All ‘feet’ to the pumps for Rotary Shoeboxes at Leven
Members of staff at Fife Council Community Services in Glenrothes took ‘great strides’ to help their colleague, Leven Rotarian Margaret Anderson, to fill over 30 Rotary shoeboxes destined for less-fortunate ‘souls’.
Leven Rotary Club are participating in the initiative, which is being replicated by Rotary Clubs all over the area, and is based on volunteers filling a shoebox-sized box with items designed to improve the life of deprived residents of eastern European or third world nations. The boxes are filled with household items or used, but serviceable, tools. Some volunteers fill the boxes with toys and educational material for a specific age group of child. In communities where individuals own very little, these boxes are a very welcome and useful surprise to people who often have never received a gift in their lives.
John Anderson, President of Leven Rotary Club said “Our members are participating enthusiastically in this scheme which is designed to add a ray of sunshine to the lives of unfortunate and deprived people in other countries. We are so grateful for the significant contribution which Fife Council Community Service staff have made to this simple but worthwhile initiative.” |
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Rotary Club of West Fife
Even with the risk of potential guests being Burns 'Scuppered' by the first
Friday, The Rotary Club of West Fife managed to sell out their Burns
Celebration Dinner held at Garvock House Hotel last week. The event was not
organised to be a fund raiser but nevertheless thanks to their 146 guests
and sponsors they amassed over £2000 for Rotary and local charities.
The haggis was addressed by Ken Dow and a rather unique Tam O'Shanter was
given by fellow Carse of Stirling rotarian David Sibbald. Alastair McDonald
entertained with music, song and wit. |
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COWDENBEATH Rotarian Bobby Greenlees has been honoured by Scotland's biggest
swimming club.
Bobby, from McGregor Avenue, Lochgelly, received the Edinburgh Warrender
Baths Club's Associate Life Membership.
The former grade one football referee received the award for his services to
the club over the years in helping run club championship and development
squad events.
Warrender are one of the biggest clubs in the UK never mind Scotland so it
is an important accolade for a man who got involved in swimming after he
hung up his whistle.
He said, "My daughter Ailsa got me involved in swimming by asking me to go
to an event at Cardenden Swimming Club and I ended up timekeeping that
night.
"Since then I have become involved in organising marshalling at major
Scottish meets and I also enjoy coaching at the Cardenden Club where I was
president for over 25 years."
Swimming has become a major part of the 76 year-old's life and he spends
several nights involved in the sport both locally and nationally.
He added, "I thought when my refereeing career ended that was the end of my
link with sport but nothing could be further from the truth.
"From these early days timekeeping at Cardenden things have mushroomed and
some weeks can be very busy.
"I am deeply honoured to receive this award from Warrender who have hundreds
of young swimmers spread over whole Edinburgh area."
In the football world he was known as RC Greenlees, Lochgelly, but in
swimming Bobby is known as someone who will help any club no matter what
their size, run events.
He is a long serving member of the Cowdenbeath Rotary Club and is very
active in club affairs. |
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The end of 2007 saw Leven Club marking the achievements of some of their members.
Past President Norrie Stuart 79/80, a Rotarian since 1972 and who's father was a founder member of the Club in 1939, already having been awarded a Paul Harris Fellow some time ago, was presented with the Four Avenues of Service Citation for his long and unstinting service to Leven Rotary and Rotary around the World. This award was also a personal thank you from President John Anderson to Norrie for his help and mentoring since he joined Rotary in 2001. Norrie exemplifies to true spirit of Rotary in both Service and Fellowship.
District Membership Convener and Past President, Bob Thomson was also "gob smacked" when he was presented with his Paul Harris by District Governor Clive at the District Governors visit and Family of Rotary Night. Bob has been a Fife Rotarian for many years joining Leven Club in 2001. He became President in 2004/5 and went on to District Duties as GSE Leader to India and Membership Convener in 2007. Bob's enthusiasm for Rotary is very infectious and is ideally placed in his District Duties.
Past President Jim Houston received his surprise Paul Harris by President John Anderson of behalf of the Leven Club for his services to Rotary. Jim has the dubious distinction of being the first member of Leven Rotary in its 69 years history to have been President more than once. Jim unselfishly stepped in to the post for the 2nd time in 2005/6 at extremely short notice, having "done his time" in 2003/4 when the President Elect at the time was unfortunately unable undertake the position. Jim's "can do" attitude to Rotary is reflected in the fact that while work commitments have sometimes made it difficult for Jim to attend with the frequency he would have liked, it is not unusual for Jim to drive hundreds of miles to be in Leven on a Tuesday evening only to have to jump back in his car and fly off to another far flung destination after the meeting. Jim organised the Fund Raising "Bag Pack" at Sainsbury's this year and netted over £1300 for the Club Benevolent Fund. |
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DUNFERMLINE Rotarians have played Santa to a score of local good causes.
President David Gemmell is pictured stuffing £200 cheques into the Christmas
stockings of a raft of charities:
Fife Society for the Blind, Dunfermline Sound talking newspaper for the
blind, The Salvation Army, Core Club, MacMillan Cancer Relief, Dunfermline
Crossroads, Disability Sport Fife, Samaritans, Dunfermline Women’s Aid,
Homestart, Jennifer Brown Fife Appeal, National Community Service Fife,
Riding for the Disabled, Furniture Plus, Seal Association, The Bethany
Trust, Sammy’s Sunshine Fund and Nethertown & Izatt Avenue Community
Council. Rotarians are also preparing to be Santa’s little helpers when they will
join Father Christmas on a nightly fun sleigh ride round areas of
Dunfermline from Monday to spread festive cheer and collect donations for
further Rotary charities.
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Last year, Rotarians paid out almost £21,700 from its benevolent fund – the
majority to local and UK charities, like CHAS, Cancer Research, Wheelchair
Foundation, Barnardo’s, and Dunfermline Children’s Gala.
They also disbursed £5000 to overseas charitable projects, such as Hope and
Homes for Children, Uganda Literacy, PolioPlus, Impact and the regeneration
of slums in Nairobi.
Last month, raconteurs George McNeill and Sandy Strang put a smile on the
faces of the 230 diners who supported the club’s annual fund-raising
function in Keavil House Hotel.
But it was a raft of charities which were laughing all the way to the
bank…as the dinner rang up some £20,000 for more local, national and
international good causes.
It represented a hat-trick of successes for Mr Gemmell, who was presiding
over his third major fund-raiser as the club’s special events convener.
“The dinner went as well as I could have hoped for, and when all the monies
are in, we hope to have matched last year’s £20k,” he said.
“Through Rotary Foundation, the movement’s own charity, we hope to draw down
a matching grant to support our latest international project in Pakistan –
the equipping of a diagnostic centre in collaboration with the Rotarians of
Rawalpindi with whom we have already carried out a series of successful
medical and vocational training initiatives.”
Chairing the proceedings, which were sponsored by Bank of Scotland
Corporate, was Past-President Andrew Watson.
Pictured with President David at the function are, from left: Karen Moseley,
associate director, Bank of Scotland Corporate; Sandy Strang; Derek Rolland,
area director, Bank of Scotland Corporate; Rotarian Brian Steer, depute
special events convener; George McNeill, and Andrew Watson. |
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The Rotary Club of Burntisland & Kinghorn presented CHAS with a cheque for £1700, part of the proceeds of their recent Charity shop in Burntisland.
Picture L to R shows Rotary President Kevin Mitchell, CHAS Volunteer Jim Broadley and organiser & Vice President George Foster. |
I would like to complement the organisers on another successful event. They obviously built on the previous years strengths to provided a most enjoyable weekend.
As you can see from the faces on the Leven Contingent, we enjoyed ourselves. (But then we always do!!!) You will note that the District Membership Chair was most relaxed in his position!!
John D. Anderson, President RC of Leven |
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RC of Leven
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A very unusual event occurred at this last meeting of the current Rotary Year of the Rotary Club of Leven. Four long serving Rotarians were awarded Paul Harris Fellowships, the highest accolade that can be given to serving Rotarians by the Rotary International movement. It was quite unusual to see four members of one Club receive this honour at the one time. The Club members warmly applauded this recognition of these stalwart Rotarians efforts to carry out the main principle of Rotary: - "Service before Self!"
The four members are shown from left to right. David Pirie 26 years Service. Douglas Falconer 23 years Service. Ian Hutchison 30 years Service.
John Ramsay 35 years Service. A total of 114 years of "Service before Self"!
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RC of Kinross &
District
The Club had a visit from the Rotary District Governor elect, David Rankin, on 4 June. David addressed the meeting and had the pleasure of presenting Rotarian John Stewart, with the Paul Harris Award. John joined the Rotary Club of Monifieth in 1982 and after some time at the Perth St Johns Club joined the Kinross Club in 1993. He competed in the Rotary World Curling Championships in Canada in 1996 and 2000 and is currently treasurer of the Kinross Curling School. John is also an elder in the Kinross Parish Church and a Deputy Lieutenant of Perth & Kinross.
The photo shows John Stewart receiving his award from District Governor Elect, David Rankin.
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Margery Eglinton with Anstruther RNLI Deputy Second Coxswain/Senior Helmsman Alex Purves.
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Local community and business support funds new lifeboat.
Anstruther’s newest RNLI lifeboat, funded by the Fife Rotary clubs and Anstruther community, will be officially accepted into the RNLI fleet today (Saturday 28 April). The traditional ceremony will be held at the Anstruther RNLI lifeboat station.
Margery Eglinton, of St Andrews, whose late husband David instigated a Fife wide Rotary Club project raising an amazing £15,000 to help fund the new D class RNLI lifeboat, officially names her ‘Rotary Centenary Queen’. The Rotary clubs across Fife agreed to organise a joint fundraising project in aid of the RNLI to celebrate the Rotary’s 100th anniversary.
Anstruther community raised an addition £10,000 through various fundraising initiatives which has gone towards the funding of the lifeboat. The local branch of Dunfermline Building Society has also kindly sponsored the naming ceremony.
The new inshore D class lifeboat, which first arrived on station in November 2006, is faster and has improved navigational capability than her predecessor. This class of lifeboat is ideal for rescues close to shore where larger lifeboats cannot operate.
David Rankin, Assistant Governor of the Rotary District 1010 commented
‘The Rotary Clubs in Fife have to be warmly congratulated for their sterling efforts in raising the £15,000. This project is a culmination of the pooling of resources of the clubs in Fife and proves without a doubt that clubs working together can achieve much more. The project began in Rotary Centenary Year 2004 - 5 and has now finally borne fruit and once more stands out as a shining example of what can be done with dedication and hard work of Rotarians and Rotary Clubs in general and epitomises our motto of Service Above Self.’ |
Robert Wood from Glenrothes was presented with a cheque for £500 by President Jim Boyd to help go towards aid at The Peace Village School and Orphanage Trust, in Ukunda Mombassa Kenya. Robert gave a talk about a holiday he went on with his wife Eleanor just over a year ago (2006) where he did the usual holiday Safari for a week but his second week they experienced the dreadful sights when they visited a local school, which consisted of just three mud huts. In just over a year a holiday experience has turned into a labour of love for this area in Kenya and “his Children” In the picture is International Chairman John Galloway with Robert’s wife Eleanor. Uploaded 4.06.07 |
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Rotary Club of Glenrothes who sponsored 2007 Euroscola representative Deborah Grieve pupil of Glenwood High School with Rotarian Bill Wooton (left) and President Jim Boyd (right). Deborah gave a very confident talk at the Rotary Club of Glenrothes Meeting last Thursday on her experiences in Strasbourg.
A cheque for £200 was presented by President Jim Boyd and Community Chairman Ian Cowie to Richard Brickley (Disability Sport Fife): who is the chair of Scottish Disability Sport and the president of Disability Sport Fife. His work is on physical activities for people with disabilities.
Uploaded 4.06.07
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THE Lochgelly Centre was the venue for Cowdenbeath Rotary Club's annual
primary schools quiz when over 50 youngsters tested their range of
knowledge.
During an enjoyable closely contested competition Hill of Beath Primary
emerged as winners after a tie-break with Lochgelly South.
A record number of 12 schools took part this year and the rotarians were
grateful for the assistance of Cowdenbeath and District Probus Club members
for their assistance.
The schools who took part were Denend, Foulford, St Bride's, St Kenneth's,
Lochgelly West, St Ninian's, Lumphinnans, Cowdenbeath, Crossgates, St
Patrick's, Lochgelly South and Hill of Beath who now progress to the Rotary
District 1010 final to be held on 12th May at Bell Baxter High School,
Cupar.
The winning team was David Black, Jordan Brown, Cameron Burns and Lindsey
Shaw. Uploaded 4.06.07
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Burntisland and Kinghorn
uploaded 3.06.07
The Rotary Club of Burntisland and Kinghorn held their Charity Golf Day at Burntisland Golf House Club on Friday 20th April.
Over 60 competitors played golf in very pleasant conditions and thoroughly enjoyed pre-match hospitality and an excellent high tea.
Following the prizegiving, organiser Kevin Mitchell confirmed the day had raised £1550 which will be spent by the club on local charities.Thanks to all who contributed to this great day.
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WEST FIFE UPLOADED 2.06.07
The club held one of its most innovative fund raising events ever when
they
secured the European Premiere of the new Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway
film
"The Devil wears Prada" in a 265 seater auditorium at the Odeon Cinema at
Halbeath.
Members ensured that the evening was a sell out and raised over £2500 for
the chosen charity, the Aberlour Trust, are given access to the tickets.
The
Premiere seats at the cinema were filled up local and national
celebrities.
Pictured are locals: Dan McCafferty and Pete Agnew of rock group,
Nazareth,
actress Shirley Henderson and BBC Scotland's Dougie Vipond. |
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WEST FIFE UPLOADED 2.06.07
The Rotary Club of West Fife has donated £7000 to the District 1010
project led by Alison Stedman to provide a house at the Nyumbani Village
in
Kenya. The village focusses on the needs of the children and the elderly
affected by HIV/AIDS.
The project, called Nyumbani Village International, builds
self-sustaining communities to assist elders and children left homeless by
the AIDS pandemic. The first eight villages will be built in Kenya, and
will
produce a family-like setting for orphaned children and elders, providing
housing, health care, counselling, education, and vocational training.
Alison Stedman will be returning to Kenya in February to present a sizeable
cheque to Father D'Ag.
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WEST FIFE UPLOADED 2.06.07
The Rotary Club of West Fife is organising the Two Capitals Cycle Run on
Sunday 24th June as part of Bike Week 2007 Scotland.
The main purpose of this event is to raise funds for charity by individual and
corporate sponsorship. The main beneficiary will be schools, bike related
and other national charities.
The Cycle Run is just under 31 miles long but takes participants through
historic Dunfermline and across the Forth Road Bridge and by the seafront
to
Ocean Terminal at Leith.
More details at www.rcwf.co.uk
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