Alas, my year as President has passed. It is time for reflection and with
this thought in mind I present my end of year report.
The year started with 25 members, sadly 21 remain. One member retired from
his post in Chigwell and had to move away. One left because of the journey
time from his home to Chigwell. Another had her working times altered so
cannot attend and another now lives most of the year in Spain. However we
have some interest from 3 possible members.
We were delighted to have our website up and running by Rtn Michael Edwards this
year, perhaps this could develop some interest for Rotary in Chigwell
We had a very varied and interesting list of speakers at our
meetings in my year. We had visitors from Australia in the form of the Group
Study Exchange, one of our inspiring and enthusiastic speakers was Jonathan
Barry, an Ambassadorial Scholar from Tennessee USA. Jonathan also joined
Chigwell Venture Scouts in the Rotary Dragon Boat Race, where Chigwell came
5th out of 18. They won a trophy for the highest placed Rotary Team. We had
speakers on the subject of Roding Valley Meadows, the Alzeimers Society, the
new Horse racing track in Essex, a Funeral Director from East London, a
Police Officer from the Major Incident Division, a speaker who went down the
Grand Canyon on a Mule, a representative from The Stop Stansted Expansion
Campaign, the Hon Lee Scott MP Ilford North gave a talk on the working
of the House of Commons, and a diamond dealer. Sadly we lost at the Rotary
Quiz evening to the Chingford club. Thanks to Rtn. Bob Bewick for working so
hard to find the speakers.
I held two Rotary events at my Church in my year, one was a summer afternoon
tea, the other was a pre-Christmas evening meal with a Caribbean theme.
The Rotary theme for the year ‘Rotary Shares’ was taken literally and we
held a ‘Health & Wellbeing’ seminar, sharing health information and supper
with the community. It is hoped to repeat this event in the next Rotary
year
Ten Rotarians and their partners from the Club accompanied me to the Eastbourne conference in October. The GSE Team joined us for pre-dinner drinks, on the first night of the conference. It was a pleasure to see them all again.
Our 'away' events included an evening meal at a
Vietnamese restaurant in Wanstead, a Burns Night celebration in Woodford,
and our annual Fellowship weekend, this year in Sandwich in Kent
Social events included The Youth Make Music concert at Chigwell School, the
May-Day fete was a great success, and the Dinner & Dance jointly organised
by the Rotary Clubs of Chigwell and Roding.
My preferred charities for my year Chigwell Disabled Group, The Alzheimers Society and Amnesty International were the beneficiaries of our charity donations, along with The Gurkers, Shelter Boxes and RIBI Flood Disaster.
All in all a very full and exciting year, many many thanks
to all my fellow Rotarians for their help in making it a year to remember.
Yours in Fellowship
Rtn Serene Martin
President The Rotary Club of Chigwell 2007-08