Eviction

Being forcibly housebound due to Covid 19, I thought I would take the opportunity to resume this blog. A lot has happened since my last post, including the Rotary Club’s surprise eviction from its meeting venue, the Hare and Barrel Hotel, at Christmas 2018. The name of the hotel is significant to the local area, as the depiction of a hare jumping over a barrel features on the Watton town sign. This is because the ‘wat’ of Watton is an old local dialect word for hare, and ‘ton’ means tun, or barrel. We understood that the hotel was closing as it couldn’t make profits, and there were plans to change its use into an addiction clinic (In the event it re-opened a year later as a bar / Restaurant called ‘Verve by Watton’).

At the time of our eviction I had been a member of the Rotary Club for about 12 months, during which time I had kept a low profile, supporting its activities, but not putting myself forward for anything. One thing I had been determined about, following my transfer from Shepperton Aurora, was that I would never say things like ‘That’s not how we did it at Aurora’. I have always found that sort of comment intensely annoying, as it conveys a sense of superiority, which never goes down well with others. So I just went with the flow, trying not to be controversial.

Hare & Barrel Hotel

Taking a back seat for my first year in Watton Rotary suited me and the PDG, as we had a lot to do at home in sorting out our move from Shepperton.  As I write this, it is now two and a half years since our move to Norfolk, and we still have a shed full of boxes that need to be gone through.

My shed

Anyway, back to the eviction. Early in December  the Club were notified that the hotel was closing permanently, and we needed to find a new venue with effect the 1^st January, or we would be homeless. My first reaction was one of puzzlement, then of despair. Didn’t they realise we are a Rotary Club?  We don’t do things urgently. If we are to decide on a change of direction, or a new procedure, it has to be debated over a minimum six months before a decision is reached. How would we cope with a two-week ultimatum?

In the event, I needn’t have worried, we reacted very quickly. Within a week or two a shortlist of  4 or 5 different venues in and around Watton were identified, visited by a sub-committee set up for the purpose, and the pros and cons of each were discussed at a full meeting of club members. I recall that it was a long debate, with members firmly in the camp of one venue or the other, but eventually it was put to the vote and the majority went for Broom Hall Hotel in Richmond Road, just half a mile from the Hare and Barrel.

Broom Hall Country Hotel

I was very happy with the move to Broom Hall. Firstly, it was half a mile nearer to my home, and I could walk to meetings, which I find far preferable to driving there. Now I could enjoy a pint before the weekly meeting, and a glass of wine during dinner, without worrying about being over the limit whilst driving home. Also I found the meals more to my liking. We have a two course meal during our meetings comprising main course, followed by dessert or cheeses and biscuits. At the previous venue I had always opted for cheese and biscuits, as the desserts were not usually to my taste. However, at our first meal at Broom Hall, apple pie and custard was served for dessert, true comfort food for me. Unfortunately I had pre-ordered cheese and biscuits, but that was the last time I did so. I have always gone for the dessert ever since.

Apple pie & custard

The hotel have, I think, looked after us well over the past 15 months. We have a private room for our meetings, storage for our equipment and good parking outside. Some of my old friends from Shepperton Aurora visited last summer to spend the weekend in Norfolk. On my recommendation they stayed at Broom Hall and were very happy with it, to my relief. On occasion our Rotary Club hires the main restaurant for a function, so I think our association with the Hotel has been to our mutual benefit. Unfortunately like all hotels and pubs in the UK it has been forced to close its doors in the current Covid 19 pandemic and as I write this it is not clear when it  can re-open.

Shepperton Aurora members 

Some highlights from 2019 at Watton Rotary Club include supporting the education of young people locally, which we do in a number of ways.  Illustrated Usborne Dictionaries are presented to local primary school children, a great way of promoting literacy in the UK. Rotary clubs across the country do this, and the dictionaries are always very well received by children and teachers alike. Personally I think this is one of the best things we do, as many children will treasure their dictionary  for the rest of their lives, and every time they open the front cover they will see that it was presented to them by the local Rotary Club.

We also organise competitions at the  Wayland Academy, the only secondary school in our area. The school has a state-of-the-art training kitchen, which I have visited, and we support a Young Chef competition every year, organised by Mike H. I have volunteered to be on the judging panel for this competition, but there seems to be a queue. Another competition is for photography, organised by Dr Mike. For a number of years we have sponsored a poetry competition at the school, but this seems now to have fallen by the wayside. I have been to the school a couple of times to meet the Head and Deputy Head to discuss forming an Interact Club at the school (well, I would, wouldn’t I?). This idea hasn’t got off the ground yet, but I’m always hopeful.

Training kitchen at Wayland Academy

Service activities included helping at 2 Crucial Crew events, where youngsters in their last year of Primary School attend a number of workshops away from their school, to prepare them for some of the risks they need to be aware of, such as cyber-bullying, fire hazards, road sense, smoking and drugs. These are organised by the Fire Service in Norfolk, and I think they are a timely introduction to the world that awaits them outside Primary school. We also provided stewards at the town firework display. Every year we make a community award to an individual and to a group who we believe to have done outstanding work in the community.

David B presents individual vocational award to worthy recipient

Fundraisers last year included 2 quizzes organised by Pat, a Dixie Mix jazz concert at Queens Hall,  and our Umbrella festival at Watton carnival, which we did for the second year running.  We also purchased and presented a hospital approved easily moveable bed for the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Charity for use by anyone needing to stay overnight with their seriously ill relatives. Master-minded by  David W the bed was officially presented just before Christmas. David also masterminded the production of emergency toiletries bags, once again for the use of relatives who needed to stay over. The nursing staff at the hospital were hugely appreciative of Watton Rotary Club's continued support for NNUHC. 

David B and David W present 'Rotary' bed to Norfolk & Norwich Hospital

Social activities in 2019 included a barbecue at Andrew’s house, a visit to Peter Beales’ wonderful rose nursery in Attleborough, a car treasure hunt organised by Ivan, and a safari supper, where we travelled to different Rotarians’ houses for starters, then elsewhere for main course, then all back for dessert at the President’s house. ‘That’s not how we did dinner parties at Shepperton Aurora’ I couldn’t resist saying. Another safari supper is planned for this year. The PDG and I are down for a main course if it goes ahead.

Umbrella festival was well supported for second year running

Well, that was a whistle stop tour through another Rotary year. Hopefully I will have time to post a little more frequently from now on, and perhaps cover some non-Rotary activities as well.

Dixie Mix  jazz band

Crabs and Umbrellas

I have been a member of Watton & District Rotary Club for a year now, following my transfer from Shepperton Aurora. There have been many differences between the two clubs. Firstly and most obviously, there is a geographical difference. Watton is 150 miles North East of Shepperton, in an area I was unfamiliar with prior to moving there.  I had no contacts in Watton, in fact I knew nobody. Similarly, my new Rotary colleagues knew nothing of me or the PDG when we joined them, and all our previous fame meant nothing to them. Whereas I could have walked down Shepperton High Street at any time of day and met a dozen people I knew, I was a stranger in Watton.

Watton town sign, featuring Babes n the Wood and the Hare and Barrel

So the Rotary Club was a bit of a lifeline, in getting to know some influential local people, and in getting myself involved in the community. Their local knowledge has been invaluable, and I have enjoyed their easy going company.  I felt at home from day one, not least because there are four other members called Mike, making me Mike the fifth, or Jersey Mike as some have nicknamed me, in recognition of my ancestry. More than half the club’s membership have at some time served in the Armed Forces, either the army or RAF, and in one case both. Consequently I have become adept at spotting the various military aircraft that fly over the area, whether they are Eurofighters, F-35s or Ospreys. On one memorable afternoon I was thrilled to see a Lancaster Bomber flying over my house. Pretty remarkable, given that there is now only one Lancaster still flying.

The Osprey, part helicopter, part plane

Other big differences between the two clubs are that Watton meets in the evenings, whereas Aurora met for breakfast, and furthermore Watton had a membership comprising only men, compared to Aurora’s 50% female membership. A breakfast-meeting Rotary club has to complete all its business in about an hour, but an evening meeting is more relaxed and can extend until closing time. Another difference, which would be insignificant unless you were in a wheelchair, was that the exterior to the Hare and Barrel pub, where the club meets, was covered in gravel. If that wasn’t enough of a problem, the entrance was through a narrow door, with internal steps down to the meeting room.

Hare and Barrel Hotel

In view of these differences, the PDG decided to resign as a member after just 3 months. The combination of evening meetings (she doesn’t much care for late nights these days), difficulty in getting in and out of the venue, and the lack of female company were the main reasons. Another factor was that she was very busy at home in getting the new house the way she wanted it, which she found tiring.  The Rotary club members were horrified to receive her resignation. Having taken 60 years to welcome a lady member into their midst, they were appalled to lose her so soon. Their main worry was that someone had upset her, but she quickly reassured them on this point. Every Rotary event she has attended since leaving, she is told they are missing her, and when is she going to come back. Maybe she will one day.

Our new house

I have maintained my membership of the Rotary Club, and whilst I haven’t exactly jumped in with both feet, I have slowly become more involved in its activities. I have attended most meetings in the past year, helped out with collections at Tesco’s, supported a number of social events, and probably most enjoyably, got involved in service activities, which are what I think Rotary is all about.

Tesco at Watton

During the summer, I gave a ‘My job’ talk to the club. Most new members are asked to talk about their lives and careers at some point during their first year, which helps existing members get to know them. I decided to take the subject literally and gave an account of every job I ever had, from dinner monitor at school to Bank Manager, via paper boy, dish washer and (later) waiter at a Chinese Restaurant, labourer on a motorway construction site, and barman.  I told my story through a series of anecdotes, which I hoped would keep them amused. I had been given 30 minutes for my talk and my first thought was ‘how can I talk for that long?’ In the event I had to be stopped after 40 minutes and I hadn’t even got half way through the talk. I gave them a second instalment a few weeks later.

M3 Motorway - I helped build it

Social events during the year included an ‘Un-Christmas dinner’ in February, a Jazz evening in March, and then in July probably my favourite trip, a visit to Cromer. It was my first ever trip to Cromer, which is one of the main seaside destinations on the East Coast. The town is famous for its crabs,  found in shallow, flinty water, which is particularly clean, and gives the crab its distinctive taste. Distinctive or not, I have never liked the taste of crabmeat, although I have tried at regular intervals during my life.  The fact is, that whenever I have bought myself a crab sandwich, I’ve always regretted it.

Dressed Cromer crab

Anyway, back to the Cromer trip. A coach was organised to take us there in the early evening, although the PDG and I opted to take our car and gave a lift to two others. We had fish and chips on the pier, then went to see the show in the theatre at the end of the pier. What a treat that was. Cromer boasts the last end-of-pier show in the country, and it was like stepping back in time, listening to the corny jokes of the compere, watching magicians, singers, dancers. It wasn’t what you might call a West End production, but it was great fun, and there was something essentially English about it. I think we’ll go back there again next summer.

Theatre at the end of Cromer Pier

I have got involved in a couple of service projects this year, beginning with ‘Crucial Crew’ in early summer. This involved spending a day at Easton & Otley Agricultural College, escorting groups of children around a series of talks being given to them on important aspects of personal safety. The children (all year 6 and therefore in their last year at Primary school, I’m told) are brought in by the busload to attend  10 x 10 minute workshops at the College, delivered by The Norfolk Fire Service, the police, coastguards, Electricity board and numerous others. The idea is to give the youngsters some important information about staying safe at home, online, or in the community.

My job was to take charge of a group of children and their teachers, and escort them around the building to make sure they went from room to room promptly without anyone getting lost. I had one group in the morning, and another in the afternoon, and got to sit in all the workshops. I thought the talks were excellent.

Particularly noteworthy were the Fire brigade’s simulation of a fire at home, the Police’s explanation of the dangers facing youngsters on social media, and a talk on alcohol and drug awareness, where a jar filled with tar was used to indicate what one year of smoking can do to your lungs. The children were visibly shocked by this particular demonstration, and I heard at least two of them say they would try and get their parents to stop smoking. I thought the Crucial Crew was a valuable day spent in preparing children to stay safe in the dangerous world they are growing up in. It was a pleasure playing a small part in it, and if I have the opportunity I will volunteer again next year.

Norfolk Fire & Rescue

The Rotary Club tried something new this year, from an idea put forward by Paul C. We organised an umbrella festival, and I sat on the organising sub-committee as a tentative first step towards ‘getting involved’. What we did was to buy a number of good quality white umbrellas at a cost of £5 each. People were invited to purchase these at £10 each and then decorate them any way they wished. The decorated umbrellas would then be entered into a competition, to be judged in September on the weekend of the Watton Carnival. Prizes would be awarded to the winners in the junior and adult sections. Then all the umbrellas would be displayed during the carnival procession.

Some of the umbrella entries

Some sponsorship money was obtained to cover costs, which which enabled us to offer some umbrellas free of charge to disadvantaged children. We expected to make a minimum charitable donation of £5 for every umbrella we sold. As it was a new initiative for Watton, we had no idea what the response would be, and thought that if we had a dozen or so entries it would be good enough for our first year. To our delight, the competition really caught the imagination of the public, and we actually sold 110 umbrellas. We had to keep going back to our suppliers for more of them. I even managed to sell 9 myself (to be honest I told one of my neighbours about the festival and she sold them all).

Umbrellas being paraded through Watton

Interestingly, although we sold so many umbrellas, we only had 41 entry forms back, and then on the day of judgement, just 31 were brought in. However that was enough for a decent competition, and still a lot more than we anticipated when we started planning the Festival. The umbrellas looked good in the parade, we managed to get plenty of publicity and we raised over £900 for charity. Needless to say, we will be doing it again next year.

Two beauties, and the umbrellas aren't bad either

That’s about it for my first 10 months with the Rotary Club. Now that I’m more or less finished with assembling furniture, unpacking boxes and drilling holes in stud walls (which I hate doing) the new house is just about sorted, and I can perhaps get more involved with the club’s activities.

Pastures New

On October 2^nd last year the PDG and I moved home, leaving the bustling West of London suburb of Shepperton for rural Norfolk, about 150 miles to the North east. We had actually been planning the move for a few years. Our terraced house in Shepperton had been our home for 36 years, ever since we were married, and we were very happy there. It was not, however, very wheelchair friendly, particularly upstairs, where the PDG couldn’t access one of the bedrooms, and increasingly found the bathroom a struggle to get in to.

Our old house on the day we left

This situation was not going to improve so we resolved to look for a home which would ideally be on one floor, and where all parts of it would be accessible to a wheelchair user. Our plan was to start looking when my year as President of Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club finished, at the end of June. At the beginning of June we put our house on the market, and to our surprise it sold within a couple of weeks. The race was on, then, to find somewhere to move to before our buyers lost interest. We wanted to move to a bungalow, but there was no way we could afford one around Shepperton. They were in such short supply, and demand was so great, that prices were way too high for us.

A typically unaffordable bungalow in Shepperton (picture from web)

So we had to look elsewhere. The PDG has a sister in Essex, so we started looking at properties in that area, but a three day property hunting tour in July failed to locate anything within our price range that we particularly liked. Whilst there were plenty of bungalows for us to look at, most of them were not very accessible. For instance, several had steps up to the front door. Many also had gravel driveways leading to the front door. So regardless of how nice the house was inside, we often had major problems just getting in. Often we found rooms to be very small, and with narrow doorways through which a wheelchair could not pass.

Essex

Then we had a revelation, we discovered that since 2003, new buildings were required to have doorways wide enough for wheelchairs. Armed with this knowledge, in early August we took another 3 day tour, this time concentrating on Suffolk and Norfolk, where there was more choice, and prices were cheaper. We saw some beautiful properties, but which were too small for us, or not in a good  location, and by day two we were getting demoralised. We had just looked at a property in Swaffham which had everything we needed. Access was good, doorways were wide, but it was just dull and uninspiring. It was on a big housing estate and seemed more suburban than the house we were moving from.

Wide doorway

As we drove away from the Swaffham property we both wondered whether we would ever find anything to get us enthused. Our next viewing was about 7 miles away, in a village we had never heard of, called Saham Toney. It was a newly-built bungalow and we weren’t at all sure it would be suitable. In our experience, new-built housing estates tended to be too tightly packed, with small houses and little space around them. When we arrived at Japonica Lodge, I was immediately impressed with it. Here is a property with presence, I thought. Although we didn’t say so at the time, we both had the same positive feeling about it. We parked on the wide driveway and walked straight into the wide hallway, across the threshold which was perfectly level. The bungalow was a one-off build, not part of an estate, and was beautifully finished in our opinion. It had big rooms, and a pleasant garden overlooking a windmill.

Village sign

On our way to our next appointment we both agreed that Japonica Lodge was by far the best we had seen so far and we were unlikely to find anything better, so we phoned the estate agents and put in an offer, which was accepted. So that was that. All that remained was to tie up all loose ends, pack up our house and move to Norfolk, which occurred a couple of months later. Two months should allow us plenty of time to prepare, but as the leaving date approached, everything seemed to be happening too quickly. I managed to meet up with some of my family before we moved, to say farewell, but we didn’t manage to see all our friends face to face before we went. We have resolved to go back to Shepperton periodically to catch up with old friends.

Japonica Lodge

Our new address means that we can no longer attend Rotary meetings at Shepperton Aurora, so we have transferred our membership to the Rotary Club of Watton and District, the nearest club to our new home. It is an evening club, a new experience for us, and meets less than a mile away, at the Hare and Barrel pub in Watton. The other interesting thing about them is that until now they have been a male-only club, so having the PDG in their midst will be a new experience for them. Watch this space!

The Hare & Barrel

Purple Crocuses

21 September. Today we planted 5,000 purple crocuses. So why on earth did we do that? Well, it’s all part of Rotary’s ongoing campaign to rid the world of Polio. I can remember going to school with children who were affected by Polio, which paralysed their limbs and made walking without assistance almost impossible. That’s because 50 years ago, Polio was very evident in the UK, as it was throughout the world. Most people I knew whilst growing up would have known someone, or a family that was affected by the disease. Since 1988, when Polio was still endemic in 125 countries, Rotary have been working to eradicate this terrible disease, launching the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign with tremendous success. New cases of polio have reduced by 99.9% and it is now endemic in just 3 countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

This  has been achieved through tremendous efforts to immunise all children in countries where it is endemic. This has to be done yearly, even after there have been no new cases reported in that country. Hundreds of millions of children are immunised every year with an oral vaccine, and two of my colleagues at Shepperton Aurora have attended national Immunisation days (NIDs) in India. In the sub-continent there have been no new reported instances of the virus for  2 or 3 years, but annual immunisation of millions of kids must continue whilst there is a risk of it returning. The cost of this programme is huge, running into many millions of pounds, but we have a major partner in Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who through his charitable Foundation, gives £2 for every £1 we raise. Therefore £100 raised by Rotary towards End Polio Now becomes £300.

Bill Gates

So many children are immunised every year in India alone that a way needed to be found to establish who had been inoculated and who hadn’t, or there would be a risk of treating the same child more than once. The problem was solved by painting the little finger on the left hand of each child who had been immunised purple. The dye used takes a few days to come off.  So the idea of the ‘purple pinkie’ was born. Children will still try and have a second dose, by covering their fingers with a bandage or suchlike, because recipients always get a sweet, or a toy or something to encourage them.

A child's finger is painted

In the last couple of years Rotary in Britain and Ireland has had a ‘Purple for Polio’ campaign to assist our fundraising for the immunisation programme. The purple crocus has come to symbolise the Purple for Polio campaign, as it represents the ‘purple pinkie’. RIBI’s plan is to plant 10 million purple crocuses throughout our islands this year, and we have bought 5,000 of them. Sunbury Manor School  agreed that they could be planted at the school, and have gone even further by purchasing another 5,000 themselves. Allan Cottle, Deputy Head at the school has been very supportive of our wishes to publicise the End Polio Now campaign, and offered us a stretch of grass between the school car park and the street, where we can create a swathe of purple next spring through the mass planting of crocuses.

Crocuses

Having been ordered in July, the crocuses (variety Ruby Giant) arrived from Holland in mid-September, and it was my task to collect our club’s order of two boxes from Company Moves in Fleet, the business of Kevin Mack, who generously took delivery of all the boxes ordered for our District. The e-mail said that 1.5 tons of boxes had been delivered, and hinted that a fork-lift truck may be needed to get them in and out of cars. This took me by surprise, as I didn’t think there would be a great deal of weight to our two boxes. Before leaving for Fleet, I took the precaution of emptying the car boot and folding down the rear seats, so there would be plenty of room, and I just hoped  the car’s suspension would be up to the job. It all turned out to be a false alarm. The boxes really weren’t very big, and probably weighed about 4 to 5 stones each. Kevin and I got them into the boot without any trouble, and off I went.

What a carpet of 'Ruby Giant' should look like

Now we were in possession of the crocuses, I wanted to waste no time in getting them into the ground. 5 days later, a working party comprising myself, the PDG, Ken, Chris, Peter, Lyn, Joe and Doreen came along to the school to undertake this project. The instructions said we needed to remove a square yard of turf to a depth of three inches, sprinkle 150 crocus corms evenly into the hole created, then replace the turf. Not too difficult, you may think, but we had to repeat this about 70 times. In seeking volunteers, I pointed out that we didn’t just want diggers, but counters too, as it would be an important job just to count the corms into batches of 150.

Counting corms - the PDG and Ken

We had a 30 yard stretch of grass to plant up, so we quickly got down to work, creating a rolling trench. The diggers (Chris and I, and Joe for a while)slowly worked across the grass digging out the turf, the ground underneath was raked and planted with crocuses, then filled in again. It was quite hard work at times, but we had a lot of laughs, and the time passed very quickly. The school provided us with coffee, and both Head Teacher Louise Duncan and Deputy Head Allan Cottle came out to thank us for the work we were doing. The Head’s PA, Joanne Barrett even helped with the planting. Fortunately the weather was dry and mild in the morning whilst we were working, and there was rain later on. Perfect growing conditions, I think.

Joanne helps with planting

The site we were working on was partly under the shade of an oak tree, and the grass had quite a sprinkling of acorns, many of which were buried under the turf with the crocuses. Who knows, in Spring we may not only have a superb blanket of crocuses covering the ground, but an oak tree nursery as well.

Peter pieces together the turf jigsaw

I liked the fact we were wearing our Rotary tabards and thus highly visible to passers by, although there was the occasional misunderstanding, as when two youths passed by, and I heard one say to the other ‘ I see the Rotary Club are doing Community Service.’ Actually, that is just what we were doing, although not in quite the same way that he was suggesting.

Chris and I do the digging

Our original intention was to plant all 10,000 of them, but the space given to us was only big enough for 5,000. So we gave the other 5,000 to Allan Cottle (he had paid for them after all) and he was planning to get the Interact Club involved in planting them around the school, including the Rotary garden that we created last year.

Everybody looks busy

All we need to do now is create a suitable sign to erect on the grass, so that people will understand the symbolism of the bed of crocuses. We also need to cross our fingers that the crocuses actually appear in Spring.

 Doreen tramples down the turf. Is that suitable footwear for gardening?

Hurricane Irma

18^th September.  10 days ago Hurricane Irma swept through the Caribbean and Florida, leaving a trail of destruction behind it. Many people lost their lives, and countless others lost their homes and any means of making a living. Of course hurricanes occur regularly every year, and once they pass, people pick themselves up, rebuild and start again. But Irma was a monster. About 800 miles wide, it was the size of Texas and wherever it made landfall it did so with catastrophic ferocity.  The destructive power of winds travelling at over 185 mph was only too evident on islands such as Barbuda, Anguilla, St Barts, St Maarten and both British and US Virgin Islands. In Florida, millions were advised to evacuate their homes as the storm approached, although it had thankfully lost some of its strength by the time it hit the mainland.

Hurricane Irma reaches Cuba

Our Rotary Club has a strong record of responding to natural disasters around the world. Most memorable  was the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean. We were outside Tesco in Sunbury collecting within a couple of days, and people responded with amazing generosity, with £10 and £20 notes being placed in our buckets. I can’t remember how much we collected in one day, but it was sufficient to purchase at least 5 Shelter Boxes, which I recall cost around £300 each at the time. Shelter Boxes provide the means for a family of up to 10 to survive for several weeks, with a large tent, cooking equipment, a water purifier, blankets, torch and tool kit. I recall a similar response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

A Shelter Box

The key to our success in fundraising for these causes was being out collecting in a very short space of time after disaster struck, whilst it still dominated the news bulletins. People can be extraordinarily generous when such disasters are foremost in their minds, as it is a natural impulse to want to do something to help, and we were providing the means for them to do so. Tesco supermarket in Sunbury has always supported our efforts, for which we are most grateful.

Tesco at Sunbury

So it was that our club members wanted to do something to support the relief effort in the wake of Irma. Last Wednesday the speaker we had booked at our meeting was unable to attend, which gave us the opportunity to discuss what we should do, at some length. Chris Arnot, who actually has a timeshare apartment in the British Virgin islands, and therefore some understanding of the plight of the people there, led the discussion. He regularly visits the Rotary Club of Tortola and has become aware that Rotary District 7020, which covers the Caribbean, has set up a Disaster Fund to provide relief to those worst affected by the storm. We felt that on this occasion, rather than purchase Shelterboxes, our money would have more immediate effect if we simply sent  everything we collect to this fund.

The lower photo, taken post-Irma, shows all the greenery stripped from Caribbean islands

I accompanied Chris to Tesco and we met up with Customer Experience manager Conor Halliday, who is our usual contact, and he readily agreed for us to collect outside the store on Saturday, 16^th September. Karen Sutton designed a super poster to display whilst collecting, and my old friend Peter Petersens of Mailboxes etc in Weybridge printed a couple of copies for us. Tesco supplied an A-board for us to display the posters. So we were all set, and with the assistance of our colleagues at Shepperton & Sunbury Rotary, all slots were filled at the store from 10 a.m until 8 p.m. on Saturday. Ken was to come back and forth during the day to collect the contents of our buckets.

Paraquita Bay Tortola before Irma....

.....Paraquita Bay after

The PDG and I took the first slot from 10 until 11 a.m. and parked ourselves just inside the foyer. We took a while to decide the best place for the A-board to go, for maximum impact. It started inside the foyer, then was placed outside, before bringing it inside again. As the hour progressed it became apparent to me that a wheelchair was a major asset when collecting for charity. People were walking past me to put cash into the PDG’s bucket. Many didn’t even know what she was collecting for, they just saw her, in her wheelchair, and decided to give her money. I decided to hide my annoyance at being upstaged in this way, because after all money in buckets was what we were there for. I was aware that the supermarket provides wheelchairs for the use of disabled customers, and I contemplated seeing if I could get hold of one, but thought better of it. 

The PDG and me with A-board

Several people stopped for a chat, including one woman who told me she remembered me from the Christmas street collections, which her children look forward to every year. I assured her that the real Father Christmas always accompanies us, and any similarity to me was purely coincidental. The PDG meanwhile picked up a speaker for a future meeting.

Father Christmas leaves his sleigh outside Tesco at Christmas with elf driver

Now and again, somebody would question why we were collecting at all. For instance, one woman asked why British taxpayers should be collecting for the British Virgin Islands, which are full of millionaires avoiding paying their taxes in the UK. My response was that not everyone living there was a millionaire, and many people have lost everything. Furthermore, by sending donations to a Rotary disaster fund, we were ensuring that all the money raised would be used by Rotarians on the spot to give help where it was most needed.

Tesco store manager Robbie with Caroline, Norma, Ken, Ian and Eric

Collections continued throughout the day, with the PDG and I taking the final slot, from 7 to 8 p.m. I was amused to see that in an effort to gain maximum impact our A-board had by now been moved into the entrance doorway, so customers had to take evasive action to avoid crashing their trollies into it.  The day had been slower than we had hoped, although our busiest time came as 8 o’clock approached. On reflection I think our problem was about timing. We were collecting more than 7 days after the event, and news headlines had moved on from Hurricane Irma, so it wasn’t foremost in people’s minds. Over the course of the day we collected £450, but with further donations pledged by Rotary members, our final total was more like £1100, a respectable sum for our Treasurer to send off to the Disaster fund.

Janet, Caroline and Lyn, who seems to have turned into Dolly Parton for the day

Postscript: As I write this I am listening to the News. A new Hurricane, Maria, is now battering the Caribbean islands. Let’s hope it doesn’t follow the same course.