Rotary: Making a Difference

It was great to spend this evening in the company of our District Governor Carol Reilly who was making her official visit to the Club.

During their year of office Rotary District Governors make an official visit to each of the Clubs in their area to share news of developments within Rotary and to present the theme of the Rotary International President - this year Australian Rotarian Ian H S Riseley.

This years theme is 'Rotary:Making a Difference' recognising the many ways in which thousands of Rotarians around the world are working together to do good and challenging Clubs to sustain that work into the future.

We're looking forward to working with Carol and her team in the coming year to continue Making a Difference

Welcome to Rob Roalfe

We've worked on projects with the staff and pupils of Penn Fields School for many years so it's with especial pleasure that we welcome the schools deputy head teacher Robert Roalfe as our newest Club member.

A keen motorcyclist Robert is certified a Long Distance Riders and his rides have raised thousands to support the work of the air ambulances.

Robert was welcomed to the Club by President John Margetts and President Elect Roger Webb.

District Governor John Sayer

As part of their duties Rotary District Governors are expected to visit every Club in their area during their year in office. Tonight we had the honour of being the first Club in the District to receive the official visit of District Governor John Sayer.

John, who has been involved in the Rotary movement for over 20 years, is looking forward to a year in office which comes at a time when our own charity The Rotary Foundation celebrates its 100th anniversary. Over those 100 years our Foundation has channelled more than one billion dollars to help transform lives around the world.

In 1985 Rotary's Polio Plus campaign was launched with the aim of eradicating polio from the face of the earth and in this centenary year of the Rotary Foundation there is the very real possibility that this may be the year that we see the world’s last case of polio. John - and the ever present End Polio Now teddy - will be promoting the work of the Rotary Foundation throughout his year in office.

Promoting Numeracy and Literacy

A new Rotary year sees a new President of Tettenhall Rotary Club with the appointment tonight of John Margetts.

For his year in office John has set the Club theme of 'Numeracy and Literacy'

Worldwide, 67 million children have no access to education, and more than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Rotary supports educational projects at home and around the world that provide technology, teacher training, vocational training teams, student meal programs, and low-cost textbooks in order improve access to basic education and literacy, to reduce gender inequality and increase adult literacy.

John sees education as the most important weapon in the battle to enable people escape the poverty trap and to allow them to fulfil their potential.

Recognising that people learn most when learning is fun the Club will be working with local schools to develop and promote a number of fun new learning initiatives over the coming year.

Handover Meeting

Tonight saw the changing of the guard at Rotary as outgoing President Ernie handed over the chain of office to our new President Rob Morrison,

Rob’s looking to involve all of the members of the Club in raising the money necessary ensure that we can continue to support local good causes, such as Compton Hospice, as well as encouraging club members to become pro actively involved in serving our local community with hands on assistance in community projects such as the mentoring scheme which the Club operates at Smestow School - so if you've got a project which you think could benefit from a little assistance then why not let us know about it.

Doing Good with Wolverhampton's Youth Orchestras

The work of two Tettenhall Rotarians and their support for the work of Wolverhampton's Youth Orchestras has been recognised by the award of special Paul Harris Fellow Sapphire Awards.

The Youth Orchestras provide children and young people throughout the City with an opportunity to learn to play an instrument and to perform. Many go on to reach high standards across several instruments, which is testament to their own talent and dedication and to the invaluable support which the Wolverhampton Music School and conductors Keith Sedgebeer and Ian Brailsford provide.

Thanks to the work of Rotarians David Cave and Alan Russell, along with Ken Dolman of the Rotary Club of Bilston, in promoting and supporting the Orchestras fundraising efforts each year the Orchestras have the opportunity to take the show onto the road - performing in a series of concerts throughout Europe.

Over £150,000 has been raised to support Summer tours to Malta, Italy, Spain and many other European countries since the Rotary Clubs of Wolverhampton first started their support for these annual tours 21 years ago - providing hundreds of local youngsters with a  fantastic experience that otherwise would be out of the reach of many of them.

The Paul Harris Fellow Award is named in honour of the founder of Rotary and recognises the exemplary contribution made by individuals to further the Rotary's aims. For both David and Alan this is the second time that they been honoured with the Award which was presented to them tonight by Rotary District Governor Barry Picken.

Presenting For One Night Only - Roger Webb

Membership of a Rotary Club is a great way to get to know people in your area and one of the little rituals we have when new members join us is to ask them to give a talk to the other members about their life.

We've had some great talks over the years with stories of adventures in snake infested rivers in rural India and journeys across Europe during the Second War and this evening Club member Roger Webb added to that list by taking us through his life story and in a sense through the recent life of the industrial West Midlands in the process.

Born to the son of a local pit owner Roger saw the last of the numerous small shallow pits which dotted the Black Country and on which the Industrial Revolution was made. Times were different back then so when it came time for Roger to leave school in 1963 it was simply a matter of opening the local paper and picking the job you fancied from one of the many ads. Working his way up the ladder from commercial apprentice to sales director Roger has seen great changes in the Midlands economy as the manufacturing companies that he was associated with steadily lost ground in the face of Government indifference to overseas competition and were replaced by local distributors of imported products.

Outside of his work Roger has always looked to play his part in the local community and he has been involved with numerous amateur dramatic societies. Roger certainly has a great love of the stage and whilst he was unable to follow his childhood dreams of making his living on the stage he continues to tread the boards with a local amateur group and he has had the satisfaction of seeing his own son Richie follow his artistic dreams to become an award winning comedian and composer.

Wolverhampton Wolves Speedway

August is fellowship month for the Tettenhall Club and tonight that meant a visit to Monmore Green Stadium to watch the speedway. We're fortunate in Wolverhampton to play host to one of the country's elite speedway teams - the Wolverhampton Wolves.

Its a spectacular sport with riders taking bikes around the track that have no brakes, just one gear, a clutch and 500cc engines which accelerate to 60 mph faster than a Formula 1 car.

The team at at the speedway club gave us a great evening with the opportunity to visit the pits and the centre of the track where we could get a real feel for the speed and the skill of the riders as they guided their bikes around the track in a series of controlled skids.

The team got the right result  on the night with their first Elite League win in six meetings with a 47-42 success over Eastbourne - hopefully a performance they can repeat against local rivals Coventry Bees next week. Our thanks to everyone at Wolverhampton Wolves Speedway for great evenings entertainment.

Dudley Zoo

Our visit to Dudley Zoo had a distinctly South American feel to it as we were introduced to Orry, Cleopatra and Shirley the Zoo's patagonian Sea Lions at a special evening feeding session with Caroline Howard a member of the Zoo's education team.  President Ian was then given the opportunity to Humboldt penguins in the new Penguin Bay enclose before the members of the Club had a feeding themselves. Faggots on a stick - an instant Black Country classic!

The Zoo suffered from a lack on investment for many years so it was wonderful to hear from Zoo Chief Executive Peter Suddock about the work which they've been doing over the last few years to improve both visitor and animal experience - the new Penguin Bay being a great example. With visitor numbers and profits up the Zoo can now plan for the future and Peter explained how the restoration of both the Castle and the Zoo's listed Tecton buildings will through their apprenticeship programme help to create a pool of local craftsmen able to preserve these great buildings for future generations. 

With the chance to handle South American snakes, toads and chinchillas we had a great evening. Dudley Zoo holds a special place in the memories of most people in the Black Country and we wish Peter and his team success with their plans for the future so that the Zoo and the endangered species which it helps to protect from extinction through its breeding programmes are still around for future generations to appreciate.

Fordhouses Air Training Corp

Tettenhall Rotary has been a long term supporter of the 1046 Air Training Corp Squadron in Fordhouses. In the past we've given financial assistance which has enabled the Squadron to purchase a minibus of its own and to undertake overseas trips to visit the battlefields of Normandy. Following the recent theft of field kitchen equipment from their base a donation of £750 from the Club has helped them to replace the stolen items. Club member Les Bouts works closely with the Squadron to assist with its activities.

The ATC aims to encourage a spirit of adventure and to develop qualities of leadership and good citizenship - aims which the Rotary movement shares and which are so evidently embodied in Cadet Warrant Officer Mia Webb who was our guest speaker at tonight's meeting.


Mia initially joined the Squadron seven years ago and since that time she has risen to attain the highest rank available to a cadet and was recognised as the best cadet in the Midlands when she was appointed the Lord Lieutenant's Cadet for the West Midlands. Membership has given her the opportunity to fly planes and gliders, to learn to shoot and to take part in expedition training camps and field trips to France - opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to her. The ATC works closely with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and many cadets work towards achieving these awards - Mia herself is just completing her Gold award.

Its clear that the Squadron's activities are fostering valuable life skills in the Cadets such as team working, leadership and communication skills, self discipline and self reliance and an undoubted confidence in their ability - skills which will enable them to succeed in life whether or not they choose to join the RAF.

We look forward to continuing our support for the Squadron and our thanks go to Mia for giving us an insight into its working and to Flight Lieutenant Steve Baker and the other Staff members at the Squadron for all of their work with the Cadets.

Peace Through Service

This evening saw the first official visit to the Club of our new District Governor Trevor Davies a member of the Rotary Club of Ironbridge. Each District Governor is expected to visit all of the Clubs in their District during their year of office and for Trevor that means fitting in 59 club visits during the coming year.

Trevor brought with him the good wishes of the new Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka. As part of his official visit the District Governor introduced us to the theme which President Tanaka has set for the Rotary during the coming year. In the case of President Tanaka this is Peace Through Service.

2012-13 Theme Address from Rotary International on Vimeo.

President Tanaka believes that Rotarians are uniquely placed to bring peace through our work in our local communities - the peace of mind which comes to people from having access to healthcare, to sanitation and to clean water- and he has challenged Clubs to build on their existing service projects during the coming year.

President Tanaka tells how on becoming a Rotarian broadened his understanding of the world. After joining the Rotary Club of Yashio, in 1975 he realised that his life's purpose was not to make more money, but to be useful to other people.

“In Rotary, our business is not profit. Our business is peace,” he says. “Our reward is not financial, but the happiness and satisfaction of seeing a better, more peaceful world, one that we have achieved through our own efforts.”

Handover Meeting

The first week in July sees the changing of the guard in Rotary Clubs all around the world as new Presidents and their Councils takeover the running of their Clubs

Tonight saw Immediate Past President John Francis hand over the chain of office to our new President local jeweller Ian Rigby.

New Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka of Japan has chosen 'Peace through Service' as the Rotary theme for 2012 - 2013.  By helping others to meet the basic needs of health care, sanitation, food, and education President Tanaka believes that through our work as Rotarians we help to build the foundation for a more peaceful world. President Ian will look over the coming year to enhance the Club's presence in our  local community in support of President Tanaka's theme.

Ian was pleased to welcome visitors from many of our neighbouring Clubs and over the course of the next week Club members will attend Handover meetings at Clubs throughout the region to celebrate the start of new Rotary year with them.

Club Assembly 2012

As the current Rotary year nears its end Clubs around the country are holding their Assembly meetings giving their incoming Presidents the opportunity of setting out their objectives for the coming year and introducing the team who will help them to lead the Club in its fund raising and fellowship activities.

Local jeweller Ian Rigby takes over as President of the Tettenhall Club in July and at this evenings Assembly meeting Ian set out his own vision for the Club during his year of office. Ian will be concentrating on ensuring the already strong fellowship within the Club is strengthened further and will look to enhance the Club's presence in the local community in the belief that Rotarians are never happier than when bringing happiness to others.

Ian will be assisted by:

Sammy Chung - President Elect
John Francis - Immediate Past President
Ernie Edwards - Junior Vice President and Treasurer
John Margetts - Secretary
Les Boutts - Sergeant at Arms
Ken Swash - Fellowship
Roger Timbrell - Community Service
Chris Kraushar - Fund Raising
Chris Bowyer - Sleigh
MikeUnwin -Programme
Brian Nicholson - Membership
David Cave - Communications
Ivan Hill - Foundation
Doug Evans - International
Derek Evans - New Generation
Greg Instone - Attendance
Stuart Herrity - Sport
Wasil Bucczkowski - Regalia
Bert Finch - Family of Rotary

Ian wants to make sure that every member feels involved in the operation of the Club and with that in mind each member has been allocated to work with one of the committee chairs. We're grateful to all of the Committee Chairs who are helping Ian in the coming year and they can all be sure of our support.

Assistant District Governor Carol Reilly attended the meeting as the representative of District Governor Elect Trevor Davies and commended the Club on the work which it was already undertaking in the local community and on Ian's plans to extend this in the coming year.

Wolverhampton's War Wounded - Roy Stallard

Local historian Roy Stallard has, as a former nurse himself, a keen interest in the history of the health services in Wolverhampton.

Roy joined us this evening to explain the role played by the Wolverhampton hospitals in treating wounded service men in the two world wars and the support which they received from community organisations and the citizens of the town to help the wounded in their recovery.

To some of the Club's older members the talk was a trip down memory lane as they recalled as boys having watched the wounded being transferred into ambulances at Tettenhall railway station for the journey to the Royal Hospital.

Following the redevelopment of the Royal Hospital site by Tesco Roy will be maintaining a display on the site showcasing the history of the hospital. Our thanks go to Roy for helping to keep the City's history alive and for sharing it with us.

Changing Wolverhampton - Simon Warren

We were joined this evening by Simon Warren, the Chief Executive of Wolverhampton City Council. A former Rotarian himself Simon comes to local Government by a somewhat unusual route. Originally an aviator with the Royal Air Force Simon's 25 years in the service saw him flying Vulcan bombers and chasing down Russian submarines and Caribbean drug smugglers in Nimrods before ending his flying career enforcing the no fly zone over Iraq shortly after 9/11. The end of his flying days brought fresh opportunities and three years spent with NATO in the USA as Head of Strategic Management.

Once he'd left the service Simon looked for a way to put the change management skills which he'd acquired during his time with the Air Force to use and served as Rugby Council's Chief Executive for four years before joining the team at Wolverhampton.

Despite the advantages of its location the Wolverhampton economy has been in decline since the mid 1970's. Simon is adamant that he hasn't joined the Council to manage decline and he and his team are focusing on promoting economic development around the City's existing strengths. Naturally with his own background Simon has a particular interest in recognising the strength of the City's existing aerospace companies and shortly after taking up his position the council took a stand at the Farnborough International Air Show in order to showcase and support our existing manufacturers and to attract other aerospace companies to the area. The City's existing strong links with the Indian sub-continent are also seen as an opportunity to encourage both inward investment and export opportunities for manufacturers and the Council will look to build on these.

Simon noted the changes which had taken place in the City's planning department and which were taking place in other parts of the Council to make departments more commercially sensitive and the important role which this played in encouraging investment into the area. He pointed to the recent decision of Jaguar Land Rover to build a new engine plant in the City as an example of how this approach was now paying dividends and with this and major retail developments by Tesco and Sainsburys about to get underway Simon is convinced that there will be a change in peoples attitudes in the City and that there will be a growing belief that things can be better.

Ladies Weekend 2012 - Cheltenham

Our annual Ladies Weekend is a chance for the members of the Club to thank their partners for the support which they give to both their husbands and to the work of the Club over the year.

Appropriately enough in a Jubilee year this years trip took us to the Queen's Hotel in Cheltenham Spa. Cheltenham is a Regency gem characterised by the many town houses with intricate ironwork balconies and painted stucco façades which line the historic Promenade, squares and terraces. No doubt of equal interest to the ladies was the ample opportunity which the town affords for a little retail therapy.

Our weekend began with an entertaining visit to the town's Everyman Theatre on Friday evening where the Cheltenham based amateur troop the Cotswold Savoyards performed Titanic The Musical - commemorating both the centenary of the sinking of the ship and the society’s own 50th anniversary. Based on numerous actual characters aboard the great ship, the show focused on their dreams, hopes and aspirations – as the story of the launching, the collision with the iceberg, and the sinking was played out against the background of the rigid class-distinctions of the Edwardian Age.

Members had the opportunity to learn a little about the town's history during a walking tour of the town on Saturday morning. Cheltenham has been welcoming visitors for nearly three hundred years, ever since the discovery of the first natural spring. The very first Cheltenham Guide on 1781 described a visit to the town as "a journey of health and pleasure". According to legend the first medicinal waters were discovered when pigeons were noticed pecking at salty deposits which had formed around a spring on the present site of Cheltenham Ladies College. The transformation of the town into a fashionable resort began a few years later when in 1788 King George III visited the town to take the water cure.

The weekend was topped off on Saturday evening with our traditional black tie dinner featuring magical table-side entertainment from Les the Fez.  The toast to the Ladies was formally proposed by President John who thanked the ladies for the support and forbearance which they give to the members of the Club during the year, the reply for the ladies being made by the Presidents Lady, Linda, who toasted the members of the Club.

Our thanks go out to Peter and Pat Maddox who put a tremendous amount of time into organising the event for making this such a great weekend.

Defence College Visit

The Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering provides high quality and up-to-date aeronautical engineering training to members of each of the three armed services in order to meet the needs of tomorrow's front line. Headquartered at RAF Cosford in Wolverhampton the City can be proud of this world class engineering facility. Today the members of the Club had the opportunity of visiting the College to see the work which is being carried out.

The sight of twenty Jaguars, single seat attack-bombers, lined up under one roof was one to excite everybody, especially schoolboys and Rotarians, young and old.  Aeroplanes, which also included Sea King helicopters and Tornado fighter-bombers, serve as a classroom for RAF students where they are taught avionics, weaponry, air-frame and jet engine maintenance. Students, who come from all over the world, can also have a cockpit experience: climb into the mock-up plane, settle in the  cockpit, start up the engines (with sound effects) taxi then take off while all your actions are viewed by instructors on two very large screens. There was a long queue of Rotarians dying to have a go!

Cosford was originally built as a disposal field and assembly plant for planes built in the Midlands but sent out to Shropshire to avoid concentrating too many assets in one place during wartime. RAF Cosford is now the principal centre for flight engineering training in the UK. There were plans to move it to South Wales, since shelved, but now a move to RAF Lyneham is mooted.  The CEO of Wolverhampton Council, an ex RAF man, said that it was daft idea. So let’s hope the politicians both national and local can prevail so that it stays put, is expanded, so to reinforce the manufacturing presence and prestige of our City and surrounding area.

Howard Drury - Garden Time

A couple of weeks of wonderful Spring weather has got most people thinking about what to do with their gardens this year so it was excellent timing to hear from an old friend of the Club tonight, TV gardening expert Howard Drury.

With the weather due to turn however and snow about to hit the region Howard explained the steps we should take to protect plants which had been fooled into an early start and which could be damaged by the cold snap.

Howard - who can be found at Ashwood Nurseries most Sundays - is convinced that we are in for a dry spell this summer and in years to come and he encouraged people to do their bit to conserve water by adopting traditional watering techniques and to start to change the way that they plant their gardens by introducing drought tolerant plants.

Rounding of the evening with a question and answer session Howard gave us all some great ideas to take away.

Geoff Hill MBE

Its always a pleasure to meet Rotarians from other Clubs and this evening we were joined by Geoff Hill, a member of the Rotary Club of Stourbridge.

Geoff's electrical store in Amblecote is a local institution and he shared with us the story of how he had made his start in retailing and how he was eventually able to use his lifetime of retail experience to launch a chain of retail shops on behalf of The Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge.

The Hospice provides free specialist palliative care to the people of Dudley Borough and surrounding areas of South Staffordshire, Wyre Forest, Hereford & Worcester and Sandwell who have a non-curative illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease, end stage renal or cardiac disease, HIV / AIDS.

Over 80% of the Hospice's annual running costs are generated by donations from the local community including the invaluable contribution which the retail outlets which Geoff established continue to make.

Rotary One

The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney who wanted to capture in a professional club the same friendly spirit that he had felt in the small towns of his youth.

One hundred and seventeen years later that Club - affectionately known as Rotary One - still meets in Chicago and is visited by thousands of Rotarians from around the world. Our Club Secretary John Margetts recently had the opportunity to join them and to bring back one of their Club banners which he this evening presented to President John.

"A trip to Chicago to attend the US Housewares Show offered me the opportunity to visit the club where Paul Harris founded Rotary in 1905.

Today the club meets on the 5th floor of the elegant Union League Club, a low rise skyscraper, close to City Hall and west of State Street. Although they have 400 members meetings usually generate just 40 or 50 attendees. There is no minimum attendance attached (sic) to membership. It has not affected their giving as Chicago One has raised over £733,000 for Polio eradication since 1986.

There are differences to Tettenhall, grace is replaced by a ‘thought for the day’ and the toast to the Queen by the assembly standing and reciting the objects of Rotary.  An excellent three course cost $34 (£22) at a round tables and coffee is available throughout the meal. Their hospitality was generous and I ended up talking to many people but not one had heard of Wolverhampton, so it was ‘a club near Birmingham’. Members wear large round badges 4”Ø which await them on arrival. All organised by a full time secretary and assistant. Photos are taken of everyone as they arrive which are projected throughout the meal on a large screen on the dais; you can see mine with their President Barry.

It was an honour to have been where it all started and I shall not forget my lunch with Club One."