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

Windsor and Eton Rotary Club, Community and Vocational Committee are pleased to support DASH for the second successive year.

As a charity, DASH works within a framework that acknowledges the gendered nature of domestic abuse and addresses root cause issues of violence against women, which are embedded in the historical and cultural unequal status of women in society. Weaved within all their practical work is a commitment to help each victim explore and understand their experiences and the effects upon them and their children, build upon identified skills and strengths with a view to build their resilience, confidence and self esteem.

They support all those within our community affected by Domestic Abuse by delivering a range of specialist services that will break the cycle of abuse enabling individuals and families to thrive.
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As a Rotary Club we have supported them on numerous occasions and were pleased to present them with a selection of books to deliver to people being supported in time for Christmas. The books purchased will cover a variety of children’s age groups and also parents who are equally in need of support. The picture shows just a selection of the books which have been donated.

Last night saw over 100 Windsor & Eton Rotarians, their partners and friends enjoy a festive-themed Christmas Party at The Castle Hotel in Windsor and much fun was had by all... as the photos show!  We were also joined by our District Governor Frank Quinn, who seemed to enjoy pulling his cracker!

Guests arrived to a fabulously decorated grand staircase which led up to a drinks reception where glasses of bubbles were enjoyed by all! A sumptuous 3-course dinner was served in the grand ballroom whilst festive tunes played in the background and guests enjoyed each others company, exchanging the usual aghast faces as the traditionally cheesy cracker jokes!

After dinner entertainment ensued with a music quiz, guessing the year the number one hit was in the chart, with grand applause to anyone who manged to get them right! Of course no Christmas party would be complete without some dance-floor fillers, and guests were not disappointed, quickly leaping up to join in such classics as YMCA and All I want for Christmas...

A superb evening catching up with friends, enjoying festive cheer and simply having fun!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

During 2019-20, Rotary will host a series of presidential conferences around the world, focusing on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations and the UN’s sustainable development goals that many Rotary service projects support. 

In 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its charter and its mission of promoting peace. Rotary was one of 42 organisations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the 1945 San Francisco conference, which led to the UN’s charter. For decades, Rotary has worked alongside the United Nations to address humanitarian issues around the world. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status that the UN offers to nongovernmental organisations.

“Rotary shares the United Nations’ enduring commitment to a healthier, more peaceful, and more sustainable world,” Rotary International President Maloney said. “And Rotary offers something no other organisation can match: an existing infrastructure that allows people from all over the world to connect in a spirit of service and peace and take meaningful action toward that goal.” 

Rotary and the United Nations have a shared history of working toward peace and addressing humanitarian issues around the world.

During World War II, Rotary informed and educated members about the formation of the United Nations and the importance of planning for peace. Materials such as the booklet “From Here On!” and articles in The Rotarian helped members understand the UN before it was formally established and follow its work after its charter. 

Many countries were fighting the war when the term “United Nations” was first used officially in the 1942 “Declaration by United Nations.” The 26 nations that signed it pledged to uphold the ideals expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom the previous year of the common principles “on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world.” 

Officials from Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States met in Moscow in 1943 and called for the creation of an international organisation to maintain peace and security. 

The next year, representatives of those countries plus China held conferences in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to go about this monumental task. Those sessions became known as the Dumbarton Oaks conference, where delegations from the four countries developed a proposal for the structure of the new organisation. 

After the conference, Rotary published “What Can Rotarians Do Following Dumbarton Oaks?” It included the proposed charter, talking points, and suggestions for discussing with club members how the United Nations would relate to Rotary’s goal of advancing international understanding. It also emphasized the importance of having a plan ready for when the war ended, rather than waiting until the fighting stopped.

​After World War I, “proposals for international cooperation failed because of lack of enlightened public opinion to support them,” it explained. Discussions among members “will help to create an informed public opinion.”

“Timely Questions on Dumbarton Oaks” followed to help Rotarians understand the complexities of the proposed charter. The flyer presented different perspectives on the security council and other aspects of the UN as topics for Rotary club programs or discussions. At the same time, governments around the world were carefully studying and reacting to the work done at Dumbarton Oaks. 

From April to June 1945, delegations from 50 nations attended the United Nations Conference on International Organisation in San Francisco (often known as the San Francisco conference). Their task was to write a charter acceptable to all of them. The delegations were assisted in this historic effort by a large number of staff, advisers, and consultants.

Rotary International was one of 42 organisations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the San Francisco conference. Each organisation had seats for three representatives, so Rotary International’s 11 representatives served in rotation. The people officially representing Rotary included the general secretary, the editor of The Rotarian, and several past presidents. Other Rotarians from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America served as members of their own nations’ delegations. Rotarians also served as consultants to their national delegations. 

Just before the meetings began, Rotary International published and distributed the “Pattern for the San Francisco Conference” pamphlet. “It is a splendid opportunity for the individual Rotarian to fulfil the objective of International Service,” the document proclaimed, “by taking part in the debate on this scheme of world government.” 

Throughout the rest of 1945, The Rotarian and other publications kept Rotary members informed about issues and developments related to the new organisation. Editorials and articles clarified issues, provided additional insights and talking points, and updated readers on what was happening and the people involved: 

• “Rotarians in the News at San Francisco,” July 1945 
• “Report from San Francisco,” July 1945
• “Rotary at the Conference,” July 1945
•  “Gateway to Peace,” August 1945
• “San Francisco Just Started It,” November 1945

After the UN was established, the 95-page booklet “From Here On!” contained the exact text of the UN Charter on one side of every two-page spread with annotations and questions designed to stimulate discussion on the other. With this layout, Rotarians could use it to learn and lead club discussions.

The Charter, it explained, would be effective only if “free citizens” worldwide were determined to give it vitality. “The Rotarian faithfully following these pages,” the booklet said, “will find himself treading the path to service.” 

In 1946, Rotary published a supplement listing the major accomplishments of the meetings held by the UN General Assembly in January and February of that year. Later articles in The Rotarian kept the United Nations and its work on the minds of members:

• “UN or World States,” June 1946 
• “What Do You Want UN to Do?” September 1948
• “Speaking of the United Nations,” March 1955
• “Appraisal at San Francisco,” September 1955 
• “How I Would Change the UN,” October 1955

Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status offered to a nongovernmental organisation by the UN’s Economic and Social Council, which oversees many specialised UN agencies. The Rotary Representative Network maintains and furthers its relationship with several UN bodies, programs, commissions, and agencies. This network consists of Rotary International representatives to the United Nations and other organisations.

​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

Nearly 800 million people live on less than $1.90 a day. Rotary members are passionate about providing sustainable solutions to poverty. Our members and our foundation work to strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities. We provide training and access to well-paying jobs and financial management institutions.

HOW ROTARY MAKES HELP HAPPEN
We create opportunities to help individuals and communities thrive financially and socially.

​OUR IMPACT ON LOCAL ECONOMIES
Rotary members train people to become resources for their community, offering networking activities, advice on new business development, and mathematics and financial management training.

Rotarians make amazing things happen, like:

• Breaking the cycle of poverty for women: Most of the women living in rural Guatemala do not have the collateral to get loans from regulated financial institutions. The Rotary Club of Guatemala de la Ermita helped 400 local women complete financial literacy courses so they could pool their money and fund their own microlending program.
• Skills development, business training: In Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Rotary members helped grant more than 250 microloans and train more than 270 community members in sewing, baking, plumbing, microcredit, business management, and leadership. 
• Sustainable farming: In west Cameroon, soil erosion and loss of soil fertility have significantly reduced farmers’ harvests. Rotary members gave farmers the skills they needed to improve soil fertility, control soil erosion, and market their produce. The results: increased crop yields and profits.

Find out more - click here

On Tuesday 3rd September several members of our Rotary Club and their partners supported the Mayor’s Charity Steam Train trip pulled by the steam engine ‘Mayflower’.

The event was in aid of Thames Hospice and over 100 people had booked a seat. The train departed from Windsor Riverside station at 12.43pm for Waterloo with a three course luncheon being served in Pullman style carriages. At Waterloo there was a short stop with the main course and sweet being served on the homeward journey.

This was a very enjoyable experience which hopefully raised a lot of money for the hospice. The event also marked the end of the first season of operation of the steam train from Waterloo to Windsor.
 
Written by: Martyn Gorton