20 JUNE 2021 - WINDSOR & ETON ROTARY JOINS NHS FRONT LINE IN MASS VACINATION!

From Mid December 2020 ongoing for the next six months W&E Rotary Club has been asked to assist with the marshalling and control of arriving members of the public coming to get their Corona-19 virus innoculations.  The location being The Royal Windsor Racecourse where the NHS have converted the main stand into a mass innoculations centre!

The Rotary members will be working in three and four hour shifts upto five days each week both inside where the medical staff are working also outside in the large parking area. A particularly important part of this being timing control so there are no large queue's putting

'News Update' in interviewing Rotarian Ron Lewandowski commented "This really is what Rotary is all about, helping the public when ever necessary and working alongside National Services such as the NHS when they are in need of our support.  I've just finished a four hour shift,  yes it was tiring and extremely cold, but this didn't matter as to be able to assist members of the public and make their visit a non-concerning one is truly most worthwhile"

16 JUNE 2020 -  PRESIDENT-NOMINEE RESIGNATION FORCES CHANGE
​                             IN ROTARY INTERNATIONALS 2020-21 PRESIDENT!
​
​Holger Knaack, a member of the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany, has been selected to serve as president of Rotary International in 2020-21.
The Nominating Committee’s decision follows the resignation last month of President-nominee Sushil Gupta due to health reasons. 
​
To build a stronger membership, Knaack says Rotary must focus on increasing the number of female members and transitioning Rotaractors into Rotarians.  
Knaack believes that the People of Action campaign offers new public awareness possibilities for Rotary. “This campaign conveys our global image while still respecting differences in regions and cultures,” he says.
A Rotary member since 1992, Knaack has served Rotary as treasurer, director, moderator, member and chair of several committees, representative for the Council on Legislation, zone coordinator, training leader, and district governor.
He is an endowment/major gifts adviser and co-chair of the Host Organization Committee for the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg.
Knaack is the CEO of Knaack KG, a real estate company. He was previously a partner and general manager of Knaack Enterprises, a 125-year-old family business.
He is a founding member of the Civic Foundation of the City of Ratzeburg and served as president of the Golf-Club Gut Grambek. Knaack is also the founder and chair of the Karl Adam Foundation.
Knaack and his wife, Susanne, are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation and members of the Bequest Society.

10 JUNE 2020 - WINDSOR & ETON ROTARY HAVE DONE IT AGAIN... 
                           COMING TO THE RESCUE OF  THE ‘DRIVEN FORWARD’ CHARITY!

The charity was set up by Ms Tia Stephens - The original concept was to provide a support and community centre for all who needed assistance. The type of help offered being training courses, use of computers, refreshments and organised day trips to places of interest. 
Unfortunately the arrival of the Coronavirus and subsequent ‘lockdown’ meant a temporary rethink and refocus.  Tia commented "I saw the serious need in providing ‘canteen’ facilities for key workers in the community including fire persons, police, home carers, nurses, paramedics, community wardens,  shop workers,  street cleaners etc. We serve basic foods...chilli con carne, hot dogs with onions, vegetable soup, toasted cheese sandwiches , sandwiches...and of course Tea and coffee, of course all to take away, and social distancing has been priority arranged too!"
Commenting on the charity Rotarian Guy Barlow, chair of the Rotary club’s community service committee said "We are very pleased to support this local charity, Ti​a’s enthusiasm and flexibility to adapt to an urgent need are to be applauded.” 
The charity will revert to its original plan in supporting local people as soon as circumstances allow.
Rotary are world renowned for their amazing haste where there are world situations of need,  members of this famous local Rotary club have shown great understanding and assistance too during this Pandemic -  fast coming to the rescue locally over past weeks to add more charities to their help list, especially when so many people were in real need. 

At the clubs weekly Zoom based meeting on 1 June the inbound President Adrian Benge - In his Presidents year 2020/2021 told club members that his two chosen personal charities would be SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity) and Help Musicians (Musicians in Crisis, Health, work and education).
Adrian commented that it did not take him too long to select them as they are both very close to his heart,  particularly as ''his boss" also had very great regard for both of them too!  Adrian is a dedicated Flute player in an amateur orchestra (and a very good one it is too!)  as well as his weekly visits to the Windsor Castle where he ensures the horses are kept well saddled, particularly the ones for Her Majesty!  
When asked if he had any ideas as to how he can create fund-raising for the two charities ....commented "I'm already working on this, so watch this space for when I am fully in the Windsor & Eton Rotary Saddle...and one of those charity events, if I can pull it off, will be particularly spectacular!"  (The club members await with bated breath for his future announcement of this!)

The Prince Philip Trust Fund was set up with the sole aim of supporting and financially helping local Windsor & Maidenhead needy charities and similar causes. The Trust ​has quickly added further financial support to the Windsor Foodshare scheme.
W&E Rotary Club has over past years developed a close working relationship with this highly respected Trust in assisting them with special events to create financial aid that will then go forward through the Trust in support of needy causes in our local area.
The Coronavirus created for Windsor Foodshare a desperately urgent need for even greater food supplies (see below), due to many more people coming forward needing help.   The Trust Fund speedily came to the rescue with a £2,000 donation which met the similar Windsor & Eton Rotary Clubs prior contribution, thus doubling the amount to an impressive I've £4,000!
Ralph Cooper, President of the Rotary Club commented "We are truly proud to be able to assist this important Trust Fund and thank them for their valued donation, the club looks forward to creating further future events in support of the The Prince Philip Trust" 

It's at times like these that the Windsor & Eton Rotary Club members are at their best!   The coronavirus has put extreme pressure on Charities - and one that the club is closely associated with was in serious need - the Windsor Foodshare.
The charity was desperate for both 'people' to help in collecting the weekly food, kindly donated by customers of Tesco, Dedworth Road, Windsor -  but also money crucially needed to buy further quantities of the most basic of food items.
The 'hands' to collect was no problem as clubs members made themselves available to pick-up and deliver the foods each week.  The need for the money was soon also tackled by the club with the members giving part of their (at this time unspent) meetings lunch money towards the needs of the charity.  At today's date the club's total donations being an impressive £1,650!
Windor Foodshare works extremely ethically and carefully  to ensure the food goes only to local people in genuine desperate need of it.  All of them having been ratified as in such need by the Borough Council, Police, Social Services, Doctors and others.  It is pleasing to report that the  Windsor Foodshare are now working, assisted by lots of volunteers, at a fast pace. Importantly, they now have the food needs to help so many despairing people to not go hungry.  Club President, Ralph Cooper commented  "I'm so pleased our members have been able to speedily assist this important local community charity,  of course we (the club) will  ensure our continued  support in the weeks and months ahead.

Ms Jacqueline Chen is studying for a MSc in Global Health and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford with support from Rotary Foundation (sponsored via a Global Grant).
Jacqueline is hosted by Windsor & Eton Rotary Club and last night was the guest speaker, together with Annie Welden (also a Rotary Scholar), at the dinner event organised by our club and our sister club, Windsor St George.
Her presentation highlighted the need for a robust healthcare system focused on continuous improvement in any country (including those well developed such as UK or USA) with particular focus on adopting new technologies.

An Introduction to the Rotary Scholarship Programme
This is one of the world’s largest privately sponsored international scholarship programmes. It started in 1947 with the aim of furthering international understanding and goodwill, and over 70 years later it continues to be a great success.
The current scholarship model started in 2013. Rotary Scholarships are funded by Global Grants and are for overseas graduate study under one of Rotary’s six Areas of Focus for one to four years. More Rotary Scholars come to study in the UK than in any other country. Over the last few years, there have been an average of approximately 180 Rotary Scholars each year. In this current academic year there are around 240 Rotary Scholars.
During their studies abroad, Rotary Foundation Scholars are hosted by a club local to their place of study. They have opportunities to take part in club activities, meet the other Rotary scholars hosted in the district and to visit other clubs to speak about their studies and career aspirations.
We are extremely fortunate to have a large number of Scholars visiting our District each year. The majority study at the University of Oxford, but we also have some at the four other universities within our District: Oxford Brookes, Reading, New Bucks and Brunel Universities.

More success for Trevelyan School on Friday night as they not only hosted a mighty fine event but their Intermediate team also won through to the District Finals in Reading on 27th February.

Ten teams from Wycombe, Ascot, Sunningdale and Windsor took Youth Speaks to the next level. All teams did themselves proud and brought their “A” game.  In the Intermediate section, “Money can buy happiness” was convincingly debated by Fiona Winters and Anushka Sagar, ably chaired by George Burden. Matilda Kemp & Ruth Mendy joined them for the photo to celebrate the team win with Windsor & Eton Rotary Club’s President Ralph Cooper whose daughter happens to be Head Teacher at Trevelyan, so he was beyond proud.
 
Wycombe Abbey won the senior competition with their debate “Can I Change the World?”. Chair Alyssa Conradie, Proposer Felicite Baroudel, Opposer Chloe Davis offered very convincing arguments from both sides just taking the top spot from Windsor Girls.
 
Youth Speaks is the most rewarding competition for not just the competitors ;)  We would like to congratulate all teams who took part, as follows:
 
Intermediate Teams

• Trevelyan School A "Money can buy happiness". Chair George Burden, Proposer Fiona Winters, Opposer Anushka Sagar                    
• Trevelyan School B "Home schooling is better than a traditional education". Chair Edward Shekiluwa, Proposer Matilda Kemp, Opposer Ruth Mendy
• Licensed Victuallers School "This house believes that Extinction Rebellion is a necessity in today's world". Chair Max Kelly, Proposer Harrison Thomas Opposer Angelina Yu
• Charters School "This house believes that freedom of speech should be abolished". Chair Ollie Millington, Proposer Fin Harris, Opposer Daniel Fussey
• Wycombe Abbey "Should torture be used in interrogation?". Chair Frida Douek, Proposer Neda Aryan, Opposer Layomi Odusanya

 
Intermediate judges Joanna Olamer-Scott, Clem Virgo, Dr John Eckhart (chair).
 
Senior Teams 

•  Windsor Girls School A "Mobile phones have a positive impact on today's society". Chair Olatz Bulson-Roman, Proposer Scarlett O'Shaughnessy, Opposer Lydia Sampson                      
• Windsor Girls School B "Abortion does not deserve to be morally condemned". Chair Polina Vekchina, Proposer Ariela Veizaj, Opposer Rachel East
• Charters School "This house believes that technology will save the world". Chair Isla Gilmour, Proposer Rose Tocher, Opposer Tia Dalton Short
• The Marist School "Are zoos an ethical place for animals?". Chair Helena Hughes, Proposer Maira Rizvi, Opposer Evie Gazet
• Wycombe Abbey "Can I change the world?". Chair Alyssa Conradie, Proposer Felicite Baroudel, Opposer Chloe Davis

 
Senior judges Veronica Stabbins, Brian Lee and Roger Clark (chair).
 
Thank you.
Jon Davey, Youth Chair, Windsor & Eton Rotary

I love organising the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition every year because it allows our young people to shine.

This year Trevelyan Middle School & St Edward’s Royal Free Ecumenical Middle School fought for the Intermediate prize and Windsor Girls fought for the Senior prize amongst themselves in the prestigious Jafar Hall at Eton College. What a story to tell at dinner parties in years to come.
 
Teachers are very busy people with lots of demands on their time so they need to have a real passion for Youth Speaks to give it the time and commitment required. Thankfully, this year the new English teacher at Windsor Boys came and watched the competition and said she would bring boys teams next year… hurrah, they are engaging again… would love to see Dedworth Middle School join in if anyone reading this has any influence?
 
The topics for this year’s debate were:

• Money can buy you happiness
• Home schooling is better than traditional education
• Social media is a force for good
• Mobiles phone have a positive impact on today’s society
• Abortion does not deserve to be morally condemned

 
All the students gave an amazing account of themselves, sharing their thoughts on their chosen topics with passion and belief normally only seen on TV when a CEO is fighting their corner.
 
Richard Allen of the Green Room led our Intermediate judges and gave each team a clear summary of their performance, enthusing all to keep debating.  The Intermediate winners spoke on “Money can’t buy happiness” with George Burden as Chair, Fiona Winters Proposing the topic and Anushka Sagar Opposing.  Edward Shekiluwa, chair of the other team, won the Best Speaker prize with his very engaging performance using his god given smile to light up the room.
 
David Knowles-Leak chaired the senior judges and underlined the importance of taking part being character building and that all local schools should join in. The younger team from Windsor Girls won again this year on the topic of “Mobile phones have a positive impact on today’s society”. Chaired by Olatz Bulson-Roman, Proposed by Scarlett O’Shaughnessy and Opposed by Lydia Sampson we all turned our phones to silent mode so we hear the debate ;) Scarlett won Best Speaker and so walked away with oodles of Amazon vouchers so she can buy more books, videos and mobile apps!
 
Because of circumstance, 2 teams from each category are going forward to the next round to be held in February where they will be competing against teams from Ascot, with the winners going through to the District Finals in March in Marlow.
 
As Chair of the Youth Committee I am exploring an idea of how I can take the energy from this competition and bottling it for the wider community to help young people find their voice.
 
Thank you.
Jon Davey
Chair of Youth Committee

​More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.  ​Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.

HOW ROTARY MAKES HELP HAPPEN
We take action to empower educators to inspire learning at all ages. 

OUR IMPACT ON EDUCATION
The Rotary Foundation supports education through scholarships, donations, and service projects around the world. 

Rotary members make amazing things happen, like:

• Opening schools: In Afghanistan, Rotary members opened a girls’ school to break the cycle of poverty and social imbalance.
• Teaching adults to read: Rotary members in the United States partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to recruit and train tutors after a study showed that more than half of the local adult population was functionally illiterate.
• New teaching methods: The SOUNS program in South Africa, Puerto Rico and the United States teaches educators how to improve literacy by teaching children to recognize letters by sounds instead of names.
• Making schools healthy: Rotarians are providing clean, fresh water to every public school in Lebanon so students can be healthier and get a better education.

Find out more - click here