rotary in london magazine - spring 2015

Rotary in LondonThe quarterly magazine of the Rotary Clubs of London, District 1130 of Rotary Intenational

Spring 2015

District’s Vocational Training Team returns to India

Youth Makes Music at the Royal Festival Hall

move the chairs out of the way, ditto obtrusive bottles, glasses, plates in front of someone snapped at a table at a formal dinner. (However, arms round each other, though not too amorously, shoulders touching to avoid awkward gaps, and so on, are OK.)

Hold the camera steady while you press the button – too often we get good pictures spoilt by fuzziness because the camera is not held still or the shutter speed not fast enough. Get people to look at you, but not to grin too widely.

Set the camera at its highest resolution, particularly when using mobile phones, iPads, etc. Each camera maker names them differently – some refer to ‘x-thousand pixels’, others ‘super fine’ or something similar: choose the highest available, even if this means you will get fewer images on the card.

Setting called RAW

Your camera may also have a special setting called RAW, which uses all the data that the camera sensor can record. This is what most professionals use: our software can cope with and process this data, eking out the highest possible quality. Whilst this setting is fine for us, I should point out that RAW produces very large files, so you may wish to skip this setting!

The higher the resolution the more chance we have of receiving an image that can be reproduced at 300 dpi (dots per inch) in the magazine. We get far too many pictures taken with equipment that yields images of only 72 dpi. At that resolution we might get a pic that can be printed, but it would probably be only one or two inches wide when converted to 300 dpi! Just because your picture looks OK on your computer monitor does not mean that it is high resolution. Computer screens in general can only display images at 72 dpi , unless you are lucky enough to own an Apple Mac with a Retina screen or one of the new 4K or 5K monitors, each which has a much higher pixel density. Computer screens are actually measured in ppi - pixels per inch – but it’s near enough the same; hold a magnifying glass against a screen.

If you have any problems or queries about images, please feel free to contact me.

Clive Bubley, Picture Editor

Set your camera right and get shooting…

IN THIS ISSUE...Remembering Jeremy ........................................... 1

Rotary’s vocational training bears fruit ......... 3

St Valentine’s fundraisers .................................... 5

Eleven-year-old wins Young Chef .................... 7

Generosity of Fairfax Meadow .......................... 7

Youth makes music... and speaks,

performs and takes pictures ...........................8-9

Have your say ....................................................10-11

Speakers’ Panel ......................................................11

Senior Citizens live it up .....................................13

Go underground, relive crime

and punishment ....................................................13

Public relations partnership

in Bulgaria ................................................................15

The art of perception ..........................................15

On top of the Dome ............................................16

Fancy cakes! ............................................................16

Whose logo is this?...............................................16

Mish Mosh ...............................................................16

Rotary in London is your magazine.Information is published in good faith, but does not necessarily represent the views of the Editor of Rotary in London or of London District 1130. No liability is accepted for the actions of advertisers, as advertisements are accepted at face value. The Editor welcomes news items, articles, photographs and letters, but is not obliged to publish unsolicited material, reserving the right to edit for clarity and length. Contributors must ensure that material submitted never breaches copyright and must obtain necessary permission in writing for reproduction No responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage to material submitted to Rotary in London magazine.

The next edition of Rotary In London will be the Summer issue. The deadline for copy is 13 July.

Rotary in LondonThe quarterly magazine of the Rotary Clubs of London is published by District 1130 of Rotary Intenational

EDITORJane Hammond46 La Providence, Rochester, Kent ME1 1NBTel: 01634 847 [email protected]

PICTURE EDITORClive BubleyTel: 020 8455 [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR & ADVERTISINGMargaret CooperTel: 020 8505 5996 - Mob: 07542 020 [email protected]

DESIGN/PRINTINGRye DesignTel: 01634 818168 www.ryedesign.co.uk

SUBMISSIONSCopy and high resolution images to the Editor at [email protected] or by post to the address above. All digital images also to: [email protected] and [email protected]

For further information go to the Rotary District Website: www.rotaryinlondon.org

In Rotary in London we aim to enhance our editorial content with pictures. After all, as the old saying goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Words can describe what happens, but much is necessarily still left to the imagination. A picture sums it up instantly. That is why wherever possible we publish pictures to clarify the text.

We prefer pictures showing people doing something, rather than receiving or giving awards or posing with friends, colleagues, fellow club members or whoever. For instance, we reproduce in this issue pictures of Young Musician finalists performing and have regretfully rejected pictures of them receiving awards.

Front cover shows choir

The same with Youth Makes Music: the front cover shows a choir singing and pictures on page 8 show performers performing. However, please continue sending us award presentations if you think them newsworthy – we shall try and find space where available. Our youth contest pictures were so numerous we had plenty to publish, so generally did not need to fall back on the more static award ceremonies unless they were the only shots available.

Unfortunately we have to reject many other pictures. In some cases, if the news value of a picture is high enough, we tinker about with it to produce something that can be published, producing something lower in quality than we would like. If, for instance, the Pope and the Chief Rabbi happened to face each other as speakers at the same District 1130 Conference – fat chance of that! – the news value would be so great that we would publish almost anything. But don’t chance your luck!

Now about how to present those same pictures. Try to focus on the action wherever possible. In the pictures on page 7, for example, Young Chef contestants are shown mixing, whisking, kneading. The winning photographers are not shown on page 9, but their work is. On page 8, the orchestras are performing, including the Indian group with the added interest of interesting costumes.

If you do photograph a group, choose the background carefully. A plain wall is better than a fussy pattern or a clutter of things in the background such as other people in groups or stacks of chairs or tables. I’m sure you get the picture!

The same applies to foregrounds. Avoid a huddle of chairs just in front of someone:

Cover shows the Chapel Choir of Chigwell School at Rotary District’s Youth Makes Music Concert in the Royal Festival Hall in March. Photo: Clive Bubley

The views expressed on this page are those of the Picture Editor only.

Rotary In London | Spring 2015 • 1

The tragic loss to our District of DGN Jeremy Jessel is almost beyond understanding

and description. Jeremy was on the path to becoming our District Governor in two

years’ time. With planning at an advanced stage, it was clear that we would all benefit

from his dedication and enthusiasm. We had been working together, very much as

a team, and strong friendship was a by-product of this collaboration.

Remembering Jeremy... and recent achievementsRotary in London

Jeremy’s sense of humour was attractive, being quiet, incisive and sometimes distinctly weird! Never taking himself too seriously, Jeremy somehow managed to add a smoothing touch to troublesome issues. Never one to use two words when one would suffice. When his tragic illness was confirmed, and it was clear that time was short, Jeremy took a moment or two with me, in hospital, to outline his Rotary plans in the hope that personal ideals would not be lost with his passing. Even at that difficult time he still managed to find time to proof read the programme for Youth Makes Music (see pages 8 and 9). I know that I speak for all in sending our respects and condolences to Sue and all their family. A more detailed tribute to Jeremy will appear in the next issue.

Planning aheadThis is the time of our Rotary Year, with only three months left, that we are already thinking about the need to plan ahead for the year to follow. Planning is the key to both confidence and success. If each officer has attended Assembly then the club will be in a strong position to forge ahead.

There is a difference between similar parts of our organisation where, on the one hand, succession planning has taken place and, on the other hand, some meandering into the next phase has been allowed. That difference

is enormous and can be measured in units of contentment! As we enter the final run into one Rotary year, another makes itself felt as we embrace the various training Assemblies. The training team, along with successive District Governors, provides a platform for smooth change at all levels in clubs and committees. It is fair to say that our District steals a march on most others by tailoring each seminar with such care. Training and full exchanges of views should be warmly welcomed and encouraged by all the ongoing leadership changes.

One of the highlights of recent times is our unique Youth Makes Music concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Held every two years, this allows us to pay so much more than lip service to the ideal of providing encouragement and opportunity to the youth of London. In March, 380 young musicians came to this world famous stage to entertain us with magnificent ability and flair. I have lost count of the compliments which have flooded in from parents, teachers and Rotarians alike. The hope has to be that, in some small way, we have provided these young people with a platform from which to move forward their musical careers.

Now we can report that the Felsted Aid Project in the Ukraine has reached the point where the only problem seems to be purchasing the minibus before IPDG Dick

Nathan can hand it over. Yes, the process has been tiresome and protracted but now well worth the effort. My congratulations to the Rotary Club of Northwick Park for its stamina and persistence. A job well done.

Throughout this year we have strengthened our connection with Rotaract, which I hope will continue to grow. District Chair Jakob Zimmerman has driven the programme of expansion to the point where we are expecting to welcome three new clubs into the District. It really does take two hands to clap and I commend all Rotaractors for the way in which they have so willingly given of themselves to support various Rotary projects. I have also noticed that Rotarians are joining forces with them to mutual benefit and enjoyment.

Paul Harris SocietyOnce again Foundation has loomed large in our financial planning, but we are still being urged to provide even more funds. Our District now has a Paul Harris Society which we hope to grow from 12 to 30 members. Clubs have been extraordinarily generous in response to the general plea from RI President Gary Huang in the knowledge that worthwhile projects need not be put on hold for the lack of available funds.

I urge all Presidents and Officers to give their wholehearted backing to their successors as they prepare for the July handovers. The hope always has to be that you pass on something that is stronger than when you inherited it.

David Palmer District Governor

Jeremy is seen with his wife Sue (left) and Kimberly Ostrum, the Rotary Club of Southgate’s Ambassadorial Scholar for 2010/11. They were all attending the Rotary Club of Radlett’s annual dinner for the Scholars.

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RoTaRy’S vocaTIoNal TRaININg woRk bEaRS fRUIT IN JaHwaR

Rotary’s work in Jahwar, north of Mumbai, is now bearing fruit, reports Judi Stockwell, London District’s Vocational Chair. Since the visit to Mumbai two years ago of a Vocational Training Team (VTT) from the London District (Rotary in London, Spring 2013), there have been no maternal deaths at all at Jawhar Hospital. The number of mothers dying in childbirth in the Jawhar region has dropped from by over half to one in a thousand and the number of women attending Jawhar Hospital for childbirth has grown from less than half to over three-quarters. India has the highest number of maternal deaths in the world, with almost one-fifth of all such deaths occurring there.

Last visitThe team which first visited two years ago consisted of senior midwives Caroline Duncombe and Manjit Roseghini, paediatrician Dr Piyusha Kapila, all from London hospitals, and team leader, Patrisha David, of the Rotary Club of Pall Mall. Once in Mumbai they linked up with Dr Rajalaxmi Walavakar, an obstetrician based in Mumbai. The four professionals spent a fortnight in Mumbai and the neighbouring poor, rural, tribal area of Jahwar, training local medical practitioners, nurses and other health workers in antenatal and midwifery techniques, as well as training them to train others. Six months later, the two midwives gave a presentation on their experience to a midwifery conference in London.

During the 2013 visit, the London team spent a fortnight training 13 gynaecologists/obstetricians to become Master Trainers

in advanced life saving skills for mothers and their babies. The Indian Master Trainers passed on their skills and knowledge, under the supervision of the UK team, to local doctors and nurse midwives. They also trained Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), village women; who work with families on health care issues. This training has since been rolled out by the Master Trainers to nearly 400 midwives and ASHAs.

This January Caroline, Manjit and Piyusha returned to Jahwar, with Judi and PDG Eve Conway, to see what progress had been made. They began by running a training session for Master Trainers at the Rotary Club of Mumbai West headquarters. After four days in Mumbai, they left with the Master Trainers for Jawhar where, during their second week, they all ran a training session which attracted over a hundred local nurse midwives and 125 ASHAs.

Flagship projectThis was a flagship project for Eve Conway and Dr Balkrishna Inamdar, PDGs of London 1130 and Mumbai 3140 Districts respectively, which funded the programme jointly. The project also attracted a Rotary International Global Grant, which brought the total cost up to $70,000. Nearly half the maternal deaths in the Jahwar district were caused by anaemia, so PDG Dr Inamdar has setup 43 anaemia camps in the community. None of the women who attended have died during childbirth.. There are now plans to roll out the programme across India.

This VTT exercise is an excellent example of Rotary’s ability to start a project that pays dividends many times over.

Rotarian Dr Chitra Chavan (third left), VTT paediatrician Dr Piyusha Kapila (centre) and PDG Eve Conway with local nurse midwives attending training session in Jawhar.

VTT Senior Midwife Manjit Roseghini demonstrates resuscitation on a manikin to nurse midwives in Jawhar.

VTT Senior Midwife Manjit Roseghini gives training at the Rotary Club of Mumbai West to Master Trainers using a baby manikin.

VTT Senior Midwife Caroline Duncombe trains nurse midwives and local doctors in Jawhar using a baby manikin.

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Email your name and contact details, along with the number of attendees and their menu choices to [email protected]

Come and celebrate the start of a new Rotary year with a three course meal and plenty of fellowship.

In conjunction with Edgware & Stanmore HandoverSaturday 4 July 2015

Dinner 6.30 PM for 7.00 PMPorters Park Golf Club, Shenley Hill, Radlett, Herts WD7 7AZ

Roll Call of Clubs PresentInduction of District Governor Toni Finkel and President Fran Holmes

Presentation of Past Governor’s collar to IPDG David Palmer and PP collar to Suresh Bharwaney Induction of the Assistant Governors

Introduction of District Officers & Officials for the 2015/16 year

*********************************The Menu

Smoked salmon and mixed leaf salad bundle with fresh herb dressing or

Warmed Brie, poached egg and spinach tart

*********************************Lamb, beef or turkey from the carvery with all the trimmings

or Stuffed courgette with a tomato sauce

or Roasted salmon fillet with butter sauce

*********************************A choice of Desserts

Coffee

*********************************£36.50 per person

ONLY 120 SEATS – FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED

District Governor 2014-2015DAVID PALMER

Barkingside

District Governor 2015-2016TONI FINKEL

Edgware & Stanmore

You are invited to attend the District Handover


Concerts raise moneyOver the St Valentine’s Day weekend, Rotaract members in London performed their socks off in aid of good causes. The Rotaract Club of Westminster staged a concert at the Lexington pub in Islington. Cristina Pin, Westminster Rotaract’s Community Service Director, describes what happened.

We raised funds for Youth Music, which helps disadvantaged children through music by giving it a percentage of our proceeds. We believed that people would enjoy the concert at the same time as supporting Youth Music’s Give a Gig programme.

Because of the timings of the concert, we combined a romantic evening for couples with a fun night for singles, providing good music with food, friends, and special treats each ticket also included a buffet meal and a drink. Everyone who brought three friends to the event got a free surprise as well. During the evening, the couples had their romantic moments with the WSOUL (Write a Song for the Ones U Love) project created by Mike Bianco. He asked people to write down words on a piece of paper, which he then set to music on the spot. The couples loved it! To spice up the party we also added games for our singles.

JonPaul Palombo, Chiara Oldano, Zena Kitt, Mike Bianco, with the band, entertained our guests. The artists were fantastic and the atmosphere friendly and light hearted.

To add a little bit of sweetness to the night, Andreea Caraveteanu and I made themed cakes and cupcakes in order to raise more money for Youth Makes Music, setting up an original sweet table. You can see a selection on page 16. Love was definitely in the air! A special thank you goes to everyone who came to our concert and made that night so magical.

Comedy night laughsCarla Sateriale describes the charity comedy night, My Funny Valentine, which her club, Hampstead, Hendon & Golders Green Rotaract, also held over the St Valentine’s weekend. Members proved that, with hard work and organisation, fortune does favour the bold who challenge fate by holding an event on Friday the 13th.

Despite gloomy weather and other St Valentine’s Day events, a crowd of nearly a hundred attended the event at the Roxy Bar & Screen to raise a whopping £1,200 for the homeless charity Ashford Place. Three Scoops Comedy, a talented trio of stand-up comedians, entertained the audience.

We were rather nervous at the start as we discovered that the venue would be a bit of a tight squeeze, but its cosiness proved to be ideal for comedy. Once the show got going, it became apparent that not every act was going to be a hit with the whole crowd – but that’s in no way an indictment of the performers! Really, the diversity of our crowd was what stood out.

During the interval, a young man gave a stirring speech describing how Ashford Place had given him the stability and resources he needed to pursue his life’s goals. This is what reminded us that comedy wasn’t just for a laugh, but that we were getting together to help a worthy charity continue and expand its work.

St Valentine’s fundraisers

At Westminster Rotaract’s concert, JonPaul Palumbo (foreground) plays the guitar for Guests; Mike Bianco welcomes them; and he accompanies singer Chiaro Oldano.

At the HH&GG Rotaract concert Club President Nisha Kotecha (bottom right) holds a container with raffle tickets so that MC Jo Scott can draw one. Jo and fellow comedians Faye Barber and Paula Benson (above), all members of Three Scoops Comedy, entertained the audience.

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E: [email protected]: www.fairfaxmeadow.co.uk

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At only 11 years of age, Patsy Stow, of Roding Valley High School, has become the youngest ever winner of RIBI’s Young Chef District 1130 Finals for 2015. Sugra Tahir, District Chair of Youth Service, describes what happened.

Sponsored by the catering firm, Fairfax Meadow, the 13 contestants gathered in the kitchens of Redbridge College in February. Sponsors Fairfax Meadow (see below) supplied them with their smart white monogrammed chefs’ jackets. The judges included Young Chef District Finalist winners April Partridge and Anthony Sparks, in, respectively, 2009 and 2014.

Armed with clipboards, sharpened pencils and the dreaded score sheets, they checked presentation tables and tasted their way through 13 main courses and 13 desserts before finally deciding on Patsy Stow as the winner. Norhan Abdelaziz (East Barnet High School) and Morgan Holder (Nower Hill High School) were first and second runners up respectively.

The main course of Patsy’s winning menu was boneless chicken jalfrezi, served with boiled rice and tomato, onion, lettuce, cucumber and salad with a lemon juice dressing. Her dessert was tiramisu with a twist. Fairfax Meadow’s Gerry Wensley and other guests were astounded by the quality of the dishes cooked and their presentation.

After a delicious lunch prepared by staff and students of Redbridge College, the audience heard interesting presentations from members of Rotary’s affiliate organisation - Sayuri Hamataka and Ana-Maria Paun of the Rotaract Clubs of Canary Wharf and Westminster respectively - and past Inner Wheel District Governor Jane Smith.

April Partridge gave a the competitor’s perspective and musical entertainment was provided by RIBI Young Musician Finalist 2013 Kaidi Akinnibi and Deiji Ljishakin. Both young musicians had the audience tapping away to their very skilful saxophone and clarinet partnership renditions of jazz classics.

Young Chef could never have taken place in its present form without the generosity of Gerry Wensley. Assistant Editor Margaret Cooper set out for Kentish Town to interview him. Here is her account.

As Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Meadow, Europe, Mr Wensley oversees the UK’s largest specialist catering butcher. I started by thanking him for demonstrating corporate social responsibility in supporting London District Rotary’s Young Chef competition.

Gerry Wensley describes himself as “a meat veteran” of almost 50 years’ experience, involved in the family meat business from the age of 12, when he lost his father and his late mother took over and ran the business. It was from her that he inherited his charitable instincts.

Four years ago DGE Toni Finkel, as District’s Youth Services Chair, approached him to support Rotary’s District Youth Programme. He went along to RIBI’s Young Chef District Finals at Redbridge College, and the rest is history. Through Fairfax Meadow Mr Wensley has supported a rollcall of catering related schemes such as the Roux

Scholarship Award and the Restaurant Doctor School, in which trained chefs go out to teach other chefs in schools.

He tells Rotary in London: “Our company’s ethos is based on a passionate affinity which the company’s 500-plus staff have with the well-being and future productivity of the company. We strive to make the company better and better, never ever taking any customer for granted.”

His greatest challenge yet might be retirement, when he will have to decide what to do outside his passion for Fairfax Meadow. This is a CEO who still frequently visits the abattoirs to ensure things are as they should be. He did hint that he might take piano lessons which he had always wanted to do. Well, it’s never too late for a new hobby.

Margaret Cooper talks to Gerry Wensley about his sponsorship of Young Chef Jane.

Eleven-year-old Patsy Stow wins young chef District final

generosity of fairfax Meadow

Clockwise from above are: contestants Patsy Stow, Morgan Holder and Norhan Abdelaziz; judges Anthony Spark, Simon Assaf, Nigel Stokes, April Partridge and Tony Boorman.

8 • Rotary In London | Spring 2015

The Enfield Young Symphony Orchestra Wind Quintet (Enfield) - flute, oboe, French horn, bassoon and clarinet. - played pieces by Claude Debussy and Luciano Berio.

Two soloists took part. Appearing before the interval was James Anderson (Newham) who at the age of 11 played the young Michael Jackson in a West End musical. He sang, to a recorded accompaniment, At Last and Never Too Much, by Etta James and Luther Vandross respectively.

After the interval came Jessica John-Lorson (Chingford). In a ringing clear soprano voice, she sang, unaccompanied, the plaintive I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables.

The Davenant Foundation School Swing Band (Epping) played, with the syncopated beat expected of a swing band, I’m not real by Paich, Foster, Lynn and Harris. These musicians sang along with the soloist and revolving lights went round and round.

The Children’s International Voices of Enfield (Bush Hill Park) sang Look at the World and The Music’s Always There With You by their patron Dr John Rutter

CBE. At his invitation, they had sung in two of his BBC Television programmes.

The Hillingdon Music Sax Group (Greenford) appeared for the fourth time with their mellow sound in Youth Makes Music. They performed Killer Joe by Benny Golson and Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder.

The A Sharp Trio (Golders Green) consisted of the Sharp siblings: cellist Anoushka (15) and violinists Aviva (11) and Amos (13). It is tempting to call them the von Trapps of London. They played Trio 1 by Haydn, Hungarian Dances by Brahms and the theme music for the film Schindler’s List by John Williams.

Before this final performance, DG David Palmer thanked Clive Denham, chair of the organising committee, and everyone else involved with the concert. DG David paid special tribute to DGN Jeremy Jessel (see page 1) and the astonishing achievement of his widow, Rotarian Sue, in producing such a readable concert programme.

youth makes music... and speaks, performs and takes pictures

Mayorial chains glittered in the audience of this year’s Youth Makes Music concert. Mayors, deputy mayors and councillors represented 17 of London’s 32 Boroughs - some from as far afield as Bromley, Waltham Forest and Barnet. The concert was a stunning success in every way; the Royal Festival auditorium was virtually full. The compere, Ellie Crisell, was flawless in her presentation of the various items and transition between acts was as smooth as it ever has been. The 380 performers, some primary school age, all performed with an aplomb remarkable for their years, and the pace of the music by several of the groups prompted the audience to clap in time.

Redbridge Music School’s Symphony Orchestra (Leytonstone & Woodford Rotary), opened the concert with its pacy performance of Arturo Marquez’ Danzon No 2. The Massed Brass of Eltham College (Lewisham & Penge) introduced the interval with a vigorous rendering of Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti.

Immediately after the interval came the Wandsworth Concert Orchestra (Putney), playing the James Bond Theme by Monty Norman and other compositions. The orchestra, only formed last May, first performed in public in December.

Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Orchestra (Islington, Highgate & Muswell Hill), a youth jazz development agency, closed the concert with Oliver Nelson’s Hoe Down and Nica’s Tempo, composed by Gigi Gryce.

Only three groups played music from traditions outside Europe. The Veenalaya orchestra (Wembley) played Carnatic music, which originates in south India. They performed on South Indian string instruments as well as the more familiar European ones. The music had that wonderful, dreamlike quality common to so much Asian music.

Before the interval Kingsdale School’s Steel Band (Dulwich & Peckham) played with verve a composition by Stevie Wonder. Later the school’s African Drumming Ensemble performed traditional rhythms from the Gouro people of the Ivory Coast, showing marvellous coordination.

Latymer School’s Barbershop sextet (Southgate) performed in the first half a capella and with panache, Sir Arthur Sullivan’s somewhat syrupy The Long Day Closes. Later it performed War Medley, by Nicolaides and Cook, arranged for a centenary school concert.

The Chapel Choir of Chigwell School (Loughton, Buckhurst Hill & Chigwell), also singing a capella, was in complete contrast. The group sang Eric Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque and Charles Villiers Stanford’s The Blue Bird, in which soloist Kate Hawes sent her voice soaring above the choir.

Clockwise from top left: soloists Jessica John-Lorson and James Anderson; Wandsworth Concert Orchestra; Kingsdale School Steel Band; Children’s International Voices of Enfield; Veenalaya Orchestra; and the Latymer Barbershop sextet.


both teams are winnersThe Rotary Club of Ealing sponsored both the winning teams in the District Final of Youth Speaks. Professor Alan Gillett, the Club’s President-elect, is seen with the teams. They are (left) from Cardinal Wiseman School, winners of the District Final Senior Section, and (right) from St Benedict’s School, winners of the District Final Intermediate Section. The Cardinal Wiseman team debated The Value of Time and the St Benedict’s team debated How Schools Kill Creativity.

youth makes music... and speaks, performs and takes pictures

young photographers Ellen and viktor are finalistsEllen’s entry (below), was on the theme of the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth. She added light and colour to the windows on Photoshop. Victor’s entry shows an illuminated tree.

Runner Up Teams were, respectively, the Swaminarayan School (Senior Section, sponsored by Northwick Park Rotary) and the City of London School (Intermediate Section, sponsored by St Marylebone Rotary).

Rachele is in the finalsPianist Rachele Howes (below) has won a place in the National Young Musician Finals, instrumental category, which takes place in Darwen in May. In the District Finals, held at James Allen Girls’ School, Dulwich, she came second to violinist Matt Norriss. Bryony McIvor (right) got a Highly Commended Award in the Regional Finals, having won the District Finals vocal category, in which Alexander Lee came second. There were nine contestants in the two categories in the District Finals: instrumental and vocal.

Ellen Stafford’s picture of windows: Photo: Ellen Stafford Viktor Ghose’s picture of the tree lit up: Photo: Viktor Ghose

Photos of Bryony McIvor and Rachele Howes

The winners in the Senior and Junior Sections of the Young Photographer Disrict Final both go forward to the National Final. They are Ellen Stafford, sponsored by Dulwich & Peckham Rotary, and Viktor Ghose, sponsored by Westminster West Rotary. The theme for both sections was Light Up Your Community. Competitors had to submit three entries each.

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liberia recovers from ebolaThank you for highlighting the part played by my Rotary Club, Edgware & Stanmore, in the fight against ebola (Autumn, 2014). Our joint campaign with the Rotary Club of Marlow has raised just over £100,000 and donations are still coming in regularly.

As far as ebola generally is concerned there is good news from Liberia. There have been no new cases of ebola for the last few weeks [although as we go to press this may sadly turn out not to be the case. Ed]. The curfew is lifted and the schools are open. This is not the case in Sierra Leone, where the news is not good, as 2.5 million people are currently locked down to try and stem the growth of ebola.

The ebola campaign is now moving on to the reconstruction phase. In Liberia the Rotary Club of Monrovia is looking for global grants for the following project: development of an oxygen plant in Monrovia’s main referral hospital, the JFK Medical Centre. This would be set up as a sustainable business venture with the Monrovia Club, supplying oxygen to other hospitals to sustain its operation.

You have already kindly publicised the charity Street Child, which operates in Sierra Leone and Liberia (letters and Speakers’ Panel, summer 2014). In Sierra Leone, this charity is developing seed banks in their village schools. Each seed bank costs £1,500 and I am happy to link clubs together with this campaign. It will feature strongly at the District Assembly in May. Peter Bradley Rotary Club of Edgware & Stanmore

a man of deep faithHaving read the article on Wireless for the Bedridden (and the rest!) in the previous issue of Rotary in London (Winter 2015), I am reminded of the Rev Alfred Pilgrim. He ran Wireless for The Bedridden (now Wavelength) until 1968. His picture appears, next to the article, showing him after receiving his decoration at Buckingham Palace.

In his latter years Alfred was a member of Kingsbury & Kenton Club, of which I was a member when I was District Governor. He was a gentle man of deep faith, very worthy of his calling. Even though he was so called retired, he still officiated at services at the Kenton parish church. Whilst he didn’t

join in all the ‘high jinks’ that our K&K Club got up to, he was a very valued member and was greatly missed when he passed away. During the period he was a member we also had a United Reformed Church minister and a Rabbi, so with Alfred we were truly ecumenical!

So I and maybe some of the older members of K&K thank Tim Leach for telling the story and reminding us of a lovely reverend gentleman, a sincere and true Rotarian.PDG Keith Payne Rotary Club of Heston & Isleworth

club has launched keith Payne awardThe Rotary Club of Heston & Isleworth has created the annual Keith Payne Award in honour of its eponymous Past District Governor, who has completed 50 years of service to Rotary. The Award will recognise service to the club and the local community.

Keith Payne’s Rotary membership started in 1965, when he joined the Kingsbury & Kenton Club. He moved to the Rotary Clubs of Oxford in May 1984 and Elthorne & Hillingdon in August 1988. In July 1994, he moved again to the Rotary Club of Heston (now Heston & Isleworth).

Keith was District Governor for the Rotary year 1977-1978. He was RI President’s Representative at District Conferences in 1981 in Amsterdam and 1983 in Guernsey.Sid Sullivan Rotary Club of Heston & Isleworth

club dines at House of commonsTo celebrate the 110th Anniversary of the Rotary Foundation in February, the Rotary Club of St Marylebone had dinner together at the House of Commons. Our Club, now 66 years old and with a growing membership, meets weekly at lunch time at the Oriental Club, Stratford Place, off Oxford Street, so it was fitting that Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, was our host.

As President, I chaired the occasion with a full house of 56 Rotarians and their guests. DG David Palmer and his partner Jenny, and Alexander Kopf and David Hynes, Presidents of the Paddington and Beckenham Clubs respectively, joined us with their wives for the occasion. Mr Field proposed a toast to Rotary International and to our club on this remarkable anniversary, and DG David responded.

During the evening PP Kevin Coyne oversaw a raffle that raised more than £1,200 for our club’s charities. In London these are the Lejeune Clinic in St John’s Wood for children with Down’s Syndrome; the West London Day Centre for homeless men; and the Marylebone Project for homeless women. Also benefitting from the raffle was our international charity, the Bizweni School in South Africa, for children with autism, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Peter German received thanks for encouraging so many local restaurants to provide vouchers for dinner. They included Anacapri, Dieci, Durrants Hotel, Getti’s, Sherlock Holmes Hotel, Sixty-one, the Potting Shed, Villandry and 108 Brasserie.Keith Stuart-Smith Rotary Club of St Marylebone

are there leper colonies in India?Any reader told that there were leper colonies in this 21st century might react with incredulity and say: “No way!!”

Alas, it is all too true - there are several leper colonies in India. The Indian Government is in denial about their existence, but to find out that such places do exist you only have to visit the charity dispensary located in the R K Puram leper colony in New Delhi to see for yourself.

Being completely ignorant about the extent of leprosy in India, I did some research, which led to my meeting the colony’s dispensary staff. It was a difficult experience. After spending a considerable amount of time with the dispensary personnel and the secretary of the charity, it became very clear in what way we could help.

It is difficult enough to realise that leprosy exists in the 21st century and that the stigma still exists to the extent that the children in leper colonies are shunned and outcast by society.

One of the projects of the charity is, with the blessing of the parents, to give girls in the leper colony a safe haven from which they can attend school. In this environment they have a chance and are saved from the sort of horrible things that some women in India have been experiencing, which have been receiving so much publicity recently.

So we decided to assist a brilliant 12-year-old girl at the colony wanting to get into a good secondary school. The charity’s budget simply did not allow for an exception to be made for one child, so the Rotary Club

Have your sayabout anything you like!


of Tower Hamlets stepped up to the mark. We agreed to fund her by paying her entrance and tuition fees. It is hoped that she will excel at her studies, be a role model for other girls and lead the way out of poverty. We believe child empowerment is one of the ways forward.

Leprosy is curable. In 2013 approximately 230,000 cases were reported in India, China and Africa, over half of which were in India. The work of Rotarians may seem endless, but for us at Tower Hamlets, by funding one girl, we have started the journey.Tony Sharma Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets

Still time to sponsor Nicole By the time you’ve read this, I hope I shall have completed the Silverstone Half Marathon and London Marathon. But there’s still time to sponsor me by either visiting http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NicoleWhitehead or texting ASMY88 and the amount you’d like to donate to 70070.

Despite not being a runner, I’ve always wanted to take part in both Marathons, to be part of that huge buzz that surrounds them and accomplish something so few do. My charity of choice is the mental health charity MIND and here is why.

In 2013 one of my closest friends, Adam Shulver, decided to end his own life at the age of 25. This broke many hearts and left a devastatingly huge hole in our lives. Having battled with bipolar disorder for several years, he was desperate not to be labelled, so did everything he could to avoid accepting the diagnosis.

Adam did confide in me, as his close friend, about his feelings and thoughts about suicide, having taken an overdose three years previously. On the outside, however, he was a vibrant, charismatic, funny young man with a huge group of friends and the world at his feet.

We never know the pain that can hide behind a smile, as the tragic and unexpected death of the actor Robin Williams shows. I actually thought Adam was doing quite well when I last saw him: smiling, laughing, joking and planning for the future. Yet less than 24 hours later I received a phone call with the devastating news of his suicide.

It turns out that Adam had actually been deep in crisis on and off for around a fortnight before he died. Looking back I wish we had known of MIND’s valuable support for those individuals going through such times, as we might have been able to help. The difficult thing for me is that I’ll never know the answer to that question.

The stigma that still surrounds mental health issues and suicide saddens me, so MIND was my charity of choice when, less than a year after Adam died, I cheered his older brother on as he ran the 2014 London

Marathon. I decided to follow suit this year, telling myself: “I CAN do this and help MIND to break down the barriers.”

Before being given my place in this spring London Marathon, I had had serious health issues, but recovered. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the training – even the tough bits – and became excited about my Marathon events. Yes, it did start to hurt, but I have been able to get through it knowing that I was running for Adam and for the charity MIND.Nicole Whitehead Rotary Club of Woolwich

Keep your letters coming so that you can have your say on whatever subject you want. Rotary in London exists among other things to present Rotary and its work to the world, as well as spurring you on to debate important issues. We shall publish your letters wherever possible, reserving the usual right to edit. So keep up the correspondence!

Speakers’ PanelAll organisations listed here are interested in sending speakers to Rotary Clubs in London. As we stressed

previously, when launching this column in Rotary in London in autumn 2012, inclusion in this list

does not indicate endorsement of that organisation or individual. We are merely putting you in touch

with organisations or individuals, so that you can make further enquiries. However, you can rest assured

that many of the organisations listed are well known to Rotary already. Do you yourself know of any

organisation, however small, which would like to be better known? Or a speaker you can recommend?

If you do, please let us know, including where possible people to contact, with relevant email and

telephone details.

Canine PartnersNational charity that trains assistance dogs to transform the lives of people with disabilities, including members of the armed forces. The dogs help with everyday tasks such as unloading washing machines, opening and closing doors, undressing, shopping, retrieving dropped items and fetching help in an emergency.Rtn Malcolm Wells MBE [email protected] 01730 716011

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)Provides aid and advocacy for victims of oppression and persecution, especially those not reached by major aid organisations, and always working through local partners and helping them to make transformational differences for their own people. HART currently runs programmes in Burma, India, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Uganda.Samantha Hudson [email protected] 020 8204 7336

Kidney Research UKLargest funder dedicated to research into the causes and prevention of kidney disease, founded in 1961. Money raised goes directly into research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure to help over three million people in the UK at risk of chronic kidney disease.Henry Kimbell [email protected] 07535 740814

Shooting Star ChaseA leading children’s hospice caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, as well as their families. Currently supports over 650 families in West London and Surrey. Gives bespoke support free of charge to families which is available 365 days a year. Jane De Lay [email protected] 01932 823117

St Joseph’s HospiceHas been enhancing lives in East London for over a hundred years, easing pain and bringing comfort and understanding. All services are provided free of charge. It costs the hospice £14 million every year to provide services and it must fundraise over £7 million. The hospice relies particularly on the support of its local community.

Anita Brien [email protected] 020 8525 6070

Teenage Cancer Trust The only national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for young adults with cancer aged between 13 and 24. The charity builds and maintains specialised NHS units to care for teenage cancer patients and provides them with the highest quality healthcare from teenage cancer experts.

Emma Colliver [email protected] 020 7291 6991

12 • Rotary In London Winter 2015

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Janet Bettaccini, Community Committee Chair of the Rotary Club of Hanwell & Northfields, describes the club’s annual Eastertime party for 75 pensioners, held in St Thomas’s Church Hall in March. Almost half the guests requested transport, a challenge met by Immediate Past President David Strange. At least 10 guests were blind and we welcomed back one guide dog from last year. One returning guest was in a wheelchair, bringing her carer, and a number of other guests needed walking aids. Our first guest arrived at 12 noon and she slept for two hours whilst we made our preparations.

On arrival, guests had hot drinks with homemade shortbread and were escorted to tables to join friends from their own pensioners’ clubs. Rotarians sat at each table to ensure guests had all they needed. During the three-hour party we played bingo, had a raffle, enjoyed a singalong of old songs accompanied on a piano, played pass the parcel and had a marathon quiz sheet per table.

Tesco Perivale gave us an Easter egg for every guest. Staff from Waitrose and Barclays came and helped and Barclays funded food, soft drinks and tableware. Our members’ partners made most of the delicious food, including cakes made by Rotarians.

I am still receiving letters, cards, e-mails and phone calls to thank the club members.

go underground, relive crime and punishment and wander through chelsea and Mayfair

Once again District 1130’s London Walks organiser, Tom Hunt (Leytonstone & Woodford Rotary Club), calls on Rotary walkers and strollers to join him for his Summer 2015 programme. All walks take place on Sundays and start at 2.30 pm.

One walk has already taken place. On Walk 2, on 31 May, you can find out for yourself whether the Lure of the Underground entices you to find out more. Meet at Baker Street Station’s north exit, bringing £6 with you to cover yourself and anybody else you might bring.

Our guide will take you down the tube, showing you the results of 150 years of engineering and artistry from the inside. On this walk you’ll need an Oyster Card or a 2-Zone Travel Card. This year is the London Underground’s 150th birthday, so much of this tour is down inside the tube and we also explore several stations, inside and out.

Walk 3, the City of the gallows walk, looks at crime and punishment and is on 19 July. Meet at St Paul’s Tube Station, exit 2, and as before bring £6 with you. You can relive the experience of London as the city of beheadings, whippings and brandings and of hanging, drawing and quartering. The bodies of those executed were delivered to Surgeons Hall for dissection or else hung in chains. You can learn about suffocating dungeons and jail fever that killed not only countless prisoners, but four out of six judges on the bench.

Walk 4 takes you through Chelsea, London’s ancient riverside village, on 23 August. Meet up at Sloane Square Tube Station bringing £6 with you. You will be able to see one of the great set pieces of London architecture and history: Wren’s Royal Hospital. You cross a threshold into another era, because the “pensioners” are Redcoats, resplendent in the 300-year-old scarlet uniforms that British soldiers wore in the 17th-century.

In the gnarled old village lanes and by ways you can find Sir Laurence Olivier’s house, Oscar Wilde’s “Tower of Ivory”, and Mick Jagger’s and Thomas Carlyle’s houses. Chelsea is also the old Apothecary Garden.

Walk 5 takes you through Old Mayfair, arguably the best address in London, on 11 October. Meet at Green Park Tube Station, on the corner, just outside the north exit. Cost this time is £7 per person.

Here is a champagne cocktail of a walk. It’s a place where Old Masters and old money, Rolls Royces and glamour, titles and butlers are par for the course. It’s hobnobbing with knobs on it – because Mayfair has been home to Clive of India, Disraeli, Handel, Florence Nightingale, Jimi Hendrix, Dodi Fayed and Earl Mountbatten. Last but certainly not least, it boasts London’s best village within a village. This is Shepherd Market, a charming little nest of alleys that hasn’t lost a jot of its 18th-century scale and village atmosphere, let alone its raffishness.

To book, email Tom Hunt at [email protected].

Senior citizens live it up for Easter

Pensioners celebrate in St Thomas’s Church Hall


Rotary in London members who attended the January public relations workshop at York Gate will remember meeting guest speaker Iva Grigorova from Bulgaria. She visited London to give Rotarians a preview of the Bulgaria District’s plans for a major strategic communication partnership between Rotary and United Partners, the Sofia-based public relations consultancy for which she works.

Iva is Vice President of the Rotaract Club of Sofia-Balkan and Chair of Bulgaria Rotaract’s District Public Relations Committee. She now gives Rotary in London the welcome news that in March Rotary’s District Governor for Bulgaria approved the above partnership, which will last three years.

She explains: “Our consultancy will provide a professional service to Rotary in Bulgaria. We shall be advising clubs on managing public relations and media relations, reinforcing the brand image and helping to spread awareness among Government organisations, NGOs, other target groups and members of the general public. We shall also help clubs develop social media channels, media toolkits, visual and message usages and partner opportunities.”

January’s workshop was organised under the aegis of Rotary International’s Public Image (RIPI) programme and attracted 25 Rotary Club members from five Districts. A second smaller workshop also took place over the weekend. They followed a public

relations workshop in Rochester organised the previous October by your Editor in her capacity of Assistant RIPI Coordinator for District 1120, which attracted 67 Rotarians.

All three workshops received recognition by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) as counting towards Continuing Professional Development in public relations. CIPR past President Peter Walker addressed both RIPI Workshops.

They are believed to have been the first held by Rotary in the southern RIPI Zone 18A to concentrate specifically on public relations strategy and included a practical exercise in drawing up public relations programmes.

Real public relations is all about building a better, fairer, wiser world and members of organisations like Rotary know that the best results come from the best intentions. Vision will result in actions that improve the world in which we all live, as well as the ommunities, professions and trades in which we all spend our lives.

Goodwill, disciplined and focussed, is now core to the professional craft we call public relations. An outstanding leader in the global public relations community is Robert Leaf. He has been an inspirational force for over 50 years, playing a key role in the conversion of the craft to a serious and disciplined profession. He rose to become International Chairman of Burson Marsteller when it was the biggest public relations company in the world. He demonstrated the importance of discipline in the craft, especially in analysing

a situation and the broadest environment within which his clients worked. He ensured it was not just what the executives said that mattered so much as what they did. As he commented to me when I first met him at the start of my own career, public relations is a discipline that must run across the whole organisation. It has to be a strategic passion at the top level and not just a pragmatic tactic at the operational level. With his fine wit and style he outlines these vital principles in his book, The art of perception. He quotes many case studies in which public relations was central: from ABC Television through to Wal-Mart, fearlessly covering the good, the bad and the ugly.

Do especially read about his views on the changes in corporate social responsibility on page 241. It is difficult to believe today that

the celebrated economist, Milton Friedman, once said that a company’s only responsibility is profit. Throughout this book Bob Leaf shows his wisdom and pragmatism - qualities which have made him one of the most influential people in the development of professional public relations. If you suddenly find yourself handling public relations for your Rotary Club and particularly if you are a beginner, get this book, read it and make use of the advice it contains.

Roger Haywood, public relations author and strategist.

For a signed copy at £12 including p&p, email [email protected], making sure you include your postal address.

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reading.’ Harold burson, co-founder of burson-Marsteller‘i first worked with bob Leaf in tokyo back in the early nineteen-eighties... We shared the task of putting sam

Wanamaker’s vision for the reconstructed Globe theatre into practical reality. bob’s sure PR touch and his selfless

dedication to the cause helped make the Globe the great national institution it now is.’ sir Michael Perry, former Chairman of Unilever

‘i met bob Leaf in Hong Kong in the mid 1980s. over the

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now in the age of the 24-hour news cycle and a world of facebook, twitter and Linked-in he explains how public relations has in reality become perception management. Leaf reveals that this is now the key to success not only for governments, companies and nGos, but also for doctors, lawyers and even individuals. Leaf, who, over a distinguished career has helped to promote nearly every industry and worked with Ceos of all types all over the world has written a memoir that is as entertaining as it is informative.

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Robert Leaf has lived in new York, brussels, London and Hong Kong. He was with burson-Marsteller for forty years and was international Chairman when the company was the world’s largest PR firm. He now has his own company, Robert s. Leaf Consultants,

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Rotaractor Iva Gregorova (centre) shows her PowerPoint presentation on public relations in Bulgaria to Marylebone Rotary Club member Robert Ghazi and your Editor, Jane Hammond. Photo: Clive Bubley

Rotarians hear about public relations partnership in bulgaria


PDG Eve Conway, RIBI Vice President Elect, and RIBI General Secretary Amanda Watkin fly the flag high above the London’s skyline. They are celebrating Rotary’s 110th birthday in February atop the O2 Arena Dome. They had joined more than 150 others from across the British Isles, including your Assistant Editor Margaret Cooper, to climb the O2 Arena in London.

The climb was organised to remind the British public of the need to for End Polio Now. As so many readers already know, Rotary’s 51,000 members have dedicated countless volunteer hours to polio’s eradication and helped to raise over £20 million to fight it.

PDG Eve Conway commented: “The world is on the verge of polio eradication, a feat that will mark one of the greatest global public health achievements of all time. However, we are not resting on our laurels as there is still lots that can be done.”

The family of Rotary lives up to the fine English tradition of encouraging guests to gorge themselves on fancy cakes. Cristina Pin and Andreea Caraveteanu of the Rotaract Club of Westminster added a little bit of sweetness to their St Valentine’s concert with their themed cakes and cupcakes (see page 5).

wHoSE logo IS THIS?Adrian Faiers (Dulwich & Peckham Rotary) has sent us this contribution to extending the awareness of Rotary and adds: “This logo is an example of finding Rotary anywhere if you only look.”

Our name has obviously been inserted into another company’s logo – but whose? Send us your answers. If you guess right, you can earn yourself, your company, your club or whatever a free ad in the next issue.

Mish Mosh by “Schlepper”Well here we are again. The Assembly Season. Each year wide-eyed, excited, eager and keen club representatives ensure that they have registered to attend the particular assembly pertaining to their avenue of service for the next Rotary year.

The problem is....they don’t. We have about 65 clubs in the District. So each Assembly held at York Gate should be packed to the rafters with 65 club delegates and up to a dozen or so District Committee members and officers. It should be standing room only. Only it isn’t. Most District Chairs will be lucky to be addressing half that number.

This is very sad. It’s sad for the District Governor-Elect. It’s sad for the Committee Chairs, and it’s sad for the clubs that do attend. It’s even sadder for the clubs that don’t attend because they will just drift along, year after year, with no prospect of taking on new ideas and tips from their peers which are the inevitable result of mixing with other Rotarians.

So why don’t they come? There is certainly truth in the fact that some club members are doing a particular job for the nth time and feel they have nothing to gain by attending. ‘Twas always thus, but this attitude is always a mistaken one. And the non-attenders deprive first timers of their practical first hand experiences of organising a project or planning a campaign.

Newer Rotarians given a first club chairmanship may baulk at attending alone at York Gate, an experience that might take them out of their comfort zone. In olden days there was one giant District Assembly with dinner and club members, new and old, would attend mob handed.

Those assemblies were great fellowship events (a good objective in itself), but the powers that be say they are no longer possible because many clubs are so small that one individual might be doing two jobs and could not attend every session. But after several years of new-style assemblies where attendances have been fairly abysmal, I am tempted to argue the case for returning to the old system.

End Polio on top of the Dome

fancy cakes! The cakes swelled the funds being raised through the concert for the charity Youth Music. For the senior citizens’ Eastertime party (see page 13), PP Ruairi Prendiville of the Rotary Club of Hanwell & Northfields made two very rich and well laced fruit cakes. Many guests enjoyed slices on the spot and others took them home, as they had already eaten enough.

Adrian Brewer (District 1110 Rotary Club of Vectis Sunrise), who organised the event, continues: “We organised the climb of the O2 Arena to mark both our continued efforts in the fight against polio and to celebrate Rotary’s 110th Anniversary. I urge the British public to get behind Rotary and help make history by ridding the world of polio forever.”

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