Coulsdon and Coulsdon Manor Rotary Clubs

After the excitement of our weekend in Leeds, it was back to business on 20 January, when I went on an official visit to a joint meeting of the  Rotary Clubs of Coulsdon and Coulsdon Manor, accompanied by the DG. It is helpful when clubs get together for my official visits, particularly when they entail a bit of a journey. Tonight’s journey was relatively straightforward, with the M25 and A23 behaving themselves pretty well, and we arrived at the Coulsdon Manor Hotel and Golf Club in good time. The only thing that didn’t behave itself was our Sat Nav, which told us we had arrived at our destination outside a modest semi detached house about half a mile away, but using my highly developed  sense of direction, I quickly found the Hotel at only the third attempt. The Coulsdon Manor Hotel, which is the usual meeting venue of Coulsdon Manor Rotary Club is, we were told, a commercial hotel, but they certainly looked after us well tonight.

                                                        Coulsdon Manor Hotel

The President of the club, Michael Rowan, was waiting to greet us, and to lead us on the circuitous route required for wheelchair access to the venue. We often find that we are directed to hidden doors, and along little-used corridors to avoid stairs where no ramp is available. I always find it a little odd that some quite prestigious venues don’t think to invest in a simple portable ramp, which would solve the problems of wheelchair users trying to access the building. On arrival in the bar, I first of all met up with members of Coulsdon Rotary Club who had all arrived half an hour early due to a misunderstanding over the start time. Unfortunately their president was indisposed, so he was represented by the President Elect, John Turner, who immediately hit it off with the DG as he was a fellow dog owner and they spent much of the evening  having a canine conflab.

                                                        The Hotel bar

I met an interesting chap from Coulsdon club, Arthur Davy who told me how he had travelled the world going to Rotary Conventions, having been to Australia, Canada, USA, Portugal (I went to that one) among others. Like the DG and I, he was not intending to go to Sao Paulo for this year’s convention, although for different reasons. In our case it is a matter of accessibility. We doubted that we would find Brazil very accessible for us, and the enormous cost of the trip could, we felt, be better spent at a more accessible location. We had entertained an idea of coupling the Sao Paolo Convention with an Amazon cruise but this wouldn’t work well either. Although the cruise ships themselves were fully accessible, none of the places that they stopped at were accessible, and furthermore would necessitate leaving the ship by tender. This would have left us stuck on the ship and unable to partake of any excursions.  In a couple of years the Convention will be in Atlanta. We have always found the USA to be very wheelchair-friendly  and consequently we are hoping to go to that one.

During the excellent dinner of Roast Pork followed by Bread & Butter pudding, I sat, naturally enough, next to  Mike Rowan, with the DG on his other side, and John Turner on her far side. Mike was very entertaining Company during the meal, and our conversation covered a variety of vehicle-related topics, including standards of driving, the latest  enhancements of modern cars (such as sideways parking, and devices to keep you in your lane on a motorway) and advice from me on buying new cars (consult What Car magazine first). Coulsdon Manor’s main activities during the year are: organising a summer fair each year which is very popular locally, Christmas collections, and various Youth activities, including Dictionaries to schools and Young Chef. Mike said that he is often surprised to find charities in Coulsdon that he didn’t know about. A good example was The Parrot Rescue Centre, which is a local charity that was a beneficiary at the fair last summer. ‘I had never heard of it’ he admitted, although he was now pleased to have an opportunity to assist them through the Rotary Club.

                                                        Members take their seats for dinner

After dinner and before the DG’s speech, a new member was inducted into the club. Gary Newell is a retired police officer, a specialist in protection of VIPs, and we first heard a glowing proposal from his friend and neighbour Roy Chamberlain, whereupon Mike Rowan undertook the induction ceremony, to warm applause from all club members.

From left: proposer Roy Chamberlain, inductee Gary Newell and President Michael Rowan

The DG then took to the floor, and unlike previous visits I have attended, she spoke for quite a while before inviting contributions from the audience. She ranged across a number of topics including membership, women in Rotary, and youth. At one point her speech was unfortunately interrupted by a coughing fit, which probably went on for a couple of minutes before she recovered. I’m not sure whether my thumping her on the back made any difference, but it least gave me something to do. She caught the coughing bug from me, as I had been plagued with it over Christmas and the New Year and it was three weeks before I got rid of it. The DG had a flu jab in November, but still caught this nasty virus, although I suspect it would have been worse if she hadn’t had the jab.

                                                                Flu jab

Eventually she threw some questions out to the audience, such as ‘Why did you join Rotary?’ to which the consensus response was along the lines of ‘To make a difference in the local community’.  Another question was ‘What makes a Good Rotarian?’ (I had to ask this question for her, as she hadn’t completely recovered from her coughing fit at this point). Answers from the audience included ‘a friendly individual’, ‘someone with compassion and empathy’, and ‘someone prepared to do what they can’.

                                                        Words of wisdom from the DG

The next question proved more controversial (at last! I thought, we need more controversy). The DG asked ‘What would the world be like without Rotary?’ to which the expected response is ‘A poorer place’. However one member passionately declared that ‘Rotary hasn’t got anything to offer me’ pointing out that, like many Rotarians, he does voluntary work for other charities. His point, I think, was that everyone knows what these charities stand for, but no-one outside Rotary knows what we are about. We hardly get any recognition  for our contribution towards eradicating polio in the world, and, he said, ‘we have lost Shelterbox’.  I was a bit puzzled by this comment as the charity Shelterbox was launched by Rotarians and on its own website says  ‘Rotarians are the cement that binds us together’. The gentleman’s strongly felt beliefs certainly livened things up a bit.

                                                        A Shelterbox and its contents

The meeting ended with  fulsome praise for the DG from President Mike Rowan.  He said she had been like a breath of fresh air in the District, and thanked her on behalf of both clubs for her visit. He forgot to include me, despite my tips on new cars, but I’ll forgive him that small oversight.

                                                 The DG flanked by Michael Rowan (left) and John Turner

Rotaract Seminar - Leeds

The DG has another job to do for RIBI when her year as District Governor finishes at the end of June. She has already been working on the RIBI Rotaract Liaison Committee this year, and from July she will chair this committee. I will of course become the Consort to the Rotaract Chair, or CORC.  It is important for  the DG to get to know the people she will be working with, and hence Friday 16^th January saw us heading up to the frozen North to attend a regional Rotaract seminar. The meeting was a whole day affair on Saturday, and was to be held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in central Leeds. As it was unrealistic for us to make the 4 hour drive there on Saturday morning, and then repeat the journey in reverse in the evening, we booked into the Cosmopolitan for Friday and Saturday, in one of their accessible rooms.

                                                                     Leeds

A change of plan was needed a few days before the event, when the Hotel phoned the DG to advise that their lift was broken, and could she walk up several flights of stairs to reach her room? No was the short answer, and  she quickly researched the internet and found us a De Luxe room (more appropriate for someone in my position, I thought) at the Hilton Leeds City Centre, just a couple of hundred yards down the road from the Cosmopolitan.  Daisy was dropped off with the ever-helpful Linda quite early, and off we went up the M1. We stopped for breakfast somewhere near Milton Keynes at a Little Chef, where we both had an Olympic breakfast, which we always enjoy. Continuing our journey North, we drove through snow flurries in Yorkshire as the weather deteriorated and got colder, and eventually we arrived at the Hilton in mid-afternoon, with sleet falling.

                                                                    Olympic Breakfast

There is a multi-storey car park behind the hotel, where guests are normally expected to park, but there were a couple of disabled parking spaces directly outside the main entrance, so we parked there whilst we unloaded the car and checked in. The receptionist said we were welcome to use that parking space  throughout our stay if we wished. I was unsure about that, because the Hotel is quite close to the railway station, and is on a very busy road. I thought the car was a bit vulnerable where it was, at the mercy of late night revellers, or opportunist car thieves. The receptionist pointed out that the car park would cost us £15 per night, whereas the space at the front was free of charge. On reflection, I decided the car would stay where it was.

                                                          Hilton Hotel Leeds City

Having checked into our De Luxe room, which was comfortable although not particularly big (I did wonder what the Standard rooms looked like), we went down to the Leisure Centre to avail ourselves of the swimming pool.  The pool was excellent, and even had a Jacuzzi that you could swim into, rather than get out of the pool then make a slightly dangerous climb into a circular spa bath, as is usually the case. There was also a steam room, which I spent about 10 minutes in, before I couldn’t take any more.

                                                           Hilton swimming pool

Whilst waiting for the lift down to the pool I chatted to a couple from an adjoining room. I know they were speaking English, as they understood me perfectly, but I really struggled to follow what they were saying, so strong was their accent. I guessed, perhaps unfairly, that they were from the North East, as they were obviously not local, and I was sure their accents were not from anywhere South of Leeds. I was glad when the lift arrived to break up the conversation, because I found myself speaking slowly and loudly to them, as one does with young children to make sure you are understood, and they probably thought I was being patronising.

Later that evening we decided to go out for a meal, and the DG did some research on local Restaurants using her Ipad. We fancied a curry, and there was an Indian Restaurant very nearby. However, the reviews posted on the internet were not good, so we looked slightly further afield, and found one, the Tharavadu, with excellent reviews not much further away in a road called Mill Hill. However, when we presented ourselves at the Restaurant, we discovered that other people also research the internet, and we were told they would not have a table for us for another two hours. So we walked on until about half a mile from the Hotel we came across Miah's Kitchen, which had a very modern and bright interior, and also had tables available. In we went, and found it to be excellent.

                                                              Miah's Kitchen

I think I can safely say that in Miah’s Kitchen I had the hottest curry I have ever had. I ordered a Chicken Tikka Rezala, which I have had elsewhere and found it to be fairly hot, but not a problem to eat. This one, however, was super hot. When I ordered it, the waiter warned me it was hot, and said he could ask the chef to make it ‘medium hot’. I agreed to this, and was glad I did. When it was served, the waiter poured a measure of Sambuca over it and set light to it. So it was hot in every sense of the word. The only difficulty that both the DG and I found with our meals here was the size of portions, which were much larger than we would normally expect. We decided it must be a Yorkshire thing, as in previous visits to Yorkshire, we have found portions to be generous.

                                                                              Chicken Rezala

On Saturday morning, after breakfast in the Hotel, I delivered the DG to the Cosmopolitan Hotel for her seminar. There it was nice to meet up with Rod Walmsley, who is the local District Governor, and who we haven’t seen since we were in Alcester last November. I also met Tony Jordan, The local District Rotaract Chair. Having ensured the DG was safely ensconced in her meeting room, I took my leave, as I wasn’t attending the meeting. No, I was going to spend the day exploring the delights of Leeds, a city I had not been to before.

                                                                   Cosmopolitan Hotel

My first stop was in City Square, where there is a statue of Edward, The Black Prince, hero of the battles of Crecy and Poitiers during the Hundred Years War. I have read about his exploits in the Grail Quest series of novels by Bernard Cornwell. In my humble opinion, there is no better historic novelist than Cornwell, who describes medieval battles in such detail that you feel you are actually there.  He also wrote the Sharpe books, set in the Napoleonic Wars. Coincidentally, I live in Bernard Cornwell’s former house, but that is another story.

                                                         The Black Prince

Moving on, with sleet falling quite heavily now, I made my way to the Henry Moore Institute, because I was interested in the work of this famous sculptor. Sadly, it was closed, but next door to it was the Leeds Art Gallery, which had a fine Henry Moore sculpture adorning its entrance. I enjoyed looking around this gallery, not least because it was indoors, and I got a chance to dry out. One of the outstanding exhibits for me was called Rebekah, by Simon Fujiwara. He made several sculptures out of clay, modelled by a girl called Rebekah, who apparently was involved in the London riots a couple of years ago. What made it clever, was that he had made the exhibit look like the famous Terracotta Army.

                                                         Rebekah

                            This exhibit, called 'Song' commemorates Sir Winston Churchill.  (Don't ask me, I don't know either)

Another exhibit that amused me was simply a stand on which people were invited to place slips of paper with their ideas on what would make the world a better place. To be honest I normally shy away from this sort of stuff, where the public are involved in creating ‘Art’. However, on this occasion my attention was drawn to some of the comments. The world would be a better place, someone said, if chocolate was free on Fridays. A young child thought it would be better if everyone had a swimming pool in their garden, another wanted more videos. I think I read them all, some very sensible, some political, and others just funny.

                                                              The world would be a better place if....

                                                        Impressive cafe in the Art gallery

I ventured out again when the weather was a bit dryer and continued my tour, taking in the Carriageworks theatre, the cathedral, and the magnificent Corn Exchange, which is now a fine shopping centre. There are some beautifully well preserved arcades in Leeds, such as the County Arcade, and nearby the Orchard Arcade. There is also the largest covered market I have ever seen, it must cover several acres, and interestingly has different tradesmen grouped together. For instance in one lane there were just butchers. I had a look at the original Tetley brewery (that’s beer not tea) which is now a café and art gallery, then made my way back to the hotel via a riverside walk along the Aire. Near Leeds station is a lock where the Leeds and Liverpool canal begins its journey West. What a magnificent canal this must be, crossing the Pennines en route to Liverpool. I will suggest to my brother Andy that he takes his narrowboat for a cruise along it. He will undoubtedly be grateful to me for this suggestion.

                                           Leeds Cathedral

                                                          Leeds Museum (closed when I got there)

                                                            The Cornmarket

                                                             Cash machine - Novel use of a telephone box

                                                       This lock marks the start of the Leeds and Liverpool canal

When I got back to the Hotel it was 2 p.m. and I got into the warmest clothing I had, and my fur-lined boots. Why? Because I was off to a football match. Leeds United were playing at home today, and I had a ticket to watch the game. There were shuttle buses running to Elland Road from the station, but I decided to walk, because it would only take about 15 minutes, or so I thought. In the event it took 30 minutes, the last 15 of which was spent trudging into the face of horizontal sleet. By the time I reached the ground, I was soaking and frozen, despite several layers of clothing, but the worst thing was that my glasses had misted up and I could hardly see a thing. I wanted to buy myself a traditional meat pie before the match started, but I couldn’t see anywhere selling them.

                                                                Elland Road Stadium

A few helpful locals directed me to the East Stand, and then to the gate I needed (they probably wondered what a blind man was doing coming to watch a football match). By the time I found my seat, my glasses had cleared and the sun was shining brightly. This presented another problem as it was shining directly into my face, making it rather a struggle to see the game until halfway through the first half, when the sun sank behind the West stand.

                                                          Opponents take to the field

I have wanted to come to Elland Road for many years, ever since I saw the famous Leeds team of the 1960s and 70s play at Fulham and at QPR. With legendary names such as Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Peter Lorimer, they swept all before them in those days. Sadly, they are not quite the same force today, languishing in the lower reaches of the Championship, but they still have amazing support (23,000 for today’s game against Birmingham City) and surely the good times will come again. Incidentally, I found the seating very cramped. I couldn’t sit down comfortably unless I had a knee wedged into the gap separating the seats in front of me. Fortunately I had ladies sitting either side of me who didn’t mind me stealing some of their leg room.  I tried imparting my knowledge of the offside law to these women, as it can be a bit complicated. I had to shut up when I realised they knew it better than I did.

                                                          Almost ready for kick off

Today Leeds went a goal down quite early on, when Birmingham were awarded a disputed penalty, and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up. Two strong penalty appeals of their own were turned down by the referee, much to the anger of the crowd, but finally Leeds equalised with 4 minutes remaining, and the entertaining game finished 1-1. My impression of the Leeds United team, as a seasoned football observer, was that they were good individual players, but seemed to lack confidence. A couple of wins under their belts would work wonders, I felt.  In my view their star player was Lewis Cook, a name to watch out for in future. Strangely, it seems that my opinion wasn’t shared by the Leeds United manager, who substituted him 15 minutes before the end.

                                                          Leeds United (in white) launch an attack

The weather was dry for my walk back to the City Centre, where I headed for the Cosmopolitan Hotel to fetch the DG. She was in the bar with some of her colleagues, and I met Sean Parry, the head Rotaractor in Britain and Ireland and another Rotaractor, called Heather, I think, who was a member of Bromley Rotaract. The meeting had been well attended, with 28 delegates, including several members of Leeds Rotary Club, who actually meet at the Cosmopolitan, offering support.

                                                                     Cosmopolitan Hotel bar

We decided to find a Restaurant on the way back to the Hotel, and opted for an Italian Restaurant, Bibis Italianissimo, which turned out to be a really ‘in’ place. It was full of trendy young people (like us), with lots of large groups sitting down together. It was superbly decorated in an ‘Art Deco’ style, and had quite the fanciest Gents toilets I have seen. Service and food was very good, but we took exception to finding a ‘discretionary’ gratuity of 10% added to our bill. We deducted this from the amount we paid, so although we would have left a tip we didn’t as a matter of principle.

                                                            Bibis Italianissimo

On Sunday morning it was time to head home, but we were stopping on the way at Kislingbury, just outside Northampton, to visit my niece Jacqui and her husband Tom. They now have two children, James (3 years old) and Robin, born just 6 weeks ago. Also my sister Yvonne was over from USA to spend a couple of weeks with her grandchildren, and my brother Alan was back from Thailand and drove up the same day.  Yvonne had brought me a copy of a beautiful photograph she has of our late mother, which will have pride of place on my living room wall. It was good to meet Robin and catch up with everyone. We went out to lunch at an excellent local Restaurant called the Cromwell Cottage, where I had a super Roast  rib of beef with Yorkshire Pudding. All too soon, it was time to continue our journey home, picking up Daisy on the way. Apparently she had disgraced herself in Linda’s living room earlier that day, details of which I had better not mention here.

                                                    From left: Yvonne, DG, James, Tom, Jacqui with Robin, Alan

At home with the District Governor

When you consider all the glamorous occasions which are a necessary part of my year in office as  Consort to the District Governor, it is easy for people to think that my life is a constant whirl of dinners, receptions, celebrations and chatting to other VIPs (MPs, Sheriffs, Lieutenants, Mayors and the like).  So I think it is important to mention, as I begin the second half of my year in office, that quite a lot of my time in between engagements is taken up with more mundane, domestic activities. The DG receives a lot of e-mails, phone calls, correspondence, parcels, leaflets, bulletins, not to mention  callers at the house. It takes exceptional organisational ability to deal with all this on a daily basis, prioritising, responding, delegating as necessary and keeping all these balls in the air. Fortunately the DG has the ability to cope with all of this, and furthermore, she enjoys it.

            The DG hard at work organising her District, using an Ipad Mini

                                                 Hang on..... that looks like Candy Crush!

My role as her Consort is to support her through all this hard work. Fortunately I received some training when I went to San Diego last year for the International Assembly in important matters like ‘How to answer the phone when the DG is out’, and ‘How to take messages from callers’. This training has stood me in good stead, as I will often answer the phone when someone is calling on District Governor business. Having received training in how to speak to people on the phone, I normally cope quite well. One occasional problem is that some callers assume I know who they are, and the conversation is a bit awkward until I establish who it is. For instance a call may go like this:

  Me-‘Hello’
                                                                                                                                  
Caller– ‘Hello Mike, how are you?
                                                                                                        
Me – ‘Fine thanks, er, who is this?’
                                                                                                      
Caller – ‘It’s Peter. Is the DG home?’

My training at telephone answering does require me to obtain the caller’s name and a brief message, however ‘Peter’ isn’t very helpful to me, as I probably know a dozen Rotarians called Peter. So my problem here is how to try and ascertain Peter’s surname whilst he is in full flow explaining why he is calling. In trying to politely extract this information from the caller, I am obviously not paying full attention to the message I am being given, and sometimes, to be honest, my notes may not be completely accurate. A situation could occur, for example, where Peter wanted to discuss Rotaract liaison with the DG, but my message is that ‘he’s had a cataract operation.’ Obviously I’m not looking for sympathy here, just an understanding that the Consort’s job is not always easy.

                                                             Deploying my message taking skills

 I should also, I was taught, have access to the DG’s diary so I can book appointments for her in her absence. However I quickly learned that this was impractical, as she insists on total control of her diary (and mine for that matter) and only she can make entries in the diary. There was a time, I have heard, when I would have been taught at San Diego how to iron the DG’s clothes, and make sure she is well turned out for her engagements, but apparently this particular training was dropped a few years ago when several Consorts walked out in protest.

I can, however, help in a number of other ways. For instance I can cook. When she holds District Team meetings at our house, or Strategy meetings, or Conference committee meetings, I can prepare food for them all to enjoy. I can bring her cups of tea as she slaves away on her laptop. I can drive her to engagements (although if there is a bar she will normally have to drive us home). I can carry her bags at Conferences and other trips away. I can kiss all the ladies in a room so that she doesn’t have to. So, you see, there are a number of ways I can usefully carry out my duties as Consort.

There are, I have discovered, some aspects to being a District Governor that I hadn’t previously realised. One of these is shopping.  Ascending to the role of First Lady in District 1140 has entailed a significant increase in one of the DG’s favourite activities, necessitated, I have been told, by the importance of not being seen twice in public in the same outfit. Apparently people notice these things. I did respectfully suggest that in her existing wardrobe the DG already had sufficient garments to wear a different outfit every day for a year, but what I hadn’t appreciated was that many of these outfits would have clashed terribly with her Chain of Office. This principle also extends to handbags, shoes and ear-rings.

                                                           A perfectly co-ordinated outfit with Chain of Office

As I write this, the DG is preparing for a District Strategy meeting at our house this evening with her team. Whilst I will not be required at the meeting, apart from supplying drinks and nibbles for everyone as they arrive, I am very much involved in preparations.  All parts of the house where tonight’s visitors may wander  have to be thoroughly cleaned, furniture polished, carpets vacuumed, and dog odours removed.  Sometimes, Daisy even has a shampoo prior to such meetings, especially if she has been rolling in something nasty at the park. I think it is fair to say that our house has been cleaner since the DG took office than ever before. When the visitors first arrive, Daisy is inclined to become very excited and wants to welcome them, lick them and bring them her toys, so I need to be on guard because some members of the DG’s team are not very comfortable around dogs, and those seem to be the very people she makes a beeline for.

                                                          A clean Daisy

On a few occasions, the DG has attended a webinar, or a Skype conference whilst at home. These are clever ways for people to hold meetings, even though they may be dispersed all across the country. I am a bit of a novice where technology is concerned, and I never cease to be fascinated when, for instance, I can see and speak to one of the DG’s colleagues, whilst looking at them on her laptop screen.  Our internet connection at home is rather slow, in fact it is very slow. If I want to watch a 30-second YouTube clip, for instance, I have to allow two or three minutes for the buffering to allow the clip to be viewed. Our slow speed has not prevented the DG from doing her work effectively, but when she is engaged in a webinar or audio / video conference on her laptop, I am forbidden to do anything on the internet, in case she loses her signal. I don’t even dare to make a phone call.

 I’m not sure people fully appreciate the sacrifices a Consort sometimes has to make in supporting the DG.

                                      The DG attends a Skype Confereence (note laptop and Ipad mini)

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