Annual Review

2018-19

Our President Les Haswell (July 2018 - June 2019) writes:

At the start of my year as President, I stated that I wanted to raise the profile of the Club in the local community and to project an organisation

which is fresh, modern and relevant in today’s

busy social and business environment.

To achieve that, I took every opportunity to get involved in local community based events, ensuring that I was recognised as “President of Winchester Rotary”. I presented prizes at competition finals, certificates at Hampshire NHS Trust “WOW” awards and “Young Doctor” awards

The Winchester Rotary Review 2018-19

“Service Above Self”

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Winchester Rotarians support

many local charities. They give generously of their time, together with financial

and physical support, to help the vulnerable and those in need. Nationally and internationally we

are drawn together by an invincible thread of service, friendship and collaboration. We welcome those from every background who are

willing to give whatever time their circumstances

allow.

their assistance, we were able to present the Hospice fundraising team with a cheque for £40,000.I would like to thank the officers of the club for their support, the members of the various committees for their efforts and our club Secretary David James without whose advice and efforts I would have gone mad. My thanks also go to my wife Val for supporting and advising me.

My best wishes go to Mike Billington for his year. I enjoyed every minute of my Presidency and I hope Mike gains the same pleasure and satisfaction.

I announced at the start of my year that I wanted to adopt the Winchester Hospice project as my one charity for the year and I have to thank the members for their enthusiastic support in raising funds for the Hospice. I have the utmost admiration for the eleven stalwarts who braved atrocious weather conditions to climb Snowdon and raised £10,000. My thanks also goes to the team of Rotarians who worked tirelessly to organise the Masquerade Ball in the Guildhall which raised around £25,000. Other members supported the fundraising efforts and with

and was one of our judges at the “HHFT’s Got Talent” show in the Theatre Royal. During the year we also got involved in new initiatives with Henry Beaufort School and Integr8 Dance Company which helps young people who have the potential to excel in dance.Our Big Lunch has become a regular, valuable business networking opportunity, enhanced by a succession of top class speakers. The unofficial lunch held at the King Charles in Kings Worthy has flourished and is now a regular, turn up and eat event, enjoyed by both current and past members alike.

In conjunction with the Cathedral, we organised the Inaugural Winchester Pancake Race. This event attracted press coverage from local and national newspapers as well as radio and television. This event will now hopefully become an annual occasion in the Winchester calendar.

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who will be critical to the long-term survival of Rotary.We encourage all young people in the area, whatever their cultural or educational background, to join Rotaract – it could change their lives forever! Contact via Facebook: “Rotaract Club of Winchester”.

PeaceJam

Is an organisation to promote peaceful conflict resolution among young people, which resonates with one of the

Our Local CommunityWinchester Rotary continues its 90 year history in the city of supporting many local charities providing financial and physical assistance for the vulnerable and those in need.

University in 2013. Due to the ever-changing population of the University, the club has now returned to the city community where it began in the 1970s and welcomes members from community and university. The current members, who are growing in number, frequently come to our Rotary meetings, supporting our events, community and charity work.

Members of Rotaract share our values: they are the younger generation of future Rotarians

Inner Wheel Inner Wheel was founded in 1938 by the wife of a Rotarian. It is a women-only service organisation which welcomes those with a Rotary or Inner Wheel connection or who join a club by invitation. A number of Winchester Rotarians’ wives are members of Winchester Inner Wheel.

Rotaract

Rotaract is a worldwide, Rotary sponsored organisation, for young men and women between the ages of 18 to 30, whose focus is Fellowship and Service.

At least four members of Winchester Rotary are former members of Rotaract and have greatly benefited from the experience. Rotaract was revived at Winchester

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prepare food, host people in their homes and even sit on the Board, thus maintaining strong links between the two organisations.

Kids Out This is an annual event, organised by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, supported by the KidsOut Charity. Over 25,000 disadvantaged children enjoy a fun day out. Again this year a number of Winchester Rotarians accompanied staff, carers and

fundamental principles of Rotary.

In March 2019 the fifth Annual PeaceJam Conference

took place at the University of Winchester, with Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams. In addition to speaking at a public event held on the Friday evening, attended by Rotarians and other members of the Winchester Community, Betty worked with over 150 young people during the weekend conference. University students mentored youth in workshops, local service projects and facilitated discussion groups focused on peaceful resolutions of all types of conflict. Betty was moved to start her work for peace after witnessing a tragic incident in Northern Ireland involving the shooting of an IRA absconder which resulted in the deaths of three children.

Rotary continues to support PeaceJam by funding youth places at the conferences, providing dedicated volunteers who help work with the youth, hold workshops,

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children from Osborne School in Winchester for a visit to Marwell Zoo. These young people revel in the freedom and relaxation of a day at the zoo, a picnic lunch, ice cream and a souvenir gift. This year the gift, chosen by our current president, was a big bagful of cute meerkats - we all wanted one! We Rotarians enjoy sharing the day with fun loving, appreciative and courageous children. We are privileged to witness the dedication of the staff and to experience the friendship of our fellow Rotarians.

Senior Citizens Tea Party

At Winchester Rotary we organise and fund our annual Senior Citizens Tea Party. Our guests enjoy a splendid tea, provided by Winchester Inner Wheel, a table gift, together with bingo, dancing, music, and an entertainment. Our guests appreciate the opportunity to gather together for an enjoyable social occasion. We enjoy their company.

Goalball Goalball is a three a side indoor sport for all age groups who are blind or partially sighted. It is played between two wide goals with a ball containing a bell. To learn more please go to: www.goalballuk.com Winchester Goalball is now the largest in the country. With the financial support of Winchester Rotary, the club was established in 2012, together with Goalball UK’s successful Paralympic bid. The Paralympics were originally created before the Second World War by a Rotarian, Dr Ludwig Guttman. A BBC Children in Need grant has assured the club’s financial security for the next three years. However, as highlighted by the outstanding family leaders of the club, the physical support, encouragement and personal presence of Winchester Rotary, means so much to them and their club members. Come along to see this skilful game for yourself.

Winchester Rotary Reminiscence Cafe

A monthly meeting organised by Winchester Rotary. Within the security and hospitality of St John’s Dementia Care Home we welcome in friendship those living with Dementia and their carers. We offer a relaxing environment, conversation, singing, live music, and memory recall activities. Recently, Rotary Reminiscence and Moorside

collaborated to provide a very successful Dementia Awareness

Training morning for Rotarians and volunteers who help

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at our Cafe. Due to further demand, this training, delivered by a professional company, will be repeated at a later date and made available to a wider audience.

Round Table Bonfire and

Fireworks

Every year Winchester Rotarians

help Winchester Round Table to make their

Bonfire and Firework night a huge success as a fun and

fundraising evening. It is the City’s biggest charity event of the year. We marshall, we sell and check tickets, we carry donation buckets, (the law does not allow

us to shake, rattle or rock them!), we sell merchandise, and offer any other assistance needed. In recognition of our help, Round Table give a generous donation to our Trust Fund from the money raised during the evening. Every pound goes back into the local community via charitable organisations and good causes.

Inaugural Winchester Pancake Race

This first time event, created by Winchester Rotary and hosted by the Dean of Winchester, was held on Shrove Tuesday in the Cathedral Outer Close. Our aims were to strengthen links between Winchester Rotary and the Cathedral, raise Rotary’s profile locally, and at the same time provide teams of all ages, from every part of the community, with some competitive fun. We were generously supported by a number of sponsors, one of which

made some beautiful trophies which will be awarded annually to the winning teams. The local press came out in force, videos were filmed and we appeared on local TV. Approximately £1,000 was jointly raised for local charities, although this was not the main objective of the day. Following this event, the Dean expressed her wish to move from hosting the Pancake Race to sharing the day in partnership with Winchester Rotary. We look forward to Shrove Tuesday 2020.

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Thousands of hours of volunteer effort over the last three years have got us to this point. We are all very passionate about doing our very best for the older generation - promoting healthy life styles and doing our bit

to minimise loneliness and isolation.”

This is another example of a

Rotarian led

compassionate, thoughtful and

practical community service with wide

reaching benefits for so many vulnerable people.

Launch of Winchester RadioLast March, local charity, Winchester Radio, expanded its service beyond Winchester Hospital to the older community in Winchester.

Anna O’Brien, a Winchester Rotarian, is the Chairman of Winchester Radio:

“It is incredibly exciting for the whole team to be bringing truly local radio to the wider community of Winchester, alongside our existing hospital audience.

Trinity “Big Sleep Out”The purpose of the Trinity Big Sleep Out is to highlight the plight of the homeless and raise money in the process. The Outer Close of Winchester Cathedral was transformed into ‘cardboard city’ where 250 people, representing many local groups, including Rotaract, slept out for the night. Winchester Rotary volunteers gave much needed help throughout the day with erecting marquees and gazebos and moving huge piles of cardboard. They returned very early next morning to restore the Cathedral precincts to its former tranquility. In addition, Rotarians also sponsored the Rotaractors who slept out. All participants had to pay for the “privilege” of their “night out under the stars.” The event organised by Trinity, the drop-in centre for the homeless in Winchester, raised over £30,000 in total.

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The EnvironmentWinchester Rotary continues with our tree and shrub planting programme at the Scouts Camp, Pinsent. This year we donated almost £2,000 which enabled a group of Winchester Rotarians together with volunteers from the Scouts, to plant an assortment of over 40 trees, plus many shrubs. Some trees will reach a height of 60 feet - a lasting Rotary legacy.

Integr8 Dance Integr8 Dance Company helps talented young people with a passion for dance to develop their skills. They recently gave a brilliant performance of “The Road to Oz” at the Theatre Royal, Winchester. Winchester Rotary is proud to work with Integra8 Dance Company to help young dancers with exceptional potential to have the professional tuition they would not otherwise be able to afford. Under the title “Winchester Rotary for Excellence” two bursaries totalling £500 have been created for the benefit of

such students. The first of these has already been awarded. Winchester Rotary has also created a “Rotary Excellence Award” - a silver plate, which not

School. The objective, for three groups of boys, was to boost their confidence and self-esteem by working as part of

a team on a project to build a mechanical device - a type of ball elevating catapult. The session was such a success that nine months later members of staff and Winchester Rotary ran a

Rotary Youth Technology Tournament. This time forty

eight students took part. Another challenge was set, several teams completed it. The day clearly demonstrated the effective use of teamwork, communication, planning and design work to

reach a solution to overcome the challenge. Next March will, no doubt, see the return of a bigger tournament with yet another technology challenge.

Rotary Young Musicians Festival

Winchester Rotary Young Musicians

Festival aims to offer young musicians the experience

of performing on a public stage, and the opportunity to showcase their musical talent. They also benefit from impartial feedback and assessment of their performance from professional adjudicators. The winner goes on to perform at the District level competition.

Rotary Youth SpeaksA National Rotary public speaking competition between schools and sixth form colleges. Winchester Rotary facilitates our local competition.The winners go onto Regional and National finals. Henry Beaufort School - Youth Technology Tournament This tournament has grown from the seeds of a technology challenge inaugurated by a Winchester Rotarian and the Assistant Head at Henry Beaufort

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Youth

Winchester Rotary actively promotes and encourages young

people in our community to develop their skills and confidence, such as

project management, public speaking, team work. This year we have increased the number of youth projects, enabling

more young people to understand the challenges of the world of

work and what universities and prospective employers value

in young applicants.

End PolioNow

Rotary, the World Health

Organisation, UNICEF, and

the Centre for Disease

Control and

Prevention launched the

Global Polio Eradication Initiative in

1988. In 2007 The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

joined Rotary in its commitment

and sustainability of their fundraising plans. We were also to provide advice and encouragement. Many of the excellent presentations would have stood up well in the TV Dragons Den where the real ‘Dragons” live. It was huge fun and a privilege to witness the talent of so many young people. We have been invited to take part again next year.

only demonstrates recognition of excellence, but brings the name of Rotary into the public domain.

HMSC Concert at St Lawrence Church

An annual chamber concert where we welcome the talented Peter Symonds College students on the Hampshire Specialist Music Course. They play in the serenity of St Lawrence Church in the heart of the City. Organised by Winchester Rotary and Peter Symonds music staff, all funds raised support the summer master classes at Peter Symonds College.

Dragons DenLast year, for the first time, Winchester Rotary supported young people taking part in National Citizen Service, (NCS). This is a national initiative for 15 -17 year olds. They live away from home for several weeks, undertaking a range of activities and challenges, themed as adventure, discovery, and social action. We joined them for the social action phase. Groups had to present their plans for a week of fundraising for the charity of their choice. Rotarians were invited to sit on “Dragons Den” style panels, to question each group to test the viability

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InternationalCommunity

Rotary International supports Rotary Clubs worldwide by co-ordinating global

programmes and initiatives. From literacy and peace to water and health, Rotary works

globally to better our world.

African organisations to deliver a programme of refurbished tools and technical training to enable local trades people to build sustainable livelihoods. In addition, volunteers provide training in business and financial management, together with literacy, numeracy and micro-finance, enabling many to climb out of poverty. This additional income from their own small businesses enables them to buy better quality food, improve their living standards, educate their children and gain access to medical care.

Last July TFSR held a garden party to thank all the Rotary clubs who have given their support in recent years. In the period that Winchester Rotary has supported TFSR, the charity has developed into a broader based group to work in partnership with in-country NGO’s, providing guidance and support to local artisans in starting new and developing ongoing businesses. This is a fine example of a charity that “helps people to help themselves.” Winchester Rotary continues to act as the collecting point for donated tools.

which went to End Polio Now. In February 2019

a special showing of the film “Breathe”

was hosted at Winchester

University.

In January

2018 two Winchester

Rotarians, one of whom is a polio

survivor, travelled to Amritsar and Delhi with

a large party of Rotarians from Britain and Ireland to take

part in the Indian Immunisation Programme. A Winchester Rotary group of six travelled again in 2019, and although on a smaller scale, the group experienced an immunisation exercise in Delhi and visited projects hosted by the the Rotary Club of Bhiwadi.

Tools For Self Reliance - TFSRA Southampton based charity, supported for over thirty years by Winchester Rotary together with other Rotary clubs in our area. TFSR works with

to end polio. Since 2013 the Gates Foundation has matched every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication 2-to-1, up to $35 million per year.

Rotary, with matching funds from the Gates Foundation, has contributed more than $1.6 billion to end polio.Since the fight against polio started, the number of cases has reduced by 99.9 percent and more than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated. If polio is not eradicated hundreds of thousands of children could be paralysed, global health care costs would rise dramatically, and many children’s quality of life would be drastically diminished.

In the last few years Winchester Rotary has held a number of successful fundraising events for End Polio Now. We are particularly grateful to local explorer and traveller, John Pilkington, who to date has given three public, illustrated lectures for us, the entire proceeds of

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Georgia Rotary Student Programme The aim of the GRSP programme is to promote the Rotary ideals of world peace and understanding through education and bonds of friendship. Founded in 1946, in a fractured post war world, by a Georgia Rotarian, Rotary clubs in Georgia have joined together to fund scholarships for one academic year to international students worldwide. They have the opportunity to study the American way of life at Georgia colleges and universities. For a number of years Winchester Rotary has supported a local student, giving advice, and sponsorship in the form of flights and insurance.

St Lucia Prosthetics ProjectIn response to a request from the President of the Rotary Club of Gros Islet, St Lucia, Winchester Rotary has given £2000 to provide prosthetic limbs for many of St Lucia’s amputees, together with the training of eight local prosthetic technicians, in a newly located workshop. The sourcing, provision and transporting of the limbs to St Lucia proved to be a very complicated process, involving many volunteers. The limbs were finally delivered from Winchester Rotary and gratefully received at St Lucia in April. The rehabilitation of amputees enables them to recover their self esteem, return to work, thus increasing productivity and provision for their families. Winchester Rotary is proud and pleased to collaborate on a cause that has such far reaching benefits for the recipients.

Christmas ShoeboxesEvery year Winchester Rotary contributes to the Annual Shoebox Appeal. An average of 400 Christmas paper covered shoeboxes, filled with age and gender appropriate gifts are collected from local primary schools, sorted and checked by members of Winchester Rotary. This project has been run for over thirty years by Rotary clubs across Hampshire and Dorset. Over 25,000 shoeboxes are despatched in time for Christmas to disadvantaged children in Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Romania. Disaster ReliefWinchester Rotary endeavours to respond without delay to international emergencies. We donate from our own charity funds to global charities, such as Shelterbox, and UNICEF, who are best placed to react quickly to international disasters, such as those rendered homeless and displaced through earthquakes and flooding.

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Winchester Rotary held two major fundraising events for the hospice.

The Masquerade Ball

Held at the Guildhall in December 2018 and organised by a dedicated and extremely hard working Winchester Rotary team, the event raised over £25,000. This prestigious evening was attended by over 200 guests. Many wore such beautiful masks that it was difficult to recognise the wearers. The raising of this significant sum was made possible by much appreciated, generous financial support from local sponsors. In addition, many items were given for the ball auction, together with a variety of raffle prizes.

The Snowdon Challenge Climb for Winchester HospiceThis challenge raised £10,000 for the Hospice Appeal. A group of courageous Winchester Rotarians/partners, accompanied by a professional guide, approached Snowdon via the daunting Watkin Path. What began on gentle slopes in good weather became a steep, unforgiving vertical ascent requiring climbing ropes, in atrocious weather conditions. This challenging, six hour climb

The Winchester Hospice Appeal Our President, Les Haswell, named the Winchester Hospice Appeal as his chosen charity for the year 2018 -19. This essential and greatly needed local facility will ensure our community has a ten bedded hospice, plus a palliative care hub where hospice at home, home care, day services and community care will be provided by a Community Palliative Care Team. Specialist end of life care will support local residents and their families at a time when their need is greatest. Stressful, expensive, time consuming travel will be avoided at a time of great emotional strain.

Fundraising

Winchester Rotarians work together locally to raise funds and promote awareness of the many charities, community projects, youth groups, schools and hospitals in need of our financial and physical help. We collaborate nationally and internationally with many organisations to help provide funding, education, services such as water and sanitation, together with physical support - which

means being there when most needed.

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Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

Last September the Distinguished Gentleman’s Annual Motor Bike Ride arrived at Winchester Guildhall. 250 Distinguished Gentlemen, some sporting grand moustaches, all wearing their best attire and riding an array of classic motor bikes, swept into Winchester on their way to the New Forest. This worldwide organisation raises huge funds for research into men’s health problems, primarily for

prostate cancer and mental health issues. President

Les Haswell saw this spectacular event

as another great opportunity to

show case

Winchester Rotary. He

organised a “Distinguished Crew”

of Winchester Rotarians

Clarendon Way Marathon

The Clarendon Marathon, organised in partnership with Salisbury Rotary, is another annual fundraising event, held in October. Precision led as always by Winchester Rotarian, J J Heath-Caldwell, 1187 participants booked, of which 985 finished - a record. 250 volunteers helped on the day. Money raised for the Rotary Charity Fund was approximately £12,000. £8,400 came to Winchester and £3,600 to Salisbury. We also paid out £10,500 to the charities who helped on the day. In addition, the runners raised approximately £15,000 for their own charities. The event raised a total of around £37,500 for charity.

Bookings for 2019 are healthy and final numbers are expected to be up on last year.

rendered our intrepid group

freezing cold, soaking wet and

exhausted. The descent now faced them. There

was no let up with the strong wind and lashing rain.Thankfully, three hours later saw our brave climbers safely back, enjoying a celebratory drink.

In addition to paying for all their equipment, each participant paid £150 for the “privilege” of taking part. Offline donations, Gift Aid and JustGiving finally enabled the target of £10,000 to be reached. A remarkable result achieved by a small group of determined, dauntless individuals.

Other smaller, but equally appreciated fundraising events for the hospice and other local charities have taken place. They include a City Walk, led by a Winchester Rotarian, who is a professional guide, carol singing in the High Street, our annual Autumn quiz night, and a Rotary/Inner Wheel skittles evening.

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A number of new members have joined Winchester Rotary during the past year. We extend a warm welcome and wish you enjoyment and fulfilment as you join us in our endeavours to make life a little easier for those suffering hardship and loss.

Finance The Winchester Rotary Trust Fund at the end of the Rotary year (30 June 2019) had funds of £36,000 In the year it had income of £113,000 of which donations from club members and others totalled £38,000The Trust Fund made grants and incurred expenditure of £107,000Major donations:Winchester Hospice £40,000 Rotary Foundation £5,000End Polio Now £2,500International donations £12,000Local £8,000 Environment £4,000

will keep, what does not we will discard, what becomes our tried and tested future we will embrace.

We have established mentors for new members to facilitate a smooth transition into Winchester Rotary. They will also be given an insight into the responsibilities of our various committees. This allows time for friendships to be established and informed personal decisions to be made at a comfortable pace for each new member.

Our Breakfast and Dinner Meetings are an integral part of our social and business life. They provide excellent opportunities for friendship, networking, and new ideas.

Our Rotary Social LifeWe enjoy an active and varied social events programme within our own club and in conjunction with others, both in the UK and abroad. We hold an annual barbecue, share an annual Family of Rotary Dinner with Winchester Inner Wheel and Rotaract. In May each year we take part in get-togethers with our contact clubs in France, (Le Havre de Grâce) and Germany, (Oberhausen Antony Hütte).

The Big Lunch This is a bi-annual social occasion where approximately fifty Winchester Rotarians and guests gather informally at a local hotel to network, exchange views and ideas. New friendships are generated, old ones regenerated. Guests include representatives from the Church, the Constabulary, Winchester University, Winchester School of Art, Winchester City Council, banks, accountants, surveyors, retail and finance. In addition to a diverse gathering, the event always attracts excellent speakers.

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to marshal the route as the riders roared their way out of the City. We look forward to their return visit this September.

Attracting New Members

Friendship, fellowship, “Service Above Self” remain the bedrock of our Rotary values. We aspire to be modern, vibrant and viable by making welcome men and women of all ages, diverse cultural backgrounds, and skills. We want potential new members to know who we are, what we do and what we can do for them.

This year we have raised our profile in the community by placing Rotary banners at key locations around Winchester, such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. Our distinctive Rotary Gazebo pops up frequently, especially where we collaborate with other organisations who are running local events, for example: Winchester Cathedral, Kings Worthy Summer Fete, the Clarendon Marathon, carol singing in Winchester High Street.

Our monthly Club Blog which records our many activities

is now available to the public through

our website. Our club news and photos

are publicised regularly via social

media through our PR Officer.

We recognise that potential younger members have busy working lives in addition to childcare and other family responsibilities. We are reducing the formality of our dinner meetings. Monthly, there will be one formal, one informal dinner, with dress code to match. The fifth Monday dinner is now open to fresh ideas, which will be particularly welcome from new members. What works well we

Winchester Rotary has a proud record of support for international projects including End Polio Now, which has succeeded in eradicating 99.9% of cases world-wide. We also provide funds to Shelter Box, who are amongst the first relief organisations on site at natural disasters, providing shelter and bringing essential aid to those affected. We will continue to assist other projects overseas including two we have been associated with for many years, namely, Winchester based Brickworks and Netley Marsh based Tools For Self Reliance.As members of Winchester Rotary, we are a group of energetic and committed people who endeavour to help those that need support and to make the world a better place, living up to the Rotary motto of Service Before Self.

responsibility of looking after their families, missing out on growing up and who are not seen by society as a whole. The young of today are facing so much pressure from social media and suffer from the mental consequences of this exposure. As highlighted in the media, this is a growing problem with insufficient support - their need is great and growing.We will continue to support many other local charities, including Youth Competitions and the redevelopment of Rotaract as a community based organisation. We are proud of our Winchester Rotary Reminiscence Café, held once a month within the security and hospitality of St Johns Moorside Dementia Care Home. The Café, run by Winchester Rotary volunteers, offers relaxation, friendship, music and memory recall activities.

Mike BillingtonWinchester Rotary President 2019-20

I feel greatly privileged to be the President of Winchester Rotary for the coming year. Although this is my third time, the other two being with different clubs, nevertheless, it is a daunting task, as Winchester Rotary is so active and embedded in the local community. In the coming Rotary year, we have a very full programme planned for supporting local charities and those further afield. We are very fortunate to have many members who are prepared to step up to the mark and assist with the organisation of events, and volunteer on the day.My chosen charities for the year 2019 - 20 are Winchester Young Carers and Winchester Youth Counselling, both of which help young people cope with the pressures of daily life. Young Carers are one of the hidden groups of young people who take on the

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