Updated 1st August
Interact Club                                                                                                                                                              
Dates                                                                                                                                                                                 
Speakers                                                                                                                                                                     
Membership
History 
Bournemouth
82nd RIBI
Conference
Latest News                                                                                                                       
Xmas Concert 
Tsunami 
P.H.Fellows
Looking Glass
                                                

                                                                              

17th-20th June 2007                                                                                                                                                      

President 2006-2007                                     Rotary Launches                                                                          A new partnership with                                                 Danny McCaul                                       The Institute of                                                                                                                 Cancer Care     Presidents Remarks

About Interact The Rotary Club of St Helens are looking to Sponsoring an Interact Club Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 14-18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting. Club membership varies greatly. Clubs can be single-gender or mixed, as well as large and small. The membership base can be drawn from the student body of a single school or from two or more schools from the same community. Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through projects, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs. And, in the process, Interactors develop leadership skills and learn the value of hard work. As one of the most significant and fastest-growing programs of Rotary service, with more than 8,600 Interact clubs in some 110 countries and geographical areas, Interact has become a worldwide phenomenon.

MEMBERSHIP Thank you for your interest in becoming a Rotarian. Rotary International is an association of individual clubs that operate autonomously. Membership is extremely important to us, and we are always eager to hear from individuals interested in our mission and joining a Rotary club. Our universal premise is that each club's membership constitutes an accurate representation of the business and professional population within the community served. Membership in a Rotary club requires an invitation and sponsorship by a member of the club as well as an available business or professional classification. Sometimes an individual cannot be invited or sponsored for membership. Rotary club membership carries with it certain responsibilities. Members are expected to attend weekly programs of the club. Opportunities to make up attendance include attending the regular meeting of another Rotary club, attending various other Rotary meetings, or attending a club service project authorized by the club board of directors. Members are required to pay annual dues to their clubs, their districts, and to Rotary International. Members are expected to participate in local or international activities or projects of the Rotary club. Clubs encourage members to aspire to leadership or committee roles within their clubs

DATES DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 7th  August………………………………………….....        BBQ at Rainford Cricket Club 14th            ……………………………………………       Carolyn Roberson 21st            ……………………………………………        Grange Park meeting 28th            ……………………………………………        Bank Holiday 4th  September……………………………………......          CliveRobinson 9th             ……………………………………………          Disabled Sports 11th            …………………………………………...          Business Meeting 18th            ……………………………………………          Membership – Arthur Rigby 20th             ……………………………………………         District Council 25th            ……………………………………………          John Royle District Conference (Llandudno) 20-22nd October. Foundation Seminar – 1st November President’s Evening – 17th November Stewards for August – Colin Ince & Graham Bagshaw. Stewards for September – Rex Snowling & Geoff Webster                 FUTURE CONFERENCE & CONVENTION DATES District 1280 Conference  2006 Llandudno 2006 RIBI 82nd Conference BOURNMOUTH  13th - 15th APRIL 2007 Convention 2007 Salt Lake City 27th June 2007     THE 82nd RIBI CONFERENCE NEXT APRIL

Bournemouth 13 - 15 April 2007   Invitation from RIBI President 2006-07 Peter Offer Janis and I are delighted that the RIBI Conference is returning to Bournemouth in 2007, the Bournemouth International Centre has undergone a major modernisation programme, which has made it one of the finest conference venues in Great Britain & Ireland. All of conference will be in the one venue, including entertainment, plenary sessions and a large exciting House of Friendship. Entertainment on Friday will be a Variety show and Saturday you can choose to either join the fun of a themed Magic Kingdom Dance or a Military Band concert. Speakers for our plenary sessions already booked include Heather Mills McCartney, Actor Julian Fellowes, Ken Behring, Founder of the Wheelchair Foundation in California, plus we are delighted that Bill Boyd our International President will be with us. Remember too that this is the new conference format starting with the first plenary on Friday afternoon, which will save one night's accommodation for those who can't spare the time off work. I am delighted that we have such an experienced conference team under the chairmanship of Bob Bailey, plus host District 1110 have a committee determined to make your stay in Bournemouth enjoyable.   FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON HERE AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE ONLINE REGISTRATION COMING SOON

Tsunami Appeal 
The St Helens Rotary Club contacted the Hardshaw Centre on he 7th Jan and by the 8th Jan we had approximately 16 volunteers to effect a spontaneous collection, more people would have been willing to help but they where on holiday or away for the weekend. It was an excellent response from our club members also from the St Helens public. 

The Hardshaw Centre collection brought in £1853. Personal contributions from club members have so far contributed £1350 between them, to which is added £1169.50 that was raised at Grange Park Golf Club through the inspiration of one of our members, this contribution was directed specifically to the Rotary Club of Colombo North with the benefit of knowing how the money would be spent by updates from Matthew Todd.

Giving a total of £2519.50 all of which will attract Gift Aid

PRESIDENTS REMARKS

It would seem that Mike’s introductory article in the last edition of looking
glass about getting an Interact club underway has had some influence on the clubs membership. The support demonstrated by Rotarians at last weeks meeting when the subject was again discussed was a clear signal for the process of planning and implementation
to get underway. This will be a major challenge for the club this year but let us all get
behind our newly formed Interact sub- committee and see if we can achieve
our goal.

Once again clubs have been set a target to increase membership by at least 1
new member in this Rotary year. I don’t suppose an interclub transfer would strictly fall
within the RIBI criteria for increased membership. Nonetheless, the club has been delighted to welcome our new member Roger Dalton  who has been a Rotarian at Prescot  Rotary Club for 10 years and having served as club President during that time. We look forward to
Rogers’ contribution to our club activities.

Rotarians had a good start to their involvement with the community for this
rotary year when a number of the club Rotarians went along early in July to
the Knowsley Safari Park where they assisted the local Bernardo’s
organisation in providing a fun day out for local children.
Rotarians will be aware Bernardo’s is one of the RIBI preferred projects for
this year.
Bernardo’s have also arranged  with Tesco’s to hold a collection at their
stores thought the U.K. and RIBI have indicated that this would be a
worthwhile activity for local rotary clubs to support by way of volunteer
collectors.  Once the dates and further details are to hand then the club
can plan some support accordingly.

Finally, this years annual District Conference is at Llandudno from 20th to
22nd October and application forms are available from the web site or from Mike Cavendish, let us see if we can get a record club attendance this  year..


President Danny

CHRISTMAS BAG PACK

The Christmas Bag Pack 2004 collected a total of £2887. This was not quite as much as last year, when we were able to field more people, but is still a creditable performance.

The collection will be distributed as follows:

Windle Pilkington Youth Club                    £200

St Helens Sea Cadets                                £300

Willow Brook Hospice                              £200

Crossroads are St Helens                           £200

Age Concern St Helens                               £200

Life Education Project                                 £250

Mencap                                                      £200

Multiple Sclerosis Society St Helens             £150

Muscular Dystrophy Group St Helens                        £150

Motor Neurone Disease Association St Helens           £150

Salvation Army St Helens                              £200

St Helens Coalition for Disabled                    £300

                                                                Total  £2,500

The funds remaining after the above will be approx £387 which will be available for future consideration.

Plans are already in hand for 2005. We expect to have four days. The more people we can make available to help, the more we will collect, so we need to be thinking about who we can persuade to lend us a hand

THREE NEW PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS
Three St Helens citizens awarded highest accolades in Rotary International

  Jane Dearden, John Stead and John Barker were recently awarded the highest international accolade within the Rotary world – the Paul Harris Fellowship -- by St Helens Rotary Club.  These awards are particularly significant in 2005, Rotary’s centenary year.

  The Paul Harris Fellowship is Rotary’s way of recognising outstanding efforts which are given unselfishly by one individual to the service of others.

  Jane Dearden has been a champion for thousands of carers in St Helens and is already the recipient of the borough’s “Health and Social Care Volunteer of  the Year 2003”.  As chairman of Carers UK (St Helens Branch) and vice-chairman of Crossroads, Jane is at the leading edge of campaigning to ensure that all carers have access to a diverse range of support services to help ensure quality of life for both the carers and their families. Jane works voluntarily and tirelessly for the carers of St Helens.   She channels her considerable energies and talents in to fund-raising as well as to guiding the organisations in which she is involved.

John Stead has been an active member of Rotary International, St Helens, for over 40 years and held all major offices, including President (1984 – 1985), Secretary, Treasurer and Press Relations.  He has played a key role in all of the club’s committees and, this year, stepped in at short notice to fill the role of  Treasurer when ill health necessitated it.  John has been very active with St Helens Abbeyfield Society throughout its history, holding the role of Honorary Secretary for 10 years and  remains very active as Chairman since 2001.

John Barker has been a member of St Helens Rotary for nearly 30 years and held the role of President in 1989-90.  John has been very active on the Club’s Council, particularly in leadership roles on Community Service and International,  chairing both in various years.  As with all Rotarians,  he is also part of the team which  maintains a weekly rota at the Willowbrook Hospice, meeting, greeting and guiding visitors to the hospice each Monday evening.  John has also been involved St Helens Abbeyfield Society, and contributed electrical skills and health and safety knowledge on a voluntary basis, saving the Society a considerable amount of money which otherwise would have had to be raised.

Commenting on the three Paul Harris Fellowships, St Helens Rotary Club President Dr Colin Ince said:  “Recipients of this internationally-renowned award are ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things. Sometimes, these accomplishments are through sheer force of will. Always, the individuals are champions for causes in the community, helping others and are truly inspirational. It gives me great pleasure to make these awards and to pay tribute to three outstanding individuals.”

Jane Dearden & Keith Unsworth  John Barker & Peter Mulqueeny  John Stead & Peter Mulqueeny

ROTARY LAUNCH A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland launches today a partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research to help raise awareness of the importance of early detection in the successful treatment of cancer. This aims to raise public awareness about cancer and its symptoms and help save lives. 

The Institute of Cancer Research, Europe’s leading cancer research centre and one of the top four in the world, conducts research into every major type of cancer.  It’s the sister organisation to The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and has an unrivalled combination of genetics, molecular biology, radiotherapy techniques and drug development.  The Institute has identified more cancer genes and has taken more cancer drugs into clinical trials than any other organisation in the world and is playing a leading international role in reducing mortality for a whole range of cancers.

Rotary Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland will be provided with a series of cancer information leaflets for distribution in clubs and communities, on the following cancer types: breast cancer, cervical cancer, childhood cancers, colon cancer, head and neck cancer, leukaemia and blood cancers, lung cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, skin cancer and melanomas, and testicular cancer.

President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland Peter L Offer said  “I believe that supporting The Institute of Cancer Research is an opportunity for Rotarians to give service in helping to raise awareness in their communities on the issues around cancer and the importance of early detection. ”

THE LOOKING GLASS

We are once again at that time of year when nothing much seems to happen.  However, August is membership and extension month. This has been discussed at numerous seminars and club meetings for many years, but it remains a problem. We now have a membership and extension group in the club who are working on solutions for this.

The problem for us older members is one of access to the kind of younger people we would like to invite to join our club. The older we all get, the less attractive the club becomes to younger people. Should we therefore consider the formation of a new club in St Helens for younger members to join?

How can we gain access to the group of people we want to invite? One way would be to proceed with our plans to form an Interact Club. This, if successful, would at least introduce Rotary ideals to a group of young people. It would also help to inform their parents and teachers about Rotary. Perhaps this would open the doors to new members. Also there is the possibility that the Interactors might go on to form their own Rotaract Club, which would bring them closer to Rotary itself.

There are those in the club who are worried that this may all be a waste of effort, and may fail. We all know that this is a possibility, but if we do not try we are certain to fail. For our club to survive we must be prepared to try new things, and sometimes to take risks like this. I do not think that doing nothing is an option. This would definitely lead to failure and to the ultimate demise of the club. This would be a great shame. We are members of one of the oldest Rotary clubs in Europe, which has a long tradition of service, both to our community and abroad. Surely we do not wish to be the group of members who let this great club die!

FRENCH LEAVE

Recently a group of club members and friends went on a trip to France, organised by Allan Perry, to whom I am sure they are all suitably grateful. As you know, I was not able to go on this trip to the Champagne and Burgundy districts, so I cannot give an account. However I have some pictures from the trip, which are on the photographs page. I hope these bring back happy memories of a most enjoyable time.

Mike Cavendish
Editor