Saturday 11th October.
I accept an invitation from Camberley Rotaract to a fund raising event at
Collingwood College. The DG accompanied me, because one of her additional
duties is Liaison Governor for Rotaract in RIBI and consequently she is always
keen to support their activities. The event was called a Gameshow Mash Up, and
to be honest I really had no idea what to expect when we arrived. Rotaract is
for 18-30 year olds so I had every expectation that I wouldn’t understand half
of what was going on.
Collingwood College Camberley
We arrived a little early, as we
had brought with us our Rotary club’s microphone and speaker system to help
with announcements, instructions etc. It was as well that we had arrived early,
as I had assumed that, being young, they would know how to assemble my sound
equipment. This proved not to be the case, and I spent the next 30 minutes
hunched over a couple of complicated-looking boxes, various cables and leads
and the microphone itself. I knew I had all the components, it was just a case
of working out which lead went where, which switches to press, and which dials
to turn. Eventually after much trial and error, and people looking over my
shoulder making helpful suggestions, I made the right connection and the microphone
boomed into life. Feeling rather pleased with myself, I put the unwanted bits
back into the box. It was then that I discovered a laminated sheet giving
precise and easy to follow instructions on how to assemble the kit, which
should take about 30 seconds
Setting up the electronic equipment
By this time the bar was open and
I was delighted to see a barrel of Hogs Back beer, so enjoyed a pint whilst I
got to know some of the Rotaractors, who were working with amazing speed,
making the final preparations for the evening. If only Rotarians could work at
such speed. The Club President is Will, whom I had met previously at my
official visit to Camberley Rotary Club, and others I spoke to were Zoe, Emily,
Dan and Beth. I only know their first names, as they don’t seem to use surnames
very much in Rotaract. The event was organised to raise funds for a local
charity called Step by Step.
The all-important bar
With preparations complete it was
time to sit down. Each team of six had its own table, and there were around 12
tables laid out around the hall. The charity Step by Step had brought a team
and had their own table. Our team comprised the DG and me, Chrissie Lawson (the
president of Camberley Rotary Club), and three of her friends, one of whom was a
former colleague of hers at Farnborough College. With a great deal of thought,
our team was called ‘District and Camberley’.
District and Camberley team
I soon learnt something about the format of
the evening. It was basically a mixture of elements from a number of TV game
shows, including Countdown, Play Your Cards Right, and I’m A Celebrity Get Me
Out of Here. There was an ongoing quiz whereby you had to solve clues stuck to
walls and furniture around the room, the first letter of which were an anagram
for another word. On the table as we sat down, were a picture quiz, whereby we
had to work out film titles from posters, and another where we had to work out
which musical various songs are from.
A cake stall - there was an excellent apple cake
I thought we got off to a good
start, as between us we knew 19 of the 20 musicals, and about 17 of the films.
Countdown was a general game for the whole room, whereby everybody was given
the same letters on a screen, and we had to make the longest word we could from
the letters. Then we did a number challenge in the Countdown format, and one of
Chrissie’s friends was particularly adept at this. There followed a lively game
of Play Your cards Right. The rules were easy. A card was displayed, and we had
to individually guess if the next one would be higher or lower. If you were
wrong you sat down until the last one standing was the winner. Other games were
played, similarly easy to play but surprisingly hard to win. I’m normally quite
competitive, but as the evening went on, I increasingly realised that I didn’t
have a clue about our team’s position in the competition, so like everyone else
I just enjoyed the fun of it all.
An on-screen question
Refreshments were provided half
way through in the form of a ploughman’s, which the DG was particularly
delighted with. Often at such events we are given fish and chips which she
hates getting. It’s not that she dislikes our national dish, it’s just that
when several dozen plates of fish and chips are delivered together, quality can
suffer somewhat. The Ploughman’s, served buffet style, was very enjoyable and
there was plenty for everybody.
A ploughman's platter
We had a presentation from the
homeless charity Step By Step, who were being supported by revenue from this
evening, telling us about the good work they do in finding accommodation for
homeless young people, and training them with skills required in the workplace.
They have been going for 20 years and work
mostly in Hampshire and Surrey. Their mission is ‘to empower homeless people and those facing
adversity to achieve their full potential’.
A presentation from the charity
The main event after dinner was
‘I’m a Celebrity’, by which a volunteer from each team was blindfolded and had
to fish pieces of a jigsaw puzzle out of a bowl of something that felt like
vomit, and another team member had to assemble them. I don’t know why, but I
volunteered to be blindfolded, although I’m not sure a picture of me poking
around in a bowl of vomit, is a suitable image for someone in my position. We
didn’t win this game although I’m sure I got all the pieces out. It must have
been my assistant who failed to assemble them. Maybe she didn’t want to touch
them, and I wouldn’t blame her for that.
Why did I volunteer for this
There was a large raffle at the
end of the evening in which I had invested heavily, but received a nil return
on my investment. However, I was pleased to see that a good sum had been raised
for the Charity, and they were clearly delighted with it. As the evening drew
to a close, I went up to make sure I retrieved every piece of my sound
equipment, as I would have been in big trouble at our next club meeting, if it
was incomplete.
Trying to assemble the pieces
It was an enjoyable event, and I
enjoyed the company of my fellow team members and of the Rotaractors. The beer
was also very good.
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