Pictures from Events taken throughout 2019

On 14^th November, with the Rotary Club of Loddon Vale (Woodley Stars Satellite Club), we ran a Have Your Say public speaking competition at the Abbey School in Reading. 12 Schools participated each with teams of two, one introducing the speaker who delivered a talk within a time limit and then answered questions from pupils in the audience. Trophies were awarded for the best presentations in three age groups, best individual talk and best question.

Over the weekend of 26-27^th October we ran a very successful Reading Charity Art Fair and raised over £5,500 for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance and other Rotary charities.

On 16^th October a group of us spent a very interesting day at the Brooklands Museum at which one of the attractions was the Concorde Experience during which we were treated to a very impressive audio/visual experience of a simulated take-off in the famous supersonic jet airliner.

We like to get out and about and on 10^th August a group of us enjoyed a picnic and a Bee Gees revival concert at West Green House near Hook in Hampshire. A large crowd enjoyed dancing on the lawn to some familiar numbers from the 1970s.

On 16^th August President Pat Holloway welcomed a visiting Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Ashland, Oregon, USA. Rotarians are welcomed to meetings of any of the 33,000 worldwide clubs.

On 3rd August we were at the Earley Green Fair and welcomed visitors from the local community and gave them information about what Rotary does. As entertainment they were invited to splat a Malteser on our ever-popular game.

Thanks to more than 100 people who supported our quiz night on Saturday 6th July, we raised over £1,300 for the St Nicolas Community Hub and the Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Service. The picture shows President Pat Holloway with the quiz winners, their trophy and case of Prosecco.

On 13th July we organised a number of games to entertain children, parents and grandparents at the Addington School in Woodley.

Rotary changes its President every year and Pat Holloway took over from Sarah Shears on 1^st July. Pat is passionate about working with the local community and this is his main focus for the coming year. We will also be supporting youth activities and international projects, including the worldwide elimination of polio.

On Saturday night 25-26th May, our President Sarah cycled 100km in the Ride the Night event in support to Women V Cancer. For the challenging bike ride she cycled for seven hours in the dark and finished around 4am on Sunday morning. When all her sponsorships are in and gift-aid is added she will have raised around £1000. There is still time to donate via the Just Giving Website:  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sarahshears-ridethenight2019

On 14th May we celebrated the club’s 30th birthday. The fledgling club was welcomed on 17th February 1989 into the worldwide family of Rotary International which currently has more than 1.2 million members in over 200 countries. The celebration was attended by more than 80 people including the Thames Valley Rotary District Governor, Gillian Pearce, plus current and founder members of the club and their families, members of other Rotary Clubs and the Inner Wheel.

The 30th Anniversary celebration commenced with a recital by talented cellist Oliver Simpson who was runner-up in the 2019 national final of the Rotary Young Musician competition. His participation in the national final followed his success in four of the stages of the competition, the first being run by the Rotary Clubs of Loddon Vale and Reading Maiden Erlegh.

In support of the Thames Vale Vultures Motorcycle Group’s donation of Easter eggs for needy children and disadvantaged elderly people, we are delivering eggs to the Me2 Club, Dingley's Promise, Woodley Foodbank and JAC. The photos show the Easter egg fun and games at Dingley’s Promise and Me2 parties.

At the Reading Hexagon on Sunday 24th March, Clive Waterman, the organiser and conductor of the Wokingham Areas Schools Music Association was awarded with a Paul Harris Fellowship. This was in recognition of his long-term, outstanding support to music in Wokingham area primary schools. The award was made by President Sara Shears and President of the RC of Wokingham, Keith Greenwood.

On Sunday 3rd March, at St. Joseph’s College in Reading, seven instrumentalists and seven vocalists competed in the local stage of the 2019 Rotary Young Musician, organised by our club and the club of Loddon Vale. The performances were brilliant and the winner of the instrumental section was Oliver Simpson on the cello. Florence Cain was the winning vocalist. Both were also successful in the Thames Valley district competition on 17th March and will now compete in the South East England regional final in Godalming on 7th April.

At a joint meeting with the Inner Wheel Club of Reading Maiden Erlegh, President-Elect Pat Holloway presented a cheque for £1184 to IW President Valerie Coughlan for the club’s valuable support during the Christmas fundraising campaign.

On 21st February we donated of £200 worth of supplies to the Woodley Food Store, one of the local food banks. The photo shows Food Store volunteer, Heather Nicholson, with some of the items of food that we donated.

On Friday 25th January we organised and hosted a bridge drive at the Charvil Village Hall. 19 tables of four players enjoyed an afternoon of bridge and a tea prepared and delivered by our club team. The proceeds from the afternoon with go to the charitable causes supported by our club.

On 23rd January, a group of us thoroughly enjoyed the brilliant performance of Hansel and Gretel by the Wargrave Theatre Workshop. The photo is of the finale.

Rotarians enjoy keeping fit and healthy. Every year we go on a walk to celebrate the new year. For 2019 a group of us set off on 6th January from the Fox and Hounds pub near Theale and enjoyed an invigorating walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal then across the picturesque Berkshire countryside back to pub for a really good lunch.