Focus on the Crocus (Part Two)

Hucknall Rotary Club would like to thank all staff and customers of Tesco who supported us by purchasing a fabric crocus over the weekend of 23^rd & 24^th February.  This appeal raised £ 317 towards Rotary’s ‘End Polio Now.’ Other outlets have taken the total to just over £ 400 and there are still some ‘End Polio Now’ fabric crocuses available from the Hucknall Branch of The Yorkshire Bank.

 

The timing of the appeal was to commemorate Rotary’s birthday on 23rd February when Chicago lawyer Paul Harris held the first meeting in 1905, Hucknall Rotary Club are placing their ‘Focus on the Crocus.’

 

Hucknall Beer Festival

Now in it's second year, Hucknall Rotarians were called upon to assist members of CAMRA in serving the waiting masses at the John Godber Centre who were anxious to try some of the 60 beers and ciders on offer.

Strangely enough, when I asked for voluntters I was overwhelmed with the response. of Rotarians willing to get involved.   I can't imagine why!!!   It was also pure coincidence that the cider ran out while the President was there partaking!!!!!

Rotary Club of Newark's 88th Charter

Newark Rotary Club were chartered in 1924, two years earlier than my own club and we share the same mother club, Nottingham.  I guess that makes us sisters!! 

It was a priviledge to attend their recent charter held at Newark Golf Club where the assembled guests and Rotarians enjoyed a traditional Roast Beef meal.

The speaker was a friend of President Peter and currently resides in Australia.  PDG Barry Philps who is Immediate Past President of Rotary Interenation Travel & Hosting Fellowship spoke amusingly of some of the cultural differences he had encountered whilst travelling the world on Rotary business.

Focus on the Crocus

To celebrate Rotary’s birthday on 23rd February when Chicago lawyer Paul Harris held the first meeting in 1905, Hucknall Rotary Club are placing their ‘Focus on the Crocus.’

The Crocus has come to symbolise a historic worldwide campaign, spearheaded by Rotary International, to finally eradicate Polio across the world.  These purple flowers represent the colour of ink dabbed on a child’s little finger to indicate they have been immunised against polio.  For more than 25 years, Rotary has led the way in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease.  Today, we are extremely close to eradicating Polio completely from the world with only 3 remaining endemic countries. 

In 2009, Rotary International was set the $ 200 Million Challenge.  A generous $ 355 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would be given to Rotary if the organisation could part match with $ 200m by June 2012, to be used in the fight against polio.

In January 2012, that challenge was met, nearly six months ahead of schedule.  Rotary members in Great Britain and Ireland and all over the world had succeeded in raising over $ 200 million.  As a result of the quick response, an additional $ 50 million was donated by the Gates Foundation.

The resulting US $ 610 million will directly support immunisation campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyse children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families.

Polio Eradication remains Rotary’s Global priority and you can support by purchasing a plastic Crocus which your local Rotary Club will be selling.  On the weekend of 23^rd & 24^th February 2013, Rotarians will be selling them in the Hucknall branch of Tesco’s.

Annual Sponsored Swim

The Rotary Club of Hucknall

Annual Sponsored Swim 2013

The Rotary Club of Hucknall invite you to take part in their 2013 annual swim at

Hucknall Leisure Centre

on

Saturday 9^th March 2013 4pm-6pm

All expenses are covered by the Rotary club, you just have to turn up and any money raised by you remains within your organisation.

You will need to provide your own lane counter if required. If you know anyone else who wishes to swim with you to boost your fundraising then they are most welcome.

In order to organize this year’s event we ask that you confirm if you will be attending.

The Rotary Club of Hucknall look forward to meeting you at this event.

All correspondence to

Rotarian Jack Gray

Email: jackmagray@gmail.com

Living with Cystic Fibrosis

Hucknall Rotary Club’s major project this year is raising £ 7,500 towards purchase 2 ultrasonic nebulisers and a Treadmill Tunturi T Track T90 which will be located in the new Cystic Fibrosis Unit being built at  City Hospital, Nottingham.  Several fund-raising events have already been held including a Charity Golf Day and particiticpation in a sponsored Dragonboat Race.  Mr John McClue captained the Hucknall Rotary Club Dragon boat team and was our invited speaker at our meeting on Tuesday 5^th February 2013.

John is married with two daughters:  Katie (aged 14) and Ellie (aged 8).  Within a week of Ellie being born, John and his wife were given news which was completely devastating and changed their lives forever.  Ellie had been born with Cystic Fibrosis.  John spoke very movingly of the impact that this had on the whole family’s life. 

Cystic Fibrosis (C.F.) is the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease and the average age of survival is just 41 years.  People can carry the mutated cystic fibrosis gene without realising it.  If both partners in a couple are carriers of this gene, they are at risk of having a baby with cystic fibrosis. The chance that such a couple will have an affected child is 1 in 4.

John spoke of how his daughter Ellie needed constant daily treatment which included physiotherapy to unclog her lungs from thick, sticky mucus.  John had to administer this and failure to do this would lead to breathing and digestive problems.  Ellie also had to take medication prior to eating.  If Ellie did not take her tablets, she could not eat because the only way the food could be digested was with the aid of her medication.   John said he ‘could never take his eyes off the ball’ as everything had to be watched closely because immediate action was required. Failure to do so could have serious consequences.

Cross-infection is an issue of considerable concern for the CF community. Those with CF attract different bacteria or 'bugs' that grow in their lungs. These 'bugs' are rarely harmful to those who do not have CF but may be harmful to others who have CF but who do not have the same 'bugs'.    This makes it extremely difficult to organise CF self-support groups because of the fear of cross-infection.

The new CF unit at City Hospital, Nottingham is addressing this by building rooms  with Skype access etc, so that people using the facility can communicate with other users while they are there.

I was extremely moved by John’s honesty, openness and thanked him for his thought-provoking and heart-rendering presentation.

Maximising Publicity

When I became President of the Rotary Club of Hucknall I wanted to make the most of the opportunities offered me to promote the wonderful variety within Rotary. Writing a blog and utilising social media has enabled me to do this.  It has also allowed me to develop local media links which have been useful in communicating and sharing local stories of interest.

This blog, our facebook page, twitter feed and web site are all linked together in order to communicate our purpose effectively.  This has proved to be such a success that I have been asked by the Rotary District team to encourage other Rotary clubs to use social media.

The contacts that we have also established with the local media led to an invitation, along with other bloggers and community groups, to the offices of Nottingham Post.

I parked in Broadmarsh Car Park, going straight to the open roof level and took advantage of the photographic landscape before me.

In the meeting room of The Post were several other people I knew and we were presented with the new social networking capacities of their website.

Nottingham Post are re-launching their website as I write and are hoping for greater interaction from individuals and local groups.  This will provide one the opportunity of sharing their news, commenting on topics of interest, entering into debate with other users. Hopefully it will also lead to an increase in website traffic as the Nottingham Post readership may also wish to visit the blog or website of the ‘poster.’ 

Please visit   http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/

and register to use the site.