Once again it was our great pleasure to take the Rotary Junior Technology Challenge to Uplands Primary School.

Over the two days of Wednesday and Thursday March 13^th and 14^th.. 96 year 5 children were keen to learn how to become engineers by building a bridge for a squirrel to cross in safety. On the first day, after an invitation from the presenter Richard Green, the children named the squirrel, by a majority vote, ‘Bob’ and on the second day he became ‘Sammy.’

The children were completely engaged and enthusiastic, providing the Rotarian team with great satisfaction at being able to give encouragement and knowledge to young people.

The children had given their teams some unique and amusing names. The winners on the first day were ‘The Good Girls’ with runners up ‘The Science Squad’ and on the the second day it was ‘Shooting Stars’ with ‘Red Robot Devils’ the runners up.

Thanks are due to club members President Charles Cox, Norman Holmes, Stuart Williams and Richard Horrell together with District Youth Service committee members Robyn and Trevor Davies and Peter Langdon for coming along to be part of the team; also we give a very special thank you to Brian Bailey who worked extremely hard in preparing the copious amount of material and equipment needed in advance.

PDG Richard Green

At the 26^th annual mega limb camp carried out by the Rotary club of Bangalore Peenya in January 2024, supported by a grant from Rotary Jaipur Limb UK, 1777 amputees and others suffering from deformities received lifechanging support.

595 artifical limbs, 551 callipers, 74 LN4 artificial hands, 510 crutches and 44 wheelchairs were made available free of charge. The men, women and children who benefitted were of all ages ranging from the very young to the very elderly.

The RJLP trustee and director for India, Past District Governor Richard Green was on hand to give advice and encouragement to the dedicated team of technicians and Rotarians who worked tirelessly over 5 days, from 8am until 10pm every day.

Of the many recipients, one example was 10 year old Ravindra, deformed from birth, whose feet and legs were so mishapen that he could only crawl around the ground in his village.

After he had been assessed and had plaster of paris moulds made, the technicians were able overnight to make specially fitted artifical limbs. Once these were attached Ravindra was able to raise himself up onto a walking frame and immediately propel himself around.

One little boy who has his dignity and hope restored. His smile tells the story.

Our purple for polio crocus, planted in Bantock Park with the help of children from Merridale and Low Hill Primary schools last October are now in full, beautiful bloom, reminding us to complete the job of eliminating the sourge of polio.  From a situation where there were 1000 new cases a day across 125 countries in the world when we started in 1985, we are winning but can’t give up the fight. In 2023, there were just 6 new cases in Pakistan and 6 in Afghanistan.

PDG Richard Green

The District final of the Rotary Young Musician competition on February 25^th once again demonstrated the amazing musical talents of our young people, when 8 vocalists and instrumentalists, sponsored by a number of clubs in Rotary International District 1210 vied for the the opportunity to go forward to the regional final.

Adjudicators Maria Grigorets and Stacey had a most difficult task to select the best of the best from such an array of talents, but they eventually decided that 12 year old violinist Yang He and 17 year old singer William Tyne were the winners.

Yang He, sponsored by the Rotary club of Dudley performed ‘Banjo and Fiddle’ by William Kroll, ‘Melodie’ by Tchaikovsky and ‘Gigue’ by Bach; William Tyne, sponsored by the Rotary club of   Sedgley and Wombourne delighted the packed audience with ‘Where ‘ere You Walk’ by Handel, ‘Chim Chim Cheree’ by Richard and Robert Sherman and ‘Se Vuol Ballare’ by Mozart.

The Regional final takes place at 12 noon on Sunday March 17^th at Dixie Grammar School, Market Place, Markey Bosworth near Nuneaton, CV13 0LG.

PDG Richard Green