New Member - Mike Dickerson

You might have seen over the last few months adverts in your local paper inviting you to 'Join Rotary and Make a Difference'. Mike Dickerson saw one of those adverts and after attending a few of our Club meetings decided that he could make a difference. Tonight we had the pleasure of inducting him as the newest member of our Club.

Mike operates a foot health care business in Wolverhampton. As a member of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, he joins an organisation of more than 55,000 men and women who, as members of over 1,850 Rotary clubs, volunteer their time, talents, professional skills and energy to improving the lives of people in their local communities and others around the world.



As a member of a Rotary club, you have the opportunity to give something back, to give hope to those less fortunate and to make lives worthwhile and fulfilled. If you'd like to find out more about joining Rotary then click here - How to Join Rotary.

'Allo 'Allo John Pittwood

As more of the veterans of the Second World War pass it becomes more important than ever to keep their stories alive. This evening we had the pleasure of hearing from John Pittwood a member of the Rotary Club of Brierley Hill and Kingswinford.

John's father - a navigator with 207 Squadron -was amongst the thousands of Allied airmen who had to bail out over occupied France following a bombing raid on an enemy target. Fortunately for John his father survived and based on his recollections and on the research work which John has since undertaken he has managed to piece together the story of his fathers meeting with members of the SOE resistance and of his journey to freedom.

The friendships which John's father made with the members of the resistance survive to this day and now span the generations of the families. Our thanks go to John for preserving his father's story and sharing it with us.

Mayor attends Charity Casino Evening 2011

Following on from the success of the Club's first casino evening last year this evening over 100 Rotarians and friends gathered in the company of the Mayor and Mayoress of Wolverhampton to find who would carry away the title of the Rotary Casino Champion 2011.

The evening started off on a special note as the Mayor, Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett, announced that having met his fundraising target for his two nominated charities - Promise Dreams which aims to fulfil the wishes of seriously and terminally ill children and the Deanesly Centre which treats cancer patients at New Cross Hospital - he would continue to raise funds for the remainder of his year to benefit the MS Therapy Centre in Wolverhampton - a charity dear to the heart of many Rotarians in Wolverhampton.

Whilst the President's wife came a notable second  the winner proved that with gambling as with most other things in life experience counts as Rotarian Bali Singh was the clear winner and our new Casino Champion 2011. Our thanks to all who attended and helped to make the evening a success and in particular to Rotarians Jag Gill, Bali Singh and Sammy Chung who organised the event. Monies raised will be used in support of local Rotary charities.

Renowned Gardening Broadcaster helps Rotary Water Aid Charity

Nearly 100 Rotarians and their guests spent this evening in the company of horticultural Broadcaster, Howard Drury.

Born in Lincolnshire, Howard started his horticultural career early selling lettuces at the age of 6 and working in local nurseries before going on to Edinburgh Botanic Garden as a Student, leaving with honours and all but one of the top awards. Following a move to Birmingham he worked for 20 years as a Horticultural Training officer and as a researcher and presenter on Central TV’s popular Gardening Time programme.

Howard's entertaining and informative presentation included 50 illustrated gardening tips and hints as well as a quiz and a valuable opportunity for the keen amateurs in the room to find the answers to their gardening problems.

The event, which was organised by Club member Doug Evans, was a huge success and raised funds for Village Water, a project supported by Rotary International which provides clean water and sanitation in underdeveloped countries.