Hitchin Priory Club has just had another successful quiz, selling getting on for 3000 quiz sheets at £1 each in aid of the Lymphoma Association and other Rotary charities.  Some 300 entries were received by the closing date, with only one 100% correct answer.  Prizes are being sent out shortly.

For those who attempted the quiz, here are the answers.

• A free disco will be held at The Hilton Hotel from 9.0 p.m. until 1.00 a.m. on  Friday evening (21 May 2010).
• Places at the Friday evening Black tie dinner are going quickly... so people will need to book a.s.a.p.
• There is limited space left for clubs in the House of Friendship ... so get in quick!

Meirion Morris, Conference Chairman

DG Sandy joins RIBI President, David Fowler in asking Rotarians to help rebuild the lives of millions shattered by the Haitian earthquake.

22nd January. As Rotarians and Inner Wheelers will know from the harrowing TV coverage, the people of Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere are suffering unbelievable torment with remarkably good grace and stoic resilience. With poor, broken infrastructure, no residual Government as such, international aid is now reaching people in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Supplies are also being air dropped to surrounding areas. Camps are now being established. The priority remains for clean water, shelter, food and medical supplies: Much is available but too little is still not getting through, it is claimed.

As we close this evolving article first posted last Saturday, we hear cheering news tonight that as aid begins to flow, ShelterBox is not only providing shelter for post-operative care patients it is today setting up 4 initial tent villages to 'house' between 500 and 1,000 people at each. Very soon shelter for another 70,000 people will be in place.  For a local (Rotarian) assessment of current and future needs please view the minutes of a recent meeting in D7020. You can view the special CNN video report on ShelterBox deployments issued 29th Jan.

Stevenage Grange  has come up with a collecting tin 'label' and a template to use for briefing School Councils. Both feature on the RIBI/T4L website under 'For Rotarians'. - See 4th Feb update below

Thanks to DG Stewart Gilbert of the T4L Team we mow have a generic End Polio Now collection ‘tin’ wrapper. The artwork will fit on an A4 sheet.  It will also do for ‘buckets’, but obviously may not go right around. The files are available as a jpeg picture and a medium resolution pdf file. Both need a bit of trimming perhaps to fit your tins, but here are templates for your Club to cut and paste to suit.  The high res .pdf is 26mb so only for commercial bods really.

Dear All,

I would like to give you an update for the end of the year so you know what I am doing at the moment.I am now studying at Loughborough College doing a course on Sports coaching. The work is really interesting and I enjoy going out into the local schools and working with the children although we did get thrown in at the deep end! It is great to be able to pass on some knowledge to the young children and they are usually very enthusiastic. 

Once upon a time…. In the leafy town of Chesham….. A theatre company seed was planted. 

Shed@ThePark is a pioneering, passionate theatre company which embraces and values everyone, inspiring excellence in the Arts. 

Sandra Maizels, a member of the Rotary Club of Wendover and District issued a Charity Challenge by giving a talk on Aquabox to a small group of boys at Davenies School where she used to teach. Harry, Graeme and Daniel raised money for Aquabox by organising a Bring and Buy of children’s DVDs. 

Christmas is almost upon us and with all that entails it amazes me how my fellow Rotarians can find the time to do all that you do, but that is the worth of Rotarians – Service above Self.  This is certainly the busiest time for all clubs, with Carol concerts, Father Christmas in his Grotto, on his sleigh touring the area, or collecting outside a local store, organising parties for the elderly and children, visits to hospitals, the list is endless.