnotchers.

Some geologists have also been warning the people in Southern Leyte about the fault lines in the area, particularly the people living in the town of St. Bernard. where the soil was said to be very rich, being of volcanic origin. There was a mild 2.0 earthquake preceding the slide.

Tonight hopes went very high when the radio reported that the Americans and the Taiwan rescue teams detected noises with their sophisticated sound devices where the school was buried. Unconfirmed reports say that there were 50 people that were alive underneath the 30 meters deep mud. The rescue is now focused on the school house. We are praying for some miracles. What they are recovering now are body parts.

The rains have not stopped. There is again a low pressure area that has been spotted in the vicinity of Leyte. Casualties included one British national who married a Filipina from Leyte and retired in St. Bernard. Cebu has a big migrant population of people from Southern Leyte . It is a major center for relief operations because the disaster area is closer to Cebu and more accessible by sea than Ormoc, its capital.

We are thankful for the help that the International community, particularly the US and Japan have been pouring in.

Following is a copy of an e-mail received from the District 3860 International / Foundation chairman, Jun Ferreros. District 3860 is the one which covers Cebu and Bohol. The District also covers the island of Leyte (to the north east of Cebu), where there are 5 Rotary Clubs.

My club's president elect, Rico Rentuza is from that town. His aunt is one of the teachers in the elementary school that was covered by the mountain and could not be found. He is in Leyte right now to do an assessment. He says that they have enough of the food, medicines, clothing, etc. and that it is the distribution system that is chaotic. What he would like us to do is to raise funds to focus on reconstruction and recovery for the surviviors and the evacuees from the 11 barangays in the future, particularly helping them get started with their livelihoods. That's also when media coverage and funds trickle to a halt as a result.

GUINSAUGON, Philippines - Weary rescue teams recovered only bodies Sunday at a Philippine village engulfed by a landslide, fearful of sinking beneath the unstable mud and losing hope in the search for survivors.

No one has been found alive since Friday, when a mountain slope collapsed on the farming village of Guinsaugon. Nearly its entire population — 1,857 — was feared dead. Officials had said 57 survivors were pulled from the mud Friday, but on Sunday lowered the number to 20, without immediately providing an explanation. At least 72 bodies have been recovered — including 14 on Sunday.

Volunteers with two sniffer dogs digging around an entombed elementary school found no signs that any of the 250-300 children and teachers inside were alive. The hunt for survivors focused on the school because of unconfirmed reports some inside had sent text messages to loved ones. Teams were also digging around the site of the village hall, where about 300 people had been attending a women's conference. "The dogs smelled something. We started to dig, but there was nothing," said Ian Degamo, a rescuer digging with another 14 volunteers and the two dogs from the Red Cross.

About 32 U.S. Marines in combat pants and shirts helped with the digging. They were from U.S. military ships carrying 1,000 Marines who arrived at Leyte island in eastern Philippines, diverted from planned joint exercises to help with recovery efforts. Another 30 Marines, based in Okinawa, Japan, were at the site to assess relief needs.

Communist rebels who are active on Leyte warned U.S. troops not to stray into insurgent zones, but assured they would not attack unless provoked. The New People's Army rebels have been waging a Marxist rebellion since the late 1960s. "The NPAs, if they would not be provoked, would not take steps against them, especially in this time of calamity," said rebel spokesman Gregorio Rosal.

In Guinsaugon, police dogs arrived in the sunshine Sunday after days of constant rain that raised fears of more landslides and hampered efforts to rescue any survivors. Still, low clouds and thin mist suggested that rain could return. Rescue workers had been warned to tread carefully or risk becoming casualties themselves as the uneasy mud settled, 30 feet deep in some areas. With entire families wiped out, officials were talking about a mass burial for unclaimed bodies. The situation was so delicate that a no-fly zone was established over the area out of concern that blasts of air from the helicopters' rotors could send the mud oozing again in Guinsaugon, about 400 miles southeast of the capital, Manila.

Philippine Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio said searchers were focusing on the elementary school, where 240 to 300 students and at least six teachers were caught in the avalanche of mud. Rescue workers shouted and banged on boulders with stones in hopes that survivors would hear. There was only silence.

"All the efforts of our government continue and will not stop while there is hope to find survivors," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said. "The nation is grateful for the continued prayers and concern, help from our world allies. "Addressing residents' claims that illegal logging contributed to the tragedy, Arroyo said: "Let us link arms to preserve our environment and protect what remains of it for our next generation."

Survivors had trouble figuring out where houses once stood in the 100-acre stretch of mud. The area has been drenched by 27 inches of rain over the last two weeks.

A Taiwanese team of 32 rescue workers with heat-sensing equipment arrived to help, while in Geneva, the International Red Cross appealed for $1.5 million to buy temporary shelter materials and other emergency health and cooking items.

Many residents of the landslide area were evacuated last week because of the threat of landslides or flooding following heavy rains, but had started returning home when the days turned sunny.

In November 1991, about 6,000 people were killed on Leyte in floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm. Another 133 people died in floods and mudslides there in December 2003.

The Melton Rotary Clubs' Young Musician of the Year Festival took place on the 4th February at the Melton Mowbray Baptist Church, Leicester Road. The audience was treated to a feast of good music across the age ranges, with all performers doing well.

Entrants each played two pieces of varied style, and of a length depending on their age group (Junior 4 minutes, Intermediate 6 minutes, and Senior 8 minutes). They were judged by expert adjudicator Aljich Jialich. The event finished with the announcement of the winners of the various sections, and the announcement that

Winners and runners up will all be invited to take part in the Rotary District 1070 Young Musician Festival, with the semi-finals taking place on the 4th March (again at the Melton Baptist Church) and the final on the 7th May in the Melton Theatre.

The winners of the various sections of the Festival on the 4th February were as follows:

On 23rd February 2006 we held the annual(-ish) small bore rifle shooting competition between the Rotary Clubs of Melton Mowbray and Rutland.

The Melton club narrowly (!) held onto the trophy. John Dehnel shot the highest score - but was closely contested by Phil Bendal, Joe Carrington, Jim Green, and Tony Lord with only 3 points separating these four. The detailed results are in the attached spreadsheet.

Many thanks to the Holwell Rifle Club for their excellent hospitality. Also to David Ward for his great organisation of the event.

E-mail from Dave Collins on 20th April 06. See the e-mail from David Collins below:

We received a check for P845,600.00 on Friday April 7,2006, which is approximately $16,500.00 USD. This check will be deposited in the new account opened at Metrobank Centro Tagbilaran #123-3-12336103-3

As in the past MG, we will be sending frequent reports, along with photos. We can send the reports to all participating clubs, if you wish or you can forward them, if that is your preference. Just send the e-mail addresses.

Our goal has not changed. We will deliver the final report one year from today, if not sooner. It is not too early to offer to travel to England to present the final report to the participating clubs, and hopefully have an opportunity to present at your District Conference in 2007 at the same time.

Can you tell us your plan to visit Bohol? As you know, you and your entourage are welcome to stay with us while you are here.

We will be organizing the seaweed farming Co-operative. after Easter We will be start immediately to implement portions of the Matching Grant.

We want to thank you, your club and the other clubs for having faith in our ability to deliver the project on time, and on budget..

We will be tracking expenses on Quicken, backed up by receipts. Progress reports as before, via e-mail.

The following article (courtesy of Geoff Beardsley) appeared in the Daily Mail, on Tuesday, April 25, 2006:

A hill overlooking Cromford, the Derbyshire village where, 200 years ago, Sir Richard Arkwright harnessed the water power of the River Derwent to change the way in which the world spun wool and cotton. The warehouse on the hill's crest is the property of a wholesale fruit and vegetable merchant. But his boxes and crates occupy only half the building. The rest is rented by a company called Aquabox.

On every -weekend morning several men, of an obviously professional appearance, labour in the warehouse yard. None of them is in the first flush of youth. Last Saturday, all the men were members of the Wirksworth Rotary Club. The Aquabox project - wholly dependent on the effort and energy of volunteers - is, in the words of the Club's mission statement, designed 'to promote humanitarian aid and safe drinking water wherever it is needed in the world'.

That hope is made reality by a scheme which Gordon McGlone - the managing director of a biscuit-making company and 'honorary general manager' of Aquabox - describes as 'absolutely simple, like all the best ideas'.

Plastic boxes, about the size of a baby's bath, are sent to 'emergency areas'. Each one contains a filter and enough purification tablets to make 1,000 litres of polluted water safe for human consumption - enough to provide a family of four with decent drinking water for five months. But that is only part of the ingenious basis of the Aquabox scheme. By the time the equipment arrives at its desperate destination, the boxes are packed with the essential items of everyday living that most of us take for granted, but much of the world lacks. Each Aquabox is sponsored - £50, including transport from and to the Cromford site. Sponsors are asked to fill the spaces above and around the purification equipment with items from what the Wirksworth Rotarians call 'the recommended packing list'. It includes 'buckets - strong plastic, rubber or canvas, safety pins, scissors, safety matches, candles and clothes-lines'. The accompanying instructions are efficiently specific. 'All boxes should be carefully filled to the lid. Agencies have advised against substantial quantities of clothing. Please use all the space.' All the boxes are checked on their return to the depot.

Last Saturday, one that was destined for Serbia lay open in the warehouse. It contained a dozen mugs, a baby's bottle and assorted knives and forks. On a nearby table, a cast-iron frying pan awaited transfer to another box. 'Too many of them,' said Gordon McGlone, 'and it becomes too heavy to carry.' Aquaboxes are loaded by hand. Pallets and fork-lift trucks could not fill every inch of space in the lorries. Down in the yard, they were being sealed ready for dispatch. Frank Lund (a retired chartered surveyor from Sheffield, who was the first 'general manager' of Aquabox) was pulling a trolley on which a dozen or so were loaded. Frank Lund is 87.

He attributes the success of Aquabox to the recruitment of volunteers who enjoy helping other people. It's that spirit that has enabled the organisers, during the 14 years of its existence, to send 65,000 Aquaboxes containing 65 Million litres of pure water and 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to emergencies all over the world.

The Wirksworth Rotarians talk of emergencies rather than disasters. Suffering goes on - day after day, year after year -throughout the world. But it does not always catch the headlines. Pure water is needed in places that are never mentioned on the front pages of newspapers in the developed world. Of course, the demand is greatest at times of crisis. Aquabox has a normal annual income of £350,000 to £400,000. In the year of the tsunami, the figure rocketed to more than £2.5 million.

Martin Beresford, a retired building services manager, was at the Aquabox warehouse every day during the weeks that followed the devastation. So was Martin Cruttenden, before his retirement a sales director of British Coal and then an industrial consultant. It is because of men like them that the project goes from strength to strength. It now ships out Aqua30, a combination of Aquaboxes which provides 30,000 litres of water to meet the needs of a whole drought-ravaged village.

But the most spectacular feature of the operation is the modesty of the volunteers whose labour makes it work. They are all desperately anxious to emphasise that Rotary Clubs from all over the region lend a hand from time to time, and that two Wirksworth churches have organised the packing of two million loose tablets into the water-purifying sachets.

There is a strong feeling at Aquabox that it is more blessed to give than to receive. In 1864, in a field about ten miles away from the hill above Cromford, John Hanning Speke - the explorer who identified the true Source of the Nile - died in a mysterious shooting accident. He was one of the men who opened up - Africa to English trade and English ideas. Aquabox is doing more than meeting a desperate need. For morning after morning, week after week, the volunteers from the Wirksworth Rotary Club demonstrate that Englishmen still believe they have an obligation to the countries which were once the Empire.

Four members of the Melton club visited Ferndown Rotary Club on the 3rd May 2006. Ferndown, just outside Bournemouth, is the club that John Bartholomew joined when he retired and left the Melton club. We had a fascinating speech from the firm that oversaw the redesign and rebuilding of Windsor Castle after the fire which devastated a large portion of the castle in 1992.

We took the opportunity to fly down to Bournemouth, helped by one of the Ferndown members Bill Field, who is a member of the Bournemouth Flying Club. He facilitated the reception at what is now a busy international airport. John Dehnel borrowed a plane from the Leicester Flying Club.

Together with Bob McCord, Marshall Pobjoy, and David Ward we flew initially to Oxford airport, where we stretched our legs with a leisurely walk along the nearby canal to a pleasant lunch outside a canal-side pub.

On the return flight we stopped at Wycombe Airpark, and joined 12 other members of our the club in a visit to see the HQ and work of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People- an RIBI charity for 2005-06. We arrived back at Leicester about 5pm - well in advance of those who'd had to drive up from High Wycombe!

On 5th June 2006, Assistant District Governor Chris Knight presented David Morris with a citation from the President of Rotary International, in recognition of the outstanding achievements of the club during David's year as President of the club

GOOD NEWS, The Dry toilet at Bantilino High School is nearing completion. We will be finishing this job shortly.. As soon as completed we will send more pictures.

Work on Windy Nook [one of the rural houses] is almost completed, but the owners have to do some finishing touches in order to call it a finished product.. They are however living in it.

On 23rd June 2006 the club was delighted to present an evening of Olde Time Music Hall at the Melton Theatre. The star of the show was the superb entertainer Toni Stevens, who captivated our audience with a wonderful variety of songs and jokes.

Toni, a Rotarian (and currently President of her club, the Rotary Club of Morisset, New South Wales) was visiting the UK to see her family. She had emigrated to Australia 37 years ago and has become a highly successful star of stage and screen down under. She met one of our club members, John Dehnel, when he was visiting New South Wales a year or so ago, and this resulted in an invitation to Toni to assist in raising some funds for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity.

John Hurton compered the evening, which opened with Rif's Jazz Band - Brian Humpherson on Piano, Dave Partridge on Bass, Don Blakeson on Trumpet, Tony Rifugiato on Drums, Judy Nichol on Tenor Sax, and Stuart Braithwaite on Trombone. The second half was started memorably by Kate Bale with "Songs From The Shows".

Well over £2,000 was presented to Marie Curie at the end of the evening, mainly money raised over the year by the Melton Mowbray Ladies in Rotary, but complemented by the several hundred pounds raised through ticket sales for the Music Hall, sales of CD's of Toni Steven's music, and generous donations by the audience as they left the theatre.

The Rotary Club and Marie Curie Cancer Care are very grateful to Toni for contributing her time to such an enjoyable evening's entertainment, which also will help to do so much good in the community.

With the support of the Melton, Rutland and Harborough PCT, a container full of older hospital equipment surplus to needs following the opening of the new Melton Mowbray Hospital left Melton Mowbray on the 20th June, on route to the Philippines to re-equip a hospital destroyed by the horrendous mud slide in Leyte in February.

We also shipped 18 computers complete with screens, keyboards and so on, courtesy of Stapleford Park hotel, and about 35 kg of educational software, donated by club members, local businesses, and the King Edward VII School.

And to complete the load, we've sent 21 bicycles, for use by the mothers group supporting the UK sisters program in the North Reclamation Area. See Jun Ferreros' note below.

Thanks to Sasha and Tony Lord of PP Removals for collecting the equipment from the hospital, and for storing for it for several weeks. Thanks also to the K-line shipping company which has given us a substantial discount on the shipping; the Rotary club is paying the approximately £900 balance.

We intend to donate the hospital equipment to the rural health unit of St. Bernard in Southern Leyte, where the landslide occurred and where 3,000 evacuees are living under sub-human conditions. With your equipment we will be able to put up field hospitals at the evacuation centers. The rest will be going to the nearest hospital which is about an hour's drive from St. Bernard. Its only 2 hours by fastcraft and another 4 hours by land from Cebu.

Of the 22 survivors who were pulled out of the mud, 3 have already died for lack of proper medical attention. Small pox has broken out in the camps.

Despite all the publicity about millions of dollars worth of aid received, the evacuees are all asking where the aid went to. So far the local government has given out P 6 million worth of aid that went into shelters, medicine and food for the survivors and the evacuees- that's about P 22 (US$ 0.42) per capita per day since March 2006. Diet is rice and canned goods and noodles. Rice is rationed out at 10 kilos per family every 2 weeks.

The [Rotary] district has been sending out medical missions and humanitarian missions regularly. District Governor Len Magno was among the first Rotarians to visit the area, driving all the way from Davao. She's going there again this weekend. Attached are some pictures of our club's recent mission last May 20-22.

The bicycles will be very useful for the mothers group supporting the UK sisters program in the North Reclamation Area. We are conducting non-formal education and feeding programs to about 1,200 children in 10 locations throughout the Port Area and the slums in the reclamation area. Some of the bikes will be converted into tricycles for hauling people and goods in the area which are not part of the regular jeepney routes. This will provide some livelihood for the unemployed youth.

The educational software we intend to share with Bernie [at the Rotary Club of Cebu Capitol North] and the learning centers run by the sisters where we have set up hole in the wall computer centers for the out of school youth using the second hand computers we received from Japan. Do you have some educational software for early childhood education? [Yes we do - it's being sent].

In partnership with the Melton Highways Development Forum (chairman Peter Roffey, pictured below in the second picture), we are proud to have helped with another step in the modernisation of the town centre. On 13th July 2006 the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray presented two magnificent benches to the town, to complete the refurbishment of High Street. These are in commemoration of the centenary of Rotary Service above Self, and are the culmination of a project started by the then President of Melton Mowbray Rotary Club, Tony Rifugiato. Also sharing the bench in the last photo with Tony (at the right) are the current President Ben Abbott and immediate past President David Morris.

You will be surprised when you see what you guys have accomplished, when you visit our little island on your planned visit [in January 2007].

In conclusion, the two most time consuming and difficult portions of your Matching grant have been completed, Composting CR and Water collection system. You can expect the balance of the MG to be completed on time and within budget.

We have received (3rd Sept 06) the following emails and pictures from District 3860 in the Philippines, recording the arrival and thanks for the hospital and computing equipment and the bikes donated by our club:

The annual Governor's Visit to RC Mandaue East last August 24, 2006 was unique. He held our club assembly at the project site in Cordova Island where we had DG Fernando Almeda Jr. witness the signing of the Deed of Donation.

Pictures: 1:From left to right Cordova Mayor Arleigh Sitoy, Club President Rico Rentuza, Dr. Cristopher Calimbas Cordova Health Officer, DG Fernando Almeda Jr.. At the back are the members of the club and the district officers accompanying the governor. Pictures 2 & 3 show the group inspecting the goods at the Municipal Health Office.

SSHJM or the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are conducting community based Programs for the Poor Families in Cebu City's depressed areas. The program consists of Non Formal Education for street children and working children, Educational Assistance to keep children in school - it takes only US$ 25 a year to keep a child in a public school, livelihood training and assistance for families with a family income of less than US$ 2 a day,Weekly medical clinics for those who have no access to medical care, PT/OT for the elderly and the diasbled. The biggest program is the daily feeding 1,300 of the slum children, which is an incentive for them to attend classes. 95% of the kids were found malnourished and underweight when the program started, now the underweight rate hovers at around 35-40%. For every child taken out of the program because of his attainment of the desired weight levels, around 3 kids would take his or her place.

Some computers were donated to expand the "Hole in The Wall Computer Center set up for the non- formal learning of the street children, the bikes went to the mothers preparing the food for the feeding program so they could be mobile in serving the 10 sites where the non formal learning and the feeding were being conducted, some beds and the rehab equipment were also donated to them so they could expand the PT/OTclinics servicing the elderly and the disabled.

Pictures: 1 a- At the center beside President Rico is Sister Maria Holly who is the coordinator of the Child Protection Program of the Mission. She hails from London. Picture 1 b and 1 c show the software being delivered. There are only 4 nuns from the UK working on the program.

Once again, please thank the members of RC Melton Mowbray for their gifts which will go a long way in helping the kids and their families survive the misery of poverty. The gifts have given them hope. And to you John thank you for leading the way . JUN

We have received (12th September 2006) the following emails and pictures from David Collins, reporting on the progress on spending our matching grant providing education and livelihood support on Bohol.

The new Kitchen for the rebuilt Doljo Elementary School, Home Economics Building, is moving along nicely. Attached are some pictures of the progress. New Stainless Steel top, glass backsplash, electric ignition range , by Whirlpool. New very high efficiency Panasonic Refrigerator. It has an EER 252. This is the highest energy efficiency rating (EER) we have seen in the Philippines. Initial purchase of kitchenware so that Mrs. Lepon can begin classes this week.

Mrs. Lepon, is not only a great teacher, but she is an excellent chef. She is so very thankful for the kitchen, and cannot wait to start teaching the students the art of cooking. She has much to share, in the line of cooking with the students. To my knowledge, this is the only elementary school in the country with a fully equipped Home Economic training center. The appliances are the latest design and were just received by BQ last week. The kitchen will be completed shortly.

We hope that you will happy with your investment, when you arrive here in January We have already installed the solid steel doors and window grates, to protect your investment. The Range exhaust hood has also been installed, to remove heat and smoke during cooking. We are currently installing electrical outlets in the kitchen. The Kitchen will be utilized on the weekends to train disadvantaged women and out of school youth, commercial cooking classes.

We have received, September 2006, the following email from Jun Ferreros, Foundation grants chairman in District 3860, acknowledging our donation of the hospital equipment from the War Memorial hospital and with a little news about where it has gone.

Over the past 2 weeks we have been been honored by the victims and evacuees affected by the landslide victims in Southern Leyte. Rotary has been the top of mind recall among all organizations helping the victims recover from the tragedy.

Attached is a plaque we received on your behalf. With the hospital equipment, we were able to establish the Barangay Clinics in 8 of the 15 barangays in St. Bernard. These barangay clinics serve as field hospitals to service the medical needs of the landslide victims and the people relocated from their farms and homes because of the danger of more landslides.

Also attached are the pictures of a thanksgiving ceremony that the people of the new Guinsaugon Village- the old one has been totally decimated by the landslide with 80% of its population still missing and presumed dead.

Your award comes from Advocacy for Transparency and Honesty Inc, ( ATHena) an NGO set up by the people of St. Bernard to ensure that donations are protected and received by the victims and evacuees of the tragedy. ATHena is named after Athena Letigio the nurse in charge of the rural health program in St. Bernard. She died during the tragedy while she was conducting a seminar for Mothers at the Guinsaugon Elementary School. She could have run and saved her skin but she opted to remain trying to save some 200 kids who were having classes when the mountain fell.

Athena was well loved in the town because of her dedication to her work. She could have migrated and earn more working outside the country but she decided to stay in rural Southern Leyte despite the low salary of a government employed nurse. He favorite answer was- everybody in the health sector, doctors, nurses, nursing aide, is leaving, who will take care of the aged, the sick and the children in the mountain barangays if I go? She even refused to work in Cebu where the private hospitals can give her a much better salary.

The following are some photos of the recent efforts to feed the children in Casate, on Bohol, badly affected by drought. The bags are "bundles of joy" - packets of rice and other staple foodstuffs, distributed one per family by the Rotary club helped by local school children. Some of our Matching Grant money has gone to providing worming drugs for the children, to aid in their nutrition and health.

1. Composting Dry Toilet is in service and is serving the needs of 400 students at Bantonilao High School. (Medical Doctors from Sydney).

2. The rain collection system is completed. It consists of 400 feet of Gutter and a 3750 gallon concrete storage tank. Thanks to a grant from Australia a four stage filter system will be installed shortly which will complete the system for safe drinking water for the high school students. We are happy to announce that there are now three MGs in the works to provide water collection system/ filters in 4 more schools. Installed costs for the system is P170,000.00 for the tank and gutters and P130,000.00 for the four stage filter system We are now developing a proto-type biosand filter for the numerous homes which have no access to safe drinking water. Once we have proven working model we will be making an announcement.

3. We have purchased Medicine for Bandolinao Medical mission, and Corella which was conducted last week. Many indigent villagers and students were served.

We are thankful for the cooperation and spirit of Rotary we have received in making a difference in the lives of so many indigent villagers in Bohol.

During 2001 to 2006 the Melton Rotary Club supported a township in Tanzania to develop its school and vocational training facilities. We raised £2,000 towards re-roofing their school building in year 2001-02. The following year we sponsored about £2,000-worth of carpentry tools for their training workshops.

For the year 2004-05 we supported a project to provide solar-panel driven water pumps in Luhimba. This project is on-going through 2005-06 and was completed in late 2006.

The project to install solar electric panels at the Nguluma secondary school in Luhimba Songea, Tanzania has been completed. A few photos of the finished project show the impressive results. The electrical output will be used to power a ring well to provide drinking water for the school and village.

Club Visit to the Philippines, January 2007

John Dehnel and Joe Carrington visited the Philippines in January 2007 and spent some time reviewing existing projects and discussing potential future projects in District 3860, Cebu and Bohol.

We visited Batonilao school, where our matching grant funds have supported the installation of a rain water collection system.

	- this could be a case of "Who needs rain water collection!"

A project underway with an Australian club will add bio-filters to the water system to provide safe drinking water for this rural community.

The school also now boasts a hygienic toliet block.

In Doljo we saw several of the rural houses which have been built, and the materials for one to be built in the following week. The costs of these are supported 50% by the £900 we sent to the Habitat for Humanity project.

Prescription drugs are being distributed as needs arise in the villages around Doljo. We met several families requesting support from Dave Collins for their sick children.
We visited Doljo Elementary School where the equipment for vocational training (food preparation and cooking skills) is installed.

The second phase of our time there was spent reviewing potential projects for the future. Disappointingly, the pilot module for seaweed farming in Panglao Bay, as a vocational development for subsistence fishermen in Doljo and Danao, had not started. This is an important step in establishing the viability of seaweed farming on a larger scale in the bay. We anticipate this will start now in March.

We decided not to pursue the idea of a 3-H grant for developing seaweed farming and associated health and education projects.

We did identify a need for a hospital about 100km south of Cebu City, in a town called Boljoon. We discussed helping them equip the hospital in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Mandaue North. The local people have had some land donated by a local benefactor, and there are a couple of possible sources for a suitable building. We are planning to include this idea in our list of projects for support in Rotary year 2007-08.

While there we met the Rotarians from St. Bernard on Leyte, the district where the St. Mary's hospital equipment was shipped to relieve some of the suffering after the mud slide 12 months ago. There was enormous appreciation for what we sent. The hospital beds especially had been, literally, life-savers. They estimate that at least 12 lives have been saved, mainly in the maternity ward, where women have had proper beds to lie on during difficult labours. We were presented with a certificate of appreciation to the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray and Rotary International:

We thank Rotary Foundation for supporting the costs of this visit. It enabled a thorough and useful evaluation of the potential for future projects, and ensured that the funds spent in the future will be of real benefit to the poorer citizens of the area visited.

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Cake Baking - a nice parallel with Interact Project

Our recent matching grant paid for teaching food preparation and cooking skills at Doljo Elementary School on Bohol, Philippines. The result is a nice parallel with the project that the Interact club at King Edward VII school in Melton Mowbray is starting - preparing and selling cakes at Melton Market. A very similar activity is happenning, with no prompting, 9000 miles away. See Dave Collins' email and pictures below:

Dear John

There are programs in our joint venture to help the poor improve themselves that are spectacular successes. Your club outfitted the Doljo Elementary School with a complete kitchen, so that the 5th and 6th grade children , ages eleven and twelve, could learn to cook.

With your investment the school children landed their first commercial order. It was for twelve dozen Torta (a Philippine Cake Delicacy). They were paid P19 each [about 20pence] which is the going rate for the same product in the bakery in Tagbilaran. The sale grossed P2,736.00 They have started a ledger in which the teacher will invest this money to perpetuate the bakery. This seed money will be used to continue teaching the children how to cook other commercially viable products, while maintaining a self sustaining balance. The customer was so impressed with the taste,that they plan to place more orders. This will provide the children new opportunities to sharpen their culinary skills. The children gain skills, self esteem and confidence while learning a trade. Fortunately for me, and a few other lucky tasters, they cooked a few extra Tortas. The taste and texture of their produce rivaled the so called professionals in town.

During the recent Scout Camp-O-Rama, these students provided hot meals to over 400 campers. Utilizing the new kitchen, the students did all the cooking of the weekend. Cooking five hot meals for 400 hungry scouts is a daunting task even for professional caterers. But the student/scouts,completed their assignments with flying colors, while earning a cooking merit badge.

These students are now cooking breakfast every morning for 109 fellow students who are coming to school without breakfast and are underweight by Philippine standards. The cost of the food for this feeding program is in cooperation with Village Aide Program.

Once again, it gives us great pleasure to announce our mutual success and to thank your members for the investment in the future of the Scout students of Doljo Elementary School.

Regards, David Collins

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Presentation to STEPS

Rotarians Ben Abbott (President) and Richard Haines (Chairman Community and Vocational committee) presented a cheque for £1900 to Mrs. Heather Crate, a trustee of the STEPS Charity, on 5th February 2007. The monies were raised at a Rotary Charity Summer Ball held on the 8th July 2006 at Brooksby Hall Melton Mowbray.

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Presentation of Gap Year Bursary to George Marriott

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray Gap year Bursary for 2007 has been awarded to George Marriott of Frisby on the Wreake. George is a pupil at Ratcliffe College and is currently completing his A level studies.

He has been accepted by Raleigh International to be part of an expedition to Costa Rica and Nicaragua which will take place in October 2007, and has already carried out several fund raising activities. During the expedition he will be involved in community based projects in Nicaragua such as helping to improve water supplies and work in the local schools.

The Gap Year Bursary is designed to assist young adults from the Melton area to participate in humanitarian voluntary projects in an under-developed part of the world.

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Presentation of Certificate from Leyte - Hospital Equipment

The picture shows International Chairman John Dehnel presenting the President of the RC of Melton Mowbray with a certificate thanking the club for the donation of the hospital equipment to the San Bernadino area. Four of us went out to the Philippines again in January (click here for the story), where we met the people from the area where the hospital equipment all went - Guinsaugon in Leyte. They were delighted with the equipment, especially the hospital beds. They reckon that our equipment has saved more than a dozen lives, mainly in the maternity ward where the women have proper beds and equipment during the more difficult labours. They presented the certificate of appreciation to the club during our visit.

Thank you again to the staff at the PCT and the Melton hospitals, to the staff at PP Removals, to K-Line shipping, and to all the Rotarians who helped make this project a reality.

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Computers installed in Doljo School, Philippines

Our matching grant with Tagbilaran Rotary Club in Bohol included some money to purchase a few computers for Doljo Elementary School. These have now been installed, as the email and pictures from Rotarian Dave Collins show.

"Dear John, It gives me pleasure to report that the new computers are so popular with the children, that the teacher is conducting classes on Saturday so that more students have an opportunity to learn.

"Attached are 3 pictures which shows the Saturday Class.

"Once again, thank you Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray for investing in the future of children of Doljo Elementary School, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines

"Regards Dave Collins"

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Dick Turpin shooting

The annual small bore shooting competition between the Rotary Clubs of Melton Mowbray and Rutland was held at the Melton Rifle Club on 6th March. The Melton Rotary Club retained the trophy for the sixth consecutive year. Congratulations to Joe Carrington for gaining the highest score for the Melton club

. Dick Turpin presentation

Thanks to David Ward for the organisation of a splendid evening, and to the Melton Rifle Club for their hospitality and invaluable help and advice with the shooting. Thanks also to Rex Barber for presenting the trophies.

The scores were as follows:

MELTON MOWBRAY TEAM NAMES			FIRST ROUND SCORE	SECOND ROUND SCORE	SCORE TOTALS	TEAM AVERAGE Per SHOOTER
Joe Carrington

	2007 CHAMPION	97	91	188
Duncan Manderson

179

Jim Green

178

David Ward

169

John Dehnel

166

Tony Lord

160

Mike Powderley

159

Phil Bendall

155

Bob McCord

152

Keith Hallam

		67	63	130
TOTALS			824	812	1636	163.6

RUTLAND TEAM NAMES

FIRST ROUND SCORE

SECOND ROUND SCORE

SCORE TOTALS

Richard Simmons

189

Anthony Aylward

184

Adrian Palmer

178

Peter Knight

175

Tim Griffin

Club President

162


Malcolm Mann

147

Fred Bellinghall

121

Bruce Strickland

104

TOTALS

649

611

1260

157.5

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Rotarian of the Year

At the Melton Rotary Club's Charter Night on the 12th March 2007 Rotarian Philip Bendall was presented with the award of "Rotarian of the Year" by President Ben Abbott in recognition of the committed work that Phil has done since joining the club in supporting its activities, especially the development of the Interact Club.

He is seen here being presented the club trophy by District Governor Richard Hyde.
ICE-poster

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Vulcan to the Sky - visit to Bruntingthorpe

On the 26th March 2007 members of the Rotary Club visited the "Vulcan to the Sky" project at Bruntingthorpe airfield south of Leicester. The visit, organised by the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians (IFFR), was to see the project where Vulcan XH558 is being restored to flying condition. It is planned that it will have its flight tests completed in time to take part in the fly-past over Buckingham Palace in May commemorating the end of the Falklands War in which Vulcans played such a decisive part. The airfield also hosts a display of other military and civilian historic aircraft. In the last of the photos Rotarian Bill Glancy is seen paying homage to the Victor tanker aircraft.

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Visit to St Bernard, Philippines - Mud Slide disaster area

During April 2007 John Dehnel had the opportunity to visit the area in south Leyte, Philippines where the tragic mudslide occurred in February 2006.

The area of the devastation, in which 1200 people died in minutes, was the village of Guinsaugon and the surrounding farm land. The village was on the alluvial plain below some steep mountain sides - an apparently idyllic area of paddy fields and peaceful farm land.

Until, that is, you look at the mountainside in the second picture a little more carefully: half of it isn't there. The valley down the mountainside in the centre of the picture was created in a matter of minutes when relentless rain over a couple of weeks created a temporary lake at the top of the mountain. Whether, as some reports say, a minor earthquake then caused this to overflow is uncertain, but whatever triggered the flood it brought down a torrent of water, mud, and rock onto the valley below. And, right in the path of this avalanche stood the village of Guinsaugon.
The wider perspective picture below shows what remains of the village - three houses. And one of those had been swept 500 metres from its original site by the power of the mud slide.

Every other house, school, health centre, all the roads and paths, all other structures were completely obliterated. The district maternity nurse was visiting, and decided to stay over-night in the village. The local doctor's wife was in the village for the day. Apart from one boy who was off sick, the children were all in school, . They were among the 1200 people who died in minutes. It seemed that everyone we spoke to all through our visit had lost close relatives.

The local support services were completely overwhelmed. No-one knew where to search - all the landmarks had gone. Where was the school? "Along that road, just past the kids' play are, by those big trees - oh, no, they've all gone too". Only a tiny proportion of the bodies have been recovered. The village is no more, and the whole valley has been declared unsafe to live or work in.

There are other villages a little further along the valley. And the people who did escape the mud slide still need to live and earn a living somewhere. The municipality of St. Bernard is attempting to establish homes and livelihood for the displaced villagers. Temporarily (though it is now over one year on) some are housed in shelters built on the playground of the school in St. Bernard:

A complete new village is being built, with a combination of aid money from overseas countries and various charities such as the Red Cross,

though this in itself creates tensions as the village is having to be built on land previously used by others. And where will the displaced families earn their livings? It is too dangerous to farm the land where they used to do so - my expectation is that they will end up taking the risk and going back to their previous lands. There are just so many issues that arise out of such disasters.

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray has been able to help, albeit in only a small way in the perspective of the scale of the problem. It so happened that some surplus hospital equipment from the Ankle Hill hospital in Melton was being assembled for shipment to Cebu at the time the mud slide happened. When the equipment arrived in the Philippines the local Rotary District officer, Jun Ferreros, asked that some of the equipment be diverted to the St. Bernard area. This was arranged in conjunction with local Rotary clubs, particularly by Rico Rentuza, a Rotarian in living and working in Cebu, but who was born in St. Bernard and had lost several friends and relatives when the tragedy occurred. The equipment sent to the St. Bernard area was primarily many of the hospital beds, which were distributed around the barangay (village) health centres. I had the opportunity to see a number of these health centres:

The health centre in the new village:
The health centre in the temporary village on the school playground:
Health centres in nearby villages:

The gratitude of the local people to what seems to us a small contribution was overwhelming. And their needs remain enormous.

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Uses for Melton Bicycles in the Philippines

We received the following email and pictures from Jun Ferreros, District Grants chairman in District 3670:

As promised I am sending you the pictures of what we did with the bikes you sent us. It was a means of transport for some kids. Specially the special kids and the disabled. attending our PT/OT clinics.

It was also used to transport food

Thanks JUN

Bikes1 Bikes2

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Young Musician Final, 2007

The final of Rotary District 1070's Young Musician of the Year Festival took place on the 29th April at the Melton Theatre. The audience was treated to a feast of good music across the age ranges, with all the musicians performing showing amazing talent.

Entrants each played in front of an audience numbering up to 360. They each performed two pieces of varied style, and of a length depending on their age group (Junior 4 minutes, Intermediate 6 minutes, and Senior 8 minutes). They were judged by expert adjudicator Roy Abbey. When the results were announced the Melton Mowbray Rotary Clubs, who staffed much of the event, were delighted that several Melton entrants did extremely well:

Jessica Ibbotson won the title of overall winner of the vocalist of the year:

Ibbotson .

Georgina Roberts was the winner of the intermediate age group vocalists:

Roberts .

The trio of clarinetists "Trilogy" - Erika Palmer, Gina Roy, and Sara Hall - won the overall ensemble prize:

Trilogy .

Other participants from Melton who performed well, and had got to the final by winning tough local club heats and semi-finals, were:
Gaddesby Primary school (unior choir) and Rebekkah North (junior vocal):

GaddesbyPS North .

The contestants are pictured being presented with their trophies and certificates by Rotary District Governor Richard Hyde and ,with Jessica, Mayor of Melton, Clr. Ron Marks.

Thanks are owed to the organisers led by Linda May, and especially to local music teacher Sheila Aston.

Congratulations to all the performers, and thank you for a wonderful day's music.

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Cookery Classes in Bohol

The club received the following email on 2nd May 2007 from David Collins to thank us for the cookery equipment for vocational training for women in the local village:

Thank you Members of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray

Summer Classes in Cooking at new Home Economics Training Center

Thanks to Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray MG # 58632, which provided a new Kitchen and a budget for classes in commercial cooking.

The students cooked up a batch of sample cakes just before the annual Fiesta in local towns around Doljo. Then they asked for orders for Torta, a traditional cake.

The students secured over a dozen orders for Tortas. They made enough money to cover the expenses and to purchase other food stocks to expand their training menu. This reduced the cost of the program, while expanding the experience.

What we liked about this initiative was that they gained commercial experience and confidence in their ability to produce a quality product at a competitive price.

As the official taster, I can say that the Torta was as good, or better, than any product available from the bakeries in Tagbilaran.

Regards, Dave Collins RC Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

Cakes Cakes

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Stroke Awareness Day

On 28th April the two Rotary Clubs of Melton Mowbray organised a day to promote awareness of the risks of people suffering a stroke due to high blood pressure. With nurses from the local hospital and Latham House medical practice doing the blood pressure testing (and thank you to them for their support), we invited members of the public in town on the Saturday to have their blood pressure checked.

Of the 228 people tested, 157 had blood pressures in a normal range, 64 were advised they should contact their doctor within the next 30 days and 7 told that their blood pressure was so high that they should contact their doctor at the earliest opportunity (ie: Monday morning!).

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Old Warden Airshow - flying visit

On the 6th May 2007 4 members of the Rotary Club visited the Shuttleworth Collection's spring air display at Old Warden near Biggleswade. A superb variety of planes and land vehicles from the collection were on show, with 24 historic planes flying during the day. Many of these were the only examples of that particular aircraft still in flying condition.

Despite the gusty winds and threatened rain, the show was a great success and much enjoyed by our club members who attended.

The wing-walking display by Team Guinot was quite an experience:

and was the only one that got some Rotarians to their feet:

The visit to the event was organised by the International Federation of Flying Rotarians.

Members are all Rotarians with an interest in flying - not necessarily pilots themselves. Anyone who is interested in joining or in taking part in future flying visits with the Melton Rotary Club, please contact IFFR or talk to John Dehnel.

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Sri Lanka Tsunami - Book Appeal

On the 11th June 2007 three members of the Rotary Club of Kandy visited the Melton club's meeting and spoke movingly about the impacts of the tsunami on Sri Lanka and other south Asian countries on Boxing Day, 2004. The speakers, M Niyaz (President), Carl Kelaart (procurement officer) and Sabry Abuthahir recent past-president of the Rotaract club) told us of their on-going efforts on behalf of the tsunami victims.

They have characterised the areas of their support into three groups:
Back to the Sea - provision of 19ft.fibre glass sea going fishing boats fitted with a 15 HP kerosene motor and a set of nets at a cost of US$3,750 each.
Housing Programme - Tsunami Damaged houses are being built under this program for the homeless.
School re-awaken - Help rebuilding a tsunami affected school in the East coast of Sri Lanka, one of the worst affected areas.
More information can be seen on the Kandy club's web site at http://www.rotarykandy.org/.

They appealed to the club to help collect reading books, for all ages of children (4 to 18 years), to re-stock school shelves across the country. This appeal is being supported by the RC of Stamford; all books we can collect in Melton will be passed on to RC of Stamford to add to the 2 tons of books they have already collected and then shipped to Kandy to support their work.

Members of the Melton Rotary Club are asked to bring whatever children's reading books they can to the remaining club meetings in June. Richard Fisher will coordinate the collection and transport to Stamford, with Tony Lord's help. Please contact Richard or Tony if you have books you'd like collected rather than bringing them to the club.

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Kids Out - 13th June 2007

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Presidential Handover & Introduction of Lady Gretton as Honorary Member of the Club, 2nd July 2007

President Ben Abbott is congratulated on his year by incoming President Pam Wiggins:
Handover

President Ben Abbott introduces Lady Jennifer Gretton to the club as an honorary member:
Lady Gretton induction 1

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Change of plan in Philippines matching grant - seaweed farming pilot project unsuccessful

The current matching grant with the Rotary Club of Tagbilaran includes 8 sub-projects, both school-oriented (computer facilities, books, food preparation equipment and training, toilets, rain-water collection) and for community support (medicines, adult vocational training, and seaweed farming). RC Tagbilaran has proposed a change to the seaweed farming element. This was included in the grant proposal as a pilot to study the feasibility of establishing large-scale seaweed farming on Panglao Island. Dave Collins has concluded, after much effort over many months, that it is not feasible. As you will see from his email below, he has recommended (and I agree with him) that he should divert the remaining funds originally allocated to this element of the project to other, more successful areas, primarily the cookery classes.

It is great to see that our joint clubs' efforts are having such a beneficial impact in this needy part of the world.

Email received 26/07/07:
Dear John,

I have been struggling with this problem for some time. You may have been wondering what happened to the 3H seaweed, and seaweed pilot project. I think you know me well enough to know if something is not working I will speak up and take the blame in this case.

While we have had a good track record in just about all the projects we have proposed. I just cannot get the seaweed project off the ground. There are may reasons why, some out of my control. In a nut shell, there are not enough men in the village who are interested enough, to make it a cost effective project. As an engineer for GE, among other things we always considered R.O.I. return on investment. In the case of the seaweed project is not viable. We have tried before with the men, and the results were disappointing. Any financial reward rarely benefits the wife, or the children.

Basically extra money goes to gambling, cock fights and booze. You, have been here and may have already experienced some of this. I have failed, I am sorry.

Proposed reallocation of funds.

The Kitchen and Vocational Training part of the MG has exceeded even our wildest expectations. The students and the women who went to summer school for cooking, sewing and computer classes have learned new skills. These infrastructures changes in the school has been a revitalizing force. Previous e-mail reports informed you about the initiative of the students to make money with their new skills. It is my pleasure to report that the enthusiasm has not waned.

Today, the students are making cup cakes and candies for sale to their fellow students, The profit is being used to reinvest in the training program. I just love this.. As a result we have a small windfall profit, which has lowered the cost of the program. This is a very pleasant first, and we are thrilled to report this to you.

As a result, If we propose a revision in the budget. Lets reassign the seaweed (6% of total budget) and utilize the savings, to provide kitchens at two more elementary schools.

We are currently working at two schools on Panglao Island really in need of a boost.

Danao Elementary School has 380 students. Most of them are from families of fishermen and farmers. It is located on the road to Alona Beach They have a Home economics building that is basically empty and is being used as a storage room. It has steel bars on the windows so there is no security issues. They have a Home Economics teacher who has no tools to work with.
Looc Elementary School has a student population of 275 from poor families. It is located on the north side of Panglao and 3 kms. to the east Doljo. They too have a secure building and Home Ec. teacher lacking tools.

Based on this revised assessment, we propose to equip both schools with a new kitchen with the identical appliances which we provided a Doljo Elementary School. Vocational training sessions would also be included. We already know how successful the kitchen and vocational training was there.

Mrs. Lepon the Home Ec teacher from Doljo, has a documented the lesson plan which produced the results we have seen. The Principal Mrs. Castillo is very willing to open Doljo kitchen to the other Home Ec teachers for training. Duplication of the lesson plans, and training is included. While we do not expect any short fall in funds with the revised plan, we have a general fund from Village Aide available, to insure that there will be no short cuts or abbreviated lesson plans in implementing this proposal.

Dr. Cerina Bolos, who is the Superintendent of schools for all of Bohol, very proud of the Kitchens and other improvements that Rotary has accomplished for the education of the children. She has toured the schools and seen the transformation and improved test scores. She uses us as a role model for other non government organizations NGOs to follow.

I do hope that you will consider this plan, as it has already been a bell ringing success at Doljo. We would like to invest your hard earned money where we can all be happy and proud of what we have achieved. The decision is clearly yours.

Point of order. In the past, we have provided proposals within MGs to rebalance the budget to take advantage of opportunities like this. We are not spending the money on anything outside the scope of the original grant. We are realigning the budget to make better use of the money. This will provide vocational training for another 655 children and many disadvantaged women. That is significant increase in persons served and improvement on R.O.I. (Pictures Attached)

Regards,

Dave and Baby Collins

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Vocational training results in Philippines

The following email was received from David Collins, Rotary Club of Tagbilaran, on 9th August 2007:

Dear Rotarians

Thank you RC Melton Mowbray for providing Vocational Training for 6th graders of Doljo Elementary School. On the table are 360 Boy Scout and Girl Scout Neckerchiefs made by in-students, and out-of-school youth in the village.

Scout Scarves

This Sept 28, 29 and 30 Rotary is sponsoring the biggest Scout Camp-O-Rama ever in Bohol. There will be Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troops from 24 elementary Schools and 4 high schools on Panglao Island. We are expecting over 3000 Scouts, from economically depressed rural communities, on the island.

Scout Neckerchiefs will be given away to scouts needing them, at no charge. Rotary is paying for the prizes, security and rentals. There is no registration fee for scouts attending the weekend of camping.

Regards, Dave and Baby Collins

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Flying Visit to Isle of Wight

Four people from the Rotary Club visited the Isle of Wight on Sunday 5th August 2007. On a bright, sunny day we flew down in a Cessna 172 from Leicester Airport. Our route took us overhead Cambridge, down the east side of London crossing the Thames at Southend, then hitting the south coast at Eastbourne. The flight level with the cliff tops around Beachy Head then along the coast at low level to Portsmouth were most memorable. It was the opening weekend of Cowes fortnight so the numbers of sailing boats on the Solent were impressive to over-fly. We landed at Sandown airport without incident to ourselves (though there had very unfortunately been a serious incident immediately before our arrival, with a light aircraft crashing on take off). The airport was very full, with over 50 light aircraft parked at one stage.

We met for lunch in the excellent airport restaurant with the other visitors who had come in to join the fly-in organised by the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians (IFFR). 12 Rotary aircraft (no, I'm not referring to helicopters) had come in, with 40 visitors in total. Although the plan had been to go to the beach at Sandown for the afternoon, the pleasures of sitting watching the planes from the restaurant terrace were too attractive, and in the end no-one made the excursion. Instead we were able to watch Phil Winterbottom's 2-seater T9 Spitfire in fine form.

We left at 5pm for a low level flight around the south coast of the island, up past the Needles (they look a lot smaller from a plane, even at 500 feet, than from a yacht where they loom rather large), and on to Bournemouth. We landed there to refuel - both ourselves and the plane. We spent a pleasant hour with previous member of our club, and now President of the Ferndown Rotary Club, John Bartholomew and his wife Linda. The flight back passed over Oxford to complete our University tour for the day, then into Leicester to reflect on a great day out. Many thanks to Jeff Watkins from Rotary in Bath for organising it.

... and here are some more pictures of the flight, courtesy of Steve Jeal:


Beachy Head

Newhaven		Brighton

Brighton Palace Pier	Brighton West Pier	Portsmouth

Cowes Week racing in the Solent	Osborne Bay & House	Ryde

Sandown Airport, Isle of Wight

The Needles	Bournemouth	Oxford

There will be future fly-ins organised by the IFFR, and all members of the Rotary Club are invited to join in these. Please let John Dehnel know if you are interested.

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News on Matching Grant in Bohol, Philippines - Home Economics project nearly complete
We received today the following email from Dave Collins. The matching grant awarded in February 2006 to help provide toilet blocks, computers, books, vocational training equipment, and rain-water collection systems for schools; vocational development equipment and training for adults; and prescription drugs for community centers in Bohol is almost complete. With the delivery of the refrigerator for the home economics block at Looc school there are now three schools on Panglao island equipped to train children in food preparation.

There is a small amount of the grant (about £700) remaining, which Dave proposes using to buy a second cooker for the Tangnan school to extend their capabilities. I plan to propose we agree to that suggestion at the club meeting today (15/10/07).

That will complete the Matching Grant, and Dave will then write the final report for us and Foundation.

There is still some money (about £600) outstanding for building some village homes, which will be done shortly.

Dave's email reads as follows:

"Dear John,

The Second refrigerator has arrived, and Paid.

The current Balance in the account is P 111,079. subject to audit, of which there is P53,788. for home kits with an accounting to follow shortly.

That leaves about P 57,291.00 in the bank remaining on the MG 58632

As previously stated, there are some security purchases needed before delivery to Looc Home Economics Building and some purchases needed before Delivery to Danao Home Economics Building.

PROPOSAL

There will still be enough money to purchase another 40 inch Range for Tangnan Elementary School and enough money to add the necessary security measures as above. There is no need to provide a refrigerator at Tangnan because they have a relatively new one there now. The overall plan is to use the kitchens to provide a 12 week training course for out of school youth. While they are learning to cook, they will prepare and feed the underweight children in the attached daycare centers of the schools. This has already been a proven success at Doljo as you have heard in previous e-mails

Looc is so small it is not actually named on the map. From Panglao Village go east toward Mormal. It is the circle in between on the map. All three elementary schools have between 350 and 380 students. All three schools are in economically depressed fishing barangays. All three schools have a stand alone Home Economic Building which is ideal for the purpose. See attached three photos:

Thanks for considering the proposal.

Regards, Dave Collins

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Acupuncture

On 20th August 2007 the club were entertainingly informed about the aims, methods, and outcomes of acupuncture by practitioner Emma Samuels. As part of her demonstration of the techniques she examined the well-being of several of the club's members, seen here having an oral examination:

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Flying Visit to the Lake District (or not)

Another fly-in event was organised for the 2nd September by the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians (IFFR), this time to the Lake District. The plan was for four of us from the Rotary Club to fly up over the Peak District to the Solway Firth, spend some time flying around the Lakes to see the splendid views, then land at Kirkbride airfield near Carlisle for lunch with the other Rotarians in the IFFR who planned to make the journey. Things did not quite work out as planned - but we had an enjoyable day out anyway.

We left Leicester airport on a clear day, flew overhead Melton, and then up past the north of Nottingham towards Sheffield. As we approached the Peak District the cloud began to build up and it was clear the weather was not as scripted by the met office. We expected scattered clouds but only once we got up as far as the north of England. This much cloud this far south was beginning to make us think the views may not be as good as we'd hoped.

Around Chesterfield we went into fairly solid cloud at about 2,000 feet. As the Peak District hills were ahead of us we climbed to about 3,500 feet but that didn't get us above the cloud; we couldn't climb higher because we would have risked infringing the Manchester Airport airspace. Never mind, the plane and captain were fully equipped and qualified for flying in cloud - until one of the radios started playing up! After some investigation we were able to resume good communications with the air traffic controllers, who proved superb in guiding us directly through the Manchester airspace into Manchester Barton airfield, where we landed to consider our options (and, importantly, have lunch).

There is a school of thought that the whole exercise was masterminded in some mysterious way by one of the crew, young Rotarian Geoff Goodwin, as a means to revisit his youth. Manchester Barton is the airfield where Geoff learned to fly and was a flying instructor some years ago.

We phoned the organiser of the IFFR event to assure him we were on the ground safely, only to find that only one plane had managed to get to Kilbride (the organiser himself who, ironically, had also flown there from Leicester, but had chosen to go via a more easterly route - up the A1 and across from Scotch Corner - yes, planes sometimes mirror car journeys). He had made it, but it clearly was way too cloudy to have the day's sight-seeing we had planned. So it was lunch, chat for a bit while the cloud lifted enough for us to take off again, then a flight directly south and the south-east back to Leicester. As soon as we got overhead Crewe the weather cleared and we had 20 miles of visibility. If only.....

There will be another day.

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Bob McCord's Lands End to John o'Groats Bike Ride, September 2007
Club member Bob McCord completed the famous Lands End to John o'Groats bike ride in September, raising money for leukaemia research and in memory of a good friend Brian Wakefield. Bob's notes from his epic trip:

"Just a few memories of my cycle ride to raise funds for Leukaemia Research and a thank you to all who so generously sponsored me.

The first reaction from family and friends when I mentioned my intentions to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats was either complete silence or “have you gone stark staring mad?” However after several months of training I felt that this year was now or never and the aim was to start at the beginning of September, with Gill driving the “support” vehicle.

My route north was through the West Country, Bath, Chester, Lancaster, Dumfries, The Lomond side, Glen Coe, Inverness, Wick and on to John O’Groats.

I left Lands End on Wednesday 5^th September in glorious sunshine and temperatures of 26 C. The first days through Cornwall, Devon and into Somerset took me through some stunning scenery but more hills than I could have imagined. I also had to contend with frantic farmers harvesting with enormous machinery which left little space to spare on country roads. So north of Bath I decided to take a more direct approach to avoid some of the navigation problems we encountered on country roads e.g. no signposts or road numbers!

Bath to Gloucester and Tenbury Wells took me through more beautiful scenery and parts of the country that were devastated by floods and are still trying to recover.

Further north presented different challenges – heavily trafficked roads and huge roundabouts. Once through the major towns of Warrington, Wigan and Preston the route via the A6 became much quieter and more pleasant. The flatter terrain had helped and I was making the progress I had targeted.

Lancaster to Gretna took me up and over the famous Shap Summit which was pretty daunting; approx. 12 miles of climbing from Kendal but the weather was still in my favour. The last stretch from Carlisle to Gretna on the A74 was hairy and scary with narrow lanes and road works – was I glad to cross the border 90 miles completed that day.

I arrived in Scotland after 7 days – still with a target of a further five to go.

The ride from Gretna to Loch Lomond was fairly flat but the temperature had dropped about 10 C. and the first heavy rain came down just before Crianlarich in time for the most rugged part of the ride. Conditions through Glencoe were diabolical, head and side winds of up to 50 miles per hour, heavy rain, heavy traffic and narrow roads – a cyclist’s nightmare. Surviving the day and the terrain Fort Augustus was a welcome sight.

There was no evidence of the “Loch Ness Monster” the next day and now I was in the last two days of the journey and heading towards the east coast. There was no let up as far as hills were concerned either – Helmsdale and the Berriedale Braes were extremely challenging for a last days ride – Wick was a welcome sight but was also my first and last encounter with the dreaded “Scottish Midges!”

Seeing the signpost 13 miles to John O’Groats really brought it home that I had almost achieved my ambition – arriving in John O’Groats despite the wind and rain was a fantastic feeling and getting the final stamp on my record sheet meant that I was now a member of the End to End Club, 977 miles cycled in 12 days.

My target was to raise £1000 for Leukaemia Research and through your most generous sponsorship is now more than £2000 and with Gift Aid should reach £2500.

A big thank you to Gill who drove all the way from Lands End to John O’Groats stopping every 10 miles to make sure I was okay, a feat on its own.

Gill and I at Lands End	Check the route for the Tour of Britain	Shall I do this too?

Worse than caravanners	Looking for the monster at Loch Ness	Last House, John o'Groats

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District 1070 Annual Conference, Harrogate

The annual Conference for District 1070 was held in Harrogate over the weekend of 5th to 7th October 2007. 24 members and partners from the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray attended. The conference featured a wide range of presentations on topics from dealing with cancer to "Shelter Boxes" being distributed in Pakistan. Various Rotary projects such as Peace Scholarships and Group Study Exchange were featured. Good fellowship was in evidence all weekend, both within clubs and in refreshing of contacts with colleagues and friends from across the District.

Some pictures of the event, courtesy of Allan Dean:

	Where's the President?
The Presidents


We didn't enjoy ourselves at all!
England 12, Australia 10

(cheered on by a Welshman, a Scot, and a Kiwi fan!)

I'll be pleased to add any more detail to the report, should any of those who attended have any further memories to share.

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Interact President Victoria Watts at Rotary District 1070 Conference

Melton King Edward VII sixth form student, Victoria Watts, wowed the hearts of the Rotary faithful at their Harrogate District Conference last weekend when she made a presentation about Interact. Victoria addressed an audience of 1,200 delegates from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.

VW1 VW2

She followed many prestigious speakers including Gloria Hunniford, and just before Patrick Mower. Victoria is the President of Melton Interact – a service club for young people between the ages of 14 and 18. The Club, which meets weekly in term time during the Tuesday lunch break, has been continuously active since it was formed two years ago.

A recent achievement was the raising of funds to sponsor a hairdresser at Melton Learning Hub, to teach the skill to other young people. In November for the third year running, Melton Interact will be collecting money at the Twinlakes bonfire for a charity, which they themselves will select. These are just two of many charitable events which have been successfully undertaken by Melton Interact.

Thanks to Victoria and her friends in Interact, Melton is leading the way within the Rotary organisation. Earlier this year a new Interact Club was chartered in the Deepings following the example set by Melton. Other towns in this area are also considering starting their own Interact Clubs and the Melton Club is seen as a beacon for others to follow.

Rotary's commitment to young people is total. It helps to identify service projects, both locally and overseas. Interact is part of the Rotary organisation. The two Rotary Clubs in Melton Mowbray initially sponsored the Melton Interact Club. It is now fully self-financed, but the two Rotary Clubs continue in the background to give support and encouragement when needed. The Rotary connection means that Melton Interact is connected to the massive Rotary Foundation - the world's largest charity.

The first Interact Club was formed in 1962 by 23 students at Melbourne High School in Florida, USA. Today 45 years later, there are almost 9000 Interact Clubs in 110 different countries with over 200,000 members. Rotary itself is over 100 years old, with just over 1.2 million members in over 32,000 clubs in 200 countries and geographical regions.

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Rotary Benches have their name plaques added
The benches that were installed in High Street last year (see story here) finally had their name plate plaques added this week (October 2007), to confirm their intallation by the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray, celebrating the centenary of Rotary from 1905-2005:
Bench Plaques

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Neighbourhood First Responders evening
For our "5th Monday" evening meeting in October 2007 the Neighbourhood First Responders group visited us. Peter and Ina Scott, who organise the local group of responders spoke about what Responders do to support the local community.

NFR works in conjunction with the East Midlands Ambulance Service, to assist in potentially life-threatening medical emergencies where for whatever reason EMAS are unable to get an ambulance to the scene in the desired time. So, for example, if someone is suffering chest pains and 999 are called, EMAS will dispatch an ambulance immediately. But if its arrival may be more than a very few minutes (the local ambulances may be elsewhere - dealing with previous cases, an a road traffic accident, etc.) EMAS will ask one of the NFR group to attend and to attempt to stabilise the patient until professional support arrives. The volunteers in the NFR group are all professionally trained to cope with unconciouness, chest pain, choking, difficulty in breathing, strokes, and similar events. In all cases the professional ambulance crew will attend, but NFR provide a vital bridge in time where ambulance resources are constrained. More information about NFR is on their web page.

The NFR group then gave a demonstration of basic life sustaining CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation) using resuscitation dummies Annie and Fred. I'm not sure Annie and Fred would have survived some of the intitial attempts of Rotarians to provide effective CPR, but with a little practice all visitors to the Rotary Club are guaranteed it is now safer to feel ill when with us.

After the demonstration Melton Ladies in Rotary presented the NFR group with a cheque for £1,000, raised during Claire Abbott's year as president, to help support the work of the group - a splendid effort by LiR.

Many thanks to Peter and Ina Scott, Tim Frisby and John Wright for their time and efforts to inform and train us.

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District Governor Tony Martin visits Melton Rotary Club
District Governor Tony Martin brought greetings to President Pam Wiggins when he visited Melton Mowbray Rotary Club on Monday 5th November 2007. His main message was his objective to build Rotary Membership in District 1070 by adding one additional member per club by the end of his year. If achieved the district would have a net increase in membership of 86. He issued a 'Rotary Shares' challenge to the Melton Mowbray Club to help him with his aim..

Here he is seen with our President, Pam Wiggins:

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Rotary's Race Night at Burton Lazars, 9th November 2007

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Gap Year Bursary

Mike Powderly of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray, and Ann Duckworth of the Raynes Trust interviewed candidates who had applied for Gap Year Bursaries for their Voluntary Service Overseas projects. The interviews took place at Sysonby Knoll Hotel on the evening of Wednesday 21st November 2007.

This year there are two lucky benefactors of the Gap Year Bursary:

Two teams from the Melton Young Farmers' Club then went on to represent our Club in the 2007-08 Youth Speaks semi-finals held recently at Bourne Grammar School. Whilst neither the intermediate nor the senior team got through to the final they performed very well and were a credit to their club. The intermediate team spoke about a personal experience - dancing at The Royal Albert Hall and the three 10-year olds from Brownlow Primary School put on a confident and composed performance. They were singled out by the adjudicator for their young age.

The senior team spoke about streaking; not a personal experience this time. Again they delivered their speech with great assurance and confidence and despite a valiant effort, the competition was too tough this year.

The Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray is one of two Rotary Clubs in the town, whose motto of ‘Service above Self’ defines the basic principles of this International organisation that encompasses some 1.2 million members over 200 countries.

As a service organisation of business and professional leaders their objectives are to help those in need, the underprivileged, the ill and the disabled, both locally and internationally.

Local Arena

International Arena

International projects are focused on Education, Health and Livelihood, and have included such areas as: -

Funding

In order to fund such a vast array of projects, the Rotary Club organises a wide range of events including Golf Days, Charity Auctions, Burns Night and Sportsmen’s Dinners, Concerts, and the Cycle Challenge Event, this year to be held on 15^th June.

None of these activities would be possible without the support and generosity of the townsfolk of Melton Mowbray, for which the members of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray are extremely grateful.

The "Rotary Day" press release was accompanied by a further press release describing the valuable alliance of Rotary with the Bill GatesFoundation targeting the completion of the eradication of Polio world-wide. Click here to read this.

Dick Turpin Trophy - 2008

Club Champion for 2008 – Buffalo Bill Bendall with a score of 95

Fun Number Card – Jesse Jim Green, score of 72, (just like bingo – lucky)

Skittles competitions - 2007-08 Season

Visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, April 2008

Kate Theobald was inducted into Melton Mowbray Rotary Club on Monday 14th July 2008 at Sysonby Knoll Hotel. Kate is the fourth new member this year, and joins the growing band of Lady members, who will now number twelve.

Melton Mowbray Rotary has a distinguished history dating back to 1928, and is still changing to meet the demands and challenges of the modern world. That is why the club is so attractive to forward thinking professional people like Kate who wish to put back into the community and make a real difference to the lives of the less fortunate, as well as providing opportunities for young people to improve and develop their skills.

President Mike Rowe invited professional people who would like to find out more about Melton’s oldest service club to attend a meeting and see for themselves why it is still going strong after 80 years. Michael Osborne is the Membership Chairman and should be contacted by phone in the first instance on 01664 564581.

The photograph shows, from left to right: Geoff Theobald, Vice President; David Ward, President Elect; New Rotarian Kate Theobald; and Mike Rowe President. Kate's husband Geoff is the current Vice President of the Club.

Jenny Foreman was inducted into Melton Mowbray Rotary Club on Monday 15th September 2008. Jenny is the fifth new member this year, and joins the growing band of lady members, who will now number thirteen. Jenny was introduced by Linda Moore, a long time friend and work colleague, having worked at Long Field High School until recently. Jenny has a range of interests and hobbies, including walking and reading (presumably not at the same time). We welcome her into the club, and look forward to much fellowship and friendship to come.

Cancer Research Support

On 14th September 2008 members of the club were pleased to help Cancer Research UK with marshalling a fund-raising fun run at Belvoir Castle.

Cefalu:
Taormina Greek-Roman amphitheatre:
Piazza Armerina, Roman villa mosaics:
Agrigento Temple of Concordia:
Mothia:
Marsala winery, meeting with Sicilian Rotarian:
Palermo mosaics
Palermo cathedral, and lunch!
Monreale cathedral:
Castellammare:

Wine and Dine - it's party time	A room with a view	Bridge over the River Lathkill
Lining up for a wee dram...	... and here it comes	Moles on the march

The Start

They're off


The Vintage Collection (the bikes, I mean)