Club News and Calendar Page.
This is primarily a web page for use by Club Members for checking on:-
Club News / Last Meeting Report,
Programme
for the Club Meetings for the next few weeks,
Members' Duty Rota,
Current and planned Club Events / Dates for the
Diary / Reminders,
"Squeeky Wheel", the Club News-sheet in PDF format.
It may also be of use to possible visitors to the Club, to see what should
be happening on forthcoming Club Meetings.
Stop Press News / Last Meeting Report
Imagination Library - Meeting 15 February 2010
President Hilary Gordon welcomed members to the meeting on 1st March. There was a reversal of the usual programme in that the speaker preceded the business part of the evening.
As March is Rotary literacy month, President Hilary our District Literacy Officer was pleased that the speaker was Natalie Hunter regional director of the Dollywood Foundation and who spoke on the Imagination Library. In 1995 Dolly Parton very conscious of her disadvantaged upbringing, coupled with her belief that literacy goes hand in hand with fulfilment, founded the Imagination Library with the aim of giving under-5s a free age-appropriate book per month through the post until the age of 5. The scheme currently has 11,000 communities mainly in the USA and Canada, which deliver half a million books per month.
As Natalie explained, obviously the scheme is now too large for Dolly to financially support on her own and she is partnered by 200 Rotary clubs in the USA. The scheme was launched in the UK in 2007 and currently operates in 9 communities distributing 10,000 UK published books a month. The aim is to develop and expand the scheme in the UK in partnership with community groups like Rotary.
In the business part of the meeting Anne Shirran informed everyone of the wine-tasting event organised for our next fifth Monday on the 29th March, Ray Walker asked members to volunteer for car park duties Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th March for the Meldrum Music Society production of Annie Get your Gun, and Andrew McCartney asked members to volunteer for the Rotary Primary School Quiz heat which will be in Meldrum Academy on Thursday 11th March.
Paul Harris Award for Christine Falconer
Oldmeldrum Rotary Club was delighted last week to be able to recognise the service of member Christine Falconer, by making her a Paul Harris Fellow.
The fellowship, which takes its name from the founder of Rotary, was established in his honour in 1957 to express appreciation and recognition for a significant contribution, and as recognition of exceptional service.
Christine, who lives in Udny Green, is noted in the Club for the generous amount of time she gives towards ensuring the success of Club projects, particularly her contribution towards the Community Garden and in her co-ordination of the Club's annual Easter Egg Hunt at Haddo.
A former club secretary, she now devotes her considerable energies and talents into the Club's PR and communications, to help publicise the work that Rotary does, both in the community and worldwide.
Purple Pinkie Day - 23 February 2010
Members of Oldmeldrum Rotary Club put on a series of events last week to celebrate World "Purple Pinkie Day".
The day 23 February has been chosen to mark in each year the continuing fight to eradicate polio around the world. It takes its name from the practice during mass vaccinations of marking children's little fingers with a temporary purple dye, so as to ensure that they only receive the dose once.
Members attended their regular Monday meeting dressed in purple clothes, with District Governor Andrew McCartney even going so far as to dye his hair purple. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, groups of local Rotarians took to the streets of Oldmeldrum to hand out leaflets raising awareness of the worldwide campaign to eradicate polio.
Speaking afterwards, President Hilary Gordon said: "Rotarians and partner organisations around the world have made massive strides in recent years in isolating endemic polio to just a few parts of India, Nigeria Pakistan and Afghanistan. Purple Pinkie Day is a chance to have a bit of fun, but also deliver a serious message. The world is now really close to being able to declare itself polio-free, providing we can keep up the momentum. That's what the events like this, which took place throughout the world, are all about. I'd like to thank everyone who expressed their support, and in particular to Meldrum Motors, who allowed us to display posters in their windows".
Polio eradication has been Rotary's top priority since 1985. Since then, polio cases have fallen from 350,000 a year to a recorded 1,600 last year. Over that time, two billion children have been protected from the disease. As a result, it is estimated that five million children have been spared from disability and 250,000 deaths have been averted. Rotary members worldwide have so far raised US $700 million to fund polio immunisation activities and every penny raised goes to the project, with clubs in Great Britain and Ireland having so far donated more than £10.5 million towards immunisation initiatives.
Malcolm Bruce MP. - Meeting 15 February 2010
The Rotary Club of Oldmeldrum welcomed Malcolm Bruce MP to it's most recent meeting as the club's guest speaker.
Mr Bruce, who chairs the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development, spoke to members on the committee's work in shadowing the Department for International Development.
The department is the body which spends the greatest share of the UK government's international aid budget. Presently, it distributes aid worth around £8bn each year, a sum which is approximately two thirds of the way to the UK government's target of allocating 0.7% of GDP to overseas aid by 2013.
Mr Bruce made the point that while 'aid' was often spoken of in the context of disaster relief operations such as the recent high-profile efforts in Haiti, the longer term aim of the government was to help recipient countries to build their own capacity to develop and provide for themselves. While the governments of some countries the department sought to help were poor, some were corrupt and others were unfortunately both, the challenge facing aid providers was to decide how best to engage so as to benefit the intended recipients directly. In some cases, the best way to achieve this was to route aid through the many specialist non-governmental organisations which exist.
The International Development Committee, he said, through its overseas visits, was able to get down to a grass roots level and speak with those directly affected by aid policies. While it might not be possible for them to be certain that every pound was spent wisely, this did at least give committee members the opportunity to assess for themselves the overall effectiveness of aid policy. Overall, he said, the UK was regarded highly by other countries when it came to its aid policy, and praised the legislation of the 2002 International Development Act for providing a sound base for the implementation of those policies.
Mr Bruce identified three key issues in international development. The first of these was access to clean water and sanitation, since besides the obvious health benefits this could bring, it was also an important factor in enabling educational attainment. The second, which applied closer to home, was of the need to demonstrate domestically that overseas aid did make a difference, since without public support, it would become hard to sustain in the future. The third was what he described as the 'real test' whether or not you could ensure that aid delivered a sustainable long-term benefit for those receiving it.
Mr Bruce concluded with the observation that while fair trade was able to make a big contribution to development, free trade could make a bigger difference still. He drew his remarks to a close by praising the 'complementary' work of Rotary in the development work it helps undertake, before taking part in a question and answer session for members.
Alzheimer Scotland - Meeting 8 February 2010
Oldmeldrum Rotary Club was delighted to be able to welcome Anne Naylor as guest speaker at the club's latest meeting.
Anne, a resident of Oldmeldrum, works with Alzheimer Scotland as an advisor on dementia.
Anne works with people in the early stages of the condition, usually in the immediate aftermath of a diagnosis. She went on to explain that although there were many different types of dementia, it was a progressive condition, which over time affected short term memory, linguistic ability, judgement and the ability to make decisions.
She was, however, at pains to emphasise that it was possible to live positively with dementia for a long period of time following diagnosis. Citing the example of a lady in her 70's, who had been diagnosed with dementia six years previously, Anne described how the support and friendship offered by the "positive dementia" group had helped the lady to restore her confidence and come to terms with her diagnosis.
With the help of a befriender and a support worker, she had managed to re-establish an active life, whereas before she had withdrawn from similar activities. She had also travelled to Berlin to take part in a conference on dementia, and had helped to brief social workers on the needs of her fellow sufferers.
Ending her presentation, Anne concluded with the lady's uplifting maxim that she was "living with dementia, and not dying from it".
Robin Falconer offered the vote of thanks on behalf of the club. It was also agreed that the club should send a second "Shelterbox" to Haiti.
Thousands to move into "ShelterBox" tent village
Thousands of people left homeless by the devastating Haiti earthquake are due to start moving into a camp with hundreds of Rotary ShelterBox tents this week.
A number of local rotary clubs, including Oldmeldrum, have sponsored ShelterBoxes for Haiti. In addition to a tent which can sleep 10 people, ShelterBox comes with a range of survival tools, cooking utensils and a stove, designed to support an extended family for up to six months at a time.
Situated near to the US Embassy in Port au Prince, the encampment named Congress Camp will house thousands of refugees from the centre of the city allowing them to stay close to their communities and carry on with their daily lives.
ShelterBox's Response Team (SRT) in Port au Prince has been working around the clock to help set up the camp with hundreds of disaster relief tents, each of which can house an extended family of up to 10 people. The team has worked closely with the French aid agency ACTED and IOM (International Organisation for Migration) to create the tent village which is also equipped with showers and latrines.
John Leach, ShelterBox's Head of Operations, said: "This is an urban camp which means people can carry on with their daily lives and won't be forced to locations outside of Port au Prince."
"We have a huge number of tents here which will provide shelter to thousands of people and give them a chance to start rebuilding their lives. But we also have tent encampments set up in several other locations in and around Port au Prince and thousands more ShelterBoxes on their way to the city."
In another camp in Delmas, a suburb of Port au Prince, work is continuing to provide emergency shelter to families with newborn babies and pregnant women. Additional tents have been set up with the help of the US Military's 82nd Airborne Division.
SRT member Mark Pearson (UK) said: "Forty additional ShelterBoxes were dropped here to replenish the camp and now more than 200 families are living in this camp. We could not operate without the full support of the US military and state department in this area."
ShelterBox has also worked with the women's charity V-Day in providing 40 ShelterBoxes to vulnerable women in Port au Prince. In addition, 50 ShelterBoxes have been given to the French association, Enfants de la Rue, to help house children caught up in the quake.
Meanwhile the aid operation from the UK continues. Another 1,800 ShelterBoxes are set to be flown from Stansted Airport to Santa Domingo, the Dominican Republic, on Friday, where they will be transported overland to Port au Prince. It will bring the total number of ShelterBoxes deployed in Haiti to more than 7,000 boxes, providing emergency shelter to more than 70,000 people.
ShelterBox Founder and CEO, Tom Henderson, added: "None of this would have been possible without the fantastic fundraising efforts from ShelterBox supporters around the world. The need is huge but the response is matching it. By the sheer grit and determination of our staff, volunteers and donors we've been able to respond in record time, preparing more ShelterBoxes in two weeks than we've ever done before. We're in this for the long haul and I know our supporters will keep on going, keep on fundraising and keep on helping us make a difference."
Donations can be made direct to Shelterbox by calling 0300 0300 500.
Burns Night - 27 January 2010
At their January 25th meeting Oldmeldrum Rotary Club considered that it would be apposite to hold their Burns Supper on the actual 251st anniversary of the Bards birthday. To that end Vice-President Phil organised a varied programme incorporating traditional, and not so traditional Burns entertainment. President Hilary Gordon welcomed as guests Mick Gordon and Doug Westland from Ellon Rotary and partners; Margaret McCartney, Doreen Sinclair and Gordon Shirran, plus John Robertson representing GMTV who filmed the proceedings for potential inclusion in the morning local bulletins.
The haggis carried aloft by Rob Rothnie was 'fiddled' rather than piped into the room by Richard Thomson. This was followed by Peter Chalmers undertaking a dramatic and superlative rendition of the address to the haggis. Ray Walker said grace before it was consumed by those present. Phil organised members into groups who then recited both the traditional Tam O'Shanter, and a somewhat later penned response, Kate O'Shanter. After Phil recited Burn's poem 'To a mouse', Richard rounded off the evenings entertainment with a selection of traditional music on his fiddle. Denis Emslie then gave a very deserved vote of thanks to the participants.
"Shelterboxes" and "Aquaboxes" for Haiti
Oldmeldrum Rotary Club has responded to the earthquake emergency in Haiti,
with members agreeing at their business meeting last Monday evening to
make a donation of £750 towards the relief effort from club funds.
The donation will mean that a "Shelterbox" and an "Aquabox" will
be able to be sent to the stricken Caribbean state, which even before the
earthquake, had very poor infrastructiure and little in the way of functioning
government.
Each "Shelterbox" comes with a 10-person tent, designed to withstand extreme
temperatures, high winds and heavy rainfall. It contains a range of other
survival equipment including thermal blankets, insulated ground sheets,
a basic tool kit and either a wood or multi-fuel stove, along with cooking
utensils, which will help an extended family survive for up to six months.
It also comes with a children's pack containing drawing books, crayons and
pens. For children who have lost most, if not all of their possessions, these
small gifts are treasured.
While the "Aquabox" also contains survival equipment,
with the use of chlorine tablets, it allows users to purify up to 1,100 litres
of water for drinking vital in disaster zones where no clean water is
available.
ShelterBox, a Rotary initiative, managed to deliver the first boxes to Haiti yesterday (Monday 18 January). It has pledged to ship 3,300 boxes by the end of this week, with more to follow. Rotarians in the thirteen Haitian Rotary Clubs are coordinating global Rotarian support.
Speaking afterwards, Oldmeldrum Rotary President Hilary Gordon said: "The scenes from Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake have been very distressing. With little government or infrastructure in place, the burden for helping the survivors to rebuild their lives is going to fall mainly on charities and foreign governments. "Shelterboxes" and "Aquaboxes" can make a tremendous difference in the aftermath of a disaster, since they help keep people fed, warm, sheltered and healthy. Internationalism and concern for the welfare of others is at the heart of what Rotary is about, so I'm pleased that the club has been able to help in this small way towards the overall disaster relief effort."
Shelterbox is based in Cornwall, and was founded by Rotarian and ex-Royal Navy Diver, Tom Henderson OBE. Anyone wishing to donate directly to ShelterBox can do so by calling 0300 0300 500.
Look Ahead:-
Monday Meetings Programme
| Monday | 8 Mar 2010 | Haddo Egg Hunt Arrangements | |
| Monday | 15 Mar 2010 | Speaker : Carol Nicol | |
| Monday | 22 Mar 2010 | Business Meeting | |
| Monday | 29 Mar 2010 | 5th Monday : Wine Tasting | |
| Monday | 5 Apr 2010 | Speaker : Mr Simon Cousins, Producer, Landward, BBC Scotland | |
| Monday | 12 Apr 2010 | Speaker : Annette Ramsden, "Breath of Life" | |
| Monday | 19 Apr 2010 | Speaker : Richard Leavett, Friends of Haddo | |
| Monday | 26 Apr 2010 | Business Meeting | |
| Monday | 3 May 2010 | Speaker : Anne Shirran | |
| Monday | 10 May 2010 | Speaker : Willie Sinclair | |
| Monday | 17 May 2010 | Speaker : Stuart Singer | |
| Monday | 24 May 2010 | Business Meeting |
Back to Top
Members Duty Rota
Date |
Reception & Grace |
Cash |
Speaker Organiser |
Vote of Thanks |
Notes |
| 2010 | |||||
| January | |||||
| 4 | - | - | - | - | No Meeting |
| 11 | S. Watson | N. Brammer | N. Harvey | P. Duncan | |
| 18 C | H. Ravn | C. Falconer | J. Walker | D. Emslie | |
| 25 B | L. Anderson | R. Falconer | - | - | |
| February | |||||
| 1 | O. Ball | A. Forster | S. Kilkerr | C. Falconer | |
| 8 | N. Brammer | N. Harvey | A. Langford | R. Falconer | |
| 15 C | M. Belshaw | N. Jones | A. McCartney | A. Forster | |
| 22 B | p. Chalmers | S. Kilkerr | - | - | |
| March | |||||
| 1 | M. Clarke | A. Langford | D. McClelland | N. Jones | |
| 8 | C. Falconer | J. Walker | H. Milne | N. Harvey | |
| 15 C | D. Cowe | A. McCartney | C. Nicol | J. Walker | |
| 22 B | R. Falconer | D. McClelland | - | - | |
| 31 | - | - | Wine Tasting | 5th Monday | |
| April | |||||
| 5 | A. Forster | H. Milne | P. Duncan | S. Kilkerr | |
| 12 | N. Jones | C. Nicol | A. Ramsden | A. Langford | |
| 19 C | N. Harvey | S. Ravn | R. Rothnie | A. McCartney | |
| 26 B | S. Kilkerr | A. Ramsden | - | - | |
| May | |||||
| 3 | A. Langford | R. Rothnie | A. Shirran | D. McClelland | |
| 10 | J. Walker | A. Shirran | W. Sinclair | H. Milne | |
| 17 C | A. McCartney | R. Walker | S. Singer | C. Nicol | |
| 24 B | D. McClelland | W. Sinclair | - | - | |
| 31 | - | Bowling | 5th Monday | ||
| June | |||||
| 7 | H. Milne | R. Thomson | A. Stark | S. Rafn | |
| 14 | S. Rafn | S. Watson | R. Thomson | A. Ramsden | |
| 21 C | C. Nicol | L. Anderson | R. Walker | R. Rothnie | Club Assy. |
| 28 B | A. Ramsden | H. Rafn | - | - | Handover |
Events Calendar, January - June 2010
Event |
Date |
|
| Final Young Chef Award- Dundee College | Feb | 7 |
| Purple Pinkie Week | Feb | 20-28 |
| Purple Pinkie evening at club | Feb | 22 |
| Thanks for Rotary" Day | Feb | 23 |
| Murder Mystery Event, Udny Green Hall | Feb | 27 |
| 3rd District Council, Dundee | Mar | 3 |
| Primary School Quiz | Mar | 11 |
| Young Musician Strathallan School, Johnshaven | Mar | 27 |
| RIBI Assembly, Birmingham | Mar | 26-28 |
| 5th Monday Wine Tasting | Mar | 29 |
| Haddo Egg Hunt - Easter Sunday | Apr | 4 |
| RIBI Conference, Bournemouth | Apr | 16-18 |
| Young Chef National Final - Chichester | Apr | 24 |
| Club AGM | Apr | 26 |
| Primary School Quiz area heat | May | 1 |
| District Assembly, Aberdeen | May | 8 |
| Ythan Cycle Run | May | 29 |
| 5th Monday Bowling at Oldmeldrum | May | 31 |
| Technology Challenge - Primaries | Jun | TBA |
| Taste of Grampian, Thainstone | Jun | 5 |
| Primary School Quiz Meldrum Academy | Jun | 5 |
| KIDS OUT | Jun | 9 |
| Oldmeldrum Sports | Jun | 19 |
| Club Assembly | Jun | 21 |
| Club Handover | Jun | 28 |
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"Squeeky Wheel".
The Club produces an A4 size news sheet, the "Squeeky Wheel",
primarily as information for members. If you would like to download a copy
in PDF format, click on the link below.
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