Rotary Young Musician

A good crowd attended  the Wolverhampton Music Service for the  Area Round on 4^th February where 9 contestants performed delightfully. Richard Green was a compere plus, introducing Rotary activities between the performances to allow adjudicators Simon Platford (Wrekin College)and Peter Edwards (Music Education Hub) to collect their thoughts. After the performances  Simon and Peter gave sympathetic critiques to each musician while praising the overall high standard. They concluded that the best instrumentalist was Oliver Pritchard-Jones (clarinet) and the best vocalist Fiona Winning. Oliver fluently played two contrasting pieces  – Lou Cabridan apparently means ‘the bee’. Fiona sang three contrasting pieces and filled the room – ‘prends garde ä toi’ (‘watch out!’) resonated.  The winners now go forward to the District Final, at the same venue on Sunday March 1^st. We wish them all a good future in music.

Stuart Williams

Tree of Remembrance Cheque Presentations

The  people o f Wolverhampton continue to cherish the opportunity to remember their loved ones. The Wulfrun Centre welcomed  us again and the Express and Star printed the many  messages. In addition to the display we had two excellent Saturday choir performances. This culminated in the awards over lunch on 28^th January of valuable contributions to the funds of Compton Care, The Haven, the MS Centre and Rotary – as well as the Compton Care Choir and the Wombourne Community Pop Choir. Apart from the public the donations in cash or services were provided by our sponsors: Millers, Peter Posh, the James Beattie Trust and FBC Manby Bowdler. The recipients all thanked the Club for its efforts and encouraged us to do it again next year.

Thanks to the efforts of Paul Lockley, working in partnership with the Bethel Christian Fellowship from West Bromwich, I was able to deliver (today) 147 Rotary Showboxes to the Preston warehouse of the International Aid Trust.

By Christmas, the gifts they contain will be in the hands of desperately poor children, teenagers and families in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. In 2018, the Rotary Shoebox scheme delivered 48952 of the boxes, to bring some happiness to so many people.

Richard Green.

Pictured at the launch of the 2019 Tree appeal are President Richard Horrell and Committee Chairman Mike Colley

Members of The Rotary Club of Wolverhampton give the people of Wolverhampton the opportunity of remembering a loved one by making a donation.

A list of names of those to be remembered is published in the Express & Star and displayed in the cabinets on show in the Wulfrun Centre.

The first is Compton care which provides care and support for patients living with incurable conditions and their families. It has been running in Wolverhampton for over 36 years and offers round the clock expert care in its in-patient unit as well as caring for people in their own homes.

The second is The Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre which has been supplying oxygen treatment therapies and support for those experiencing long term debilitating conditions and short term traumas such as surgery or an accident for 30 years.

The third charity to benefit is The Haven, Wolverhampton which provides both practical and emotional support services to women and children who are affected by domestic violence and homelessness

The fourth charity to benefit is The Rotary Charitable Trust and funds will be used to support good causes in the city of Wolverhampton.

We thank the James Beattie Charitable Trust and several other organisations and companies for sponsoring the event.

‘Rotary Shelterbus is going live in Wolverhampton!

Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of Angelo and

Gordon Essex, Angelo Buratti, Richard Green,President Mandy Poonia (RC Wednesfield.) and Luca Buratti.

Luca Buratti, supported by other members of the Birmingham Breakfast Rotary Club, the Rotary Shelterbus arrives in Wolverhampton on Friday, 29th. November.

It will provide 10 private, secure overnight sleeping pods, including for those with accessibility

Gordon Essex, President Margaret Clewly (RC Wolverhampton St.Georges, President Mandy Poonia (RC.Wednesfield),Ted Clewly, Richard Green

requirements. There is a light cooking space, washing and toilet facilities, provision for pets, and a medical/private consultation space.

The bus, once handed over in the name of Rotary in Wolverhampton, will be fully owned and operate

The Rotary Shelterbus.

d by the Good Shepherd/Enterprise Homes charities group for the homeless, whose volunteers will assist rough sleepers to regain their privacy and dignity, and be given assistance to find work.

Rotary at work in the community!

So proud of this young man. Ollie Bateman was on my mentor’s team ‘Raging Rhinos’ at the 2017 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp. Sponsored by the Sedgley and Wombourne club, Ollie said RYLA had been an enormous help in building his confidence to join the British Army,
Now, after 14 months hard training  Ollie has passed out as a member of the Queens Life Guard, Household Cavalry.
That’s Ollie front and centre in the team photo…way to go Ollie!!

Richard Green

The club recently made a donation of £250 to locally based overseas development charity Transform Burkina (www.transformburkina.org.uk)

Kevin Lawrence, the charity’s Chief Executive, who came to speak at a recent meeting, said:

Thank you so much for your welcome to the Club, your letter and the wonderful news of the donation of £250. 

We will use this, as requested, in our programme to offer small loans to individuals in Burkina Faso, helping them to start a business and become more self-reliant.

Typical of those that Transform Burkina aims to support is Isaac Gumbiou, a small scale farmer in Ratyiri, a village in the north west of Burkina Faso.  A small loan to buy chicks, feed etc. has allowed him to start a chicken rearing business.

There is a good market for chickens in the nearest town and the profits from their sale has allowed Isaac to repay his loan and continue to expand his business.  The family also now have some extra income which they can use to pay for items like school uniforms and books for the children or medical costs.

In Burkina Faso, 80% of the population rely on small scale farms to survive and the ‘micro credit’ programme run by Transform Burkina aims to offer many more farmers the chance to start a business and transform their future with small loans such as the one from which Isaac benefitted.

For more information about the project, please contact Transform Burkina on info@transformburkina.org.uk