Four Clubs Dinner

23^rd February. After climbing over the O2 Arena earlier today, I attended the annual  Four Clubs Dinner at Ashford Manor Golf Club this evening.  This event originated 25 years ago, when the four Rotary Clubs of Spelthorne decided to get together for a dinner once a year. At the time the four clubs were Staines, Ashford, Sunbury  and  Shepperton. For a brief period in the 1990s, when Shepperton Aurora was formed, it became the Five Clubs Dinner but after a few more years Sunbury Club disbanded and we were back to four.

                                                          Ashford Manor Golf Course

The DG and I only got back from London at about 6.15 and had to be at Ashford Manor by 7.30. That’s plenty of time for me, but a bit of a struggle for the DG, who besides trying to get warm after a cold day at the O2 had important things like nail varnish to sort out and finding clothes that didn’t clash with her chain of office. We eventually arrived just before 7.30 with not much time for chit-chat before taking our seats. In fact we were lucky to have arrived at Ashford Manor at all. As we set off, the DG thought the dinner was being held at Laleham Golf Club. Had I believed her and driven there, we would never have got back to Ashford in time.

                                                           Nail varnish

On arrival, I was pleased to find that I had been allocated a place on the top table, because although I am entitled to top billing wherever I go, sometimes event organisers have failed to appreciate this. Tonight the evening was being hosted by Shepperton & Sunbury club, who obviously understood the correct procedure when the Consort was present. With me on the top table were our host Eric Painter, President of Shepperton & Sunbury and his wife Joy;  Sam Budd, President of Staines; Simon Bhadiye, President of Ashford with his wife Kandy; Ranvir Singh, Secretary of Staines; our speaker Maggs Latter;  and room was also found for the DG.  I found myself seated between the lovely Joy Painter and Ranvir Singh, a man who I hadn’t met previously but I found to be very good company.

                                                        Eric Painter gets things under way

Each of the four clubs takes it in turn to host the evening and this year it was Shepperton & Sunbury, hence Eric being in the chair. He announced that we were celebrating 3 anniversaries today. Firstly the 23^rd February is actually the 110^th anniversary of Rotary being founded by Paul Harris in Chicago. Today is also the 30^th anniversary of Rotary’s commitment to eliminating Polio in the world. In 1985 Polio was endemic across the world, including in Europe. Today, thanks in no small part to Rotary’s efforts, the disease is restricted to just 3 countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. We have also heard recently that there have been no new cases recorded in Nigeria since July last year, so it may soon disappear from that country as well. Thirdly, today marked the 25^th anniversary of the Four Clubs Dinner.

                                                        The assembled throng

Dinner was served buffet-style, which I always expect to get my money’s worth from.  The only downside was that being on the top table meant that we went up first, and inevitably had to be sensible about the quantity we put on our plate. I chose roast beef, which had been served particularly pink tonight. That was fine with me, but abhorrent to the DG, who had ham instead. Dessert was a choice of lemon tart or cheese and biscuits. I had pre-ordered the latter, and was pleased with my choice, as there were generous portions of four cheeses on my plate. Over dinner, I chatted with Joy and Ranvir. I learnt that Joy had run a children’s nursery in Upper Halliford for 30 years. She thoroughly enjoyed this work, particularly when overseen by the local authority, but she wasn’t comfortable with the new regime when OFSTED took over, and thought it was the right time to retire. It must be gratifying doing a job where you look after tiny children, and when they grow up they then send their own children to you.

                                                          Unusual clock in the clubhouse

I discovered that Ranvir was brought up in Brentford, and that Boston Manor Park was his playground as a child. I worked out that he was probably playing in Boston Manor Park at around the time I would have been playing football there during the 1970s and 1980s. We swopped reminiscences of those times, when I played for Argyle Manor in the Chiswick and District Sunday league (Boston Manor Park was our home ground), and he would be playing in the woods. Ranvir always felt safe there as a child, but thinks it is a lot less safe these days. Our conversation caused me to reflect on my time playing Sunday morning football, which I look back on very fondly. Matches kicked off at 10 a.m. so I was forced to get out of bed on a Sunday morning. Then after the game (I think on average we probably lost more than we won) we would retire to the Windmill pub in Brentford to analyse the game and the reasons for our failure to win. I always remember one classic comment from midfielder Jimmy Moores  ‘We shouldn't blame individuals, let's just say it was the goalkeeping department’. In those days the landlord of the pub would often bring hot roast potatoes out on Sunday lunchtime which were always welcome. It’s funny how many of my happiest memories revolve around food.

                                            Football pitch at Boston Manor Park (M4 Motorway flyover in background)

Anyway, back to the Four Clubs Dinner. Our guest speaker for the evening was Maggs Latter, former Arts Development Officer for Elmbridge Borough Council who is an accomplished Speaker on a variety of topics. She has worked at literary festivals and is well known around the speaking circuit. The topic she was to speak to us about tonight was World War 1, of which 2014 had been the 100^th anniversary. Whilst this was obviously a huge subject to speak about for 40 minutes, Maggs did very well in personalising the Great War, with extracts from letters home sent by soldiers at the front line. She managed to convey the horror of a war, where hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in gaining a few yards of territory, and also the determination of all British people back home to ‘do their bit’ for the war effort.

                        Shepperton Aurora President Pauline Hedges (seated) with Ken Howe and mystery lady

I would like to invite Maggs to our club one morning to speak about a lighter subject. I have been told she can be very humorous, and obviously tonight’s topic was not one where humour could easily be included. All Rotary clubs love a good speaker, so it is always useful to make a note whenever we become aware of one.  The evening ended with the usual toasts and off we went, trying to remember the pass code to get through the gates at the end of the drive.

                                            Simon Bhadye, the DG, Maggs Latter and Eric Painter

Climbing the O2

23rd February. Today is Rotary Day, and the day I climb to the top of the O2 Arena to raise money  for the Rotary campaign End Polio Now. I was expecting a tough ordeal, especially as this morning’s weather forecast indicated snow on high ground.  The DG was to accompany me, so inevitably route planning was my first challenge. Fortunately the nearest tube station to the O2, North Greenwich, is wheelchair accessible, as is Waterloo, so the journey was actually very simple. We would not be travelling on London buses, so I did not need to top up my Oyster card, as my off peak travel card covered all travel that day.

                                                                 O2 Arena

We started off, as usual, by taking Daisy round to Linda’s, who will be looking after her until tomorrow morning. As a sweetener I also baked a Breton cake for Linda. I discovered a recipe for this cake recently, and it is without doubt the easiest cake in the world to make, and quite delicious. As my family name originated in Brittany, I like to think that in making this cake I am going back to my roots. Anyway, I hope Linda likes it.

                                                                 Breton Cake

Our train from Shepperton was a mere 5 minutes late and I was pleased that it went the direct route to Waterloo. The last time I travelled to London, the train took a very circuitous route and took an extra half an hour. I spoke to my nephew Jason, who is a driver for South West trains about this, and he said there were probably engineering works on the line that day which caused the train to be re-routed.  Anyway, we got to Waterloo in good time, and the train guard had phoned ahead for a ramp to be made available to unload the DG. The chap who came over with the ramp proved to be quite a character. He was an Irishman called Rod, and said that he had worked on the railways for 59 years, and was Waterloo’s oldest employee. He regaled us with some very entertaining stories of passengers he had met over the years. Whilst we generally find railway employees very helpful, this was the first time in many years that one of them had time to stop for a chat. As we went on our way, he asked when we would be travelling home. I said it would be about 5 p.m. ‘Oh’ he said, ‘By then, I will be getting wet indoors.’ I’m afraid I don’t know what he meant but didn’t like to say so. If anyone can enlighten me, please let me know.

                                                          Rod with ramp

From the mainline concourse, we took two lifts down to the Jubilee line, and before long we were aboard the train to Greenwich North. This section of the Jubilee line was built relatively recently, and every station between Waterloo and Stratford is fully wheelchair accessible. I was intrigued by an advert in the carriage from Transport for London, inviting passengers to write a poem about travelling on the Underground, which I might just have a go at. I just need to find a word that rhymes with ‘Consort’.

                                           O2 Arena seen from bus depot outside North Greenwich station

 From Greenwich North it is a two minute walk to the O2 Arena. At least it is if you leave by the correct door. We didn’t. We wasted a few minutes wandering around a bus depot, where we could see the O2 clearly, looming over everything else, but it wasn’t clear how we got to it. Eventually we followed a path around the side of the O2, and there we came across the station exit we should have used, which was a gentle stroll away from the main entrance to the Arena. It really is an impressive building when you see it close up. When it was built in 1999 and christened the Millennium Dome, it was widely derided as a white elephant and few commentators saw much of a future for it. But then a major sponsor, in the form of O2 came along, and its’ fortunes were transformed. It is now one of the leading music venues in the world, where you can see all the top bands perform, including Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones in recent years. The Brit Awards are being held there this week, and I noticed that Lionel Ritchie is appearing next month.

                                                                                I arrive at the O2

Just outside the entrance we came across a group of Rotarians which included Amanda Watkins, General Secretary of RIBI, Eve Conway, who will be RIBI President in 2016/17, Mukesh Malhotra, who was organising the event, John Fletcher and Lorna Thomas among others.  In all, 180 Rotarians were due to climb the O2 today for Rotary’s Polio campaign. They were going up, 30 at a time, at intervals from 12 noon until 5 p.m. My allotted time was 2 p.m. so I had time to see the first group set off. In fact, before setting off they went into a building adjacent to the O2, called ‘Base camp’ where they had some safety instructions and got kitted up for their ascent of the South face of the Arena.

At this juncture we went for some lunch, and didn’t find much choice in the area outside the Arena. We opted for Café Rouge, where we ordered from the Menu Rapide.  It was a pleasant enough meal, but ‘rapide’ it wasn’t. We were in there for just over an hour. The most memorable thing about the meal was a man sitting alone on an adjacent table, who nursed a coffee for the entire hour we were there, whilst making various loud mobile phone calls in French. 

                         The DG with, among others, Amanda Watkins, John Fletcher and Mukesh Malhotra

With an hour to spare we decided to wander around the inside of the O2 Arena , where we made a surprising discovery. It was full of food outlets! If only we had looked in here before deciding to have lunch, we could have chosen from every Restaurant imaginable, including two Brazilian ones. Before we went outside again, we stopped at Starbucks for a takeaway Hot Chocolate to warm us up before the climb. Something has changed recently regarding hot drinks in London – they don’t seem to be hot any more. This isn’t the first time we have stopped for coffees or hot chocolates and found them to be lukewarm at best, in some cases cool. My hot chocolate was pleasant enough, but I downed it in one go, and hardly felt any warmer as a result. Maybe it’s a ploy on behalf of the café chains to ensure customers don’t hang around for long, cluttering up their valuable tables. Whatever the reason behind it is, I don’t approve.

                                          Not-so-hot chocolates

 Eventually it was time to return to Base Camp, where my name was ticked off the list and in I went. As I sat with my fellow climbers, exchanging views on what lay ahead of us, our guides Liam and Sam introduced themselves to us, and asked if we had all remembered our waiver forms. My heart sank, as I realised I had forgotten to bring mine. Never mind, I thought, I expect I will be in good company with all the others who forgot to bring their form. Sadly that wasn’t the case. I turned out to be the only one to have forgotten it. To my relief I wasn’t escorted from the premises, but given another to complete, whilst a hilarious ‘safety’ film was shown to us. After that Liam took us through the equipment we would be taking with us, and how to use it. Firstly we were all told to empty our pockets, as it wouldn’t do to have items being dropped and sliding down the roof on to people below. 

The only things we could bring with us were one camera or mobile phone. We were given a waterproof jacket to wear over our existing clothing. The jacket had one small pocket for a camera.

                                                            The DG with fellow DG Jenny Muir

Over this jacket we wore a harness. Despite being carefully told how to put it on, I struggled to get into it correctly, much to the amusement of some of my fellow adventurers. Attached to the harness was a rather heavy gadget which dangled down from the waist, and would be used to connect the climber to the guide ropes on the walkway. Yes, there is a walkway, so my mountaineering equipment would not be required. The next thing was to put on some sturdy shoes to climb in. Although I felt my trainers would be adequate for the job, there was no negotiation, as everybody has to wear the same shoes. Apparently the organisers don’t want to risk mud and dirt from our own shoes being deposited on the roof. The shoes we were given were very good, Ecco Expedition, I think they were called. I was tempted to leave my own shoes behind and go home in these.

                                                         Fully kitted out

Finally, after our kit had been checked one last time by our guides, we set off. The beginning of the climb was a little disappointing, we just went up a staircase, and I resisted the temptation to clip myself to the banister as I went upstairs. We climbed the first 10 metres or so in this way before coming out into the open again on a platform, from where we saw the walkway stretching up over the building and out of sight. The guides took a lot of trouble ensuring we knew how to clip ourselves on to the guide rope, and how to move our dangling clip-on gadgets (I’m sure there is a proper name for these things but I don’t know it) through the junctions with upright posts. The system was very clever. As you got to one of the posts holding up the guide rope, you didn’t have to unclip yourself and then clip on again on the other side. You could just continue through the junction, provided you lined everything up correctly.

                                                       Final kit inspection from guide Liam

When you see it close up, you realise that the roof of O2 Arena is made of canvas, albeit very strong canvas. It is therefore more of a tent than a building. Our walkway was a couple of feet above the surface of the roof, but of a similar material, so it felt soft under foot and made the ascent somewhat more difficult than it would have been on a hard surface. The initial slope as we set off was, we were told, 30 degrees. This, said Liam, was equivalent to a red run on a ski slope. Not being a skier, this useful bit of information was lost on me. Other bits of information, however, were very interesting. Presumably because it was originally constructed to celebrate the new millennium, its dimensions are time-related. Its circumference is 365 metres (matching the days in a standard year. There are 12 yellow support struts holding it up (one for each month of the year), and its height is 52 metres (one for every week).

                                                         Going over the top - team 2.00

I was the sixth to set off in my group, and initially I was hanging on to the guide rope for dear life, until I learnt to trust my equipment to keep me safe, and I started to enjoy myself. There quickly developed a gap between the first three climbers and the rest of us because the lady in fourth place lost her nerve after the first few feet, and asked if she could go back down. The guides, to their credit, would not allow this and cajoled, encouraged and persuaded her every step of the way (there were also words of encouragement from the rest of us) until she made it to the top, for which she was most grateful.  As our journey was consequently slow, I had plenty of time to admire the view as it unfolded. I  saw the Excel across the river, the cable car crossing just downstream from us, and the Olympic stadium to the North of us. Things got a bit hairy about half way up, when we obviously emerged from shelter provided by surrounding buildings, into a howling gale. The guides put it well when they said ‘if it was too easy there would be no sense of achievement.’

                                                    Looking East towards the cable cars and the Thames barrier

It was a battle from that moment until we arrived at the top of the dome, where there is a circular viewing platform. Here we were able to unclip ourselves and wander around admiring the view. Being the most senior Rotarian present (not the oldest, I should add) I was given  a letter from R I General Secretary John Hewko to read out when we got to the summit.  I duly did this, shouting to make myself heard above the noise of the wind. In the letter, John Hewko  thanked all of us for our hard work and dedication, on this the 110^th anniversary of the Rotary’s founding, in the fight against Polio, and in providing clean water to those who badly need it.

                                                        Looking North towards the Olympic Park

The sun came out when we reached the summit,  and gave us superb views across North and East London. The Thames barrier could clearly be seen downstream, and looking between buildings I could even make out the arch of Wembley stadium, which Liam says is 22.5 miles distant. On the other hand, we could not see the City or the West End from our vantage point, because our view was obscured by the buildings of Canary Wharf immediately to our West. Looking up at the Barclays Bank Head Office building I was reminded of the many meetings I attended there during my career, when I looked out across the Millennium Dome towards the Thames Barrier and the London City airport. Those days seem a lifetime ago now.

                                                           On top of the Dome

The descent seemed steeper than the way up, and I struggled at times to keep on my feet. I tried to keep some distance between me and the chap in front so I didn’t take him out when I slipped.  However all was well and I didn’t slip and everyone got down exhilarated and in one piece. It had been a great experience, and I managed to raise a few hundred pounds in sponsorship towards Polio eradication. All that remained was to buy a T-shirt in the inevitable shop and head off home, reluctantly without my ECCO Expedition shoes.

                                        Team 2.00 descend the O2

As a last thought, it is not too late to sponsor me for this climb, even though it has now been completed. Just click on this link to make an online donation:                       https://www.justgiving.com/Mike-Gicquel/

District Council Meeting

12 February. I attend the very last Council meeting for District 1140. These meetings are designed to present reports from the various committees and for important issues to be voted on by delegates from all the clubs in the District.  As usual, it was held in the Holiday Inn Surbiton. There are only 3 District Council meetings per year and this was to be the last before the District merges with District 1250 at the end of June. I normally avoid such events, not being a great lover of committees, but on this auspicious occasion I felt the meeting needed an injection of charisma that only the Consort could provide. I assumed I would be on the top table, and had prepared a suitable 15 minute speech to mark the end of an era.

                                                          Holiday Inn Surbiton

The DG had arranged for us to meet Mike Thorn at the Hotel before the meeting for dinner, and we braved the early evening traffic around Hampton Court to arrive in good time. The DG was clearly well known as one of the Hotel managers met us and was very attentive as he showed us to a table. We hadn’t been there long when we were approached by a couple of plain-clothed policemen who introduced themselves to the DG.  After a moment’s panic, when I thought they had come about my parking ticket in the Staines Riverside car park last week (the reason I haven’t paid it yet is because I have appealed it, which they may not have known) I realised they were speakers booked for the meeting tonight. They were Detective Inspector Nigel Howard and DC Kevin Ives from the City of London Fraud Squad.

                                                                  Scene of the crime - Staines Riverside car park

They were here to talk to delegates about Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime. The DG magnanimously invited them to join us for dinner and they proved very interesting companions. I confessed that I hadn’t heard of Action Fraud, and they said that most people hadn’t, and that is why they were keen to go out and tell potential victims about it, and give advice on how to watch out for online and telephone scams, particularly investment scams  aimed at relieving victims of their money. Kevin said that he has a relative who is a Rotarian in the Birmingham area, and he and Nigel had been up to Solihull to speak at their District Council meeting. They  have identified that the demographics of victims of investment scams matches exactly with Rotarians, in terms of age ranges, where they live, educational background and amount of capital available to invest  (they can’t be talking about me). Accordingly they are looking to speak to groups of Rotarians whenever they can. A propos of nothing,the DG asked them if they are ever tempted to turn on their blue lights when running late, but Kevin said that would be a sacking offence. On our way to tonight’s meeting we were passed by two unmarked police cars with blue lights flashing. It was reassuring to know they were on official business.

There is an Indian chef at the Holiday Inn, and consequently their curries are very good.  We therefore both ordered a Lamb Rogan Josh, and it was excellent (although a bit hot for the DG, but she cooled hers down with some yogurt). The coppers had pasta and a sandwich (it looked more like a burger and chips to me) which they both seemed to enjoy, before disappearing into the Conference room to prepare for their talk. Meanwhile, we had been joined by Pauline Hedges and Mike Thorn, who had ordered his curry by phoning the DG whilst driving down the A3 (I hope the police didn’t overhear that conversation).

                                       Dinner is served - Mike Thorn, John Fletcher, Michael Ziedens, DG

Soon it was time to get things under way, and I told the DG I would be happy to help out in any official way if needed. I had envisaged maybe meeting and greeting VIP guests such as the RIBI President, who was due to visit tonight, or perhaps making myself available for having my photo taken with delegates. They may not get another opportunity. The DG, however, had other plans. She wanted me to collect names of teams for the forthcoming District Quiz. This entailed sitting at one end of the registration desk, speaking to delegates as they came to register. ‘You’ll have to be pro-active’ she said, ‘or people will be in the Conference Hall before noticing you’. I wasn’t so sure. After all, how could anyone fail to spot the Consort? They would be queuing up to register their quiz teams with me, I thought. The DG was a bit worried, because we only had 8 teams registered so far, and we needed a minimum of 12 teams to cover costs, and the quiz is booked for 7^th March. After a long half hour sitting on the registration desk, I made it into the Conference room just in time for the start of proceedings. We still had only 8 teams registered for the quiz.

                                                          Anybody for the District quiz?

There was no place for me on the top table, but Pauline had reserved me a seat next to her.  New Malden Rotary Club were hosting the Council meeting this evening, and their President Peter Skinley welcomed delegates to the Holiday Inn. Each club in the District (46 of them) is entitled to nominate two ‘voting delegates’. These have to register outside the room, where they collect their voting cards. The cards are held up when delegates vote on proposals.

                                                      Collectors item - District 1140 Voting card

There were about 100 Rotarians in the room, but only 29 clubs represented, which was a disappointing turn out for the organisers. After some opening remarks by the DG, the floor was given to my new best friends  Nigel and Kevin for their presentation on Investment fraud. They spoke about all sorts of scams (which they generically call ‘boiler room’ fraud), including gemstones, oil, carbon credits, gold. The thing that links them all is that they all revolve around cold calling with the promise that an investment will reap enormous profits. We were even shown a very professional-looking brochure enticing people to invest in coloured gemstones.  It seems amazing to me that anyone could be gullible enough to fall for such scams, but clearly they do, in their thousands. I suppose part of the problem is the very poor rates of interest available for savings generally, so people are looking for a better return.

                                                        Nigel Howard gives an arresting performance

The new thing to be on our guard against, said Kevin, is pension scams. With effect from this April, people can withdraw cash from their pension schemes and do what they want with it. What fertile ground this will be for the fraudsters. The underlying message is an obvious one ‘If it looks too good to be true, then it almost certainly is’. In a brief Q and A session, one member said that she had actually had a call regarding an investment in yellow diamonds, and had strung them along (the caller, I mean, not the diamonds) for a while before declining. The policemen said the best advice is to finish the conversation as soon as possible and put the phone down, then call Action Fraud. It seems if you show any interest in one of these cold calls your details get circulated to other fraudsters and you will get a never-ending stream of bogus callers.

                            RIBI President Peter King talks to Peter Meldrum - are those yellow diamonds?

We then had another speaker, a charming young Japanese lady called Chiho Ishezeki, who is studying at Royal Holloway College Egham thanks to a Rotary Global Scholarship. Her course is in Sustainability and Management, and in her spare time she volunteers for the National Trust at Runnymede. I was impressed with her command of English. Her name translates rather fetchingly into ‘A thousand ears of rice’. She described her home area and spoke about the Japanese culture of finding beauty in the transcience of seasonal events.

                                                                 Royal Holloway College

The next couple of items on the agenda were votes on various topics including approval of the budget next year for the new District. These all seemed to be passed unanimously, although I gather this is not always the case. I’m not surprised the budget was passed. I would certainly have voted in favour on the basis I didn’t really understand it. It’s easy to look wise raising your voting card with everyone else, rather than oppose the motion and risk being questioned about your reasons for doing so. The next item was a report from Peter Dancy, chair of the Conference committee for the new District. The conference will be in Bournemouth in October, and in Eastbourne the year after. These are the only two venues in the South of England that can hold the numbers (800 – 1,000) who are expected to attend the new District conferences in future.

                                                       Bournemouth

The DG then had some certificates to present to a number of clubs who had made significant contributions to the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign. Peter Morley of Sutton  Rotary Club, who is the District Officer for End Polio Now called up representatives from the clubs concerned (which included Shepperton and Sunbury) to receive their certificates, with a bit of ceremony, from the DG. Peter took the opportunity of updating us on the progress of ending Polio throughout the world. The extraordinary story is that 30 years ago there were 7,000 new cases of polio every week. Today there is just 1 new case per week. We are really very close! Of the new polio cases 85% are in Pakistan, where there has been some opposition to the immunisation of children, so that is the country where most efforts will be concentrated next year.

                                                      The DG presents certificates for End Polio Now donations

The final District Council meeting was almost over now, and the DG was clearly enjoying herself as she poked fun at a number of her team during her closing remarks. She accused Mike Thorn of stealing delegate voting cards, Ron Daniels of looking up the latest Harlequins score on his Ipad during the meeting, and Owen Durrett of incorrectly ringing the meeting bell to start her first District meeting. None of them looked particularly upset at these accusations.

                                                 The top table - PDG Ron Daniels, Secretary Owen Durrett, the DG

Just before the meeting closed we were shown the ‘new’ meeting bell for District 1145. It was originally used around 50 years ago when our District was no 14. It was put into storage when the enlarged District became no. 114, and then subsequently 1140. An engraver has managed to change the number on the bell from 14 to 1145, and it will be brought back into use for the new District.

                                                             The 'new' District 1145 bell 

Millennium Dome

In a departure from my usual custom, I am writing here about something I am going to do, rather than something I have done.  February 23^rd is Rotary Day and my friend Mukesh Malhotra has persuaded me to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of the founding of the  Rotary movement by participating in a sponsored climb of the Millennium Dome in London, now better known as the O2 Arena. Not having a great head for heights, I was at first reluctant, but on reflection, I can see the benefits to the organisers of the event if I attend, with all the additional media attention that would be created.

                                                                  Millennium Dome

Climbing is not something of which I have a great deal of experience, but I am determined to give it my best shot. The most important thing is to be properly prepared, and I have looked online at the sort of equipment I might need, such as ice axes and crampons (these look as though they could damage the roof of the building, but I guess the organisers will be insured against such things). I also thought it best to have with me a mountaineering tent, just in case the weather closes in and I have to spend the night up there. Then, of course I will need some means of making a hot drink, so I will need a stove, kettle and gas cylinder, as well as a lot of fresh water, and tea bags. Mukesh says a thermos flask will be enough, but what if it runs out?  You can’t take chances in extreme conditions. Then there is glare from the sun at high altitudes, for which I will need heavy duty sunglasses and lip protecting stuff. The list is growing bigger by the day. It won’t be cheap, but I am determined to have suitable kit for this expedition, as I don’t want to slow everyone down through being ill-prepared.

                                                               Deadly weapons?  A climber wearing crampons

As far as preparation for the physical exertion of climbing the dome is concerned, there hasn’t been a great deal I can do.  Shepperton is not situated in a mountainous area, so I can’t practice scaling peaks, but I have taken Daisy for a walk up St Ann’s Hill to do some altitude training. I didn’t wear the crampons as they don’t seem very effective in mud. I did, however, try out the new sunglasses and white-coloured lip salve. They seemed to work quite well, although I think I may have frightened some of my fellow dog-walkers.

 The view from St Ann's Hill

Anyway, the main purpose of the climb is to raise money for Charity, specifically End Polio Now and Walk for Water. Both these causes are supported by Rotary, and with the Polio campaign in particular, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has promised to increase every £1 raised by Rotarians to £3 through funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It helps to have friends in high places. Did you know that through Rotary’s efforts over the past 30 years, Polio, which was once endemic throughout the world including Europe, is now restricted to just three countries? Our campaign is designed to finally eliminate this terrible disease from the world.

If anyone who happens to be reading this blog would like to sponsor me by making a small donation to these worthy causes, all you have to do is go to https://www.justgiving.com/Mike-Gicquel/  and follow the simple instructions. All contributions, however small, will be seriously appreciated. I will of course report on the expedition when it has been completed.

PR Workshop - York Gate London

31 January.  I undertake a solo engagement in London, as I have been invited to a Public Relations Workshop at York Gate, Regents Park.  I suppose they wanted me there because of all the high level  meetings I am regularly involved in, and the insight I can therefore give in presenting a positive image of Rotary. I had to be there for 9 a.m. so it necessitated an early start. I was aiming for the 7.10 train from Shepperton, which would get me in to Waterloo at about 8 a.m. I then intended to walk to York Gate, which I reckoned would take me about an hour, but I quite enjoy walking through central London. I don’t do it often enough to become tired of it. As it happened, I got to Shepperton a little earlier than expected and caught an earlier train, leaving at 6.59 a.m. I didn’t mind arriving a little earlier, as I could always stop for a coffee en route.The train was almost completely empty apart from me, as it left Shepperton.

                                                         Unusual, empty train leaving Shepperton

Before long, I wished I hadn’t caught this train. It went as far as Kingston, then stopped for 10 minutes. When it got going again we were going back the way we had just come! We went back to Teddington, then turned off for Strawberry Hill, now taking the loop to Waterloo via Richmond. This was annoying, as we didn’t arrive until 8.20, too late for me to walk to York Gate and arrive in time. So I had two choices, either to take a bus, or the faster Tube. I decided on the Tube, as I remembered what happened a few months ago, on the buses.

                                                                  Strawberry Hill Station

The last time I travelled on London’s buses was particularly memorable for me, as I had three altercations with different bus drivers in one day. It was November last year, and the DG and I decided to have a day in London. I wanted to see the Late Turner exhibition at the Tate Britain Gallery and we both wanted to see the poppies at the Tower of London. The Tate Gallery was a simple walk from Vauxhall station so no problems there. To get to the Tower, however, we needed to catch a bus to The Aldwych, then change and get another to Tower Hill. I thought it would be easy. Virtually all London’s buses are now accessible to wheelchairs, by virtue of a ramp in the middle of the vehicle which automatically comes down to the kerb, making it easy to board the bus.  Furthermore disabled passengers travel for free, so it was just me who needed a ticket. Our previous trip to London had been almost 12 months previously, when I learnt how to obtain my ticket by means of a machine situated at the bus stop. A very good system, I thought, which saves time when boarding the bus.

                                                        Turner's The Blue Rigi, Sunrise

However the system had changed in the intervening period. Outside the Tate Gallery, there was a bus stop but no machine to obtain a ticket from. Never mind, I thought, I’ll just pay the driver. When the bus arrived, the DG was loaded via the ramp, and I went to the front of the bus to pay for my ticket. ‘I can’t take any cash’ the bus driver said. ‘Well how can I pay for my ticket?’ I replied. ‘You need an Oyster card’ he told me. I knew about Oyster cards, of course, but I had never used one before. They are basically a payment card that you can pre-load with money, just like a top-up phone. They can be used on Tube trains as well as buses, by simply  touching them against a pad as you enter. My problem was, I was now on the bus and I didn’t have an Oyster card. ‘You can stay on the bus if you want’ said the driver ‘but if a ticket inspector comes aboard, you might end up with a £100 fine’. I opted to stay on the bus, but was on tenterhooks every time we stopped, in case a Blakie lookalike (remember him? ‘I hate you Butler’) was waiting to get on.

                                       A London Bus. The ramp comes out below the doors in the middle of the bus

We made it safely to The Aldwych, where I resolved to get myself an Oyster card. The trouble is, I didn’t know where I could buy one. I asked a man who looked like a tour guide and he was extremely helpful. I could get one at any Tube station, he said, but the nearest Tube station was about 15 minutes walk for us. A better idea, he said, would be to walk up Fleet Street, which was on our way, as there were two Newsagent shops which sold Oyster Cards. So off we went along Fleet Street, and about halfway along I spied a Newsagent where I bought an Oyster Card. The card cost £5 and then I invested £10 into it, which I reckoned would be enough for the 3 bus journeys I expected to make that day.

                                                                      A bus ramp

Armed with our Oyster Card, the DG and I went to the nearest bus stop, and it wasn’t long before our bus came along. The driver didn’t put the automatic ramp down straightaway, so I walked to the front of the bus and asked him if he could let the ramp down for the wheelchair. He had to move forward a bit as he wasn’t correctly lined up with the kerb, but we were soon on board, and I walked proudly to the front of the bus to flourish my Oyster Card. To my surprise the driver seemed rather cross. ‘How was I supposed to know you wanted this bus?’ he said. This took me by surprise.  ‘How do you mean’ I asked politely. He said ‘If I knew you wanted this bus I would have lined up properly to the kerb and there wouldn’t have been all this hassle’. ‘I’m sorry’, I said ‘I’ll stick my arm out in future’. ‘I don’t care what you stick out’ he said ‘So long as you get my attention.’ It occurred to me then that these drivers take pride in pulling up at bus stops, and don’t like having to undertake further manoeuvres. ‘Please forgive me’ I said ‘We don’t come to London very often’. I even put a slight West Country burr to my voice for added effect. On reflection I don’t know why I did that, as I don’t suppose the driver cared where we were from.

                                                               Oyster card with pad

Anyway we got off the bus at Tower Hill without further incident, and spent some time at the Tower admiring the amazing display of ceramic poppies marking the centenary of the First World War. There was one poppy for every British soldier who died, over 800,000 of them. After lunch it was time to catch our bus back to Waterloo Station. This time I was determined to do everything perfectly. As our bus approached I waved ostentatiously to the driver, who stopped and put down the ramp for us. I walked to the front of the bus to wave my Oyster card at the pad. There was no comment from the driver. We needed to get off near Waterloo Bridge Road, so I kept a look out and when we arrived at the stop that we wanted, the side doors were opened and people got on and off. The ramp, however didn’t come down. So I asked the driver if he would kindly let the ramp down for us so we could get off. ‘ Why didn’t you ring the bell?’ he said crossly. ‘The bell by the wheelchair space has a different ring and then I know you need the ramp.’ Once again he wasn’t correctly lined up to the kerb and would have to do some difficult manoeuvring. I told him not to worry, we would get off at the next stop. ‘Are you sure?’ he said, starting to feel sorry for me now. ‘Yes’ I said. I didn’t tell him, but I had noticed that the next stop was the one we really wanted, and I thought I would retain the moral high ground.

                                                        Amazing display of poppies at the Tower of London

I had enough money left on my Oyster Card for one more bus trip, so instead of walking over Waterloo Bridge, we caught a bus. For the first time today, everything went smoothly. The bus was correctly hailed, I paid with my card, I rang the bell and told the driver in advance when we wanted to alight, and he even gave us a cheery wave as we left. At last I'd cracked it!

                                             Waterloo Sunset (not my picture)

Anyway, back to the PR Workshop. I caught the Jubilee Line to Baker Street, and walked past Madame Tussauds (people were queuing to get in already) and arrived at no. 6 York Gate at 8.45. This fine Georgian building is the headquarters of the London Rotary District 1130. I don’t know whether they own the building, but they certainly have use of the downstairs rooms, as meetings and events are held there all year round. They are not the only residents of the building, as I was shortly to discover. Upon arrival I met the Workshop Leader, Stewart Gilbert, and some old friends, Mukesh Malhotra, Mike Thorn and John Fletcher of Kew Gardens. Also there was Jenny Muir, DG of District 1260, and she told me the story of how she lost one of her Presidents the previous night (he was following her car but they got separated in traffic). I don’t think my DG has managed to do that yet.

                                                             Madame Tussauds

Before settling down, I thought I would use the loo, and there was a notice on the meeting room door which said that toilets were at the top of the stairs. So off I went, not realising that there must have been 4 long flights of stairs to get to the top of the building. Breathing a little heavily at the top of the stairs, I then I walked quite a way along a corridor before coming to the gents toilet. Looking for a sink to wash my hands in, I went through a partition, only to surprise someone having a shower! I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me. When I got back downstairs, I learnt that there were a number of residents using flats on the upper floors, and it must have been one of them that I surprised. The toilet I should have used was actually downstairs.

                                                          6 York Gate, Regents Park

The workshop got under way more or less on time, and we had a pretty impressive line up of presenters, starting with Stewart Gilbert, who has a background as a newspaper editor. He had some very good messages about the importance of a strategic plan which should have as its objectives supporting and strengthening clubs and enhancing Rotary’s public image. 

                                                       Before the work begins

Our next speaker was called Marius (I didn’t catch his surname) who had some useful things to say about the latest Rotary catch-phrase, giving ‘The Gift of Rotary’ to others. I didn’t agree with everything he said, but he was right when he said that clubs could be more welcoming to visitors if they were to attract new members. He also said some interesting things about Corporate Membership, which Rotary seems to be taking seriously at last.

                                                     Networking - Jenny Muir, Mike Stone and Mukesh Malhotra

Mukesh was on next, talking about his favourite topic, Social Media, and demonstrating how it can be used to good effect. He gave as an example, his ‘World’s Greatest Meal’ idea to raise funds for the end Polio now campaign. With his co-conspirator, Suzanne Rea from Australia this initiative was launched last year, and publicised almost entirely by Social media (ie. Facebook and Twitter). As a result, it has reached 60 countries across the world and has raised some £2 million for End Polio Now. How amazing is that? His latest project is to walk across the Dome of the O2 Building in London to raise funds for the Polio campaign, and in a weak moment I agreed to join him on this venture.

                                                         Mukesh with Suzanne Rea on another occasion

The meeting then took on an International feel,  as we  had a talk from a Bulgarian Rotaractor,  Iva Grigorova. As well as being the Vice President of the Sofia-Balkan Rotaract Club, she is also a member of the Bulgarian Society of  Public Relations, so was suitably qualified to address our august group of PR chairmen, a DG and a Consort.  In excellent English, she described an initiative in her own country that she is involved in, to improve PR among Rotary Clubs. Remarkably she is only over here for 4 days, and one of those was spent addressing a similar meeting to this. I hope she spent the remaining two days of her trip doing some sightseeing.

                                                         Attentive delegates - can you see me?

Last speaker before lunch was the most informative, I thought.  Peter Walker is a Past President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and is a senior partner in a major Public Relations Consultancy.  He gave some valuable tips on how to prepare Press Releases and other communications with Media organisations, and showed examples of horror stories of Rotary Club’s coverage in Local press.  He recommended doing some research among our families, in the High Street, at our events etc. to discover the public’s perception of Rotary. Research carried out nationally indicates that 4 out of 10 people don’t even know what Rotary is.

                                                        Our presenters - Mukesh, Iva, Peter, Jan, Stewart, Jane

We had an excellent lunch prepared for us by Deaba, who I understand is the regular caterer for events at York Gate. Chicken casserole with rice and potatoes dauphinoise was followed by either fruit salad or chocolate cake (or both, in my case). I couldn’t fault any of it. When given a choice, my instinct is to go for quantity rather than quality, but this meal scored highly on both counts. Lunch didn’t last long, as we were running half an hour late already, but I had a chance for a chat with Peter Walker, who I suggested shouldn’t be too hard on organisations who get poor coverage in the local press. I cited examples of my own, where I have sent press releases to the local paper for Rotary events, and what gets published often bears little resemblance to the report sent in. I also had an opportunity to speak to Paul Sharma, one of the delegates, who has devoted the past 18 years to organising highly successful Dragon Racing events around the country. I told him about the great day I had with Kingston Rotary Club at their Dragon Boat race last July.

                                                                     Deaba in charge of catering

After lunch we had a short talk from Jan Meek, who is a most extraordinary woman. At the age of 50 she rowed across the Atlantic with her son, and 10 years later she walked to the North Pole with him. She was the first woman to row the Atlantic and has 3 Guinness  World Records to her name. She was inspirational, and I would have liked to hear more from her. I think the reason she was invited to speak to us was to give us an example of a good speaker, because too often clubs have lacklustre speaker programmes, which don’t entertain members or attract visitors.

                                                                              Jan Meek with Paul Sharma

The talk from Jan Meek was followed by Jane Hammond, editor of Rotary in London giving us an exercise, in syndicates, to devise club programmes for a District to encourage clubs to book quality speakers (like Jan) in order to attract better attendance at clubs and increase interest in joining.  This exercise took care of the rest of the afternoon. In the question and answer session which concluded the Workshop, I learned a useful piece of information from Peter Walker, who said that large PR Consultancies will sometimes to ‘Pro bono’ work for clients, particularly charities. This effectively means they don’t charge for their work, and Peter suggested we approach PR Consultants in our areas for pro bono help. There’s no harm in asking, after all.

                                                            Our presenters pose in front of End Polio Now banner

As we were leaving I bought a book on PR, called ‘Managing Your Reputation’ by Roger Haywood for a discounted price of £5. If nothing else, I thought, it would be something to read on the train home. I walked to Baker Street Tube station with Jenny Muir and Michael Ziedens, a former Rotaractor who is now a member of an e-Rotary Club. This is a new concept, where people join an online Rotary Club, and have their meetings online. I‘m not sure that would suit me, I prefer face to face contact with people. On the train I read the first few pages of my new book and found it very readable. One extract particularly appealed to me. The author, Roger Haywood wrote this: ‘ Churchill put it better when he said to me once ‘If you ain’t got the punters with you, mate, you can forget it’.*

I was dismayed to find that the train did exactly the same thing as this morning in reverse. It went via Richmond all the way round the loop to Kingston, then retraced its steps back to Teddington before branching off to Shepperton. Was I just unlucky, or is this the new route to and from Waterloo?  I sincerely hope not.

*Fred Churchill, proprietor of the  Fix’em Fast Motor Centre, Wandsworth.