Bag Stuffing

Organising a Rotary Conference isn’t all glamour. Obviously there are perks, such as the Executive Suite at the Hotel, and the top table at the Gala Dinner. What nobody told me beforehand is that sometimes even the Consort has to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in.  The matter of  delegate bags is a case in point.

We are anticipating around 350 delegates to the District  Conference in Bristol between 3^rd and 5^th October. It is traditional for delegates to be given a bag, which contains the Programme, some Conference information, and various leaflets and other small items such as pens, notebooks, sweets and anything else the DG can obtain for free or almost free. The bag itself varies from year to year, depending on what the Conference Committee considers to be a suitable bag at a reasonable price.  A good bag will be used again and again by Rotarians for a long time after the Conference, so it is sensible to come up with something practical, and not  emblazoned with too many logos and  slogans.

                                                Examples of Conference bags

This year we have a sponsor for the bags, our own Ron Enticott, who is sponsoring them through his company Airde Accountancy.  Because we have a sponsor, we have been able to look at a good quality bag, of the type which can be used to transport a laptop, for instance. The bags carry the Rotary logo, and also a modest logo for Airde Accountancy. This should not prevent people from wanting to use the bags after the Conference. 250 bags were ordered, the idea being  that couples don’t necessarily want a bag each. So one bag will be given to each solo delegate and one bag between each couple, unless both are Rotarians, in which case they will each receive a bag.

For the past few weeks and months, the DG has been collecting together things to be put in the bags, her idea being that we can take them to Bristol in our car. Also she has decided against getting a team of bag stuffers together, believing we can stuff them ourselves quite easily. It would be easy to get a team of willing volunteers from the club to come over and share the task of putting things in the bags, but the DG would not be happy unless the house was perfectly clean,  with food and drink provided. So we decided to do the work between us, and the house wouldn’t need to be clean.

Last weekend the bags arrived at Ron’s office in Addlestone, and I went over there to fetch them on my way home from golf.  There were 10 large cardboard boxes with 25 bags in each, and they took up all the available space in the car, apart from my golf clubs. It was clear there was no way we could take them all to Bristol ourselves, as well as our luggage, suit bags, and all the other things we needed to take. Ron offered to take 3 of them, so that was a good start.

I brought all the boxes in to the house, and put them in the living room.  A box full of computer bags is surprisingly heavy, and they took up a lot of space on the floor, until the DG made me stack them in a corner, which seemed better. The boxes themselves were quite battered, as if they had been treated quite roughly on their journey from the manufacturers in China.

                                                Boxes of bags

That afternoon we decided to make a start, and we managed to fill 50 of the bags in just over an hour. We had all the items spread out on a table between us, and we each loaded half of the items. Incidentally,  Pauline Hedges has been a great  help using her extensive network of contacts to find free gifts for our delegates, which included pens and little boxes of mints. 

                                         Putting the DG to work

It’s quite surprising what problems can occur, whilst doing a simple yet repetitive task such as this. Firstly, and this seems obvious, you must remember to put everything in the bags at the same time. After we had finished our first 50 bags, the DG remembered there was another printed sheet that should have been included.  So we had to get the bags  out of the box and put this additional sheet in before putting them back in the box  Another thing we discovered  was  that once the bags have been stuffed, they are more bulky, and don’t easily fit back into the boxes any more.

Foreground: 25 empty bags fit into box. Background: 25 stuffed bags don't fit in

Also the boxes are much heavier with the stuffed bags in them. Not wanting to damage my back lifting them, I wondered if we had contact details for the Bhangra dancers from the other night. The problems with the cardboard boxes were solved by Ron Enticott, who decided to buy some large plastic crates for himself, but lent them to us for the Conference. Each plastic crate carries 30 stuffed bags, so we needed nine of them. 

                                             Much tidier in a plastic crate

Last Wednesday I had a day off work, so the DG and I had a good session of 2/3 hours during which we stuffed all the remaining bags with all of the goodies, and put them into the plastic crates, which are rather heavy, but easier to handle than cardboard boxes.

                                        A bag and some of its contents

We have also found two other kind people, in Joe Delahunty and Sylvia Courtney, who have each agreed to take two crates to Bristol, leaving us with just two to take, which I think we can just about manage.

Whenever I go to a Conference or Convention in future, and am given a delegate bag, I will no longer take my bag for granted, but will appreciate a little more the hard work that a group of volunteers has put in to deliver it to me.

Nigel and Mary leave Shepperton

27 September. Nigel Wilson, a stalwart of Shepperton Aurora Rotary since the club was formed in 1997, and his lovely wife Mary held a farewell party in the garden of their house, to which friends, neighbours and Rotarians were invited.  They are moving to a new home in Somerset. Nigel will be sorely missed at the Rotary Club. He has always been good company, is one of our hardest workers, and is a kind and generous man in many ways.

                                               Nigel presents a cheque to the Riverside Youth Theatre

I was happy to accept the invitation in my role of Consort,  because my presence would probably ensure a good number of attendees, and so it turned out.  I was a little surprised to be asked to bring a contribution to the party in terms of food, though. After all, without my presence, there may not have even been a party worth speaking of, so I would have thought they could have provided me with some vol-au-vents without me having to bring my own.

                                          The DG enjoys the party

Earlier this year, I was able to help the career of Nigel’s daughter, actress Ruth Wilson, who I met at the Shepperton Aurora Prestige Lecture.  At the time she had already had starring roles in the TV adaptation of Jane Eyre a few years back, and more recently in the detective series Luther.  She had appeared in a number of films including Anna Karenina (which was made at Shepperton Studios), Saving Mr Banks and the Hollywood blockbuster The Lone Ranger, in which she appeared with Johnny Depp.  At the Prestige Lecture she insisted that we had a photo taken together, and of course I was happy to oblige.  A few weeks later she  landed a major role in a US TV series. Some might say that she would have got the role anyway, but I think most would agree with me that the ‘Consort Effect’ had a lot to do with it.

                                                 The photo that launched a career

Anyway, back to the party. Not being one to complain at my treatment, I decided to wow the party with some home made Portuguese custard tarts, called pasteis de nata. When we were in Lisbon last year, I fell in love with these delicious little cakes, which we tended to have whenever we stopped for a coffee, which was often. After we got home a colleague at work found a recipe for them online, and I had a go at making them, with surprisingly good results. So I made two batches of 12 for the party, and brought 21 with me (obviously I had to taste a few to make sure they were OK). They were not exactly works of art  (I would call them ‘rustic’) but they tasted delicious and authentic. They all disappeared in a very short time, which is proof enough of their quality.

                                                        Pasteis de nata (not mine)

I was not the only noteworthy chef at the party. Eric Painter had made some curried pasties, which were quite delicious, and there were lots of dips, and sausages, a variety of cheeses and lots more. I particularly liked a beautiful Canterbury tart (made with apples and lemons) but alas, I didn’t find out who made it. If I had done I would have asked for the recipe.

                                                     A Canterbury tart

We tried to get all the members of Shepperton Aurora together at the end for a photo with Nigel and Mary, but this took a long time, as different people kept  wandering off.  Someone likened it to trying to herd cats.  Eventually, everyone came together, pictures were taken, and we all headed off home. The DG and I got half way home then turned back, as I had forgotten the Tupperware container  in which I had brought my tarts. This is a family heirloom.

                      Nigel (far left) and Mary (kneeling) with Shepperton Aurora Rotary

Five Clubs Visit

23 September. An amazing evening at Banstead Downs GolfCourse, where no less than 5 Rotary Clubs had joined forces to meet me and the DG. The clubs, Sutton, Banstead, Wallington, Carshalton and Carsahalton Beeches are fairly close neighbours, and decided it would be more convenient to meet up at one venue, which was certainly beneficial to the DG, as she has been saved from making 4 additional visits.

                                             Banstead Downs Golf Course

Determined not to be late, we allowed plenty of time to get there in the rush hour traffic of South and West London. In the event, traffic was lighter than we had feared, and we arrived almost an hour early, so we drove around looking for somewhere pleasant to park up for a while before heading to the meeting. That plan did not work well, as the area was full of very busy roads where it was not realistic to park, or residential roads where we would be parking outside someone’s house, which we didn’t fancy doing. After  half an hour of aimlessly driving around we went back to the golf club, still early, but at least we could sit in the bar and have a coffee in comfort.

                                                  The golf club bar

As we always find with Golf Clubs around London, Banstead Downs GC was a haven of tranquillity among the bustle of the suburban traffic.  The bar wasn’t as tranquil as we had expected, as it was rather full of men in suits having a good time. I assumed that they must be Rotarians, and moved over to join them, when I noticed something different about them – they were all wearing the same tie. It transpired that they were not Rotarians at all but members of a golf society who had been playing that day.

We weren’t in the bar long before we met up with Phil Hewitt, president of Carshalton Rotary Club, who were hosting the event.  Sparkling conversation ensued, with Phil and the DG vying to outdo each other on the subject of  their  medication regimes. Eventually we moved on from this, and it became apparent that Phil was a very interesting man.  He told us how, as a child, he and his parents lived in Denmark. In 1940 Denmark was overrun by Nazis, and as Phil’s father was Jewish, the family feared for their lives. After spending some time hiding, they undertook a daring escape to Sweden, which involved Phil being thrown over barbed wire fences by his father. From Sweden they managed to get to the UK where Phil has lived ever since.

                                         Phil Hewitt gets the meeting under way

After a while others joined us, including old friends Andy Barnard, District Treasurer and Past District Governor Peter Dancy, who are both members of Carshalton Rotary Club, and part of the District Team. As the other four clubs arrived we moved through to the dining room. I found myself sitting on the top table (naturally) with the DG and 5 presidents (to be accurate it was 4 presidents and one President Elect). I learnt that both Carshalton and Sutton Rotary clubs meet at Banstead Downs Golf Course.  Not only that, they both meet on the same night in different rooms, separated only by a partition.  However only Carshalton have a plaque outside.

 Dinner comprised hake (not a fish I have knowingly had before) with new potatoes and veg, followed by a kind of pistachio mousse. The problem with the fish was that there were bones hidden inside, which made it difficult to eat. The woman sitting next to me didn’t eat any of it.

                                                         Hake

The DG wanted to try something different tonight with her talk, which unfortunately included me. The idea was that she would get the assembled members to talk, through asking them questions. There was nothing different in this, as she does it on every visit. What was different about it was that she wanted everyone who answered a question to be given a prize of a ‘Light Up Rotary’ badge. Furthermore, it was my job to deliver these badges.

                                                       'Light up Rotary'badge

I had some reservations about this plan when she gave me just 6 badges to hand out. Surely more than 6 people will speak?  The first one worked OK, when the DG picked on a woman and asked her why she joined Rotary, and got a reasonable response. I scuttled across the room and gave her a badge, whispering it was a prize for speaking. She thanked me but looked utterly bemused about it.  The next time the DG picked on Peter Dancy, and so I went over to give him his badge.  However, when I got there he told me he already had one, and just to prove it he showed me the lapel of his jacket. So I had to retreat in disarray.

The next few went a bit better, and people started to expect me to come over after they had answered a question. However, it wasn’t long before I ran out of badges, so I mouthed to the DG ‘have you got any more?’ to which the reply was ‘No’. The next person to answer a question was a woman who was asked ‘What don’t you like about Rotary?’ her response was that she liked everything about Rotary, and there was a pause when  I think she expected me to sidle over with her badge. When I didn’t do so, she seemed to look a bit crestfallen. I apologised to her afterwards and explained that I had run out of badges. She seemed relieved, and said she assumed it was because her answer to the question wasn’t very good.

The answers to the DG’s questions, as ever, were interesting, although I sensed people were holding back a bit. This might have been because the 5 clubs did not meet each other very often, and I thought they might open up more if they were just with their own club. However I did learn something I didn’t know. One man said that once upon a time retired people were not welcome to join Rotary.  What a good job that rule was relaxed!

At the end of the evening, I managed to obtain a photo of the DG with Phil Hewitt, Peter Kearns (President of Sutton), David Martin (President-Elect of Banstead), Patrick Clark (president of Wallington), and Lester Kennedy (President of Carshalton Beeches).

               The DG with (l to r) Patrick Clark, David Martin, Peter Kearns, Phil Hewitt and Lester Kennedy

New Malden and Morden Rotary Clubs

22 September.  I visit two Rotary clubs at the same time!  New Malden club and Morden club decided to get together for my visit, which was a more economical use of my time.  New Malden club arranged the meeting at Coombe Wood Golf Club, just off Kingston Hill. I was particularly interested in this meeting because I was sure I had heard once that the famous comedian Jimmy Tarbuck lived in the area and was a member of the Golf Club.

                                                Coombe Wood Golf Club

No doubt word would have got out about my visit this evening, and it was quite possible that Mr Tarbuck would have wanted to meet me. After all. It wouldn’t do his career any harm to be photographed with the Consort to the DG, and I may  be able to introduce him to some useful people. I could even help him with some material, as I know one or two jokes. I am always happy to offer assistance when I can. Going back many years, I can remember that Jimmy Tarbuck  used to have a car with the unique number plate COM1C.  Once, when my car was broken down on Kingston Hill, and I was waiting by the roadside for help to arrive, I saw a mini with the famous number plate go past, only it wasn’t him driving it, but a woman. Perhaps it was his wife, or maybe he had sold the car by then.

                                                   Jimmy Tarbuck with number plate

Upon arrival at the Golf Club, we thought the club house fairly unprepossessing from the roadside, but once we went in, found it to be modern and well appointed, with a magnificent view out across the golf course and beyond. We met Peter Skinley, President of New Malden, who explained the reason for the joint meeting today. It transpires that both new Malden and Morden normally meet at venues which are upstairs, with no lift, and are therefore inaccessible to wheelchair users.  They therefore decided to get together and change their venue to Coombe Wood GC, which is fully accessible. I thanked him for this thoughtful act.

                                     The DG with Assistant Governor Paul Hickson (left) and Peter Skinley

I also discovered, to my great disappointment, that Jimmy Tarbuck has never been a member of Coombe Wood Golf Club, but is a member of Coombe Hill Golf Club, about a mile further up Kingston Hill. It is unfortunate for him that he will probably never get the chance to use my jokes.

Both clubs had young members. I sat across from a Morden member (Can’t remember his name) who joined Rotary from Rotaract. The thing about Rotaract is that it is only for 18-30 year olds, so they have to leave when they get beyond 30. We always hope that they will join Rotary afterwards, but too often they don’t, so it was nice to meet someone who bucks this trend. New Malden, on the other hand, have one of the youngest Rotary members I have ever met. Angharad (Hari) Sparks is just 28 years old, and after attending a Rotary Youth Leadership Award weekend, she was so impressed with the organisation and the opportunity to help her community,that she became a member.

                                                     With Hari Sparks

At the start of the meeting there was an induction ceremony for New Malden’s newest member,  Robin Linnecar, who has a most impressive CV. He has held senior positions in Industry, and chaired a number of Non Government Organisations (NGOs).  I was particularly impressed that he was a Cambridge Blue in Rugby, and later came to play for Rosslyn Park Rugby Club. When asked later by the DG why he joined Rotary, he answered, rather enigmatically, that he had been ‘conned’. I think he was joking.  Robin’s induction was followed by the meal of fish and chips followed by chocolate brownie with ice cream.  Entirely acceptable, although perhaps not too exciting.

                                           Robin Linnecar's induction

At dinner, I sat next to John Harris, President Elect of Morden Club,  covering for his president, who was not available for the evening.  To my right was Past District Governor David Powers, and we had a long interesting chat about my trip to San Diego earlier in the year. When he was DG, some 15 years ago the International Assembly was in Anaheim, California, but David thought San Diego was a better venue. Our views coincided on a number of issues, including standing ovations for the President of RI, first class travel around the world for Board Members and their families, and many others.  Although I had not long been a member of Rotary when David Powers visited our club as DG, I remember his visit very well. He brought with him a fold-up cardboard box, which opened out to become a collecting box. I was impressed at the time with this innovative way of collecting money, and I think the amount raised more than justified the effort.

                                                     Anaheim

The formal part of the evening began with reports from New Malden’s  various club chairmen, which was followed by the DG’s address. As is her custom, she gave a fairly short speech, before handing over to the assembled audience to entertain her , by asking individuals ‘Why did you join Rotary?’, ‘What do you get out of Rotary?’ and similar questions. This provoked a lot of discussion and comment from the members gathered there, which I think makes the meeting more interesting for them, rather than just listening to a speech from the DG.

                                                                The DG with John Harris and Peter Skinley

For the last few minutes the DG invited questions from the audience, and a wide variety of topics were covered, including Friends of Rotary, Twinning, and the date of Stroke Awareness Day (she didn’t know the answer to that one).

It was one of the most enjoyable DG visits I have attended so far. The Rotary Clubs of Morden and New Malden are among the friendliest and relaxed I have come across, and the meeting was full of laughter. When I am President of my club in a couple of years time, I would be delighted if I could run our meetings in the laid-back style of Peter Skinley.

90 Years of Rotary in Richmond

19 September.  I am invited to attend a glittering banquet to celebrate the occasion of 3 Rotary clubs in the London Borough of Richmond reaching the grand age of  90 years. The clubs are Richmond, Teddington & The Hamptons and Twickenham. My heart goes out to those presidents, dragging around their chain of office, bearing the names of their 89 predecessors. They must be exceptionally heavy. 

                                           The Richmond Hill Hotel

So it was that I, accompanied as usual by the DG, eased  into the Friday evening traffic and headed to the Richmond Hill Hotel. This hotel, which describes itself as a boutique hotel, commands a super view over the Thames as it loops round Richmond Park, and is situated in one of the most exclusive, and therefore expensive, parts of West London.

                                             View of the Thames below Richmond Hill

On arrival, we headed straight to the drinks reception, where we met a number of old friends, including  Mukesh Malhotra, Mike Thorn, Nazir Barakzai, and Ron and Helena Daniels.  There was a little confusion when a raffle ticket seller approached IPC (Immediate Past Consort) Helena and me to persuade us to purchase some tickets. The raffle was intended to raise funds for the ongoing fight to eradicate polio from this earth. Helena mis-heard what was said, and thought the prize was a trip to a Polo match. The thought of possibly meeting famous players like Prince Charles  over a chukka of Polo was very attractive to her so I thought I had better intervene before a large sum of money changed hands due to a misunderstanding over the prize fund.

                                      Mike Thorn takes a 'selfie' with Ron and the DG....

                                            ........And the outcome

It was the first black tie event I had attended since becoming Consort, and I must say I have never seen such an array of chains of office, gongs and other bling. Besides the DG, there were no less than 6 Past  Governors (PDGs) of District 1140 in attendance, as well as the mayor of Richmond, councillor Jane Boulton, 3 Club Presidents, not to mention Presidents Elect, Vice Presidents, Paul Harris Fellows and Past Presidents.

            The DG with PDGs Brian Frith, Peter King, Mukesh Malhotra, Len Smith, Mike thorn and Ron Daniels

I had a long conversation with Len Smith, a most interesting man, who besides being a Past District Governor is also a Past President of Rotary International in Britain and Ireland (RIBI). In fact he was District Governor of District 114, which at some stage in the 1980’s became 1140.  Furthermore, when he first joined Rotary in 1958 it was District 14. As Rotary grew over the years, new Districts were regularly being formed, and their numbers gained an additional digit as part of the process.

                                                     With Peter and Di King and the ubiquitous Mike Thorn

When it was time to move through to the Dining Room, I was asked to stay behind until everybody else was seated, thus enabling me to make a proper entrance. So it was that the Mayor,  myself and the DG, RIBI President Peter King, and the three presidents of the celebrating clubs made our entrance to a standing ovation.  I have been to many events where VIPs were ‘clapped in’, but this was my first experience of having my high status being recognised in this way, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At least I did until I leaned over to the DG and said how much I enjoyed being  clapped in. ‘Clapped out more like’ was her reply. Whatever did she mean?

                                                                 With Michael Barton and Angelique's elbow

The tables were all named after famous cities, and we found ourselves sitting at Rome, as guests of the Richmond Rotary Club, and we were warmly welcomed by President  Michael Barton and his lovely wife Angelique. It turned out that Michael is a fluent French speaker, and offered to assist in my communication with Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (a French speaking country)  with regard to the Mission for Vision project. At the table I sat next to Brian Frith, another PDG, and his wife March, a most entertaining and lively couple.

                                                              Rome

As one would expect there were quite a few (thankfully short) speeches, usually of the toasting variety. During one of them I learnt the surprising fact that there are 57 Rotary Clubs of Richmond around the world, including USA, Canada and Australia. It wasn’t really a surprise to find that those countries had towns called Richmond, but I hadn’t expected to learn that there was a Richmond Rotary club in India. We actually received greetings from the 4 Richmond Rotary clubs in Alberta, Canada. The DG was called upon to make a short speech in response to a toast by Ravinder Sharma, the President of Teddington and the Hamptons. She mentioned that one of Teddington’s oldest members was actually nine years old when his Rotary club was Chartered.

                                            The DG makes a speech

The dinner comprised melon followed by Rotary chicken, with a chocolate mousse for dessert.  I couldn’t help noticing that the gentleman sitting opposite me (I don’t recall his name) went to another table to eat his main course, and then came back to our table to eat another!. There’s a true trencherman, I thought, a man after my own heart.

After dinner there was entertainment from  a group called Folk on the Green, which I believe included a local Rotarian. They sang a number of folk songs and other sing-along numbers designed to get people joining in. I like singing, even though the DG tells me I’m not very good at it, and I sang along with gusto. The group seemed to me a folk version of the pop group which played during the RIBI handover at The Stoop last year, with probably a similar target audience.

                                               Folk on the Green

Next on stage was a Bhangra group. I hadn’t seen Bhangra performed live before, but I was aware that it is of Indian derivation and involves loud drumming on a very large double-headed drum called a dhol, around which music and dancing is performed. Their entrance came as a bit of a shock to me, as the drummer suddenly started up with his very loud drumming a few feet from where I was sitting. The group them emerged from a side door and made their way through the audience to the stage.

                                        The Bhangra performers

I was struck by the force of the drumming, but also by the accompanying dancers. I don’t know why, but I had assumed the dancers would be girls, and would perform some dainty dancing moves whilst the drummer played. However I was surprised to find that the four dancers were in fact young men, dressed in highly colourful costumes of yellow and mauve, and dancing very enthusiastically, in a masculine kind of way. .Each of them was burly and bearded, the very antithesis of the delicate girls I was expecting. They looked as if they would be more at home in a rugby scrum than a dance floor.

The music was pre-recorded and formed a backing track to the drumming. Later in the performance a vocalist  sang what I assumed to be Punjabi lyrics to the music. For their final number the troupe encouraged members of the audience to join them in dancing on stage, and a rather unusual disco took place, with the fabulously dressed young men dancing with middle-aged Rotarians in evening dress.

                                                  An unusual disco

It was a fun evening, for which the organisers had obviously gone to a lot of trouble. For me, the evening was crowned by winning a raffle prize of a  meal for two at Thai upon Thames Restaurant in Twickenham. I’ll check whether it will still be valid for my birthday in November.

Incidentally the raffle raised over £1,000 towards the Polio campaign. This will be increased to £3,000 through our double matched funding arrangement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Susanne Rea, from Cairns Sunrise Rotary Club in Australia was visiting this country to promote her joint project with Mukesh called World's Greatest Meal, which is raising funds for Polio. Since I first met her, at the RIBI Conference in Birmingham earlier this year, WGM has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds towards Polio eradication.  

                                Mukesh with Australian Rotarian Susanne Rea 

Last Night Of The Proms

13 September 2013.  I have been invited to attend the Last Night of the Proms!  The invitation came from Feltham Rotary Club and I have been looking forward to it for a few weeks. The BBC Proms are now in their 120^th year, and run for several weeks over the summer months at the Royal Albert Hall in London, bringing a wide variety of music to the audience. The last Night is usually held in a party atmosphere, with popular classics being followed by patriotic songs. The audience are encouraged to wave flags throughout.

                                            Royal Albert Hall

The word Prom is short for promenade concert, a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's parks, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing.  This principle is retained today, with ‘promenaders’ being those who stand throughout the performances on the floor of the Hall, and consequently paying much less for their tickets.

I can only remember going to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall once before, when we went to see the famous Greek singer Demis Roussos back in the 1970’s. He was very big at that time, in every sense of the word, and we enjoyed the performance, although we were so far from the stage we could hardly see him. I expected to have better seats for this show.

                                                       Demis Roussos

Once again, things didn’t work out exactly as I had expected. It hadn’t been fully explained to me that we would be going to Feltham’s meeting venue at Fairholme Hall, and watching the Proms on television.  There I was, resplendent in my Union Jack waistcoat and hat, watching the television in Bedfont!  Naturally, I didn’t let my disappointment show, as I was determined to maintain my dignity as Consort. Incidentally, the DG wasn’t at all disappointed that we ended up in Bedfont. She maintained that she knew all along that we weren’t going to London. It must have been just me, then.

                                                 Fairholme Hall Bedfont

The Feltham Rotarians certainly went to a lot of effort to make the night a success. The Hall was decorated with Union flags, hats, party poppers , balloons, and those things you blow through to make a loud noise (they seem quite funny the first couple of times, but by the end of the evening my amusement  at these sudden rasping noises was wearing a bit thin). The evening was well supported by local Rotary clubs, with a group from my club, Shepperton Aurora, as well as Hounslow, Twickenham and Shepperton & Sunbury. There were also two Inner Wheel clubs represented.

                                                  Patriotic fervour

                                      

During the first part of the Concert, shown on BBC2, dinner was served by our hosts, who had cooked it themselves. We chose between cottage pie, vegetarian curry, or a quiche. I opted for the curry, and found it delicious. I even got seconds. Dessert was raspberry jelly or orange jelly; I couldn’t choose between them so had one of each. We had some unexpected entertainment on our table when Peter McDonough, whilst trying to blow up a balloon, sent a glass of red wine flying across the table, and into his wife Ann’s lap. Unfortunately she had chosen to wear white trousers that night.  She put on a brave face, but I suspect Peter was in big trouble when he got home.

                                                 Just seconds from disaster, Peter tries to blow up a balloon

We all watched the second part of the Concert on BBC1. It was an ecletic mix of music, ranging from Ravel’s Tzigane to a medley of songs from Mary Poppins, and finished off, as usual with a triumphant rendition of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, ‘Rule Britannia’, and ‘Jerusalem’.  I know I should know the words to these songs, but I took the precaution of bringing song sheets with me, which enabled me to sing along. The conductor for the evening, Sakari Oramo, who is the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a Finn, ingratiated himself to the audience by wearing a waistcoat with a Union Jack emblazoned on the front.  However, when he turned round, the Finnish flag was on the back.

                                              Daphne Cass and Mukesh Malhotra

                                                  The DG enjoys the party

                                             Who threw that?

It was an enjoyable evening, and our friends at Feltham really did very well for us, and a good sum was raised for Charity that evening. Unusually for me, I won a bottle of Madeira wine in the raffle, which I shall enjoy at leisure.

Mission for Vision

September 8^th. I pay a visit to our ‘mother’ club, Shepperton and Sunbury, who meet at the Anchor Hotel in Shepperton Square. We call them our mother club as they were instrumental in launching  Shepperton Aurora, some 17 years ago.  At that time it was felt that the local area could support a breakfast-meeting club, so Aurora was chartered.

                                                  The Anchor Hotel

My visit to Shepperton and Sunbury was not exactly an official visit, but I was there to support their speaker for the evening, local optician Ian Squire.  He was talking about his charity, Mission for Vision, which he established  11 years ago. My club is looking to provide funds for Mission for Vision’s ‘Eye Clinics for Africa’ project.  We hope to achieve this with the assistance of a global grant from Rotary Foundation.  Any grant from Foundation will only match funds already committed by clubs and districts,  so it is important to bring the project  to the attention of as many clubs and Districts throughout the UK and worldwide as possible.  If the support of the Consort  can help oil the wheels of the Charity’s fundraising  efforts, then it will be time well spent.

                                  Limited Resources for Optometry in parts of Africa

I hope that writing about Mission for Vision in this blog, will help in a small way to bring this project to the attention of Rotarians, and others, amongst my readership worldwide.  Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club have been regular supporters of the Charity  in making donations , and as individuals in giving him our old and unwanted glasses.  Ian also receives all glasses left behind on aircraft at Heathrow, and he never ceases to marvel at the expensive brand names, such as Cartier, that people leave behind.  It makes no difference to him as the glasses will end up being worn by someone in a remote corner of Africa, who needs a pair of glasses.

                       The joy of good vision

Using funding from us and others,  and the huge stock of used glasses at his disposal, Ian  has made several trips to Africa and other parts of the world, along with a team of volunteer optometrists, to provide eye testing and prescription glasses to those in need. I have seen pictures taken in places like Burundi, Uganda and Ghana, of enormous queues of people who have travelled miles, and waited patiently for days in order to have what for us would be relatively simple corrections made to their eyesight.  The impact of this work can be life changing, because straightforward tasks like reading suddenly become possible, and employment can be found where somebody was previously unemployable due to poor eyesight.

                                D I Y spectacle repairs

Whilst this work is very valuable, Ian has come to realise that he is only scratching at the surface of the problem, as there are probably millions of people in Africa with no access to basic eye care services.  He has come up with an idea for a sustainable project in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).  This is a country the size of Western Europe, and does not have a single optometrist in practice there. Those who can afford to do so, fly abroad for eyesight testing and to get prescription glasses.  Everybody else has to manage without.

                                           Chart on a tree

 Mission for Vision have been given access to the whole of DRC by the Government there, to start a program that will involve training and equipping local people to provide basic but essential and effective primary eye care services.  The charity have obtained a building which is currently being renovated and will be ready to receive the equipment that arrives in October.  The building is large enough to accommodate a clinic with three consulting rooms, a training facility with class rooms and library as well as accommodation for students and trainers.

                                                Queues for eye testing in Ghana

The aim is to train up to 8 students at a time over a period of 6 - 9months after which they will be able to do sight testing, screen for glaucoma, dispense glasses and make up glasses, diagnose eye disease and make referrals to the hospital. It is anticipated that the clinic will become self - sustaining after 18 months and students will be enrolled from other parts of the country.  Once trained they will return to their own communities to continue the work.

                                Solar powered lens cutting machine designed by Ian Squire

At the end of the year, graduating students will be given a portable lens cutting machine invented by Ian Squire, and will be able to go out to their own communities to set up in practice. The machine has been designed to operate with solar power, utilising one energy source that is in plentiful supply in DRC.  However, setting  up costs for the project are considerable, hence the need for funding.

                Ian Squire (left) with Ian Bowyer

The meeting at Shepperton and Sunbury was well attended,  and naturally I found myself sitting at the top table, with President Elect Ian Bowyer (the president, Eric Painter was away), and there was also a first time visitor to the club, who I believe is considering joining them. He was no doubt impressed to meet the Consort to the DG on his first ever Rotary visit. I was sitting next to Peter Routley, with Ken Howe, another visitor from Aurora on my other side. Even I can be impressed at times, and I certainly was, when I heard the long list of sports teams formed by Shepperton and Sunbury for the various ‘sports’ organised by the District each year. Not only did they have a team in the table tennis, darts, bowling, bridge, cribbage, dominoes, and possibly others that I have forgotten, but they often had a second and a third team in these events.  What a sporty lot, I thought.  The image was only slightly tarnished when Richard Black, captain of the dominoes team, confided to me that he had only played dominoes once before, and he wasn’t sure about the rules.

                

                                                            Dominoes

The meal was very pleasant.  It comprised a large pork chop served with mash, apple sauce and vegetables, followed by cheesecake. I noticed that instead of dessert, some members were given cheese and biscuits, which I would have liked, but this had to be ordered in advance so I was out of luck.

When the time came for Ian Squire to speak, I thought he did very well. I have heard him speak 4 or 5 times about Mission for Vision, and I think he is getting better each time. On this occasion, and of particular interest to me, he was finally able to bring along a prototype of the portable lens cutting machine he designed, and gave us a demonstration of how easy it was to operate in the field. The idea is that graduates from his training academy in Kinshasa, will be given one of these machines to take back to their own communities. The newly trained optometrists will then be able to give eyesight testing and create prescription glasses for patients on the spot, using solar power. How people’s lives will be transformed!

                             Ian demonstrates the new machine

At the end of Ian’s talk, I stood up as I have done at previous clubs Ian has visited, and gave a Rotary perspective to the Charity, explaining how Aurora have got behind Mission for Vision but many more clubs need to join us if a Global Grant is to be obtained. Shepperton & Sunbury Club, who, like Aurora have been long-standing supporters of Mission for Vision, will no doubt consider this in due course.

                                 The machine in operation

Ian Squire will be speaking at our District Conference in Bristol, and my hope is that other clubs will also want to get behind the project.