February 2012
Feb 25, 2012 7:45 PM
Although the day had been very busy Paul and I managed to get across to Newbold Comyn for the Leamington and Warwick Rotaract Club Quiz. There were many teams there which was great to see and the two rooms used were full. James, the Club President, joined us so that we could have a team and a little more brain power. The first half of rounds were very challenging but fortunately the second round had more questions we could answer and frustratingly we had a few answers that we did not put...
Feb 23, 2012 6:00 PM
We met in the multifaith centre for the first meeting of the proposed Aston University Rotaract Club. 13 prospective members attended representing several countries from all around the world including Peru, China and Nigeria. I explained what Rotaract is, its aims and expectations of clubs regarding their projects. I can't have put them off as they all signed up and most paid their subscription up front. The group has a mixture of students who will be here for a short period of time and those...
Feb 22, 2012 7:30 PM
For a change I managed to arrive early to a meeting. I had been asked by Past District Governor Robin Jones if I would go and repeat a talk I had previously done for a membership evening for aninformation evening they were putting on for companies with the aim of offering corporate membership. 7 club members turned up to suppport the event but unfortunately no representatives of the businesses invited actually attended. However, we had a great evening, chatting and enjoying each...
Feb 20, 2012 6:45 PM
Paul came up from Swindon and I came across from Nottingham to West Bromwich to attend the third of the Presidents' Initial Meetings. Most of those there were from the local area and many of us have been President before. Incoming District Governor Steve Cartwright shared with us his areas of focus for the coming year. We learnt of his charities for next year and discussions focussed on membership, planning and activites. We shared a meal together before we all headed off home to...
Feb 19, 2012 11:00 AM
After seven hours in the kitchen on Saturday night baking I trundled over to Leamington Spa with a car full of cakes to the RGBI meeting. It was our District's turn to host the national Rotaract meeting. Approximately 15 of us got together to discuss the state of Rotaract and how RGBI can help clubs. Good discussions took place during the workshop session and cakes and fruit were eaten throughout the event (and at least I still had enough to take to work on Monday and Paul could take...
Feb 17, 2012 7:15 AM
It was good to visit my friends at Birmingham Breakfast again - they always make me feel very welcome. It was also great to see Phil from Alcester Alauna on a fellowship visit as well. I was asked to give a talk on Rotakids, Interact and Rotaract - not bad for 20 minutes. Several questions came as as result and the possibility of areas to look at for future Rotaract clubs. My task is now to get leaflets from RIBI and then a member of the club has contacts in the tenancy field...
Feb 9, 2012 8:00 PM
We managed to find a time to meet together and Donnelle, our Jamaican Ambassadorial Scholar, provided the kitchen area for us to meet in. It was great to meet with the Club President, Secretary and Treasurer to talk through what Rotaract is all about and what they need to do to get the club underway. It was good to have Donnelle there as well to share what her Rotaract Club does for activities. We decided that the first meeting would be on the 23rd February and I would come along and share...
Feb 4, 2012 9:00 PM
The weather was freezing early in the morning as everybody set off for the Arden Hotel. We were reminded of the opportunities given through the Rotary Foundation and of international projects that clubs can support. We learnt about matching grants, Future Vision and District grants. After coffee we had a really interesting talk from Judith Diment regarding polio advocacy and also heard from Donnelle and Robert, our Ambassadorial Scholars. Then Sarah, a Rotary peace scholar,...
Feb 3, 2012 7:45 PM
Paul hosts a church international group at our house once per month. This time we had the company of Sarah, a peace scholar, her partner Sam and our Ambassadorial Scholar Donnelle from Jamaica. A couple of Bedworth Rotary Club came along as well so there were 15 of us together for the evening. Sarah gave a really good talk about the peace scholarship and some of the work she has done in Cameroon. This created a lot of interest and many questions ensued. We then had a two course meal which...
Feb 1, 2012 7:30 PM
I collected three students from Aston University, including our Jamaican Ambassadorial Scholar, and drove them to Kenilworth, to the Priory Theatre. My club had booked the theatre out for one of its productions of The Hound of the Baskervilles. We got there just in time due to traffic and settled down on the front row for what we expected to be an intense production. It started very earily on Dartmoor but very soon it became a comedy and continued as a mixture of drama and comedy....
