CHARITY
MONITOR
“Leading Like A Lion”
I
n June this year the WCIT Hall rang to the applause of a
capacity crowd enjoying the WCIT Employment Panel’s
“Leading like a Lion – an evening with Rory Underwood”.
After an exceptional meal the audience settled down to a
presentation on the challenges of creating high performance
teams; drawing on Rory’s experience as an International Rugby
player, fighter pilot and business consultant helping
organisations with performance enhancement.
Having looked at how we are all members of different and
sometimes conflicting teams, Rory outlined the need for
leaders to provide an environment of empowerment in which
people can develop and be successful. He illustrated this with
footage of low-level flying at over 500 mph and a discussion
on how operational procedures enable pilots to make instant
Rory Underwood addressing the crowd decisions with confidence.
E
arlier in the year the WCIT
Charity supported the
Cylch Meithrin Y Parc
(Childcare Nursery) to help set-up
its new website.
It is a Welsh-Medium Nursery
which provides low-cost childcare
for children aged 2½ - 4 years in a
poor area of Canton where parents
cannot afford private nursery.
The Panel’s thanks go to the WCIT Hall for their organisation, to The Cook & The Butler for
co-sponsoring the event and to Rory Underwood who gave his time freely and generously to support
the charitable work of the WCIT. Paul Finch (WCIT Employment Panel Chairman) reflected:
“The event was a thumping success and I would like to personally thank Freeman Nick Claydon for
all his hard work in pulling it together and the Hall staff for their usual excellent support.”
Entirely run by volunteers and
having achieved excellent nursery
status from the families, the WCIT
was happy to support this very
worthy charity in its further
development.
The event raised over £900 which has been generously donated to the WCIT Charity.
Alice Ewart , Manager, says:
Contributed by Paul Finch, WCIT Liveryman and Chairman of the WCIT Employment Panel
“I cannot thank WCIT enough for
the donation towards the setting
up of the website for Cylch
Meithrin Y Parc nursery. The
Cylch is a welsh-medium nursery
which has been established for
over 25 years in the Canton area
of Cardiff providing low-cost
childcare to parents wishing to
send their children to WelshMedium schools or just to expose
them to the Welsh language.
Government Panel Dinner
I
n July the WCIT Government Panel held
a dinner at the House of Lords, in the
Cholmondeley Suite and Terrace. 111
people attended, hosted by the Earl of Erroll
with an honoured guest in the person of the
Rt. Hon. Sir Alexander Lockwood Smith, the
New Zealand High Commissioner, a guest of
WCIT Freeman David Brown.
The dinner raised over £1,200 for the WCIT
Charity and it has been agreed by the
Charitable Operations Committee to make
donations to three charities following this –
the RHQ Royal Corp of Signals Benevolent
Fund; the Moggerhanger House Preservation
Trust and the Bletchley Park National
Museum of Computing.
View of the River Thames from the House of Lords
of visitors who visit the site of one of the great
code-breaking achievements of WWII. Tony sadly
passed away last year, and many people have
suggested that a donation from the profits of the
dinner should be donated to Bletchley in memory of
Tony’s achievement. We have had three WCIT
visits to Bletchley Park in the past and this will be a
fitting tribute to Tony’s work.
Bletchley Park holds special poignancy. As
you may or may not know, WCIT Liveryman
Tony Sale had been a member of the WCIT
since it started, and he devoted ten years to
rebuilding the famous Colossus computer at
Bletchley Park, which is admired by thousands Contributed by the WCIT Government Panel
Over recent years it has been
extremely difficult to increase
fees for parents during these
strained economic times and so
we are very grateful to those who
donate their money and/or time to
keep the Cylch running. The
money WCIT has given to the
Cylch has been used to set up the
website so that we can advertise
and ensure that the Cylch is as
full of 2-4 year-olds as is
allowed!
Chairman of the WCIT Charity, Jo Connell OBE DL states:
“I would like to thank the Panels wholeheartedly for their very kind donations to the Charity; it is most
welcomed and valued. It was also wonderful to hear how successful these Panel events have been.
Thank you for your generous
donation - the website is being
translated but the English
elements can be visited at:
www.cylch-y-parc.org”
The support of the Panels and Committees to the Charity is very important to us and their donations
will allow us to continue to fund worthwhile charitable activities and make a difference to those less
fortunate than ourselves.”
We wish the Nursery all the best in
its continuing development.
Page 14