A view of events held
Our new web site has been created through the Rotary District site, here you will see all the up to date information on the club.
It is well worth a visit: www.middletonrotary.org.uk
Celebrations at Middleton Rotary
(October)
It was a great night of celebration for Middleton Rotary Club at the Norton Grange Hotel on Friday the 30th October. Over sixty Rotarians and guests gathered for the 76th anniversary of the clubs existence as a Rotary Club. President Peter Hayward led the proceedings and spoke of how proud he was to be leading the clubs 76th year in Rotary saying “that in the 76th years Middleton Rotary Club has certainly stamped its mark throughout the world and more importantly in the local community”. The club has greatly contributed towards Rotary’s aim of eradicating polio worldwide and is very much involved in water projects in Kenya. Whilst locally the club has helped so many charities and people over the years, mainly funded by their efforts with their Christmas float around the streets of Middleton in December – an event that is always eagerly awaited by the Middleton folk.
The second reason for celebration was for Rotarian John Brooker who was presented with the very prestigious Paul Harris award. Paul Harris was the founder of the Rotary movement back in 1905 and the award is given to Rotarians in recognition of their outstanding contribution to others. John, seen in photo receiving the award from President Peter, has been responsible for so much continuing work in Kenya including the formation and running of a school in the village of Mikoroshoni. Through John’s vision the club have helped towards funding and building a bridge over the river Nithi that helps the saving of lives otherwise lost in attempting the very dangerous crossing. John also is leading a project for the creation of water catchment storage tanks for the village of Tharaka. This was a very well deserved award for John who was “extremely proud to accept it, but even more proud to have achieved what has been done in Kenya”.
This was a most enjoyable evening and all ended with a splendid half hour session performed by ‘Hindle Wakes’ who entertained all guests with their humorous set of songs.
Aug 2009
WELL DONE KIEFER
Middleton’s candidate for the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, Kiefer Heatherington, completed his week successfully at Petty Pool – Northwich at the beginning of August.
Kiefer was amongst 13 who took part in District 1280’s pilot course. From the feedback received and also from our own ‘man on the spot’ it really was a tremendous week for all participants. Kiefer will be presenting back to the club on 28th September so will leave further details till then. However it would be wrong not to congratulate & thank Kiefer for his active and positive input into the week, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
17/5/09 - As reported previously Middleton Rotarian Keith Trinnaman had pulled together a team of 9 fellow Rotarians and friends to run the Great Manchester Run, to raise funds for The Prostate Cancer Charity. The run took place last Sunday and was a great success. All managed to complete the run with the times varying between 45 minutes and 96 minutes. President Norman Wellens had asked Keith to organise the team to run to raise the funds because he was aware of too many people that have Prostate Cancer some of which unfortunately did not survive it. Norman said “what a wonderful experience this was, it was really great to see so many people turn up on the day to either run or actually support those runners. The actual completion of the run was secondary really to the excellent work that everyone on the day did for their particular charities. Really heartening to witness”
Keith said “We set ourselves 2 targets. First to raise at least £2,500 for Prostate Cancer, and secondly for all to complete the run without any real problems. On both counts the targets were exceeded”.
Middleton Rotary Club raised around £4500 and they would all like to thank everyone for their very generous support.
15/5/09 - A Childer presentation was made at St Michaels Bamford by Middleton Rotary Club. Past President Jim Kenyon was delighted to presents Kyle Wicock with the award. Kyle, age 9, was given the award for his unselfish attitude and his voluntary help given to the school caretaker each lunch time. He is such a cheerful and helpful boy, who gives up 20 minutes of his lunchtime helping the caretaker tidy the hallafter all the other children have finished their lunches. Kyle has been doing this for the last 2 years and has never been asked to do so. A very worthy recipient of the Childer award.
17/5/09 - As reported back in March Middleton Rotarian Keith Trinnaman had pulled together a team of 9 fellow Rotarians and friends to run the Great Manchester Run, to raise funds for The Prostate Cancer Charity. The run took place last Sunday and was a great success. All managed to complete the run with the times varying between 45 minutes and 96 minutes. President Norman Wellens had asked Keith to organise the team to run to raise the funds because he was aware of too many people that have Prostate Cancer some of which unfortunately did not survive it. Norman said “what a wonderful experience this was, it was really great to see so many people turn up on the day to either run or actually support those runners. The actual completion of the run was secondary really to the excellent work that everyone on the day did for their particular charities. Really heartening to witness”
Keith said “We set ourselves 2 targets. First to raise at least £2,500 for Prostate Cancer, and secondly for all to complete the run without any real problems. On both counts the targets were exceeded”.
Middleton Rotary Club raised around £4500 and they would all like to thank everyone for their very generous support.
9/2/09 - Members of the Rotary club of Middleton entertained guests from many local charities on Monday 9th February. The event enabled Vice President Peter Hayward to present the charities with cheque donations for their causes, form the money raised during the Rotary clubs fundraising efforts over the Christmas period. Middleton Rotary Club would like to place on record their thanks to the kind people of Middleton who donated money for the local charities at father Christmas in the Arndale and the Rotary float from around the streets of Middleton.
Vice President Peter presented the nine cheques to those shown in the photo, from left to right they are : Keith Williams (Middleton Scouts), Pat Green (Inner Wheel), Sue Scott (Making Space), Margaret Johnson (Middleton Girl Guides), Tony Townley and Pete Green (Middleton Round Table), Harry Aldrett (MTCT - Community Hut Project), Peter Hayward(Vice President Rotay club of Middleton), Dean Connoughton (Springhill Hospice), Kelly Flanagan (St Marys RC School), David Woodrow (Francis House Childrens Hospice) and Clair Harrison (Deputy Head St Marys RC School).
Peter commented 'These evenings are always great events, it makes all the hard work put in by Rotarians over the Christmas period very worthwhile. It is quite humbling to hear from the charities what they get up to and how the donations will help them in the near future. It makes it even more worthwhile to be involved in this great organisation called Rotary'.
December 2008 - Santa gets help from Middleton Rotary Club
Father Christmas has come to Middleton and has been working a very busy schedule, so busy in fact that he has enlisted the help of Middleton Rotary Club.
Santa started by greeting children in the Arndale Centre on the weekend of 29th & 30th November and plans to return every weekend up to Christmas.
Then on the 8th December Santa took to the streets of Middleton, riding around the streets in his sleigh with the Rotarian helpers accepting donations from the local community, where the children excitedly wave and cheer Santa on his way.
Middleton Rotary raise in the region of £5000 over this busy period for them, this money is then distributed amongst some local causes such as, Springhill Hospice, local Scouts & Guides, Victim support, Francis House and more.
Club President, Norman Wellens, said ‘it is always a great time of the year, especially to see so many children so excited by seeing & talking to Santa. It is great for us also because we are able to collect a good amount that we can distribute to the very good local causes’.
Santa’s proposed schedule for next week is Monday 15th - Kingsway . Kirkway area; Tuesday 16th – Jubilee Road &Old Boarshaw; Wednesday 17th – Hereford Way area; Thursday 18th – Walsingham Way area; Friday 19th – Middleton Junction area. (Best endeavours will be made to stick to this schedule however it cannot be guaranteed).
13/10/08 - Members of Middleton Rotary Club were reminded of the chilling story of the Black Panther at their club meeting last night 13/10/08. The speaker was Andy O'Sullivan MBE, BEM. Andy is a Rochdale man who served for the Police in Rochdale for 25 years and has also spent his lifetime in athletics, where he devotes time to organising and running in fun runs etc - in doing so has raised over £300k for local charities and indeed it was for this reason he was awarded the MBE in 2004.
With very thorough research done, Andy was able to retell the horrific story of the Black Panther (Donald Neilson) that had gripped the nation back in the mid 1970's. How Neilson had progressed from house burglary to raiding of sub postoffices, which led to him shooting dead 3 subpostmasters, then on to his ultimate cold blooded crime of kidnapping and eventually killing the transport heiress Lesley Whittle. He reminded members of just how valuable having a policeman on the streets is, as it was a consequence of a couple of policemen in a Panda car and their 'gut feel' that led them to apprehending Neilson and eventually discovering his identity as the 'Black Panther'. A most enthralling talk retold in such a way that had the Rotarians totally gripped.
12/10/08 - A flea market stall at Hetwood civic centre saw the club raise in excess of £40 for Rotary charities, whilst also having a presence i the community.
29/9/08 - The Rotary Club of Middleton together with some friends met at the Norton Grange Hotel in the evening of 29th September for a most interesting talk. An excellent talk on Victorian Dumps, from Peter Sellers who has spent many years collecting these glass ornaments, was given.
Peter explained that these dumps were made from "dumped glass", which would otherwise be wasted during the manufacture of glass bottles. They are a wonderful example of the art of the glassmakers of the 19th Century, and today have become very collectable.
In England, The Excise Act of 1745 raised a tax on the amount of glass produced, which was one of the historic reasons for houses having small windows. It also meant that when making bottles, the raw material left over would be taxed twice if it was recycled for sale, so the manufacturers allowed the glassblowers to make dumps to show off their skills, and to keep them as ornaments, door stops and other decorative articles. The practice ceased in 1914 when a bottle manufacturer in Illinois USA perfected machines which automated bottle blowing, and produced very little waste glass. These very collectable items can be recognised as only being produced over a hundred years or so, between 1820 and 1914.
Peter brought to the meeting a huge number of his own collection of dumps, explaining that the majority were made in green glass because this was the very cheapest material available to make bottles He suggested that the much rarer blue bottles used by chemists for medicines etc., were accordingly therefore much more valuable to collectors because they were so rare. Peter also discussed the history of a number of rather famous English bottle manufacturers such as Kilners from Wakefield in Yorkshire, where many dumps were made, often with the Kilner name impressed on the base.
Altogether a most interesting talk which encouraged us to look at such decorative ornaments in a new light as attractive investments, as well as a means of keeping doors open (or closed!)
21/9/08 - As part of their community service the Rotary Club of Middleton have
sponsored a new strip for a Langley based football team, Our Lady's
A.F.C. The team is only one year old but have already gained their
first promotion. Managed by Mr. Peter Booth, brother of Tommy Booth of
Manchester City fame, they keep things in the family as Mrs. Helen
Lewis, their sister, is secretary of the club.
It was hoped to present the strip before the start of the season but
printing problems meant it could only be handed over prior to their
second match. The strip received a good christening as Our Lady's won
the game 4 - 1. They look set to continue their good work having won 2
out of 2 games thus far.
With the Middleton Rotary Club's name prominently printed on their chest
it is hoped that the teams continued success will help to promote Rotary
in the local community.
The picture shows President Norman Wellens in the
centre with Rtn. John Hallett, a member of the their
Community Service Committee on the far right.
23/8/08 - The 23rd August saw Middleton Rotary Club attending a service of thanksgiving at St.Leonard's Church, Middleton, to celebrate their 75 years off Rotary service. The service was led by Reverend Gerald Higham, who is a former member of Middleton Rotary, and featured readings & Hymns selected by some of the current members. The service was followed by a Cheese and Wine Reception at the Old Grammar School. With around 75 attending, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, and many past Rotarians of the club, it was a truly nostalgic and most enjoyable evening of celebration.
*Middleton Rotary Club host European Summer Campers
‘Summer Campers’ spent their penultimate day on their England visit, with Middleton Rotary club last Thursday 31/7/08 where they participated in a game of crown green bowls followed by a potato pie supper at the Old Boars Head. After which they also spoke to the Rotarians about themselves giving their aspirations for the future.
The Summer Campers are a group of 14 young people, aged between 16 and 18, from across Europe selected by Rotary clubs in their respective countries. They were hosted by Rotary clubs in the Manchester area and have an activity fortnight, sightseeing and doing various activities across the region.
They were based at the Petty Pool outdoor activity centre in Northwich, a charitable centre which runs residential experiences for young people with learning disabilities, mainstream schools, colleges, teacher inset days and corporate businesses from throughout the UK and Europe. Petty Pool is used by Rotary for this purpose for a two-week period every year.
The range of countries that the young people came from covered Turkey, Poland, Germany, Portugal, Romania, France and each of the students spoke excellent English. Some are seen in the photo presenting President Norman with a banner commemorating their visit to Middleton Rotary.
* St John's C E Thornham Primary School Childer Award Winner
Middleton Rotary Club President, Norman Wellens, was in attendance at St John's C E Thornham Primary School to present a Childer Award to Alishier Carris on 16th July. Alishier was awarded the Childer for her outstanding contribution in
and out of school life in representing clubs and societies and helping the community. Alishier has represented her school on the Netball and Basketball team. In addition, Alishier gives up her dinnertime to help the dinner ladies look after the younger children. In the community, Alishier attends cheerleading club, football club
and is a girl guide. A very worthy winner