Hospice District Grant

14th July 2020 – our Chair of Community Services, Charlie Toner, attended the presentation of a Rotary Global Grant of £17,586 to the Hospice of St Francis. Chair of Rotary District 1260 Global Grants Committee, Paul Denton, organised this grant to help 5 Hospices in our District with Covid-19 related costs. For St Francis - apart from our donation of £6,000 - 4 other clubs made a donation: Hemel, Amersham, Chesham, and Harpenden. So the end result was satisfactory with our £6000 becoming £17,586. The other 4 hospices all received grants ranging from £4000 to £8000 - so well done to District.

Mercy Ships

Our Club donation of £3,000 to Mercy Ships made earlier this year, together with other Rotary Clubs in our District and beyond, has helped trigger a US$1.25 million Global Grant from Rotary International Foundation. This will be used to purchase and install medical equipment in the new ship Global Mercy which is currently under construction. The RI Foundation is the source of all Global and District Grants and is funded by contributions from 35,000+ clubs worldwide, including our own. To remind – further information on Global Mercy together with details of the proven operational model which Mercy Ships have developed and honed over the last 40+ years is at Global Mercy. Below are brief messages of acknowledgement and thanks to our Club from Paul Denton who has driven and navigated this outcome with huge persistence and dedication and Debbie Hodge Past President of RIBI. Our thanks too to our very own Rob Ferneyhough for initiating our RCBB participation. This is Rotary at its best. Message from District 1260’s Paul Denton I am sure you will be delighted to hear that the Mercy Ships Global Grant has been approved, the biggest ever granted, $1.125 million. We are now in the process of sorting out the details of equipment list and the flow of funding. With Covid-19 there are some challenges, but once we have more to share we will be in touch. In the meantime thank you for joining in and please see the note from Past President Rotary Great Britain and Ireland, Debbie Hodge below. Primary Contact International Partner GG1988620 Mercy Ships Debbie's message Little acts of kindness and generosity make a huge difference in an individual’s life, but join up all that kindness and generosity and you can change the lives of whole communities, whole nations and even a whole continent. This Global Grant of 1.125 million dollars will do that! It will change the health outcomes in every country the Global Mercy visits and the legacy will be seen for generations to come. From Inspiration, to Connecting the World, and now Rotary Opens Opportunities to bring surgical care, education and training to West Africa. Thank you to the Grants Team of District 1260 and all who made contributions, and the Mercy Ships team - our partners in making a difference.

Youth Speaks!

Pictured are the Youth Speaks team from Ashlyns School Berkhamsted that participated in the Rotary District 1260 Senior Final for students aged between 14 to 17 years. The final was held at Vandyke Upper School, Leighton Buzzard on Wednesday 26th February 2020. For the third year in a row Ashlyns from Berkhamsted won through to the District 1260 final, having come through our local heat organised jointly with the Rotary Club of Hemel Hempstead. This was no mean feat considering that the Ashlyns teams were amongst the youngest entering the competition The other five finalists, who, like Ashlyns, had come through their own local heats and District Semi Final, came from schools across Herts, Beds and Bucks. The event was run under its new debate format and proved to be a fascinating evening. The diverse range of subjects debated were: Ashlyns School Britain’s Responsibility in the World Roundwood Park School. Life is not a Competition Samuel Whitbread Academy Is Feminism outdated in the 21st Century? Mark Rutherford Are we heading towards a Dystopian Society? Dame Alice Owen Does the U.K. have a Democratic Deficit? Bishop’s Hatfield Girls Are Single Sex Schools more effective than Co-Education? The content and the standard of presentation from all participants was nothing short of breath taking; there were very few notes in evidence from any of the teams. All teams did themselves and their school proud. In an incredibly close competition the winning team going through to the Regional Final to be held in Cambridge on 21st March was Roundwood Park School from Harpenden. Congratulations to them and indeed to everyone who took part.

Santa raises £9500!

A BIG thank you to all the collectors who helped last December – all 180 of them! There were some 24 organisations involved and both collectors and the residents seemed to enjoy Santa and his new brightly lit sleigh. From the Festival of Light on 24th November, Santa went out almost every night in December up to Christmas and the static float beside the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve was especially popular for photos of the children with Santa. On 14th January, Berkhamsted Rotary were able to distribute the money raised, some £9500, to the participating organisations including St Mary’s Northchurch, Swan Youth Centre, ATC, Ashlyns School, The Vale Musical Society, DENS, Take 2 Tangent, Westfield Parents Association, Happy Days, Home Start Herts, Daisy Cave Foundation, Gaddesden Place RDA, Berkhamsted FC, Berkhamsted Inner Wheel, Bridgewater School Association, Little Gaddesden School, Girl Guides, 1st Berkhamsted Scouts, the Hockey Club, Potten End School, Potten End Scouts, Great Gaddesdon School, the Glee Club and the Pepper Foundation. The Sleigh Committee is already beginning planning Santa’s December 2020 visit and would welcome new groups to help and raise funds the local community organisation. Applications should be made by email to: berkosantasleigh@gmail.com

Tools for Self Reliance

Peter Wilkinson hands a cheque for £500 to Tony and colleagues to help run Tools for Self Reliance a small charity that provides a safe and caring working environment where volunteers, including those with Learning Disabilities, can refurbish donated old tools transforming them into working tool-kits for onward distribution to developing countries. We thank you folk in Berkhamsted who help us to help them by donating your unwanted tools for us to process. If you have any unwanted tools please contact Rotarian Peter Wilkinson on 07816 863216 and we will collect them.

Wheelpower

At the Guttman Stadium Stoke Mandeville, President Derek hands a cheque for £1000 to CEO Martin McElhatton with Wheelpower fund raiser Leah Lewis looking on. The charity provides opportunities for disabled people with spinal injuries to play sport and lead healthy active lives. Our donation helps Wheelpower refurbish the sports wheelchairs vital to their mission to carry on the work of Dr Ludwig Guttman founder of the Paralympics. Check out this fantastic charity at https://www.wheelpower.org.uk/

Swan Youth Project (SYP)

President Derek was pleased to hand a cheque for £1500 to SYP Chairman Melanie Llewellyn to help them purchase the equipment they need to re-engineer their current Computer Room. The Swan Youth Project provides excellent youth services in the heart of Berkhamsted, a meeting place where local teenagers can enjoy being each other’s company, join in various activities, relax and broaden their horizons. It is housed in the old Swan Hotel/pub. Swan Youth Project are changing their name soon so watch out for announcements. In the meantime check out https://www.theswanyouthproject.co.uk/

Leprosy Mission

We have supported Heal Nepal via the Leprosy Mission to the tune of £2500 which has attracted matched funding from the UK Government. This allowed the mission to purchase a motor bike and laptop for outreach into remote areas of Nepal. See the we have recently received about this particular project.

Dacorum Young Artists

This competition, a combined effort by the Arts Societies and Rotary Clubs in Dacorum, aims to encourage art in primary schools, specifically in years 4 & 5. There are no themes and few rules so busy schools can enter the pictures that their pupils are producing during the academic year. Sixteen schools took part in 2019 All 400 entries were displayed at Astley Cooper School in Hemel Hempstead. There was a “Best in School” trophy for each school besides the prizes for the best three paintings overall. Every child who had an entry received a certificate. ​Overall winner Oscar Baker of Bridgewater School Berkhamsted is shown here receiving his First Prize and a gift voucher for £60 from the Mayor of Dacorum Rosie Sutton. Although the 2020 competition had to be cancelled, DYA 2021 has just been launched as an online competition and within a few weeks, 24 schools had registered. Well done Dacorum primary and special school teachers - especially in these difficult times!

Half Marathon and 5 Mile Fun Run

Many, many thanks to those who supported the Berkhamsted Fun Run. Although the day was cold all the runners appeared to enjoy the course and were happy with their times. We certainly enjoyed having so many people there and taking part. Hope to see you again on 7th March 2021.We had a good entry for both races, which means we expect to raise a substantial sum of money for the charities and organizations our Rotary Club supports. Together with the many thousands raised by runners through individual sponsorship, participants helped make a significant difference to many lives as well as, we hope, enjoying themselves. Congratulations to our race winners who, once again, put in great performances. Men’s Fun Run Winner was Sha Janally of the City of Stoke AC with a time of 0:27:15, a small improvement on his winning time of last year. Women's winner was Katie Ferguson of Leighton Buzzard AC in 0:34:16. Fastest Junior girl was Jemima Byers of Dacorum and Tring AC in 0:35:39 and the boy's winner was Leon Doran in 0:32:36 although Oscar Loveday had a faster time of 0:29:54 but was awarded 3rd prize in the whole Fun Run race. Berkhamsted School won the Boys Challenge prize and Ashlyns the Girls School Challenge.You can see the full results on our web site www.berkorun.com or for your particular result go to www.chipresults.co.uk. If you haven’t already got photos of you running then have a look on the Adam Hollier web site where they have some excellent photos for you to purchase which is Visit http://tinyurl.com/u3hhsvo. You’ll need your race number to find your photos which you can get from the Chip results website if you can't remember. We had over 500 entries for the Fun Run this year and we’re really pleased with the feedback and that so many have told that they want to run the race again.It takes around 200 people to set up, run and marshal the event, so we’re also grateful for the support of local community organisations who rally round each year to help. From the Inner Wheel club to the ATC, from the Scouts and Guides to the police cadets, these and many other individuals and organisations contribute to making the event so successful. Thanks also to our sponsors and advertisers who help us defray the cost of such a big event, many of whom also ran in one or other of the races. Particular thanks to Taylor Wimpey as our lead sponsor and FFEI, Machins, OSD Healthcare and Everyone Active. Full details of our sponsors and helpers are on the race website.

About Us

Berkhamsted Rotary is founded on 80 years of Rotary activity in the town. We are a group of individuals from many walks of life and, with more than 60 members, we are one of the largest Rotary clubs in Beds, Bucks and Herts. We use our time and energy to support young people and to improve the lives of the elderly, vulnerable and disadvantaged both here and overseas. We organise charity events (such as our Half Marathon and Fireworks Night) to raise funds. ​​ Charitable causes are supported via the Berkhamsted Rotary Trust Fund CIO which is a UK Registered Charity No. 1182564. Last year we netted more than £52,000 enabling us to support many worthwhile causes both at home and overseas. ​ We work as a team and have a good time in the process. Friendships are developed through our club activities and also social events such as our monthly and annual walks. We normally meet for dinner each Tuesday, usually at Berkhamsted Town Hall in the centre of Berkhamsted, at 7:30 for 8:00 pm.

Our 2020/2021 President, Derek

Simpson, gives his take on Rotary

I didn’t really have a clue as to what Rotary was about; vague notions perhaps it had something to do with being a motoring club, or maybe some society like the Free Masons? I really didn’t know .... so imagine my surprise when I was asked to do a ‘job’ talk to Rotary meeting and found it to be anything but what my previous ignorance had me think. ​ I found a group of people who, whilst enjoying good friendship, also give service to the community in a whole host of ways both at home and internationally. The Rotary principle of "Service Above Self" is more than a slogan and the more I discovered, the truer it became. ​ As someone who has come late to Rotary having been involved for a relatively short time, I am privileged to be this year's President. Rotary is a great way to give back to the community, to help those in need, to assist development in education with many projects for young people, to improve the environment and to provide aid to those in need internationally. For anyone who has a caring charitable nature, Rotary provides such a vehicle and more than that it is good fun!!

Volunteering Work with Rotary

Changes Lives

Fund raising is, of course, an important part of our activities but equally helping implement community projects, such as running outings for the elderly and disabled or ferrying folk to visit family members in hospital is also what we do. Each year Berkhamsted Rotary manages lots of these community projects - and although we have 60 members, we still need the help of all those lovely people who come along and help us. As an example, on the day of our Half Marathon and Fun Run we need a team of some 120 stewards and marshals to ensure the safety of competitors and the general public; we can't do this on our own! So if you feel that you'd like to help out or if you have a special skill that might be of benefit to the community, please get in touch with us and maybe we can work out how you might volunteer in a way which suits your particular circumstances. You can contact us

Local Community Projects

- Local Schools

Donations & Grants

Rotary Young Photographer Competition 2021 - Local Heats

THE RESULTS

Junior 7 - 10

Overseas