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July 2010

22nd July 2010
The Fellowship Meeting was livened up by a visit from Robin Cuthbert from the Abertay Club. Robin is presently helping get the word around to older folks about the TV Digital Switchover. This happens on the 15th September in Grampian and he's looking or volunteers in the Aberdeen area to go around and let those who need to know about the help scheme that the BBC has available.

8th July 2010
Assistant Governor Alan Pirie gave the Club an update on his Induction, Training, Responsibilities in his new post.

Alan also provided an over view of Club activities throughout his Zone and highlighted some activities which St Machar may like to consider in the future.

Congratulations Alan on your appointment. The Club looks forward to supporting you in what is going to be a busy year for yourself and Pat.

1st July 2010
Today President Margaret handed over to incoming President Vester. Margaret reviewed her presidential year and expressed her delight at being president and the involvement in the varied and interesting projects carried out by St Machar Rotary Club.

Vester thanked Margaret on behalf of the members for her guidance through the the last year.

Margaret now takes on the Convenorship of the Youth Committee.

June 2010

17th June 2010
The Club Assembly saw President Margaret hand over the meeting to Vice President Vester to allow him to introduce his team for 2010-2011.

Vester and the Convenors outlined the Clubs programme and aims for the coming year with a few new initiatives along side the tried and tested projects.

In attendance from District was Assistant Governor Ewen Hatchwell who commented on the past achievements of the Club and the forthcoming year's projects.
Ewen had pleasure in presenting President Margaret with the presidential Citation to make the Club having achieved  a set of goals set by District for each Club.

Congratulations Margaret on receiving the Citation and thanks too from the Club members for your leadership and guidance during the last year.

14th June 2010
Organised by Bill Wood several members and partners visited the Aberdeen mosque on Monday evening. Between prayer sessions the group heard from the Imam, Abraham about the Mosque and Islam. The talk was very interesting along with information regarding Abraham's background and training. There followed a lively question and answer session. The evening closed with snacks and a tour of the mosque.

Thanks to Imam Abraham and Aberdeen mosque for the warm welcome and to Bill and Emma for the catering.

10th June 2010
Jenny Shirreffs gave a very informative talk on the Cathars and in particular those from the Languedoc Region. The Cathars occupied the region from the 11th to the 13th centaury but also had groups throughout Europe. The Cathars believed in two gods of equal status. One being related to the physical world and representing evil and the other being pure of spirit, the god of love, order and peace.

This placed them at odds with the Catholic Church. The anti-Cathar Albigensian Crusade, and the inquisition which followed it, entirely eradicated the Cathars.

Thanks Jenny for a very interesting talk.

 

9th June 2010
Kids Out day once again entertained 500 children and 500 teachers, assistants, helpers and Rotarians. Having set up the event in the torrential rain it turned out to be dry throughout the event. The children had an excellent time and enjoyed the variety of entertainment available.

Thanks go to all our sponsors, helpers and Rotarians who contributed to the great day out.

3rd June 2010
It was a pleasure to welcome David Strathearn back to the Club. David now works for CHAS and was accompanied by Sarah Secombes. Sarah gave an illustrated talk on the work carried out by CHAS and details of their recent new initiatives. Rotary has supported CHAS in the past and we look forward to supporting CHAS again. David invited members to visit Rachel House during the open day in September. Detail are in the CHAS Chat which was distributed to members.
Following a very successful race night organised by Alan Pirie and Stuart McKay, the Club was delighted to have Kate Synott from UCAN visit for lunch and collect a cheque for £7000.

Thanks to all Club Members and those companies and individuals who supported the race night.
Club Member, Heather Wilson, received a cheque for £3000 on behalf of Give Kids a Chance. The money was raised at the recent golf outing. The first golf outing, 10 years ago, supported Give Kids a Chance and it was a pleasure to support the charity once again.

Again thanks to all those who supported the golf outing this year and over the last 10 years.
May 2010

27th May 2010
Following our financial support Marlene Grant visited the Club to update members on the Bezallet School Project in Uganda. The project is supported by Riverbank School and Tillydrone Vision. In 2009 a container full of clothes, footwear, bikes and educational items for the school was sent to Bezallet. A refurbished tractor is awaiting transport. The tractor will allow the school to cultivate food crops and earn income by hiring out the tractor. Marlene was ably assisted by Reverend Jim who has also visited the school and had a selection of photos of Uganda and the poverty in the district surrounding the school.

25th May 2010
The 10th Annual Golf Outing was held at Newmachar Golf Club and involved a total of 19 teams of 4 players. Unfortunately there was some light rain after 9 years of excellent weather conditions. As it never rains on a golf course everybody had a very enjoyable outing. The winning teams are pictured below along with the St Machar team who actually never struck a ball but worked hard in the background. The Club's thanks to Alan Pirie for all his hard work in organising the day, the supporting teams and those who donated to the raffle.  "Give Kids a Change" was the main charity to benefit from the event and they assisted in selling raffle tickets during the lunch.

Well done to everybody!

First - Aberdeen Property Leasing

Second - Source Property Services

Third - McCue and Porter

St Machar Team

15th May 2010
St Peters Primary School represented Aberdeen St Machar Rotary Club at the Zone Finals held on Saturday. This year the Aberdeen Club were the hosts and the event was held at Robert Gordons College. Unfortunately St Peters did not do as well as last year. The winners were Robert Gordons College, second Cults Primary and third Portlethen Primary. Our thanks go to St Peters for representing Aberdeen St Machar over the last 2 years.

Reading Bus at Word Schools Festival
The Reading Bus, supported by Aberdeen St Machar Rotary Club picked up some honours at the Word Festival held at Aberdeen University. President Margaret has provided the report below on this prestigious event.
"As a forerunner to the tenth Word Festival at Aberdeen University, the Reading Bus held a book launch on Tuesday 11 May. Their new publication is called 'Wishes and Legends' and is a wonderful addition to the growing body of work produced by Jenny Watson, the Bus team and the children in the St Machar catchment area. The book has been sponsored by an oil company, TAQA, with local offices at Westhill and the launch was a grand affair with company representatives and the Lord and Lady Provost in attendance.
It was intended to have royal patronage but HRH the Duchess of Rothesay was unable to attend because of a broken leg. However she sent the children a personal letter and has promised to visit at some future date. Children from all the local primaries presented their publications backed up with artefacts and wonderful articulate presentations. Jenny and her team are doing marvellous work in the area of literacy and we can be proud of the contribution St Machar Rotary has  made to support that work."

13th May 2010
Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults was the subject of today's talk. District Protection Office Alistair Ritchie took club members through the Protection Legislation and how it was linked to Health & Safety. RIBI have a Protection Policy which provides guidance to Rotary Clubs once they have completed their Risk Assessments for any event. If protection issues are identified Alistair can provide advice via the Club Protection Officer and arrange Disclosure if required.

New rules are to be introduced in November and we are sure Alistair will visit again to provide details of the changes.

6th May 2010
Nepal was the subject of today's talk by Louise Boddington. Louise from Surry took a 10 week sabbatical from her work as a management consultant and elected to visit Nepal with a view to becoming involved in teaching and health projects.

Commencing with a spell teaching in Bandipur and assisting with the refurbishment of hospital wards, Louise found herself moving to Aandhimul which is a very poor hill village. Aandhimul had virtually no healthcare or sanitation but did have a small school. Forming a small team of local and international volunteers Louise set about finding funding for teachers, introducing teacher training and refurbishing the school. Girls leave school at about 9 to assist with the family chores. The main chore being fetching and carrying water. A new water supply which is being investigated would relieve the girls from carrying water for hours on end and allow them to continue their education. A new school kitchen has been built and healthcare checks have raised the standard in the village.

Arthumka is a similar village but it has obtained finance from the government to build a 2 classroom school. The next fund raising effort is for the provision of an addition classroom, teachers, teacher training along with an new water supply and better sanitation.

St Machar President Margaret and member Bruce Anderson are keen for the Club to become involved in Nepal and to fundraise for some of the projects highlighted by Louise. Thanks to Louise's talk the Club is now aware of the desperate problems in Nepal and will look at ways we can assist.

There are strong links between Nepal and Aberdeen with over 300 Nepalese in Aberdeen.

Bruce, Margaret, Louise and Dilip