1 CLUB NEWS The Rotary Club of Exmouth & District March 2018 Contents Well Well Well! Uk in Numbers Purple Crocuses Show the Resilience Needed to Beat Polio Summer Showtime Why Arts in Education is important Focus on the Crocus Youth Speaks Why is Public Speaking Important? Shelter Box Messages of Concern and Hope Rotakids Impress Hasina Aged 15 Displaced from Home A Rohinjya Refuge Read her story on page 6 Photo by kind permission of Shelter Box
Transcript
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CLUB NEWS The Rotary Club of Exmouth & District March 2018
Contents
Well Well Well!
Uk in Numbers
Purple Crocuses Show
the Resilience Needed to
Beat Polio
Summer Showtime
Why Arts in Education is
important
Focus on the Crocus
Youth Speaks
Why is Public Speaking
Important?
Shelter Box Messages of
Concern and Hope
Rotakids Impress
Hasina Aged 15 Displaced from Home
A Rohinjya Refuge
Read her story on page 6
Photo by kind permission of Shelter Box
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UK in Numbers
Here are some numbers mostly from the Office of National Statistics picked at random from what is available. It is interesting to look at information like this in the cold light of day without filtration and interpretation by others. Population in 1971-
55,928,00 Mid Year Population
Estimates in 2016 - 65,648,000
GDP increase since 1955 0.4%
UK Prison operational capacity - 83,396
UK Prison Population 83,857
In 2014 9.9% of GDP was spent on Health in the UK
In the USA that figure was 16.6%
Other countries spending more than the UK by proportion of GDP on health are Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Canada
Police Numbers in 2004 - 140,563;
In 2017 - 123,507 % of Debt to GDP 2017
Japan 240% USA - 108% France - 96% UK - 88% Russia 12.6%
Britain is estimated to hold £6.01 Trillion in private wealth making it the 5th wealthiest country in the world measured by private wealth.
Based on GDP Britain is considered to be the 9th wealthiest country
The Gender Pay Gap was 17.4% in 1997
In 2017 it was 9.7% but has been fairly static in recent times
Unemployment Rate 4.3% 2017
The politicians have to make decisions (or not) based on data like this, always with consequences.
Well Well Well - A Tale of Three Wells
Frank writes that the Club has been supported by Crealy Adventure Park for several years with the Spiral Wishing Wells project. So who better to turn to than our club to sort out traditional wells on the park historically set up by other organisations and left unmanaged for years. With the agreement of Round Table and Elf, the owners of the other wells, our gallant Rotarians and supporters set to work. The first task was to clear a collection of obnoxious material from the ELF well where a metal plate at the bottom had disintegrated and collapsed to form a muddy coin cake in the collecting bin. This together with a coin collection gathered by Crealy provided 3 bucket fulls of coins weighing in at 6 stone. Task 2 by Cliff and Sandy was washing and sieving the coin cake in the garden using the garden hose. The coins still required further washing before they were fit for hand counting, weighing in at 1/4 of a ton. Task 3 was the traditional well conversion. This required removal of all rubbish & ironwork from within the well, inserting a collection box and carefully fitting a yellow vortex spiral well. Crealy agreed to build steps around the well to make it accessible to even the tiniest members of the family.
As always an amazing piece of work by those involved. On 12th of March.
President Linda with Rotarian Cliff joined Natalie Searle of ELF and Josh
Heywood, the General Manager of Crealy to officially hand the well over to
Rotary and the £1,702.85 recovered from the well will be presented to ELF.
All in all another fine example of how the Spiral Wells project has provided
opportunities for giving above and beyond.
As an aside - The Project to supply spiral coin collectors to clubs in Rotary
Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland has been running now for some 9 years
and the clubs who have ownership of one or more wells, have jointly raised
more than an estimated £140,000 for good causes.
Now that is WELL GOOD!
Rotary Well 1 Rotary Well 2 Rotary Well 3
at Crealy at Crealy at Crealy
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Why Arts in
Education is
Important
In a recent Daily Telegraph Article, Bernice McCabe, headmistress of North London Collegiate School wrote that The Culture White Paper, published by the Government a few weeks ago, makes it clear that the arts should be an essential part of every child’s education, both in and out of school. She said ‘I couldn’t agree more.
When politicians repeat the mantra of the three ‘R’s as the essential core curriculum, they may well not be aware that the origins of this phrase were “reading, wroughting and arithmetic”. In other words, every well balanced education should include literacy, numeracy and creatively making things. But it seems to me that the current picture for the arts in education is far from rosy.
Figures show that the one
creative arts subject to have
increased numbers of
GCSE entries over the last
five years is art and
design. All the others –
drama, music, design &
technology, and expressive
& performing arts – are
down, in the case of D&T by
nearly 30 per cent’. She
goes on in some depth to
make the case for the arts
to develop individuals who
can express themselves,
develop motor skills and be
rounded individuals.
Summer Showtime is a
demonstration of how
important the arts are at
Exmouth CC..
Purple Crocuses Show the Resilience
Needed to Beat Polio
‘Only two days after the Rotary Crocus at The Long Range Hotel, Budleigh Salterton were totally covered in snow and ice’, says Brian, ‘they are back to their former glory, brightening up the garden and spreading their Rotary message.
Crocus (English plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family comprising 90 species of perennials growing from corms. Many are cultivated for their flowers appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub, and meadows from sea level to alpine tundra in central and southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, on the islands of the Aegean, and across Central Asia to Xinjiang Province in western China Cultivation and harvesting of Crocus sativus for saffron was first documented in the Mediterranean, notably on the island of Crete. Frescos showing them are found at the Knossos site on Crete, as well as from the comparably aged Akrotiri site on Santorini.
The first crocus seen in the Netherlands, where crocus species are not native, were from corms brought back in the 1560s from Constantinople by the Holy Roman Emperor's ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. A few corms were forwarded to Carolus Clusius at the botanical garden in Leiden. By 1620, the new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-colored crocus feathered with bronze at the base of the bouquet, similar to varieties still on the market. Bosschaert, working from a preparatory drawing to paint his composed piece spanning the whole of spring, exaggerated the crocus so that it passes for a tulip, but its narrow, grass-like leaves give it away. Information courtesy of Wikipedia
Focus on the Crocus
Frank reports that in 2017, the two Exmouth Rotary Clubs with the help of friends, planted masses of purple crocus corms at the end of Exeter Road to raise awareness of the Rotary Foundation's promise to the children of the world to eradicate polio. The aim was for the flowers to bloom on the Rotary Anniversary Day of 23rd February which duly oc-curred this year with an abundance of blooms.
However, since the Polio Plus project started some 30 years ago we are still attempting to finish the task. Last year there were just 22 cases reported world-wide; a magnificent effort from the 350,000 cases reported in 1985. We are hoping we see the last reported case this year but that very much depends on progress in Pakistan where the virus has been discovered in sewage and Afghanistan where there have been three victims this year.
The World Health Organisation cannot declare the world polio fee until it has been shown there are no reported cases for three years. The fight continues.
As a bonus there have been many positives from the research and monitoring efforts of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) including using the processes and procedures learnt from GPEI to swiftly deal with outbreaks of disease such as Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Rotarians have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. For as little as $0.60, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.
Our club will always welcome donations to this campaign as every little really does help and make a difference.
Communication is the backbone of our society. It allows us to form connections, influence decisions, and motivate change. Without communication skills, the ability to progress in the working world and in life, itself, would be nearly impossible. Public speaking is one of the most important and most dreaded forms of communication. Glossophobia or speech anxiety, is the most common fear people have across the globe. Throughout primary school, it is easy to be the student who sits in the back of the classroom and avoids raising his or her hand to dodge such situations. But in the working world, public speaking is a vital skill to have and to hone. It effects simple, everyday interactions between co-workers, bosses and employees, marketing professionals and clients, etc., and it can have an enormous impact on your career path and your level of success in your industry.
This article from a blog by Katie Mandell explains the importance of Public Speaking in a nut shell. Rotary with its Youth Speaks competitions provides young people with an opportunity to test their skills and to learn from the experience. Rotary itself gives it’s members a safe place to experiment and see what it’s like to speak in public which they might not have at work. One thing is for sure and that is if you can get on your feet and face an audience then you will have greater chances of life success.
From left to right: Gerald Garraway, Exeter College - Speaker Grace Fielder, Vote of Thanks Lauren Fenton, Chairperson Absana Ruthford. Brain writes that the audience of family, friends, teachers and Rotarians were treated to an excellent and varied range of topics all delivered in a most confident and entertaining manner. Uffculme School now go through to the Intermediate Final that takes place in Bodmin on Saturday 3rd March. Their topic "Don't judge a Book by its cover“ was brilliantly illustrated by their speaker Molly Clist, Chairperson Isla Findley and Colin Bird who gave the Vote of Thanks. Exeter College won the Senior Teams competition and also go through to the District Final in Bodmin. Their topic "Now we have Google Translate, why learn a language" was extremely well researched and presented by speaker Grace Fielder, Chairperson Absana Rutherford and Lauren Fenton who gave their Vote Of Thanks. Past President Gerald Garraway presented the awards to the winning teams and surprised the audience by speaking in Sesuto when presenting the senior award to illustrate that it can be beneficial to learn a language when living and working in another country. Congratulations go to all the teams taking part in the Competition, to Rotarian David Matthews who was an excellent Master of Ceremonies. Grateful thanks also go to the Principal of Exmouth Community College for the use of Hall 4, the Adjudicators, Questioner, The Innerwheel, and Rotarians for covering the timekeeping and certificates. A very enjoyable Rotary event.
Youth Speaks
Eastern Area Final - Intermediate and Senior
Competitions
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Thoughts from your
Editor
Our Charities have come under fire recently with a media storm of outrage about abuses of power and position carried out by officials working abroad in crises torn areas. It demonstrates that no organisation is safe from individuals who seek to gain power and gratification for their own ends. We need though to defend our charities who represent the best motivations of human nature. Shelter Box say that it is proud to have safeguarding policies in place designed to protect the families they help and the local communities they work with. They are constantly looking for ways to improve their approach. They test and evaluate all of their aid and services, including approach to safeguarding and protection. Operational staff and response team volunteers are put through ongoing, rigorous training; they also work closely with Rotary International, as well as other partners, who bring a vast understanding of local community needs. As individuals it seems to me that we have to safeguard our institutions whether charities, Local Authorities, the armed forces etc. from being undermined by individuals who do not live up to the highest standards required of them. Their actions allow those with an axe to grind to point the finger for their own ends and even open up weaknesses for hostile Governments which seek to manipulate for their own benefit. Sadly our media are quick to jump in and judge based on the most extremes of human behaviour that they can find. It is difficult under the fire of a media storm for any rational and careful thought to take place where blame is quickly apportioned and scalps sought. Allowing time for careful consideration is not something we can depend on in our modern world.
Shelter Box Messages of Concern and
Hope
International Women’s Day was on 8th March and Shelter Box wanted to say thank you for helping them deliver practical and life-saving solutions to women in times of crisis. Shelter Box say ‘Thanks to supporters like you, we can transform the lives of refugee and displaced women in countries affected by natural disasters or conflict. ‘Right now, we're helping women from Bangladesh to the Philippines, from Syria to Somaliland. You’re helping to make a huge impact on the lives of women across the world’. Here is Hasina’s Story from Shelterbox.
15-year-old Hasina* lives in Cox’s Bazar, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Her makeshift shelter, made of plastic sheets and strips of bamboo, balances on the edge of a stagnant pool of water.
Hasina is one of 655,000 Rohingya families who have been forced across
the Myanmar border to escape sectarian violence. 65% of the community now living in Cox’s Bazar are women who have fled violence, and are now living in makeshift shelters where clean water and food is scarce. Before Hasina arrived at the camp in Bangladesh, she had already faced unthinkable atrocities. When her village in Rakhine State, Myanmar, was burned down, Hasina ran for her life.
‘We were shot at and attacked. They burnt all of the houses. There was nothing left and nowhere to take shelter so we fled. They burnt the whole village down. Eight people died in the burning.’
After the attack, it took the family five days to reach the border on foot, taking shelter in houses along the way. Now that they are in Bangladesh, the family are still living a very difficult life. Safura, Hasina’s mother, told us that she lost her husband to disease when she was very young, leaving her to support her daughter on her own. Now that Hasina is old enough, she is the head of her household, and she spends her days looking after both her mother and her aunt. Despite all she’s seen, Hasina remains strong, proud and independent. She said:
‘We can sleep and we are not scared for our life. We feel safe.’ Photo and story courtesy of Shelter Box
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10 Good Reasons to
be a Rotakid
1. Build Self-Esteem by doing and helping others.
2. Learn how to Ask for Something - By being involved in projects you have to work out how to seek support when you need it and how to ask in a way which will result in positive outcomes.
3. Develop Organisational Skills - Skills which are needed to make a project a success and to work with others successfully.
4. Develop communication skills - how to speak to others one to one and to or with a group.
5. Learn to Deal with own Prejudices and Assumptions - first impressions can be misleading.
6. Emotional Intelligence - Whilst you may be objective, learning how to manage your own emotions and appreciate those of others around you is important.
7. Maths - Able to use practical application of maths in running projects when say, compiling a budget or running a marketing campaign.
8. The Power of Action - The pleasure that comes from making a difference to others.
9. Empathy - Developing connection with others around you to a deeper level of understanding.
10. Leadership - Having the confidence to lead to create the right environment for a team to succeed.
From Start a Snowball website
Rotakids Impress
In the picture with President Anne, Rotarian Brian and Headteacher Rachel Pattison are from left to right Secretary Lealan, President Hugo, Vice-President Georgie, and Treasurer Kayleigh.
Young Citizens and Citizens of the Future
Brian writes that today we have enjoyed a super Rotary Lunch with FIVE guest speaks. Brian says, ‘All spoke with such confidence and clarity and it was a joy just to listen’. Marpool Primary School Headteacher Mrs Rachel Pattison spoke about the school, its philosophy of encouraging pupils to look at the "Whole Picture" and for pupils to consider the environment, the community and helping other people. The RotaKids officers then spoke in turn with such confidence and
clarity outlining their own roles. Hugo, Georgie, Lealan and Kayleigh spoke on the club's plans for the year and the projects being planned to raise money for their chosen charity Cancer Research UK. A number of questions were raised by members and these were all answered in a most positive and confident manner.
In a game that ebbed and flowed from start to finish writes Brian, the Rotary Club of Exmouth & District eventually beat Crediton in a closely fought game of skittles that took place in Zeal Monachorum. Keval was our outstanding performer of the evening with a score of 54. As we have come to expect, Credition Rotarians were excellent hosts and a most sociable evening was enjoyed by all present.
