Rotary at Christmas Part 4 - Notcutts

21 December. Shepperton Aurora Rotary has had a relationship with Notcutts Garden Centre in Staines for a number of years, where they have kindly allowed us to make collections outside the store in the run up to Christmas, whilst for our part we provided the Sleigh for Santa’s arrival at the store (usually in mid-November). For a few years we provided the elves for Santa’s grotto, but in the last couple of years we have provided assistants for Santa himself, a job which we share with our mother club of Shepperton and Sunbury Rotary. I should say that this is entirely with the agreement of Staines Rotary, who couldn’t find the manpower themselves. In return for our voluntary labour Notcutts make a generous donation to our Charity account each year. Thus it is a win/win scenario, whereby the Garden Centre staff do not have to organise assistants for Santa, and we receive a charitable donation. To be honest I was feeling a bit tired this morning, having beenn home late from a Status Quo concert in Brighton the night before, and my ears were still ringing. However I was confident that adrenalin would see me through.

                                                           Rossi and Parfitt - still rocking after all these years

I volunteered for one Grotto session last year, and was very nervous about it. I knew that parents were paying £7.50 per child to see Santa so they would expect a return on this investment. Secondly each child was guaranteed a minimum 5 minutes with Santa. That could feel like an eternity if the child doesn’t want to engage with him. However all my colleagues, who were braver than me, said it would be fine, so I had a go. By the time the fourth child had been ‘processed’ I was relaxed about the whole thing. Santa always found lots of things to talk about and most children were very chatty and told him all about their families and their school, and the time flew by. If the conversation ever faltered, Santa would say’ Are there any questions you would like to ask me?’ This would lead to all sorts of questions, for instance about the time taken to fly here from the North Pole, or maybe how does he find their house? A question that would come up quite often was ‘How old are you?’ Santa’s usual response to this was ‘Well, I stopped counting when I got to 750, so I think I’m a few years older than that.’ Most kids were quite impressed with this, except one little boy, who said ‘My granddad’s older than that.’

                                                  Notcutts Garden Centre Staines

As the board went round looking for volunteers this year, I was happy to put myself down for another grotto session on the Sunday before Christmas, but for some reason I decided to go even further outside of my comfort zone and assist at a ‘Breakfast with Santa’ session. Once again I was very nervous, because this time, instead of dealing with the children in ones and twos I would be thrust into a room full of 30 or so kids, and their parents, grandparents and other family members, to assist Santa in entertaining them. To be honest, the main reason I agreed to do it was the thought of getting a good breakfast out of it. Joe and Laurie tried to allay my fears, telling me that everything goes smoothly and the children are all well behaved.

The ‘Breakfast with Santa’ session was from 9.30 until 10.30 but I was required from 9.00 a.m. I think the reason for this was so that Notcutts knew they had someone there, with time to find a replacement if I failed to appear. However, just like my Rotary colleagues, I was determined not to let Notcutts down, and arrived at 8.55. One aspect I hadn’t realised was that although the children got their breakfast at 9.30, they wouldn’t get to meet Santa until 10.00, which was designed to give them time to finish before Santa arrived. As Santa’s assistant, I was shown to a temporary office where I had to wait until I was summoned. I wasn’t offered any breakfast, neither was Santa. At the allotted time, I was collected from my accommodation and escorted to the Restaurant, where Santa’s arrival was eagerly awaited by 27 children and their families. Santa started going from table to table, meeting all the children, checking whether they had been naughty or nice, checking what they wanted for Christmas and sensibly promising nothing. It was a very hectic half an hour, as besides spending some time with each child, Santa then sat down in an armchair with all the children sitting on the floor in front of him whilst he read them a story, then he handed out individual named presents to each child, and finally paused for the inevitable photo opportunities. It had been an exciting time, the children were well behaved and my colleagues were right – It had been fun.

                                                                         Story book

I didn’t go home after ‘Breakfast with Santa’, as I was staying on for a two and a half hour session assisting Santa in the grotto, starting at 11 a.m. I had been quite looking forward to this, as I enjoyed it so much last year, and I wasn’t disappointed. At 10.55 I was summoned from my office and escorted with Santa to the grotto, where I was informed that they were fully booked for the session. So it was going to be busy, hardly surprising on the last Sunday before Christmas. The Notcutts staff gather some useful information about each child when they make a booking, enabling Santa to know the child’s name, age, whether they have seen Santa before, and whether they have done anything particularly good recently (this information is supplied by the parents). So it is helpful for Santa to know something about the child when they meet, and he can congratulate them for cleaning their room / being helpful to grandma / not arguing with their brothers and sisters etc. The children seem particularly surprised and delighted that Santa already has this information about them.

                                                       Santa in his grotto

In all, Santa saw 27 children during this session, most of whom were happy to have a conversation with him. Some, however were frightened (one I would even describe as terrified) and it was difficult for Santa to give value for the visit. One technique which did work quite well, was to take them outside the grotto, and show them all the toy animals. Immediately outside was a family of baby polar bears, with mummy polar bear. Santa asked them if they could find daddy polar bear. Just around the corner there was an 8 ft polar bear and most children found him. They were also asked to name the various other animals around, including penguins, deer, rabbits and seals.

                                                       Polar bear family

However the majority of children were not afraid of Santa and were happy to confide in him what they wanted for Christmas. A full range of requests were received by Santa, from skipping ropes to X-Boxes. One of the more amusing requests was from a girl who wanted Frozen pyjamas. Santa asked her if she was sure, whereupon her parents started to explain that Frozen was the latest must-see film. I suspect Santa knew that already and was just being mischievous. The two and a half hour session passed all too quickly, really, and soon it was time to go home. As I left I passed Jeremy Edwards on his way for the afternoon session, and wished him well. I doubt if he will have enjoyed it as much as me.

Rotary at Christmas Part 3 - Street Collections

15^th December. The first of our 6 street collection evenings in which I am involved.  The two Rotary clubs of Shepperton divide the town between them, and Aurora covers the area to the North of the M3.  Although I am the Consort to the District Governor, I don’t allow my status to prevent me from  showing from time to time that I can still roll up my sleeves and get involved in ordinary Rotary activities, especially at Christmas, because the Street collections are such fun. Tonight I had the privilege of assisting Father Christmas as he went from door to door meeting children (and adults) who always look forward to the arrival of him and his sleigh in their street.

                                                          Collectors with sleigh - from a few years ago

The ideal team for a collection evening will be 11-strong, comprising a driver to tow the sleigh, 8 collectors with buckets who will knock on every door seeking donations and ensuring every child knows that Santa is here, a ‘tail-end Charlie’ to follow along in a car to ensure no collectors go missing, and of course father Christmas himself, who takes time out from his busy schedule every year to accompany us. With 6 street collections to undertake, the numbers needed place quite a strain on our manpower, so on 4 of the evenings we seek help from a local charity who provide six collectors in return for a share of the money collected. This evening we were accompanied by the dementia charity Purple Angels, of which Jean Saunders is the Shepperton Ambassador.

                                                                 Purple Angels logo

So it was that we gathered at Laurie Burrell’s house, where Gill briefed all collectors (this was the first year for the Purple Angels volunteers), and admired Father Christmas, who seemed fatter and jollier than ever this year. Our route tonight was to start in Tanglyn Avenue, then cross Laleham Road to Greeno Crescent, visiting every house and street in that area, finishing in Sheep Walk.  As we moved off, the sleigh looked splendid with its lights twinkling brightly and Christmas carols blaring from its speakers. We had only just arrived in Tanglyn Avenue, when we were spotted by our first child, waving at Father Christmas from her pushchair and spellbound by the sleigh.  As Santa approached the child turned extremely shy, which often happens, and she refused to look at him, or even take one of his magic sweets (that was unusual). However she cheered up as Santa retreated, and she was able to observe him from a safer distance.

                                                                  Laleham Road

One of the many unique features of the Rotary street collections, is that almost without exception, people are pleased to see him, and open their doors to put some coins into the collectors’ buckets. Many hear the sleigh coming and are already standing at the door as we approach, often with children in their arms, or standing at their side. Santa likes the collectors to try and establish the children’s names as soon as they realise there is a child in the house, then, whilst fetching him to meet the children, to whisper their names to him. Then, he can arrive on the doorstep saying hello, you must be Kyle (or Olivia, or Scarlet, or Finlay – children’s names are very different these days), which creates a magical moment as the child wonders how Father Christmas knows their name.

                                                 Two years ago, and my sister Yvonne (4th from left) helps out

A few children, like the first we met, are terrified, but I would say that most are very excited and happy to speak to Father Christmas, telling him what they want for Christmas, and anything else that’s happening in their lives. One little girl proudly announced that Mummy had pulled out one of her teeth today. Most of the time this evening Father Christmas told them that they need to be good for another 10 days if he is to come back on Christmas Eve. One boy wasn’t sure he had his facts right. ‘I thought it was 9 days’, he said. ‘Whatever’ said Father Christmas, ‘You still have to be good.’ On reflection I think he was a very clever boy. He knew that he only needed to be good until Christmas Eve. After Santa has been, he could be as naughty as he liked.  If a child expressed a wish for a big present, like a bike, Father Christmas thought it best not to make any promises, but to say ‘You will have to be particularly good if you want a bike, then we’ll see’.

                                                                         A bike 

Sometimes neighbouring houses would all be out in the street waiting for Santa, with parents and children equally excited, creating a party atmosphere, with everyone wanting a photo of him. At one point Father Christmas was nearly bowled over as a little girl who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 came racing over to him, shouting  ‘Santa Claus!’ and giving him a mighty hug. Parents happily handed over their children to have their photo taken with Father Christmas and sometimes it was the parents themselves who wanted their pictures taken with him. I think they remembered how magical Santa’s visit was when they  themselves were children and they wanted their own children to have the same experience. On several occasions, cars stopped in the road because the drivers wanted to hand some money over to our collectors. At one house a man came out with a great jar of coins which he collects all year round, just so that he can hand it all over to the Rotary club when we call. On at least one occasion our collectors were told that ‘Christmas doesn’t start for us until the Rotary sleigh comes down our road.’ A number of elderly people asked if they could speak to Father Christmas, because they enjoy his visit every bit as much as the children. As we passed the The Bull pub, all the customers were out on the pavement, wishing us well, waving to Santa and putting coins in our buckets.

                                                              The Bull

I hope I have managed to convey some of the excitement and sheer joy that our Christmas street collections bring, not just to residents, but to the collectors. It is a true community occasion, supported by all residents. Some of the Purple Angels collectors were clearly thrilled by the occasion, particularly with the way they were welcomed at virtually every door they came to. One of these ladies had brought her son with her to help out, and there was a momentary panic when he announced that he had lost his iphone 6 (whatever that is), but a short retracing of steps enabled him to find it lying in the road. That was a narrow escape.

                                                                              i phone 6

Back at Laurie’s house, we were able to relax, as the money was counted, whilst Pat provided us all with tea and mince pies. In years gone by we would all sit around a table counting every coin by hand, and putting it in bags for delivery to the Bank in the morning. These days, though, we have a counting machine. We just pour the coins in the top, and it is all counted and sorted into the different denominations, and it tells us when the coins are ready to be bagged up. Only two people are required for this operation, which takes a fraction of the time it used to take. The machine is very good, although it doesn’t cope very well with foreign coins, which can cause problems.

The final total came to £366 collected for the evening, which we were quite happy with, although it was not as much as some of our other routes.

                                                         A coin counting machine, similar to ours

On 19^th and 20^th December, I took my turn at the static collection outside Tesco’s supermarket in Sunbury. From 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. our sleigh was parked up outside the store, playing a selection of carols and other Christmas songs, whilst two collectors engaged with customers entering and leaving the store. Club members took one-hour slots standing with collecting bucket in one hand and bucket of sweets in the other.  The idea was to offer sweets to children as they passed, but in truth I think I handed out more to adults than children.  Most people were too busy and pre-occupied to even notice us, but I reckon about one in ten stopped to admire the sleigh, or to have a chat.

                                                    Our sleigh, complete with 6 ft elf, outside Tesco's

Some were exceptionally generous, with £10 notes being handed over. One woman said she wanted to donate to her favourite charity, as she put some coins in my bucket. I didn’t get a chance to ask why Rotary was so special to her. The DG, who also did a slot late on Friday was approached by a dozen boys from St Paul’s Catholic College, who all put some of their money into the bucket.  I chatted for a while to a woman in a wheelchair, who was waiting with her carer for a taxi to transport her back to the Nursing Home near Sunbury station where she lived.  I told her some stories about the things children say to Santa sometimes when he calls at their homes, and I think she quite enjoyed the wait for transport. Before she went she insisted in emptying her purse into my bucket, despite my protests that she was being over-generous.

John and Jean, with collecting bucket in one hand, bucket of sweets in the other

On Monday 22^nd December was our final street collection, around  Charlton Village, and once again I was privileged to accompany Father Christmas. We already knew that this evening would be special because there was a street party planned to coincide with Santa’s visit. There is a house in Walnut Tree Road (which you can see from the main road as you pass) which in my opinion is the best-illuminated in Shepperton at Christmas. Whenever we arrive there on our collection evenings, we always stop for a photo opportunity outside the house. For two or three years, they have taken one of our collection buckets, and left it outside their house, encouraging people to make a donation as they stop to admire the lights. Well this year, the owners (Karen Howkins and her husband) decided to take our visit to another level, by organising a street party, with mulled wine and mince pies on offer, and a raffle (with really good prizes) from which half the proceeds would be donated to our Charity Fund. She wanted Father Christmas to draw the raffle, and also wanted the Rotarians to judge 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in a best-lit house competition (in which her own house was forbidden to enter).

The collection team in Charlton Village, outside Karen Howkins' house

We set off at 5.30 and our first call was at the Harrow pub . We actually devote one evening to collecting at pubs and restaurants, but as the Harrow is a little way out from the centre of Shepperton,  we don’t always get there, so this evening we included it in our tour of Charlton Village. Santa went in first to ask permission (always the best thing to do) and the landlord kindly allowed us to come in. So, with the sleigh parked outside the front door, belting out Christmas music, Pauline and Doreen accompanied Father Christmas into the pub, which was surprisingly busy for the time of day. There was much jollity as people told Santa what they wanted for Christmas, and he promised them it would  all be arranged to their satisfaction, whilst customers gave generously. Even a couple sitting outside smoking cigarettes were pleased to see Santa, and wanted their photo taken with him.

Santa gets mobbed in Walnut Tree Road

It was approaching 6.30 p.m. as our sleigh approached Karen’s house in Walnut Tree Road where there was clearly a good crowd of 70 or 80 people, and we could see that a marquee had been erected next to the house. This of course explained why so many houses had appeared to be unoccupied as we came along the road. Obviously Santa was the main attraction and it was clear that 20 or 30 children were thoroughly excited by the time he arrived, with several of them taking him by surprise as they ran over to greet him. Poor Santa was deluged for the next few minutes as he tried to speak to every child, and satisfy all requests for photographs (one teenage girl even took a ‘selfie’ with him). Soon it was time for the raffle draw, and Santa moved into the marquee and pulled out the winning tickets. He was impressed by just how many tickets were in the box to be drawn – this event had obviously been well supported by local people.

Santa draws winning raffle tickets

We needed to continue our collection at that point, and Father Christmas reluctantly said farewell to all the people at the party, taking just one mince pie to keep his energy up for the rest of the evening. As Santa met more children on their doorsteps, current fashions in their requests became apparent. Dolls are still popular with little girls, and merchandise connected with the new movie ‘Frozen’ are probably the most asked-for items.  One girl, whose age I would estimate at 5 or 6 surprised Santa when he asked her what she would like for Christmas. ‘A triceratops’  came the reply.  Santa assumed he hadn’t heard properly, as that sounded more like a dinosaur, so he asked her again what she would most like for Christmas. ‘A triceratops’ she said again. At this moment her mother explained to Father Christmas ‘She loves dinosaurs’. He said he was impressed that she could even pronounce the name, never mind know what it was. A little boy in Hetherington Road was less impressed to see Father Christmas, and shut the front door in his face, much to the amusement of his family.

                                                  Triceratops

The evening turned out to be the best collection we had ever done in Charlton Village, with over £100 more than our previous best.  I think this was largely due to the street party, where one collector actually had a £20 note put into her bucket (I can’t remember the last time we had one of those). When we had finished, we were all pretty weary as we trooped back to my house in Charlton Village, where the DG had prepared supper for us all. The remainder of the evening was very convivial, as we counted up the evening’s proceeds (manually this time, we did not have the machine) whilst eating  Shepherds pie and drinking tea. It had all been good fun, as usual.

The team count money manually

Rotary at Christmas Part 2 - Big Tree Night

December 10. I have been thinking about my official title of Consort to the District Governor, and have come to the conclusion that it is a bit long, so I’ve been investigating ways to shorten it. I am therefore pleased to announce that I have discovered a suitable acronym, using the letters contained within Consort to the District Governor. I shall henceforth be known as the Codger, which is a much more snappy title, and one which undoubtedly my fellow Consorts in Britain and Ireland will want to adopt without delay. This will, of course mean that the Immediate Past Consort will, from now on, be called the Old Codger, and I’m sure my friend Helena will be happy with the simplified nomenclature.

                                                              Crowds gather under the Big Tree

This evening, with the DG busy elsewhere, I had a solo engagement at Shepperton’s Big Tree Night. It is an event that has been running for many years. From a relatively small-scale beginning, whereby people gathered under the big pine tree in Shepperton High Street to sing Christmas carols, the event has grown bigger and bigger over the years. Since the 1990’s community groups and local businesses have manned stalls providing festive cheer such as mulled wine and mince pies, shops have opened late, and entertainment has been provided. For a few years, when I served on the Shepperton Chamber of Commerce, I helped organise Big Tree Night. I can remember the time and effort spent by volunteers on things like the erection of Christmas trees and lights on shop premises along the High Street, the judging of the window display competition, arranging  a stage for the choirs and bands, even discussing which carols should be sung.

Carol Singing at Big Tree Night

In the last few years, Big Tree Night has become huge, the largest event on the calendar in the Borough of Spelthorne. Upwards of 6,000 people were expected this evening. The High Street was to be completely closed to traffic from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Dozens of stalls would line the street, food was to be available from various marquees set up in the service road outside the Co Op, Father Christmas was to arrive on his sleigh (with real reindeers!), whilst local musicians were to entertain us from a huge stage alongside the Big Tree. As the Codger, I was looking forward to enhancing this glittering occasion with my presence. I was aware that the local MP was likely to be there and also the mayor of Spelthorne, and I was happy to share the stage with them.

                                                     

                                                              Reindeer in Shepperton for Big Tree Night

Before all that though, I had to help my Rotary Club, Shepperton Aurora, set up their stall outside the Post Office. Having collected our generator, banners and other bits of equipment from John’s garage, I got through tight security in the High Street to park alongside our allotted pitch, where Doreen had just arrived with our gazebo. This is such a marvellous shelter, which takes 2 minutes to erect, simply by being  pulled apart by two people. In contrast, the marquee we use at Shepperton fair each year takes 8 people to put up, and 40 minutes needs to be allowed for the operation.  Having unloaded the contents of my car, I went off to park it. My chosen spot was in the small car park behind what I call BUFKAB, (The building formerly known as Barclays) which amazingly, was empty when I arrived.

                                                         Jill, Ken, Doreen and Emma prepare our stall

Back at the gazebo, I proceeded to set up our lights and get the generator going. No electricity is provided for stallholders, so generators were very much the order of the day. My former boss at Runnymede Borough Council, Betty Greenwood, was in the pitch alongside us supporting CRUSE, the bereavement charity. CRUSE have set up alongside us for the previous couple of years, and I have always arranged for them to share our generator for their lighting. I had hoped that helping Betty in this way might be good for my career, but it didn’t work out that way as I parted company with Runnymede last September.  However, Betty is a lovely person, and I am more than happy to help her and the charity she supports, even though there is nothing in it for me.  Could there be a better example of the Rotary virtue of Service above Self? As a matter of fact, I think that Betty herself also embodies this virtue, in that she spends her evenings knitting little dolls of all shapes and sizes, and has sold over 300 of them this year for the benefit of CRUSE. The last few were for sale on the CRUSE stall this evening.

                                                       Our stall is ready for action

                            Spelthorne Mayor Suzy Webb (here speaking to Janet Matthews) visits our stall

Our plan this evening, was to engage the public at our stall with a game, which was a kind of static Treasure Hunt. Doreen Pipe had produced a large-scale map of Shepperton, and visitors to our stall were informed that Father Christmas had parked his sleigh somewhere in the village. People were invited, at a nominal cost of £1, to guess where the sleigh had been left, and their chosen spot was marked with a sticker. At the end of the evening the winner was announced. The prize for winning this competition was a real 6 ft Christmas tree delivered to their door, with a beautiful reindeer carved in wood. These super prizes were generously donated by Emma Pattinson, who has started a Christmas tree selling business in Shepperton this year. Our stall was littered with other small prizes and gifts provided by Doreen, who spends the whole year sourcing prizes at bargain prices that can be used here, or at Shepperton Fair in the summer. Thus, everyone who paid their £1 and entered the competition walked away with a prize. The entrants were mostly children, of course, but as the Codger I felt I should also participate, and was rewarded with three dangling Christmas pictures which I could attach to windows. I thought I would attach these to our front door at home and give the DG a nice surprise.

                                                        Proudly displayed - my prize

The ‘Where is Santa’s Sleigh?’ game proved to be very popular with the public, and there was a queue to have a go at our game for most of the evening. We used various strategies to attract people to our stall, including, in my case, a tin of Quality Street, but the most successful was probably deployed by Jenny Steptoe, in the form of her handsome son, who helped on the stall for an hour or so at the peak time. A University student, he was an immediate hit with the young women of Shepperton, who gathered around our stall like bees round a honeypot.

                                                              The Aurora stall proves to be very popular

The big attraction of the evening at Big Tree Night was the arrival of Father Christmas, due at 6.15, who would be on his sleigh, drawn by real reindeer. I wanted to get a photo of the procession up the High Street, particularly as our own Douglas Dick was helping Santa, but in the event it all happened so quickly that I turned my back at the wrong moment and missed it. Trying to outrun several hundred children to catch up with the sleigh as it progressed up the High Street was not easy, nor was it very becoming for a Codger, but I eventually caught up when the sleigh was parked outside the library.

                                                         I catch up with Santa and his elves

When I was off-duty at our stall, I took the chance to wander around the rest of the attractions, stopping for a while to chat to my Rotary colleagues from the  Shepperton and Sunbury club, who had a stall further up the road. They have acquired a number of new members in recent weeks, and I was able to meet a couple of them tonight. I had a brief chat with Ian Squire whilst listening to the entertainment on the Main stage, and then went to partake of some traditional Christmas Fayre (paella) at one of the food stalls.  

                                                       My supper being cooked

Big Tree Night is organised by the Shepperton and District Business Community, formerly the Shepperton Chamber of Commerce, under the indefatiguable Chairmanship of Jo Hornsby from Daisy Chain florists. The Master of ceremonies for the evening is the excellent Nick Wood-Dow, who has been doing this for as long as I can remember. Also on the organising committee are Rob King, Sarah-Jane Walters and Tim Want, who are all known to our Rotary Club. I was looking forward to sharing the stage and delivering the short (20 minute) speech I had been working on all week, about how Big Tree Night could be even more successful if the Consort to the District Governor (note full title used, for greater impact) were to play a more central role in future.  Unfortunately they seemed to be over-running, and so I did not get called up on stage. Never mind, it will keep for next year.

Rotary at Christmas Part 1 - Party time

I have always said that Christmas is the reason I joined Rotary, because I remember the magic I felt as a child, when Father Christmas came down our road, waving at me from  his brightly lit sleigh,  with Christmas carols playing through a loudspeaker. (Obviously this was in the days before Health and Safety was invented, as Santa would not be allowed to ride in his sleigh today). I didn’t know then that it was all organised by the Rotary Club.  When, 40 years later, I got to know some of the local Rotary members, and they asked me if I would be interested in joining them, it was the thought of being part of that magic that persuaded me. Now after 15 years in Rotary, I have done many interesting things and travelled the world as a Rotarian, but it is still our Christmas activities that I enjoy most.

                                                          Street collections at Christmas

Shepperton Aurora’s sleigh is stored during the year at a local farm, and at the end of November it is brought out for cleaning and, if necessary, repairs and refurbishment.  John Dumbrell keeps it in his garage during the festive period, and members take it out and put it back whenever it is required. We share it with our ‘mother’ club, Shepperton and Sunbury, and split the various routes and collecting opportunities between us. I didn’t get involved this year with getting the sleigh out of summer storage, being busy with official duties as Consort to the District Governor, so the festive period for me got under way on 3^rd December with the Rotary Club Christmas party, held this year at Castello Restaurant, opposite Church Square in Shepperton.

                                                               Castello Restaurant

Parking in that area is always a bit difficult, however Douglas and Sally Dick, who live just a few doors up from the Restaurant, allowed the DG and I to park on their drive, which was a great help. There was a good group of 30 or so of us, but we were a little more restrained than we might otherwise have been as we did not have the Restaurant to ourselves, but were segregated into the conservatory, whilst families and couples took up the remaining tables at the Restaurant. The organisers of the party, Chris and Karen, had been very busy organising quizzes and prizes, and making sure we pre-ordered our menu choices, them reminding us on the night what we had ordered. For some reason, they wanted me to attend as an Italian gangster, so I had an appropriate hat to wear, and I endeavoured to look suitably intimidating, and threatened a number of members with horses heads in their beds if they did not behave.  We were divided into teams for various quizzes, and our team, comprising the DG, myself, Janet and Pauline did exceptionally well, I thought, but were robbed of victory by several other teams.

                                                               The conservatory at Castellos

We had a special visitor on the night in the form of Michal Cantrell, a Rotary Global Scholar from the USA, who Rotary have funded to study for a year at Kings College in London.  Shepperton Aurora is her official host club, and she came along to our Christmas party, staying overnight with John and Jean. Originally from Arizona, she is an officer cadet at West Point Military Academy, and shortly to be commissioned. She was very interested in what we got up to as a Rotary club, particularly in our activity of accompanying Santa and his sleigh around the local streets, which doesn't seem to happen where she lives. She expressed a particular interest in a tour of Sandhurst, which I shall investigate on her behalf.

                                            Party night, with Michal Cantrell front left and the DG front right

The next Christmas activity for me was our static collection in Shepperton High Street on 6 December. Here we park our sleigh near the BP Garage, where Santa himself joins us, whilst four of our members take up positions along the high street with collecting buckets. It is very popular with young families and Santa is kept busy all day greeting children and adults, offering sweets and bonhomie to all. My slot as a collector was for the hour from 11 a.m. to 12 noon for which I stood outside the Co-op, trying not to obstruct their entrance or their trolley stand. You certainly see life when you stand in one spot for a period of time. There is a narrow service road outside the Co-op, and I saw some interesting attempts at parking, and some resultant car rage from other drivers. One poor woman parked her car, but every time she tried to lock it the car alarm sounded, much to her embarrassment and the annoyance of nearby shop owners. I offered to keep an eye on it if she left it unlocked, but even then the alarm went off periodically.

                                            Fine weather this year  - Ken Howe and Andrew Wasilewski with Santa

I am always surprised at the number of people who will stop and chat to someone standing holding a bucket wearing a hi viz jacket with Shepperton Aurora Rotary emblazoned across it. One woman told me most of her life story in five minutes, others brought their dogs along to be patted. Quite a few people said to me that they had already put money into the buckets of one of my colleagues, for which I thanked them profusely and let them off any further donations. At the end of our 4 hour stint we had collected over £500 which I felt made it a worthwhile exercise. I like to think that people trust Rotary and are happy to give money to us knowing it will be well used.

                                                          Conditions in the High Street were different 3 years ago!

There was a time when I avoided the High Street collections, as I was a bit embarrassed about people who knew me seeing me with a collecting bucket. My view has turned full circle since then, and I am now delighted to meet people I know whilst I am collecting. During my hour in the High Street I met several acquaintances, and saw it as a good opportunity to catch up with old friends, and explaining to them how the Consort would not normally be doing such menial work as collecting, but wanted to show that even someone in my exalted position can do his bit for the Rotary Club. Incidentally, I would have volunteered my services for longer than one hour, but I had to get back to Daisy, who was on her own at home. Once upon a time, the DG and I used to bring Daisy with us when collecting in the High Street. She would lie on a rug near the sleigh and would be quite happy being admired by her adoring public. However we had to stop doing this after an officious local councillor pointed out that we were violating a by-law (it might have been by-law number14 sub-section b (5) which forbids using unpaid dogs to entice innocent people to part with their cash (or words to that effect). Bah, humbug!

                                                     The DG does a stint

On 8^th December we took the sleigh on our 3^rd annual visit to Upper Halliford Nursing Home. This is one of our street collecting evenings, starting at 5.30 p.m. with Joe as Santa’s helper, and Laurie towing the sleigh. We always try to finish our routes by 8 p.m. on the basis that our target audience should all be in bed by then. Anyway on this evening Joe, Laurie and I met beforehand  at the Nursing Home at 4.30 p.m. to give the residents some festive cheer, before going on to the street collection. The Nursing Home staff are very good at getting as many of the residents as possible into the foyer to meet Santa, and it’s remarkable how much excitement there is among some very elderly, and very disabled people at meeting Father Christmas.  Proof indeed, if it was needed, that Christmas isn’t just for kids. We spent some time there, with Joe explaining what we would be doing  later on this evening. He also gave some amusing anecdotes about what children say to Santa when they met him. It was a pleasure to come here and share a few minutes with the residents and staff, before heading off to start the evening street collection. The Nursing Home Manager Pat, and activities co-ordinator Christine told us how much they appreciate our annual visit, and we will no doubt return again next year.

                                                           Upper Halliford Nursing Home (from their website)

Wallington Rotary Club Boxing Evening

28^th November. The DG and I were invited to attend the 32^nd annual Boxing Gala Dinner, organised by the Rotary Club of Wallington at the Arnhem Gallery at Fairfield Halls in Croydon  This prestigious event is a major fundraiser, and has raised over £300,000 for charities over the years. Never having been to a boxing evening before, I was looking forward to it, although I didn’t really know what to expect. Would my food be spattered with sweat and blood? Would I be intimidated by an audience of large ex-boxers? Would the boxing finish after midnight, like on television? 

The DG had a question of her own, as she was unsure what she should wear to a boxing evening. Although I haven’t attended such an event before, I have seen boxing on TV. I told her that the only women I have seen at boxing matches were wearing hot pants and a skimpy top, and carrying boards with numbers on them. To say she was unimpressed with my suggestion would be an understatement. It was easier in my case, as I was pretty sure that it would be a black tie affair, so I could dress accordingly.

                                                             Fairfield Halls Croydon

We live in Shepperton, which is only about 20 miles from Croydon, but getting there in the Friday evening rush hour required careful planning. To be sure of getting there by 6.30p.m we thought it best to leave at 4.30. This allowed plenty of time, and if we were early we could always have a coffee somewhere. Our chosen route was M25 / M23 / A23 which was quite a long way around, but hopefully the traffic would keep moving. This isn’t always the case, because the DG got stuck in traffic on the M25 on her way to a meeting in Horsham a couple of months ago, and after 2 hours going nowhere she had to abandon the trip and return home. Tonight, the traffic was reasonable, and we arrived at Fairfield Halls at 6 p.m. The staff at the Halls couldn’t have been more helpful, and assisted us with parking right outside the venue.

                                                         The ring is ready

There was a lift to get the wheelchair up to floor level, then it was plain sailing to the Arnhem Gallery.  We were met on arrival by Vivienne Downe, who gave me a free pass for the car park. Being a little early, people were rushing around putting the finishing touches to the arrangements in the hall. I had my first look at the boxing ring, which looked impressive in the centre of the very well-lit room, surrounded by tables set for around 200 guests.  We met Club President Patrick Clarke, who I remember from the 5-club meeting in September. I must confess that when we first met, I misinterpreted his accent as being Italian. This evening I discovered that he is actually from Chile. He and his wife Susan proved to be charming hosts throughout the evening.

                                                     Ringside - The DG with Patrick Clarke and Susan (opposite)

Sitting on Table no. 1(naturally) with Patrick and Susan, we were literally ringside, about 5 feet from the action. Also on our table was Immediate Past President  Gerry Booth, a Rotarian known only by his initials, T J, and representatives from the two charities being supported that night, The Royal Marsden Hospital and The Alzheimers Society. The various questions in my mind were quickly answered, in that the boxing doesn’t commence until after we have eaten, the audience is mostly made up of local companies and organisations, who typically will book a table for their party, none of whom looked particularly intimidating. Patrick confirmed that it would be a late evening, but we should be out by midnight. Karin Tapson of the Alzheimers Society was sitting next to me and we had a long conversation about her charity, and the work it is doing to improve the quality of life for those suffering from dementia. Her husband Andrew, who was also present, is a banker and is actually CEO of the Bank Division that he works in. One thing I have found in my year as Consort to the DG is that I meet some seriously important people whilst carrying out my duties.

                                                          An impressive array of trophies being guarded by Patrick

Patrick and his team had arranged for us to have an early Christmas Dinner of paté followed by roast turkey, and Christmas pudding with a mince pie. I usually judge a roast dinner by the quality of the potatoes, and I can say that these were excellent, in fact I had some extras. During the course of our dinner, the format of the boxing was explained to us. The two teams contesting the evening were the London Amateur Boxing Association (South East Division) and the British Army, and there would be 9 bouts of three 2-minute rounds. One team would be in the red corner and one team in the blue corner. However the audience does not know this before battle commences, and we were invited to bet on the outcome of the first 6 fights before we knew which team was in which corner. There was a form, similar to the jackpot entry on our Race Night, where we indicated ‘red’ or ‘blue’ for the first 6 bouts, and the winner is the person with most correct. There was also to be a raffle with an eye-catching first prize of £1000.

                                                        Raffle prizes worth winning

After dinner it was time for the boxing to get under way, and firstly both teams lined up in the ring to be presented to the audience, with the fighters contesting the first bout staying in the ring. We learnt that London ABA (SE) would be in the red corner and the Army would be in the blue. I suspected the army may be stronger, and I had put mostly red winners on my betting slip, gambling that the army would be in the red corner. The first two contestants were juniors, and wore headguards. There were also 2 female bouts, and they also wore headguards.  All other boxers were without headguards, following a ruling last year that all amateur boxers at senior level would no longer wear them. Women, however, have to continue wearing them. Judges sat at three points around the ring, and scored each bout on a card, which was handed to the referee at the end. One judge sat so close to me I could look over his shoulder.

                                                                The opposing teams face each other across the ring

Being so close to the boxers, one gets a very different perspective on the fight. You can see the expressions on their faces, wince with them when they take a blow, and cheer on your own favourite. Some bouts were pretty one-sided, with one fighter clearly stronger than the other, so the result is never in doubt. Others, however, were much closer affairs, and only a split decision by the judges decided the outcome. Only on one occasion did I think that one boxer got the better of things, whilst the judges disagreed with me. One of the Army boxers was a bit of a showman. He obviously based his style on former World Champion Naseem Hamed, with whom there was also a physical similarity. He appeared to make little attempt to defend himself, relying instead on speed to evade his opponent’s punches.  In this he was quite successful, but he appeared to forget that he also was supposed to throw some punches. He lost the bout on a split decision.

                                                        A junior bout (with headguards)

                                                        A senior bout (no headguards)

It wasn’t just the boxers that we could see close up. I was only a few feet from the blue corner, could see the anxiety on the faces of the cornermen, and listen to their instructions to the boxers to ‘get yer ‘ands up’ or ‘keep jabbing’. They worked hard between the rounds to patch up their fighter, spraying him (or her) with water and offering words of encouragement. I also had a good view of the glamorous girl (called Lorna, I think) who walked round the ring after every round with a card indicating the number of the next round, dressed a little incongruously in skimpy shorts and a Wallington Rotary Club T shirt.

                                                         And the winner is...

                                                         Talking tactics in the blue corner

                                                          Lorna goes to work

Every bout had a sponsor, whereby a table would club together to find enough to sponsor a fight. Our table sponsored the first bout, at a cost of, I think £30. The DG got to present the trophy to one of the female winners, and Karin Tapson presented a trophy to one of the male boxers. I seemed to get overlooked in the presentation of trophies, but I guessed that I was being saved for the prestigious heavyweight bout. Unfortunately there wasn’t a heavyweight bout that evening.

                                                                           The DG awards trophy to winning girl

Midway through the evening the raffle and auction took place, organised by John Edwards, who seemed to be the lead organiser of the whole event, working tirelessly all evening to ensure everything went to plan. No doubt even more hard work was required behind the scenes. The £1,000 raffle first prize was won by an extraordinarily generous man who promptly presented the whole lot to the Alzheimers Society. Karin said that she knew him, and he had already been very generous to the charity. At the auction, a pair of boxing gloves autographed by  former World Champion boxer Charlie Magri, went for £130 and a golf day at a local golf course, coupled with a hamper presented by a member of the audience, went for, I think, £240. Having been unsuccessful in the raffle, I was no more fortunate in my gamble on the first 6 bouts. The London ABA won more bouts, and I actually got 4 out of the 6 correct, and thought I may be in with a chance. However, three people actually got all six correct, and shared the prize between them.

                                                             The corner men go to work

It was just before midnight that we left the Fairfield Halls. It had been a super evening of entertainment, spent in great company, and  clearly raised a serious amount for its charities. We are both very grateful to wallington Rotary Club for their hospitality. The journey home, along quiet roads, was much quicker.