After contacting our honorary member, the Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Greg Brackenridge, we learned that the City is receiving a large number of refugees from Afghanistan and asylum seekers from other wartorn parts of the world.

A large number have already arrived.

From L-R, Denise Williams (Wolverhampton City Council,) Rotarians Lorraine MaCarthy, Sally Woods and President Richard Green.

An appeal was launched for clothing and other goods to help these suffering people who come to us with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

The response from Wolverhampton Rotarians, their friends and familes has been swift and almost overwhelming.

So great is the quantity of goods being received that our Rotarian who is collecting them, Sally Woods, says her car was overfull. So, Rotarian Lorraine McCarthy and the President joined Sally in making the first delivery to the Council collection centre.

The council officer in charge, Denise Williams, tells us that clothing and in particular men’s and ladies’ shoes and pushchairs for toddlers are still required, so we will keep the appeal going.

Well done Rotarians, friends and families for their support, and the City Council for offering a welcome to people who have suffered so much!

President Richard.

All the finalists with The Mayor and District Governor Robyn Davies.

The seventh annual awards ceremony to recognise Wolverhampton’s Young Citizen of The Year took place in the Mayor’s suite at The Civic Centre on Thursday, September 16^th, in the presence of the Mayor, Councillor Greg Brackenridge.

All the Wolverhampton Rotary clubs work together in arranging the event in conjunction with a number of significant partners from the local business community. The initiative is named in memory of Rotarian Tom Warren who was the director of education and a member of the City of Wolverhampton club, who rose to become the President of Rotary worldwide in1945.

This year, for the first time, there were two categories – age ranges 13 to 18, and 19 to 25. Young people who had ‘gone the extra mile’ – whose personal courage, care for others, achievements or contribution to the community are recognised  by being nominated by friends, family or fellow school pupils. A large number of nominations were received and the selection committee had a tremendous task to arrive at a shortlist.

There were 5 finalists in the younger category and 4 in the senior one.

As we listened to the achievements of the young people, the audience were overwhelmed with admiration for every one of them. The winners received their awards from District Governor Robyn Davies. These took the form of a plaque and personal cheques, together with donations to a charity of their choice.

They were:

Winner Parwiz Karimi with President of the City of Wolverhampton Club, Richard Green.

13 -18 – Dylan Wright, whose lively personality had impressed the judging panel and who was described as an inspiration to his friends and colleagues. He had organised a great number of charity fund raising events and served as a volunteer in support of those charities.

In the senior category, the judges decided to make two awards. One was to Parwiz Karimi who founded the Afghan Youth Association in 2015 to provide a platform for students, graduates and young professionals to work together without any caste, creed or political preferences; now, following the crisis in Afghanistan, a new project has been started  called ‘Help Refugees.’

The second, joint award, was to Lucy Palin who created  ‘Project Give,’ which aims to tackle the problem of lost education time due to issues relating to periods.

Committee chairman Roger Timbrell thanked the members of the organising committee and the judges, who were The Mayor, Peter Madeley (Express and Star,) Amanda Evans (City of Wolverhampton Council education department) and Rotarians Chris Ager and Roger himself.

President Richard Green

President Richard has been in touch with our Honorary Member, The Mayor of Wolverhampton seeking ways in which we Rotarians can provide support for Afghan Refugees who are arriving in the City.

The following reply was immediately received:

“From: Denise Williams <Denise.Williams@wolverhampton.gov.uk>

Hello Richard, thank you and The Rotary Club for your kind offer of support, it is greatly appreciated. 

I am coordinating the picking, packing and delivery of items. We are having deliveries dropped off Monday to Friday, to Graiseley Strengthening Families Hub, Pool St, Wolverhampton WV2 4NE. This allows for a coordinated and targeted approach and prevents multiple drop offs at the hotel. 

Current required items that have been requested are as follows; 

Women’s clothes, all sizes

Men’s clothes all sizes, including xl

Shoes for girls 32-44

Shoes for boys 32-44

Shoes for women 34-42

Shoes for men 40-45

Infant boy’s shoes size 22

Winter coats all ages, male and female. 

4 Pushchairs   

We would be grateful for any help with these items 

If I could be informed when deliveries are to be made, I will ensure that someone is there to receive the items. 

Thanks again for your support

Regards

Denise 

Denise Williams

Partnership Manager

Tel. Office: 01902 556133 

City of Wolverhampton Council”

Our member Sally Woods has offered to provide a central collecting point for donations made by our club, and she will take the goods onwards to the Council’s collection point.

If anybody wishes to donate via Rotary, please place a message on https://www.facebook.com/rotaryclubofwolverhampton or contact us through this website

The Wolverhampton MS Centre was founded over 25 years ago with huge support from the Rotary club of The City of Wolverhampton – support that has never faltered, and that will be ongoing.

The latest project is the funding of an Information Hub to provide a display service, both in the Centre and for MS sufferers at home, to perform keep fit exercises, demonstrate wellness techniques, give general advice and keep everybody in touch by means of a large screen and computer backup.

Peter Williams MBE along with Fraser’s daughter and son, Tim and Kathy.

The funding was made possible by a legacy left to the club by our much missed senior member, Fraser Dukes, and the Hub has been named in his memory. Fraser was a keen supporter of the Centre and had been very involved in its establishment, continuing to give medical advice for many years.

A memorial plaque was unveiled at a well attended gathering on the 9^th. of September and it was entirely fitting that the unveiling was carried out by Fraser’s daughter and son, Kathy and Tim, in partnership with the centre chairman, Rotarian Peter Willams MBE.

Peter also paid tribute to Fraser and another Rotarian who was very much involved, the late John Baker. He said that without the support of the Rotary club, the great achievements of the centre would not have been possible.

Kathy, Tim, Peter and the Centre technical expert, Paul Williams all expressed their intense gratitude for the funding provided.

For more information on the centre’s work- click here; Centre Website

City of Wolverhampton Rotary steps in and honours Rotarian.

Having somewhere dry and warm to sleep, to prepare meals and be with stricken families is vital for starting the long process of rebuilding lives.

Rotary ShelterBox teams work with disaster-hit families around the world, offering emergency shelter and other essential items to support them in rebuilding their lives.

Every disaster is different and so is every community, so time is spent time with those affected to make sure they can be offered the right support at the right time to help them recover.

The ShelterBox teams can travel by boat, helicopter or tuk-tuk to get to the families who need  support – whatever it takes to get to the people who have lost their homes to disaster.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Saturday, August 14^th.

Buildings have been flattened and hospitals already under strain from COVID-19 are overwhelmed.

Now with Haiti in the predicted path of Tropical Storm Grace, survivors of the earthquake could face strong winds, driving rain, flooding and mudslides.

Rotary ShelterBox is sending a team to the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti, as soon as possible.

The Rotary ShelterBox team will work with fellow humanitarians to assess damage reports, understand from communities what they need, and work on the challenging logistics of delivering aid to areas where buildings have been reduced to rubble.

Our late Rotarian member Fraser Dukes left a legacy for the Rotary Club of The City of Wolverhampton to use in support of communities at home and abroad, and the club has deployed part of the legacy to fund a ShelterBox in the sum of £590.

President Richard Green says “we are absolutely sure that Fraser would wholeheartedly approve of this use of the funds he left us, to provide desperately needed support in Haiti.”

PolioPlus Leader’s words of encouragement regarding Afghanistan.

TALIBAN HAVE CHILDREN TOO …

Many Rotarians have expressed concern about the future of our Polio Eradication Initiative – when ultimate success is so close.

However, RI Past President and 2021/22 Chair of The Rotary Foundation, John Germ, said yesterday that Rotary’s team has been working with the Taliban for some time and “we need to remember the Taliban have children too – and want them protected against Polio.

We acknowledge the tragedy of the situation in Afghanistan, but there have always been obstacles in the way that have been overcome. 

We have only one wild virus case in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the past eight months – and very little trace is being found in environmental samples. We need to work with all elements of leadership in that country and the anti government element has indicated a willingness to work with us.

Historically, the Taliban have never been against Polio vaccination. They are wary of people involved in delivering the vaccines but they want to target the end of Polio and are very well organised.  

In 2021, despite internal conflicts and a global pandemic, Afghanistan is seeing unprecedently low transmission of wild polio, with just one case reported this year. Not only has the country seen a drastic reduction in cases of wild polio, polio surveillance data confirms this progress and significantly less virus is being detected in the environment.

As conflict in Afghanistan quickly evolves, we must advocate for the children of Afghanistan. The Polio program must work and communicate with all stakeholders involved to ensure that polio immunisation remains a priority to ensure the gains we have made against polio do not diminish.

We look forward to working with our polio eradication partners and the Afghani people to completely eradicate polio.”  concluded John Germ.