
President Steve was delighted to welcome Martin Edwards, CEO of Julia’s House, to our latest meeting. The charity is the Presidential Charity for this Rotary year and the President is keen to do as much as possible to raise valuable funds for such a worthy cause.
In front of almost 30 members and guests, Martin gave a most innovative and interactive presentation, starting by handing out leaflets with different numbers on them. He then invited members, one by one, to call out the numbers, each of which was linked to a key fact about Julia’s House and the work that it undertakes.
It was an excellent way of getting everyone present to gain a thorough understanding of the charity. It also brought into sharp focus the challenges that the charity faces, some of which illustrate just how hard those who work for it have to work to continue to provide their services. Examples included:
- that the charity only receives 5% of its funding from Government and is one of the least publically funded charities in the country;
- that the vast majority of the people who work there are volunteers;
- that if the rate of referrals in recent years continues at the same rate for the next 4 years numbers requiring their help will increase by 40%;
- that their expenditure in the last 12 months has exceeded their income.
On behalf of the club, President Steve thanked Martin for sparing some of his valuable time to come and see us and asked the club to show their appreciation in the usual way.
More details about Julia’s House can be found on their website.