02 July The President introduced David King who gave us a
great well illustrated talk on his holiday to Ethiopia, a somewhat unusual holiday destination. David gave a brief review
of the history and geography of the country (it is believed
that the Ark of the Covenant may have originated in Ethiopia). A truly ancient civilisation, they have their own calendar
– September 2007 started their new millennium – and time
zones seem quite complicated, to say the least. One fascinating photograph showed churches which the Ethiopians had hewn out of solid
rock. A most informative talk, many thanks David.
Rtn Bob Hogarth
23 July A busy meeting which started with the induction
of Associate Members Debra Knight and Mark Relf.
This was followed by a talk from Signposts when Kelly
Blankley introduced Chloe Baxter and Derren White who
presented a new initiative at Signposts, the setting up of
a Media Production Group. The idea of the project came
from the success at Annual awards in November 2014
which was filmed and is now used as a tool to showcase
the great work Signposts clients can achieve. This exciting project will result in
developing an internal competence in all aspects of communication, including the
making of documentaries, videos, music and drama. The venture will be operated
by Signposts clients with Signpost staff support.
At this early stage, meetings are being held with clients to define the parameters
for the project. The next subject will be a video of “Life as a Signposts Client”.
We wish Signposts well for this a very worthwhile enterprise and our thanks go
to Chloe and Derren for their interesting presentation.
Rtn Bob Hogarth
06 Aug Kathy and Geoff Bocutt came to speak about Dogs for the Disabled. Soon
to be known as Assistance dogs. These animals will help both children and adults
with physical disabilities, plus the charity also runs a non-assistance dog programme called PAWS working with families with children with autism who have,
or want to acquire a pet dog (see website for details
http://www.dogsforthedisabled.org/). Kathy and Geoff brought along Nora, an 8
-month old Golden Retriever who over lunch stole some hearts. Nora is in the
early stages of her training to become an Assistance Dog and has been a typical
puppy chewing through the telephone cable at the Bocutt’s
house on three occasions. Nora will be monitored for temperament and may become a brood bitch
meaning her legacy will be one of giving more
people in the future the assistance they need
through this invaluable service.
Bulletin Editor:
Email:
Web:
Martin Iles
rotary.luton@yahoo.com
wwwrotaryclubofluton.org
Awards for the Rotary Club of Luton
At the District Induction dinner on 2nd July 2015,
there was the usual awards ceremony performed
by the District Governor Jenny Muir.
It pleases me to report that the Rotary Club of
Luton were successful in receiving 2 awards and
these were as follows;
1. District 1260 Community Service Cup
The work that the Rotary Club of Luton carries
out in the community in association with Team
Signposts (Team SP) was recognised by the District as a project that brought
benefits to the community and also assisted Signposts in integrating their clients back into the community. This was a perfect example of Rotary in action
and they were impressed with the work that the joint projects had already carried out.
Therefore the District felt that the Rotary Club of Luton should receive the District Community Service award for the year 2014/2015.
2. District Governor Cup
This award is generally given to achievements by one club in the District. However DG Jenny Muir went on to say that she had been most impressed by the
projects carried out by the 4 Luton Clubs collectively, the building of the Bandstand, our own community project with Team SP and membership advancement. Luton North Foundation Contribution and winning the Club Bulletin
award for the district, Luton Someries Rotakids and international contributions.
All this have shown the four Luton Clubs and in particular the Rotary Club of
Luton in a positive light and certainly impressed the DG. As a consequence she
awarded the District Governor Cup to all four Luton Rotary Clubs and therefore
replicas of the Cup were presented to each of the representatives of the Luton
Clubs with the original Cup to be shared throughout the Year.
We also received a citation for our membership increase throughout the Year
and we were only just beaten by Ampthill to the District Membership Award.
In conclusion it was a very successful night for
the Rotary Club of Luton and its members all of
which could not have been achieved without
the hard work that has been put in to make this
success story.
So well done and I am sure you will be hearing
and seeing more about this in our next Bulletin.
Well done everyone
President Kevin Lee
(Rtn Glyn Early receiving the Community Service Cup on behalf of the club and
for his enormous contribution to our relationship with Team SP)