St Alphege News

Winter 2016/17

The quarterly Newsletter of the

Rotary Club of St Alphege Solihull

Our President Nav Sharma writes ------The world has now found itself at the dawn of the so called Trump Era.
Now, before The Donald, now officially known as President Trump, tells you
otherwise, (no doubt in the form of a viral tweet) :- Please let it be known that this
respected Newsletter contains only real news and not the so called, but apparently
still popular and trending, fake news variety.
Our esteemed Editor-in-Chief, Rotarian Brian Pook, refutes any allegations of any
conspiracy to defame the Commander-in-Chief of any country in this renowned
mainstream media publication. He would also like it to be known that this highlyregarded journal, which diligently chronicles events in the civilised world of the Rotary
Club of St Alphege, Solihull, does not knowingly contain any nuts. This is unlike other
parts of the world where they are sometimes allowed to control nuclear buttons.
Anyway, I think I had better stop there, before somebody says Sharma.. Youre
Fired ! .
So, despite all the nonsense that this world manages to continually manifest, I am
pleased to say that our fine Rotary Club Members continue undeterred in their quest
to make it a better place. As 2017 unfolds, the pace of Club activity is now moving
from a canter to a gallop. I am very grateful to our Editor-in-Chief for his sterling
efforts in compiling and distributing what I think is a fabulously informative work. It
captures much of the essence and spirit of our Club.
As you will see, the kinds of things that our members get involved with and make
happen may seem incredible, but I can assure you that it is all true.
My very best wishes to you all.
Yours in Rotary Fellowship,
Nav

International Committee

Chairman Brian Hopper writes --------

This year the International Meal will take place in the Indian Dream Restaurant on
Dovehouse Parade 375 Warwick Road on Sunday 26th February commencing at 12.30 pm
price 15 pp. English meals are also served so if you are not keen on Indian come along for a
day of good Rotary fellowship.

Rotary Shoebox Scheme

Following the receipt of an email from a master at Sharman's Cross school enquiring about
the Rotary Shoe Box scheme Rotarian Brian Walker contacted the school and arranged to
have 50 flat pack shoeboxes delivered to the school. This was followed up by Rotarians Dave
Henry and David Adderley with a visit to the school when a talk on the scheme was given
during school assembly.
Most of the shoe boxes have now been filled and are awaiting collection.
When back at the depot these shoeboxes will probably be destined for the deprived
children of Eastern Europe.

Guatemala Literacy Project

After an excellent talk on this subject by the President of the Rotary Club of Kenilworth at
one of our club meetings the International Committee donated 300 from our budget. This
figure was multiplied by 3.5 on a global grant thanks to the district DDF match from D 1060
which increased the figure to 1050.

So far this year we have donated

500 each to 'Aquabox' and
'Kids for Kids'.
The International Committee ----------L to R - Dave Henry, David Caldicott, Brian
Hopper, John Hale, Ian Snelling,
seated - Trevor Jones
Our Twinned Club - RC Stade
At the beginning of February our Club President Nav Sharma, Rotarian Clive Henderson
and the President of the Rotary Club of Kenilworth, John Boothroyd, are joining
members of the RC Stade for a strenuous ? walk in the Hartz Mountains in Germany.
Report and pictures in the next Newsletter.
--------------------------------Brian Hopper says -- I would like to express my thanks to all committee members for
their dedicated work and enthusiasm.

Membership Committee
You can access our Facebook Group Site by scanning this QR Code.
Here you can read a running diary of all the activities and good works
we do. You can click on the 'Info' tag on the Facebook site for a link
to our Rotary Club Website and other useful information.
For Membership and other information about our Club and its meetings please contact
Leon Green on 01562 886080
or email him at ifcs@blueyonder.co.uk

A special award for a special Rotarian

At our Meeting on 24th October, 2016 club members granted Honorary Membership to
our most senior Rotarian and Founder Member Trevor Jones. This rare honour was
given in recognition of Trevor's dedication and invaluable contribution to our Rotary
Club over more than 38 years.

More Special Awards

At the club meeting on the 31st October, 2016 John Hale, John Parr and Brian Walker
received awards in recognition of their long service to Rotary - John Hale and John
Parr for 40 years and Brian for 30 years

On 7th November 2016 we were very pleased to welcome Claudette and Stephen
Mogano, the widow and son of our much missed past member, Mike Mogano.
Claudette received on Mike's behalf a certificate recognising Mike's 40 years of
membership and Rotary service.

Our New Member

On the 28th November 2016
we were delighted to induct
our 34th Member, Heather Cole.

Man goes to the doctor with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says 'I'll give
you some cream to put on that'

Help me Doctor, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home'.
Doc says, 'That sounds like the Tom Jones Syndrome '.
' Is it common Doc ?'
'Well, it's not unusual'

Youth Committee
Youth Speaks
The Intermediate round of this year's Youth Speaks Competition will take place at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel at 6.30 pm on Monday February 6th. Wives , partners and guests
are invited to hear the brilliant eloquence and reasoning of the 6 teams participating.
Buffet food is provided.
----------------------------------------------------The 14th November, 2016 was the Senior Round of this year's Competition, held at the
Holiday Inn, Solihull ( now the Crowne Plaza ).
This year a team from Solihull School and two teams from King Edward VI Handsworth
School gave excellent presentations on very challenging topics.
The standard of all teams was especially high.
The winning team were Anya Parmar, Anjali Goyal and Isha Sahonta of King Edward VI
School Handsworth, who spoke on 'Pro Life / Pro-Choice' .
They are shown in the photograph below flanked by Club 1st Vice President Alan James
and Youth Committee Chairman David Newman. Seated are the team of Judges - L to R
- Mark Ursell, Chairman Mrs Mary Smith and Jeremy Cribb together with Helen Felton
of the Paragon Group of Companies, the much appreciated Sponsors of this event.

Solihull Young Photographer Competition

Last year was the first year of our organising this competition. For this, second year
we are grateful to Touchwood for donating the first prize gift vouchers of 100 in
each of the two age categories.
The closing date is 28th February, Solihull Secondary Schools and Colleges have been
provided with Guidelines and Entry Forms. There is still time for keen photographers
to contact their art/photography teacher for details.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Brian Pook at
brianpook@blueyonder.co.uk 0121 605 9128

Dates for your Diary

30th January
6th February
13th February
26th February
3rd March
6th March
15th March
20th March
27th March
3rd April

John Loynton - The history of Solihull School

Youth Speaks - Intermediate age group - 6.30pm start.
Wives, partners and guests welcome
Baroness Burt of Solihull ( former MP Lorely Burt )
Wives, partners and guests welcome
International Lunch ( see article )
Charity Boxing Dinner at the National Conference Centre
( formerly the Motorcycle Museum)
Rotarian Peter Sunderland - my life story
District Council Meeting - Arden Academy
President's Night 7.30pm - The Crowne Plaza Solihull
AGM
Steve Verall - 500 mile walk across Spain on the Camino Trail

Community Service Committee

Solihull Neighbourhoods in Bloom 2016
At our 7th November, 2016 meeting we were shown the Solihull 'Neighbourhoods in
Bloom' Gold Medal Certificate awarded to Merstone Special School for their gardens.
Our Club is pleased to have created and maintain the allotments and gardens that bring
so much pleasure and education to the young pupils.

Forest Oak Special Needs School Football Team

When attending the Rotary District Special Needs Football Competition in October
2015 Alan James and Chris Hands saw the Forest Oak Special Needs 5 a side Football
Team and noted their odd mixture of kit compared with the other teams. Our Club
therefore provided money for them to buy a uniform strip and they now have a smart
kit with our Club shown as sponsors on the shirt backs.

Fun in the Park

On Friday 20th January, at the Masonic Hall, Knowle, eight Club Members, including
President Nav, attended a special presentation lunch organised by the Solihull and
District Branch of Soroptimist International to present the charity donations from
last September's 'Fun in the Park' event. We were pleased to have helped the
Soroptimists in running this big event, which raised a total of 10,000 for the chosen
charities. Soroptimist President Anne Thomas was joined by Grace Hamson and several
of their members and other helpers. Representatives of the 3 beneficiary charities Solihull Young Carers, Birmingham and Solihull Womens' Aid and Local Fast Aid group each received a cheque for 3350
The presentations were made by the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Mike Robinson.
President Nav thanked the Soroptimists for their efforts and stated that the
Rotarians had enjoyed helping with FITP and look forward to helping again on 17th
September 2017. A fine lunch and convivial gathering.
Special thanks are due to Robert Johnson and Brian Bates for their contribution,
especially the Classic Car event.

Confucius did not say -----Man who fights with wife all day gets no piece at night ---Man who leaps off cliff jumps to no conclusion---Lady who goes camping must be aware of evil intent ---Man who wants pretty nurse must be patient ----

Formalities, Fundraising, Fellowship and Fun

Golf
On the 24th October 8 club members fought valiantly for the honour
of winning the John Davies Golf Trophy. Rotarian Stewart Hawkins
celebrated his success at our meeting that evening and was presented
with this superb Cup.

Kath the Cake Lady

Our Speaker on 7th November, 2016 was humbling, uplifting and motivating - a very
special person - Kath the Cake Lady.
For seven years Kath Ryan has been buying ingredients, then baking and delivering her
unique and very special cakes to the wounded and sick troops at Selly Oak Hospital,
Birmingham and Headley Court in Surrey.
The amazing statistics speak for themselves - more that 700 hospital visits over seven
years. 24,000 cakes per year, including cakes for birthdays and other
special occasions. A 'Heroes Hero' Award from Help for Heroes, a 'Pride of
Birmingham' Award and much much more. Kath had such a captivating tale of love and
devotion to relate.
Our club made a formal donation to her cause. Members were so moved by her talk
that this was added to by a 'whip round' from everyone in Kath's HMS CAKES hat.
You can find out more on the 'Cakes4Casualties' website
http://www.cakes4casualties.co.uk/

District 1060 Conference 2016

November 4th - 16th

Six Rotarians and five wives returned from this year's District 1060 Conference with
tales of excellent speakers, fun, fellowship and a fine venue ( Carden Park Country Club
near Chester ).
Below is photographic proof of how President Nav spent his time ! ----

Parkinson's Disease
On April 12th this year our Club heard a moving presentation by Martin Sewell on the
reality of suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Our Club made a donation to the charity
of 3,000 from the proceeds of our 2015 Boxing Evening and also presented Martin
with a cheque for 550 from the proceeds of our MYJO Concert, in order to help
'kick start' the formation of a group to assist working age Parkinson's sufferers (
some can be in their twenties ! ).
At our recent meeting on 5th December, 2016 Martin returned with his colleague,
Andy, to give a progress report on what our donation had achieved. We were delighted
to hear of the big steps forward that have been taken to increase support, raise
awareness and provide a contacts and advice service, especially regarding help for
people that are newly diagnosed.
A worthy cause and new initiative that we are proud to support.
Christmas Party
The meeting on Monday 12th December, 2016 was our Christmas party at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel in Solihull. Much jollity and enjoyment, with rousing traditional carols and
finale by that amazing virtuoso, John Ellis.
We're still trying to discover the identity of the interloper in red !

A GREAT EVENING FOR GOOD CAUSES -----It's not too late to join us at the Solihull Business Corporate Event of the Year - our
Charity Boxing Dinner at the National Conference Centre ( formerly the National
Motorcycle Museum ) on Friday 3rd March 2017.
Over the years this single event has raised over 300,000 for charitable causes,
including funding all the work that we do for local organisations and the Community.
We hope that you can join us at this great event.
Just phone Rotarian David Caldicott on 0121 705 8912
or email him at david.caldicott@sky.com to book your place or reserve a table
You can obtain further info by logging on to
http://1060.org.uk/content/annual-charity-boxing-evening.

Fred Richie said to me ---- ' My neighbour knocked on my door at 2.30am ! !

Luckily for him, I was still playing my bagpipes '

Paddy says ' Mick, I'm thinking of buying a Labrador. " Blow that" says Mick " Have you
seen how many of their owners go blind ? "

For a continuous diary of our Club

activities and all sorts of announcements
and other information please go to our
Facebook Group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/144280649057533/
Please tell friends and colleagues about this link
and the QR Code for easy access

You can follow our Club on Twitter -

@StAlphegeRotary

If you wish to contact the Newsletter editor for content, queries or participation in
any of the Club's activities or events please contact Brian Pook by Email at
brianpook@blueyonder.co.uk