ROTARY CLUB DONATES £20,000 TO CHARITIES
The Rotary Club of Langley and Iver presented another cheque to the Starlight Foundation on Thursday 25th June, making a total of £10,000 this year.
The money was collected through a number of find raising events including a cinema night at Pinewood Studios, a Fun Walk at Black Park and the annual Christmas collections.
The main fund raiser was ‘Moonraker’, this is a sponsored night time 10 mile cross country orienteering challenge which attracts teams from across Buckinghamshire.
Participants donate at least half of their sponsorship to the Rotary Club for local charities.
In total, the Rotary Club has donated about £20,000 to charitable causes, most of them helping local people.
The President of the Rotary Club, Tom Moloney (who steps down at the end of June)said:
‘The continuing generosity of local people and companies is absolutely wonderful.
‘The Stalight Foundation grants wishes to seriously and terminally ill children and like them I believe that happy children respond better to treatment. Starlight helps them to forget about their illness’.
‘We are also donating about £5000 to Mount Vernon Cancer research Unit which is working so hard to help local people in need of treatment.
‘We are so grateful to the Moonraker competitors who raised over £8000 and to all the local residents who have supported us throughout the year.’
'On Thursday 2nd July Tom Moloney handed over the Presidency of the Rotary Club of Langley and Iver to Brian Betts. Tom has had a very successful year as President, raising some £20,000 for national and international charities. Just over half was donated to 'Starlight', the charity which makes dreams come true for terminally ill or seriously ill children. Starlight can make huge differences to the individual child and indeed their whole family.
Brian has lived in Langley with Anna since they were married in 1966, and they now live in Halkingcroft. If anyone has an interest in becoming a Rotarian they are invited to contact Brian on 01753 822013.'
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Keen to maintain their support for the Club, the manager (Dave Clarke) and Louis, a member of the team were invited to attend the Rotary Club's meeting on 25th February and give members a talk on the history and activities of their football club. It was good to learn that they are now lying in second place in their league!
Brian Betts, this year's Rotary President, said 'the Rotary movement is very pleased to lend its support to a range of local causes. In particular we are very happy to support the Langley United under 15s football
During his speech, Mohinder thanked Mr Sundeep Kheterpal, Mr Manoj Kumar and Hibiscus for their donations. He also thanked Hanuman Chalisa Group and friends Khuranas for contributing to the purchase of Rotary Shelter boxes which provided much needed comfort for survivors of the Haiti disaster.
The evening raised a total of £1,344, this much needed money will be used to support the local Women’s Aid and the Rotary Thanks for Life – End Polio Now initiative. Mohinder said, “The Rotary initiative aims to rid the world of this debilitating disease. Back in 1985 this seemed an insurmountable task but thanks to every effort made by Rotary around the world there are only 4 countries needing support, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The project is being supported by a donation of $355 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a further donation of $200 million pledged by the Rotary Foundation. Every pound raised means 5 children will be protected from polio. An example of the large scale activities this venture requires is that in November 2009 Rotary ran a National Immunisation Day in India when 67 million children were vaccinated against polio in a 48 hour period. Konnie Huq, the well-
The Rotary Club of Langley and Iver has chosen Thames Hospice Care (THC) as one of their local charities to be supported in the current year.
Rotarians have supported this worthwhile charity in previous years and particularly through the sponsored Sunrise Walk in Windsor.
Michelle Bowdidge from the Charity attended the Rotary Club’s meeting on 28th October and gave a most informative presentation on the work of THC including details of their outreach work in the community as well as support for the terminally ill in the hospice itself.
President of The Rotary Club, Malcolm Granger, thanked Michelle for her superb talk and was delighted to present her with a cheque in the sum of £2500.
Michelle thanked the Rotary Club for its generosity and advised that the donation will fund 125 hours of specialist hospice nursing care.
Photo attached showing President Malcolm Granger presenting the cheque.
AND GOING PURPLE IN FEBRUARY
In Iver and Langley 5000 bulbs have been planted in three locations -
The President of Langley and Iver Rotary Malcolm Granger said
‘’The bold purple colour symbolises the dye used to mark a child’s little finger once they have been immunised against polio.We now look forward to time in February when will see the fruits of our labour with a carpet of crocuses’’.
Photos of the Rotarians planting is attached.
Thousands of Rotary members across Great Britain and Ireland are linking up with schools, businesses, organisations and individuals to hold a range of fundraising events for the second year of Thanks for Life. Events are taking place throughout the months leading to Rotary Day – Wednesday, February 23, 2011 which is, the organisation’s 106th birthday.
Jim Moulson, RIBI President, said:
It is vital that we eradicate polio from the four remaining endemic countries or there is always the likelihood that the disease will return to countries that have been cleared. We need the public’s help to destroy polio forever.
“Rotary has been fighting to end polio for more than 25 years – and the world is now tantalisingly close to achieving that goal thanks to the joint hard work of organisations and governments. Anyone who has contributed funds will be able to say: ‘I helped to eradicate a disease completely for only the second time in history, after smallpox. Not only did I prevent children from dying or being maimed – I helped change the world’.”
Polio is a crippling, and sometimes fatal, disease and still a terrifying reality for children in parts of Africa and Asia. However, it still threatens children everywhere. Being highly virulent it is only ever an air-