Chatterbox 0612 - Rotary Club of Belper

otary international district 1220
www.belper-rotary.co.uk
Winning Club Bulletin 2010/2011
the rotary club of
belper &
duffield
World Heritage Site
-a birthplace of the Industrial Revolution
In this issue:
Thoughts of President Martin
Origami Cranes
Wine Tasting Evening
Club Assembly
1
May/June 2012
CHATTERBOX

A shot of Alan Widdowson’s only winner at the Rotary sponsored
Southwell Race Meeting. Report on page 15.
Concentrating on making origami cranes under the supervision
of the Ambassadorial scholars. Page 5.
President Martin presents a cheque to Julie
Hawes to help her work with the Bobby
Moore Trust Fund. Page 5.
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Thoughts at the End of a Rotary Year
Much against my expectations I have enjoyed my year as President. The start
of the year was clouded in uncertainty. It was not clear how long it would
take me to recover from my first ankle operation and the date of the second was
shrouded in mystery. I was very much afraid of being a lame drake president! But
with such a supportive and friendly club I need not have worried.
One casualty of the uncertainty, however, was the date of the Club’s charter.
With singular inaccuracy, I predicted an autumn operation and persuaded the club
council to put the charter back to May. Come the dark days of November we missed
our normal celebration and so had a birthday party instead, complete with cake. It
was a happy and enjoyable occasion. I have never hidden my lack of enthusiasm for
the formal Rotary charter dinner. I suspect that this may be an attitude shared by a
number of members given the general lack of support (with a few honourable
exceptions) for attendance at charters of other clubs. So with May fast approaching
I took the decision to replace the charter dinner with a wine tasting evening. It was
well supported by members and by U3A (but not by other clubs) and the wine was
entertainingly presented and copiously poured. Those who did come (including the
District Governor) hazily recall enjoying themselves.
It was a good year for fellowship which, to my mind, is one of the most
important aspects of Rotary. The district conference at Scarborough was well
attended with brilliant weather and good fun. We had a number of very successful
outside visits – the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, the Rolls Royce
Heritage Centre, the Nottingham Playhouse to see Forever Young, a pate and pud
evening (with games) at the Milford Social Club and a district organised evening at
Southwell races in support of the End Polio campaign. When we stayed at home we
had a varied programme of speakers and other entertainment. Two occasions
stand out in my mind – the Christmas celebration dinner when we were entertained
by the very gifted Sam and Lily from Ilkeston and St George’s night when the ladies
of Green Garters managed to get many of the mobilely unchallenged up for some
English country dancing.
The pleasure of our meetings has been enhanced by the generally high standard
of catering and service that we’ve had from the Lion Hotel during my year of
office. The staff are always pleasant and helpful and, apart from the odd hiccough,
things have gone pretty well.
On the sporting front the Club achieved a first. By beating Ashbourne we got
through to the second round of the District ten pin bowling competition. That was
Cover picture - two District Governors
Gordon McGlone hands over the badge of office to Belper and Duffield Rotarian
Dave Ashley at the District Handover Lunch. Report of the proceedings on page 16.
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the limit of our success. We were crushed by Wirksworth in the second round. The
Club’s team in the bowls competition failed to repeat its success of last year. In the
District quiz, the team achieved honour without the pain of getting through to the
next round by coming joint sixth.
The Club’s fundraising efforts were, as usual, concentrated round Christmas.
Santa’s sleigh in Duffield and Belper and collections on King Street and at Morrisons
raised most of the money but was helped by the Tree of Light and three concerts
which the Club helped to organise. I very much enjoyed the concert given by
Cantata in October. It was however disappointingly supported and perhaps illustrates
the difficulty of a small club going it alone on a major venture. The Christmas
concert at St Peter’s church with the Dalesmen, Derwent Brass and the Pottery
School choir seems to be becoming an annual event with increased attendance year
on year. The Club needs to help build on this.
Once again the Club has been very active in its support for the community both
local and international. We have met our obligations to Foundation and the End
Polio campaign as well as supporting Mary’s Meals, Aquabox and contributing to
the Disasters Emergency Committee’s East Africa Appeal. At home, the Club has
given grants to a wide variety of local organisations. But, perhaps more importantly,
we are being seen to be involved in the community. Cycle proficiency training is
much appreciated by schools and parents, mock interviews help prepare young
people for the world of work, stroke awareness helps save lives and members
acting as stewards at local events help raise the Club’s profile.
This year the Club had a stall at the Duffield carnival. It generated some interest
in Rotary but probably more in the game of golf. Membership has remained static
through the year but the Club has agreed a new category of Friends of the Rotary
Club of Belper and Duffield to enable interested people to be a part of the Club for
a limited period without committing to full membership. A leaflet has been produced
to give wider publicity. I wish the initiative well.
Sadly, we have lost some good friends of the Club. Past Presidents Peter Pym,
Derrick Smith and Eric Naylor and Eric’s wife Margaret have all died over the past
year. They will be missed but we take comfort from their long lives and dedicated
service.
In conclusion, may I give a very big thank you to all the members of the Club for
the support and friendship which you have shown me over the past year. I have
deliberately not named names in this inadequate reflection on my year as President
because, to a greater or lesser extent, I would have to name you all. Without your
help I couldn’t have survived the year, let alone enjoyed it. Finally, my best wishes
to Graham for a happy and successful year as President and to David for a happy
and successful year as District Governor. With the Club behind them I am sure they
will achieve it.
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Meeting - 21st May
A Night like no Other!
This was a well attended guest evening and David Ashley introduced Chie and
Jade our present ambassadorial scholars. David explained that Jade and Chie had
kindly come along to help him towards his aim of presenting each club president in
the district with a ‘peace crane’ during his Governorship.
The origami cranes have become a symbol of peace as a result of the
poignant story of a young girl from Hiroshima who dreamed of becoming a P.E.
teacher but who was cruelly struck down by radiation-induced leukaemia as a result
of the bomb that ended the Second World War. While she was undergoing treatment
in hospital she was shown how to make these folded paper birds and introduced
to the Japanese folk tale which promised a wish that would be granted after
1,000 such cranes had been created. She did not wish for a cure for herself but that
there should be world peace-“I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all
over the world” She was helped to fulfil the task and there is now a monument to
her in the Hiroshima Peace Park.
David felt that his somewhat smaller objective would fit in well with next
year’s Rotary International Theme-’Peace through Service’
Chie comes from Hiroshima and is an excellent ‘crane tutor’ so agreed to
come along and give tuition to a group who were willing but sometimes not
altogether dexterous. Chie and Jade gave a demonstration with a very large piece
of paper and it was discovered that there were already some crane makers scattered
throughout the tables (had they been planted?) and even some ‘made earlier’
examples for us to aspire to.
There followed half an hour of joy, frustration, exaltation and completion,
not necessarily in that order. Chie and Jade moved like ministering angels among
the toiling throng, never losing patience or their sense of humor.
The result? Forty three little folded birds, very nearly enough to send with
our Governor on his circuit. I am sure that the Governor’s Chief Assistant and
Helpmate will supply the final, perfect few and we hope to have a travel gallery of
Dave and his Cranes at the end of the year. David has written to the Rotary
International President to tell him of his project and has received back a letter of
support.
There was another result at the end of the evening; we all discovered what
fun it can be to do something completely new - and succeed!
Sheilagh Harnan
There are some photographs of the evening on page 2. President Martin also
took the opportunity to present a cheque to Julie Hawes who is going to Brazil in
September under the auspices of the Bobby Moore Trust Fund to help build a new
school.
5

Not a Charter Night –
a Wine Tasting Evening!
Friday 25th May 2012
President Martin had decided to have a Charter
Night with a difference for his year in office and
after considering several options, including a Garden
Party and a Barn Dance, finally settled on a Wine
Tasting Evening. Provision had been made to cater
for about 70 in the Arkwright Suite but for
various reasons we finished up with some fifty
people, including a contingent from the local
U3A.
The evening was presented by Peter Clay, a
local publican with a remarkably deep knowledge
of wines and he passed on some of this knowledge
in a most interesting and informative manner.
He started with a lesson on actually tasting the wine,
how to hold the glass, looking at it, smelling it and finally
tasting it; the aim of the process appeared to be able to
intimidate the wine waiter and impress the rest of the
company. He pointed out there was a large glass on each
table for us to discard any remains before proceeding to the next wine; I did not
notice much use being made of them, most participants were quite prepared to
quaff the lot!
We progressed (staggered later in the evening) through a dozen different wines
- white, red, rosé, blush, sparkling - based on a number of grape varieties and from
various locations round the world. At various points in the proceedings, small
snacks were served in an attempt to counter the effects of the alcohol but the ratio
of food to liquor was not really sufficient and it was noticeable that inhibitions were
reduced as the evening progressed
A vote of thanks was made to Peter and special thanks to Hilary Surga and Alan
Widdowson for organising the evening. With the realisation that we had each
imbibed the equivalent of a bottle of strong wine, most guests had made the wise
decision to get home by taxi or train.
Photographs of the evening on page 10.
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John Scotney

Meeting - 28th May
Club Business Meeting
We had 16 members and one guest at this Business Meeting. Following a
lengthy discussion on the meaning of the word “Ebenezer”, Martin Drake
reported that the Wine Tasting held on the 25th of May had been a great success
although he would be discussing the poor quantity (though excellent quality) of
food provided for the Buffet.
It was agreed, following a suggestion from John Frankland, that the meeting
on the 18th June be a visit to the 20/20 cricket match at the County Ground in
Derby. For those who did not wish to go, it would be a scatter night. We also agreed
that on the suggestion of Sheilagh Harnan, the meeting on the 2nd July would be a
visit to Derby Arbouretum.
Treasurer Peter James reported that since his last report, we had paid a
total of £570.40 from the Club Account for a range of things including the purchase
of the Past President’s Jewel and some Hi-Viz jackets. The Charity Account had paid
£600 as the second part of our payment to Foundation, £150 each to the Rainbows
Hospice and Cancer Research UK, and £545 as our contribution to the Polio Eradication
fund, which along with the following dates for Christmas Collections - December
19th (Wednesday) at Morrisons, from 4.00pm until 9.00pm, December 20th
(Thursday) at Morrisions, from 8.30am until 9.00pm and December 24th (Monday),
street collection in King Street and the £105 spent on tickets for Southwell Races,
means that we have now met our obligations in that area. Peter also reported that
we had received a payment of £265 from the Inland Revenue by way of Gift Aid.
Community & Vocational chair Gail Ashley advised John Norreys reported
that he would be talking to Ecclesbourne School during the next academic year in
respect of mock interviews.
Graham Wright, Membership Services, advised that we have a “pitch” at
Duffield Carnival. So far, the plan is to have a Putting game (to draw people to the
stand) along with a demonstration Aquabox and a continually running series of
Rotary videos. Graham also outlined his plans for the meeting programme for his
forthcoming year as President. In particular, giving more club time to Committee
activities as well as Scatter Nights and “Away Days” where the club will hold it’s
meetings at venues out in our catchment area.
International & Foundation chair David Soul told us the Polio Eradication
programme would be changing to provide a different vaccination regime, tailored
to the needs of each Country, and that in future, Rotary support would be in
response to WHO initiatives and would be determined by the Rotary District/Clubs.
He also advised that the capitation fee would be rising by £2 to £45.
7
Nick Blurton

Meeting - 11th June
The Slenderella Story
by Gary Spendlove
At our meeting on 11th June we welcomed Gary and Gaynor Spendlove as
guests of Vernon Barnes. Gary had previously addressed the Club at a
meeting some years ago and so Vernon invited Gary to briefly retrace the
history of Brettles, the well known hosiery, socks and knitted goods manufacturer
and give an account of the Slenderella story to date.
Gary gave a brief account of the growth of Brettles from a partnership
formed in 1803 between George Brettle and John and William Ward up to 1973
when he joined the company, by which time it was owned by Courtaulds.
During the next 24 years the company’s fortunes declined culminating in Gary’s
redundancy, as Sales Director, in 1997 following the takeover by Chilprufe, a
major Leicester underwear producer.
Another company, Slenderella, had been founded in the East End of
London in the 1920’s and due to factors arising from the second world war
moved to South Shields where it grew to become a recognised national brand
and a major supplier to Marks and Spencer. Slenderella ceased trading in 1984
but the brand was retained by S Newman.
Shortly before leaving Brettles, Gary, together with five other managers
made a bid to buy Brettles but the parent company accepted the bid from
Chilprufe. As part of his redundancy deal Gary was able to purchase the Belper
factory shop and, shortly after that, acquired the Slenderella brand to form a
new company, Slenderella Wholesale. In 2002 Chilprufe was put into receivership
and the new company was able to acquire the Brettles brand and bring it
back to Belper.
Slenderella now own the established brand names Brettle, Chilprufe,
Kayser, Vedonis and some contrived ones; Slenders and Gaspe (derived from
Gary Spendlove). No manufacturing takes place in Belper but some takes place
in the East Midlands. The company is growing steadily and about 22% is exported.
Gary brought to the meeting some examples of the company’s products
which range through nightwear, hosiery, slips, thermal underwear, lingerie,
briefs, dressing gowns and bed jackets.
The talk was well received and a vote of thanks was given by a member
of the club.
8
David Henson

Meeting - 18th June
Visit to the
County Cricket
Ground, Derby
I t was good to do something different
for a Club meeting and visit the
county ground to see Derbyshire play
Yorkshire in their Friends Life t20 match.
The Derby Falcons were unbeaten in the
competition and lead the county championship
table but things did not go too well on a
fine but cool evening.
We had a wonderful view of the play
on the new stand at the racecourse end of the
ground and there was a good atmosphere in
the ground and expectations were high. Yorkshire
went in to bat and made a par score of 150
with some good contributions from Gale, Root and
Ballance who was at one time an Academy player at
Derby. The ex Yorkshire bowler Wainwright was the
pick of the Derbyshire bowlers taking two wickets for
14 runs without a boundary being scored off him.
Derbyshire made a good start to their innings with Durston and Khawaja
adding 43 for the first wicket in just 5.4 overs and seemed to be cruising to victory
but then wickets fell in quick succession with no Derbyshire batsman being able to
make a winning contribution. The Yorkshire bowling held the Derbyshire Falcons in
a tight grip and they could not break clear and disappointingly fell 41 runs short of
the Yorkshire total.
Thirteen members and guests attended the evening and all appeared to
enjoy the occasion and a big thank you to John Frankland for organising the evening
and getting us all together in the stand so that we could chat together during the
play.
Hopefully during this scatter week for the Club, members were able to
visit other Clubs and give our best wishes.
David Harris
9

Peter Clay instucting the Norreys into the finer points of wine appreciation at the Wine
Tasting Evening. Report on page 6.
The aftermath of the Wine Tasting Evening - a good time was had by all!
10

DG Gordon shows his appreciation
for a fine vintage at our ‘Charter
Celebration’
The Rotary stall all ready to receive customers at the Duffield Carnival. We had great
difficulty keeping these guys away from the golf clubs and the Putt and Pot game!
Report on page 16.
11

Meeting - 25th June
Club Assembly
There was a good turn out of members to this special meeting, along with two
guests who are potential members and AG Chris Elkin. President Martin was in
the chair for the first part of the evening and after the meal, he reported on the
previous week’s visit to watch the 20/20 cricket at the Derbyshire County Ground
and thanked John Frankland for organising it. He also reminded members of his
‘Curry Handover Lunch’ on Sunday 8th July to be held at David and Carole Soul’s –
this would be his last official function before the Installation of the new President
on 9th July. We also had a report of the Duffield Carnival held on the previous
Saturday; the weather kept fine, there were plenty of people trying the ‘Put & Pot’
and we raised £40 for our charities.
President Martin then invited SVP Graham Wright to lead the club through the
Assembly. A booklet of the various speeches and reports to be presented had been
prepared and distributed to the members prior to the meeting and full details of
the proceedings can be found therein; there was the opportunity for members to
raise questions with the incoming officers. Graham’s address - ‘The Year of the DG’
follows:
The coming twelve months are going to be very different for the Rotary Club of Belper
and Duffield. For the first time since 1935-7, when the Rev A Forbes Fletcher was DG of
District 107, we have one of our members, David Ashley, taking over the role of District
Governor. This appointment is a major honour for our Club and it will bring some exciting
opportunities but also some real challenges.
During his year David will be visiting all the clubs in the District along with their associated
Charters. Paul Taylor has taken on the responsibility of arranging transport and drivers for
the majority of these visits and he is doing a splendid job; clubs are making his job more
difficult with changes to their diaries. This in itself represents a major commitment by the club
members and we have to be very realistic, bearing in mind the relatively small number of
members that we have, regarding projects for the year. The Club will also be out in force for
the District Conference at Southport.
The two areas that I would like to concentrate on this year are firstly to begin to make
the Club more a part of District 1220, especially with the Erewash Clubs and secondly to try
and move the Club to a position where we are more attractive to potential members and in
turn keep our own members stimulated.
The fact that David will be DG this year will help enormously with the first part as the
majority of our members will be visiting other clubs in the district. We will also be including
at least two Scatter nights in our programme when I hope our members will take the
opportunity of visiting other Clubs, in particular those in the Erewash Group. Hopefully we will
be able to have this year’s GSE team visiting the Club giving us the opportunity of inviting the
other Erewash Clubs to join us for the evening. We will take the opportunity to have more
joint meetings when possible. A programme with more variation is planned along with an
experiment of taking the meetings out to other venues within our catchment area. These
12

meetings will be held in places like Ambergate, Kilburn, Heage, Horsley and, of course,
Duffield. Any suggestions as to suitable venues will be welcome. Our intention is to publicise
the meeting beforehand and hope that people will be interested to come along and participate.
This will hopefully lead to an increase in membership. I also intend to move to round
tables for most meeting nights and do away with the traditional top table format. One of the
main aims is to make the Club more attractive to new members and fellow members alike.
As stated earlier we need to be realistic this year and not take too much on in terms of
large projects as a great deal of time and effort will be taken up with supporting David Ashley.
The main fund raising efforts will be centred on the Christmas collections. I would however
like to continue and build on our relationships with local organisations.
To get us through this busy year we have a great team in place. I am really looking
forward to working with Hilary Surga, our SVP. I am delighted to report that two very recent
members, Alan Widdowson and Stuart Limb will be taking on roles as Committee Chairs for
New Generations and Community; I am sure they will continue the excellent work of their
predecessors. This year I would like to give a clearer definition to International and Foundation
and to assist in this David Harris will take over as Chair of International with David Soul
continuing in his role as Foundation Chair. To assist the work of the Committees, and as
another experiment, we will dedicate a Monday night prior to the Business Meeting as a
“Committee Night” to allow the Committees more time to discuss their projects and responsibilities.
I am very pleased that Peter James will continue in the role of Treasurer while David
Henson continues his role working on the finances of the District Conference. Other members
carrying on in their current roles are John Scotney, PR Officer and Chatterbox Editor, Paul
Taylor as Donations Co-ordinator and Sheilagh Harnan co-ordinating Club Projects. I am also
delighted to have Nick Blurton as Club Secretary, this is such an important role in any Club
and having someone like Nick will make my job a whole lot easier. Unfortunately, at present,
we do not have a Health & Safety Officer, so if anybody is prepared to take on this role, then
please let me know. he role of Junior Vice at present unfortunately is vacant for this year but
I am confident that we will have a Senior Vice President in place for Hilary’s year.
I would like to thank Martin Drake who, despite some real difficulties with mobility has
done a sterling job for the Club. Finally, on behalf of the Club, I would like to wish David Ashley
all the very best for his coming year.
Bringing the Club Assembly to a close, AG Chris Elkin of the Rotary Club of West
Ashfield congratulated Graham and the members for having plans in place for the
next Rotary year and he wished the club all the best in their various endeavours.
He reminded us of the Theme ‘Peace through Service’ but also that there is a social
side to Rotary which we should enjoy.
We then reverted to a normal meeting and Sergeant at Arms John Norreys
wielded the pig with enthusiasm on his final session, particularly targeting those
members not in appropriate dress for such a formal occasion!
13
John Scotney

MISCELLANY
St John’s Primary School Fayre
On Saturday 16th June Dave and Gail Ashley re-connected with Belper St John’s
School by having a Rotary stall at their annual Summer Fayre. You may recall
that last year Dave helped them out teaching the younger children gardening for
which the club made a small donation for some gardening equipment.
At the Fayre the stall held various Rotary literature and there was a working
Aquabox on display. In addition they made good use of Peter Davies’s “Pitch &
Putt” game, which proved to be very popular with young and old alike, almost to
the extent that one or two people seemed to be addicted to it.
Despite poor weather, the end result was that after deducting expenses
for prizes we were able to make a donation of £27 to the school Parents, Teachers
and Friends Association. I understand that on the day the total raised was in excess
of £2,500.
Involvement with community groups such as this can do us nothing but
good. Several people expressed interest in what Rotary does and one person has
since been in touch offering to be a speaker at one of our meetings.
Cycle Proficiency Training
After a gap of one year we were once again invited by The Pottery Primary School
to assist them by giving Cycle Proficiency Training. During May and June therefore
a small but dedicated team of trainers and helpers went in on half a dozen
occasions to train about 35 children in safer riding on their cycles. Many thanks to
everyone involved.
As always the training was very well received by the school and the children
themselves. (Maybe it is something to do with having an hour or so out of
school!) As part of the deal to go in and do the training Dave Ashley was also invited
in to speak to the whole school at two Assemblies. Dave chose to talk about
Aquabox and after the two Assemblies he was presented with a cheque for £100
that the school asked be forwarded to Aquabox.
Once again this demonstrates the value of our involvement with schools;
not only does it perform a wonderful service to the children involved, it also spreads
the word of Rotary and assists us with our charitable endeavours. The other schools
in the area receiving Cycle Proficiency Training are the William Gilbert Endowed
Primary School in Duffield and the Herbert Strutt Primary School in Belper.
14

Sale of Books
We have just received a small donation, just £15, into our charity account from
the sale of second hand books at Carsington Fields Caravan Site. Peter and
Judy who own the site agreed that we could place a small Rotary bookcase in their
reception office offering books for sale at 50 pence each. We initially stocked it with
books, but have not needed to replenish the stocks as people have been replacing
the books when they have finished with them. Once again it spreads the name of
the Rotary Club of Belper and Duffield to a wide audience. It is not going to make
us a lot of money, but for no effort the end results are most worthwhile.
Southwell Race Evening
About 20 members and friends attended the special Rotary sponsored Race
Meeting at Southwell on Tuesday 15th May when some £9000 was raised for
Polio Eradication. The early arrival of some of the party allowed them to have a
leisurely fish and chip supper; thereafter there were long queues at all of the
refreshment facilities .
The more seasoned punters were soon putting on their bets and the novices
amongst us had the odd flutter. Nobody made any real money out of the evening
and Dave Ashley was disgusted that the horse he had put his life savings on fell at a
fence and had to be put down!
Our staff photographer was there and captured a shot of his winning mount
along with a backcloth of blue sky to show that we had good weather after all the
hail and showers earlier in the day over Derbyshire.
Photograph on page 2.
Stroke Awareness Day
D uring the morning of Saturday 19th May we carried out blood testing at The
Strutt Club on Campbell Street as part of the Stroke Awareness campaign.
Despite it being a really cold and miserable morning with very few people about in
the town centre we managed to test in the region of thirty people with a number
of people being referred back to their own GP
The tests were carried out by a friend of the Club, Liz Parkes from a doctor’s
surgery in Riddings with one of her colleagues; Liz has been helping us with this
event for a few years. Gail presented a flower arrangement to each of the nurses
for their assistance. Thanks to Dave Ashley, Hilary Surga, Alan Widdowson,
Elizabeth Wright and Janice Cooney (a neighbour of Gail's) for their invaluable
assistance on the morning; we are grateful also to the management of the Strutt
Club for allowing the use of their premises.
Gail Ashley
15

Duffield Carnival
Saturday 23rd June
Several members of the club met up at Eyes meadow about 11.30 and spent the
next hour erecting Nick Blurton’s gazebo in case it rained, which it didn’t! I think
there is some pressure on the club now to invest in a fool proof gazebo.
We had a working Aquabox, a TV showing Rotary promotional videos and a
comprehensive collection of leaflets, magazines and other material explaining what
we do as Rotarians. There were some enquiries and two people showing considerable
interest in coming along to a meeting to see what we get up to.
The item that was the biggest attraction was the Golf Put and Pot game we had
set up in front of the stall. Our seasoned golfers did not do very well and it was left
to a schoolboy to get the highest score and collect the price.
We finished up making a surplus of £40 on the golf game which will go to our
Charity Fund and a few more local people know a bit more about Rotary International.
A worthwhile afternoon!
Photograph on page 11.
District Handover Lunch
Sunday 1st July 2012
There was a good turn out of club members to this special event at the Novotel,
Long Eaton to support Dave and Gail Ashley as Dave takes up the position of
District Governor for 2012/13.
One of the last duties of the outgoing DG, Gordon McGlone, was to present the
Trophies and Awards. We did not retain the Club Bulletin Trophy this time but it was
good to hear all the projects and activities being carried out around the District
getting recognition. Interestingly, many of the awards were to clubs whose projects
had been described in the current edition of Rotary Review - so you read it there
first!
The actual handover is very similar to the Presidential Installation we will be
holding on 9th July and the event closed with new DG Dave talking briefly about the
theme for the year, Peace through Service, and the significance of the crane. We
did get a mention with the latter and the production line we had set up at the Lion!
Photographs on front cover and page 19.
16

District Governor’s June Newsletter
There are just a couple of weeks of this Rotary year left and this will be my last
Newsletter as your District Governor, so I would therefore like to thank all the
members of the District for giving me this amazing opportunity.
I have heard and seen much of the wonderful work carried out by the Clubs in
this District as well as throughout RIBI and indeed the rest of the world, and there
is no doubt that Rotary is changing the World.
This time last year I asked Clubs to look at giving extra help to local communities
as we continue to go through difficult times and you have responded with great
enthusiasm and as a result we have not just served them but also created more
awareness of our organisation which I am sure will help us for the future.
Of course we are part of Rotary International and Clubs have worked hard to
support many International Projects and top of that list must be the Bill Gates
Challenge for Polio Eradication. This is the final year of the three year challenge and
we have not only achieved our target but this District is one of the highest achievers
throughout RIBI. On behalf of our RI President Kalyan Banerjee I thank you all for
this wonderful result. It is only right that I give a special thanks to Rtn Keith
Hammond who has lead this Challenge and encouraged us over the past three years.
Whilst the challenge is complete, Keith will still continue to promote Polio Eradication
within the District.
I would now like to thank all the 2011/12 Club Presidents for all the work they
have done within their Clubs as well as the support they have given me. I am also
most grateful to them for making me and Lorraine so welcome at Club meetings
and Charters. This year may soon be over but I have memories that will last for a
lifetime. I have been privileged to share this year with 28 other District Governors
of RIBI. We have worked hard as a team to bring about the much needed changes
to RIBI. It is now up to next year’s team together with the RIBI management to work
on the final detail ready for implementation in 2013/14.
My chosen Charity for this year is the British Heart Foundation and I am
pleased to report that I will have sent them nearly £3000 to be used for research
into Heart disease. District Governors come and go, but the work of Rotary goes on
year after year. As my year comes to an end I ask you to continue your support for
David Ashley in the year ahead, when we work together to bring
PEACE THROUGH SERVICE.
Continue to look on the bright side of life,
17
DG Gordon

2012 Organiser Reporter Cash Fraternal
July
2 S Harnan J Moore G Ashley
9 Installation J Norreys R Giffin V Barnes
16 D Harris D Partridge S Harnan J Brazier
23 Committee Night D Henson J Scotney D Harris D Collard
30 Business Meeting P Shepherd D Henson P Davies
August
6 Photo Night D Soul P Shepherd M Drake
13 Away Day* J Norreys H Surga P James J Frankland
20 P James P Taylor S Limb R Giffin
27 Bank Holiday
September
DUTY OFFICERS
3 D Partridge A Widdowson J Lowe S Harnan
10 Visit by RI President G Ashley J Norreys D Harris
17 Committee Night D Partridge D Henson
24 Business Meeting V Barnes J Scotney J Horwood
DIARY
The latest information about meetings can be found in the weekly Bulletin Boards
and on the Club web site:
www.belper-rotary.co.uk
July/August CHATTERBOX: Publication - 24th September
Editor - John Scotney 01773 823678 Photographer - Alan Widdowson
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Members of the Club at the District Handover Lunch. Report on page 16.
Dave and Gail at the Top Table
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A relaxed President Martin looking
forward to his own Handover Meeting!

The Rotary Club
of
Belper and Duffield
Founded 1930
President Martin Drake
Senior Vice-President Graham Wright
Junior Vice-President Hilary Surga
Treasurer Peter James
Secretary Nick Blurton
The Club meets every week on Monday at 7.30pm.
The Lion Hotel, Bridge Street, Belper (01773 824033)
Rotary is a service organisation which exists to help those in need and to provide
fellowship and support to its members, whilst maintaining high ethical standards. If you
are interested in visiting the Club and learning more about Rotary, please contact the
Secretary, Nick Blurton:
01773 824607 nickblurton@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.belper-rotary.co.uk
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