A superb series of Summer Sounds concerts presented by Wolverhampton Music Service at the Wulfrun Hall came to a conclusion on July18th.with many Rotarians in attendance as witness to their support for the talented young musicians in the 3 orchestras that performed.

The programme ranged from the Jazz Big Ban

d whose numbers included a Copacabana Medley through the Youth and Youth Wind Orchestras presenting such musical treats as Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite and The Lion King by Hans Zimmer and Elton John.

One of the many highlights of the event was the presentation of the annual Fraser Dukes award to 15 year old Julia Polit in recognition of her gaining a distinction with 130 marks in her grade 7 viola ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) exam. Julia attends St. Peter’s  Collegiate Academy.

It was a particular pleasure that Fraser’s son Tim was on hand to present the award.

The award, sponsored by the Rotary club of The City of Wolverhampton, was created in honour of one of our most distinguised members, the late Doctor Fraser Dukes, whose many achievements

were listed in a thoughtful speech from the stage by the Head of The Music Service, Ciaran O’Donnell. Ciaran paid tribute to and expressed thanks for the support that the Rotary clubs in and around Wolverhampton give to the Music Service.

PDG Richard Green

The Rotary clubs of Greater Cochin,The City of Wolverhampton, Golders Green and Newcastle under Lyme joined hands to provide state of the art medical equipment and technology in a Taluk hospital at Ernakulam near Cochin, Kerala, Southern India with a Rotary Foundation global grant project valued at $31,486.

The hospital specialises in care for the needy; the equipment comprises an ultrasound scanning machine and a fully automatic biochemistry analyser to improve diagnosis and treatment outcomes. 

In thanking the Rotarians, the superintendent at the hospital, Doctor Sobha said “the introduction of the ultrasound scan has resulted, with a sonologist who attends regularly, in an enormous improvement in the working atmosphere; the fully automatic biochemistry analyser is a real asset. We are completing tests in a much shorter time and at minimal cost. Our area is where very poor people live who could not afford the high cost of treatment at private hospitals, so this unit is a very great relief to them.  We are extremely grateful to Rotary for this wonderful project.”

On the 8 th of July Kwamena Mensah is the first new member to be introduced to the City of Wolverhampton Rotary Club this Rotary year.

The new Rotary year starts on July 1st throughout the world and so it was a great pleasure for our new Rotary President to induct his first new Rotarian on the day that the President was inducted too.

The club inducted 10 new members last year and is thriving.

Kwamena is a retired company director who is eager and willing to give back to his community .

Our new president John Hollingsworth welcomed him into the Rotary family.

Pine Green Academy is a specialist school in Wolverhampton with children with a variety of SEND need that does an amazing job in providing education and support for children primarily with social, emotional and mental health needs.

In association with a charity closely connected to Rotary called ‘Children In Mind’, our club, The City of Wolverhampton was able to provide a wonderful day at Llandudno for 140 of the children over 10 different day trips.

Many had never been to the seaside before; they played in the sand, ate chips, had ice cream, rode the ferris wheel, enjoyed the amusements and travelled to the top of the Great Orme on the tram.

In thanking the Rotarians, Sarah Long, Assistant Head at Pine Green said….. To be able to give the children the opportunity to visit the beach and experience new things whilst making memories to treasure has been really special.

PDG Richard Green

And its now time to announce our next great event- Best Foot Forward at WV Active, Aldersley Stadium on;

Saturday 28th June 8.00am to 8.00pm

On 15th and 16th May, 96 year 5 pupils at Uplands Junior School faced up to the Rotary Junior Technology Challenge with the Rotary club of The City of Wolverhampton over 2 exciting days when we were delighted to make our annual return visit. We were pleased to be joined this time by volunteers from the Global Diabetes Initiatives UK who came along to help, organised by club member Rotarian Matilda Chongwa.

The challenge was for the youngsters to build a bridge to allow a squirrel to cross without being blown off in a gale – with the gale being created by the use of a hairdryer, accompanied by much laughter from all concerned. The challenge takes the form of guidance as part of a STEM (science technology and mathematics) briefing during which the pupils learned in a light-hearted way, what it means to be an engineer.

The pupils had divided themselves into teams of 4, giving themselves a variety of fun names such as ‘chicken jockey’ and’ the ‘4 amigos.’ At the end of each day, the teams ‘cookie crumble’ and ‘doughnuts ‘were judged to be the worthy winners of the book token prizes, having best met the criteria and shown the greatest team working spirit.

In thanking the Rotarians and volunteers headteacher Mrs. Suzanne Webster-Smith said “It was great to see all the children engaged and showing great teamwork throughout the 2 days.”

PDG Richard Green.