Rotarians and members of our community came together in Mid March to celebrate the achievements of the past 12 months.
Swanage and Purbeck Rotary’s Presentation Night is an opportunity to recognise everything that has been done with local groups to try and make things better for the community.
Representatives of many of the groups who have helped or been helped by Rotary attended and we were delighted to welcome Swanage Town Mayor Tina Foster and some of our Business Partners too.
After enjoying a sumptuous buffet, lovingly prepared by our very own ‘catering dream team’, attendees sat down to hear about the key arms of Swanage and Purbeck Rotary’s activities – Community, Youth and International – the chair of each committee highlighting their major events from the past year.
Then it was the turn of International and Foundation Chair Maggie Hardy to deliver the annual ‘surprises’ of Paul Harris Fellowships (the highest honours in Rotary) to members of the community who had demonstrated going above and beyond.
Incoming President Dai Hounsell concluded the formalities with an overview of the way in which Rotary interacts with so many other groups in the community, following which many remained to network with other groups (and make sure that the buffet didn’t go to waste!).
Many thanks go to everyone who attended to make it such a positive evening. Rotary is now starting preparations for the next 12 months of service and looks forward to seeing many more people out and about in the coming months.
President Chris Le Fevre receiving the cheque from Mari Wilson of Humphries Kirk
Among the many stalls at the Rotary Summer Fête and Craft Fair, held on Sandpit Field on Thursday August 11th, was a popular tombola stand set up and run by local solicitors Humphries Kirk.
The money raised was recently presented to Swanage & Purbeck Rotary and we were delighted to receive a cheque for over £220!
Rotary President Chris Le Fevre said “We are hugely grateful to Humphries Kirk for their very generous donation which will go towards local projects. Humphries Kirk have been a long-standing and valued Rotary Business Partner and their continuing support is much appreciated.”
President Chris LeFevre reports on a scorching hot day in Sandpit Field:
After a two year absence, we were delighted to hold our Summer Fête and Craft Fair on Sandpit Field on Thursday 11th August.
Temperatures were very high, but despite this we had a steady flow of visitors enjoying the wide range of stalls and entertainment on offer.
These included traditional favourites such as hoop-la and the tombola, as well as more recent innovations such as the Cornhole game.
The refreshment tent and BBQ were on hand to sustain those attending and other options included vegan soups, craft coffee and, of course, Purbeck Ice Cream!
There were plenty of crafts on display too, as well as the ever-popular Boutique In A Bus.
Charities presenting included Sustainable Swanage, Planet Purbeck and the RNLI.
There was no shortage of entertainment either. Kevin Burke did his magic show (when he wasn’t striding around the field on stilts!) and music was provided by Karen Grant, local musicians Jurassic Roll’n Roll and the Ukulele Band.
The Grand Raffle was drawn towards the end of the day, with prizes, most of which were kindly donated by our Business Partners and other local organisations, presented to the lucky winners. Those winners not present will find their prizes delivered to them in the coming days.
All proceeds from this event provide valuable funds for the many good causes that we are supporting.
Our most grateful thanks go to all those who have helped to support the fête this year, including Friends of Rotary, Business Partners, Harman’s Cross Fête Committee members and, of course, the members of our Rotary Group. Here’s to next year!
“December will be Magic Again” is what Kate Bush sang back in 1983, and for Swanage & Purbeck Rotary it’s December 2021 that’s been magic thanks to the activities of its Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO – the club’s fundraising arm) during the month.
From the pop-up shop in Station Road, to the Christmas Market, the Charity Mail to Santa’s Sleigh, our wonderful local community has stepped forward and supported the CIO’s fundraising activities in a quite phenomenal way.
The shop started back in November selling books and bric-a-brac before opening its Christmas door at the beginning of December. We have been delighted with the response from the community, who flocked to the shop and quickly snapped up virtually everything we had for sale. Last year was the first time we had tried to run the shop and the funds raised this year have smashed through what we already thought was a good year in 2020.
Swanage Christmas Market
On 4th December the CIO, after an enforced year’s absence, was once again able to run the popular Swanage Christmas Market in Station Road and despite forecasts of strong winds the day turned out to be beautifully clear and sunny with less strong winds, resulting in hundreds of people coming down to sample what was on offer. All the traders who spoke to us told us how pleased they were to be able to take part in the event again and it was great success.
Hard at work with the Charity Mail!
The CIO also ran the Charity Mail service, with offices in Swanage town centre, Studland and Langton accepting Christmas cards for local addresses and personally delivering them during the third week of the month. Our members and volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure that everything given to us was correctly sorted and delivered in plenty of time.
Santa & Elves at the Co-Op
And, of course, Santa came to town and spent almost three weeks travelling around Swanage, Herston, Langton Matravers and Corfe Castle (in association with Crazy4Corfe) with his elves, bringing happiness and joy to local residents and handing out sweets to the children. The reaction of local residents to the sleigh has been amazing and enabled the CIO, again, to break all records for fundraising.
Getting those Yellow Food Bags delivered!
As well as all that, we have been able to recommence our support of the Friendly Food Club. Our Youth committee was able to provide 149 Christmas food bags for local pre-schools, following on from the efforts that took place at the start of the pandemic in providing ingredients and preparation instructions for local people to cook wholesome festive meals for their families.
We never cease to be amazed by the support we get from our community, and we are incredibly grateful to you all for the way that you help us to help those less fortunate, not only in our local community but also in national funding initiatives in the UK and across the world with campaigns such as JabItForward, which has helped to fund COVID-19 vaccinations to poorer countries and End Polio Now, aiming to finally eradicate polio from the world.
From all of us in Swanage & Purbeck Rotary, and our lovely friends, volunteers and Business Partners, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and the hope that 2022 will be a better year for us all.
We used the opportunity of Zoom to re-run the presentation from Australian Rotarian Mark Huddleston, originally shown at the Virtual District Conference in October.
Mark is a renowned strategist, commentator, presenter and trainer in membership development and has very defined views on the future of Rotary, from the experience of his own club Seaford.
His views are of particular interest to Swanage & Purbeck, being, as it is, a seaside club within a similar population as our own. Mark was instrumental in the creation of the Seaford club as he couldn’t see the required level of change in his previous club and decided to create a new club.
it was comforting to see that many of the initiatives that Mark introduced have already been adopted by Swanage & Purbeck or are in the process of being adopted, including the concept of Business Partners, for which we are always grateful, including family and friends in our projects and activities and ensuring that our website and social media outlets are active.
There were many areas that we could embrace too, however, and we will be using the current situation where we are only able to undertake most of our activities online, to look at what we can do when we come out of the other side of the pandemic.
We are really interested in the views of those not yet members of our group, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how we can innovate and change the way we do things we would warmly welcome them.
As always, anyone wishing to find out more about the Swanage & Purbeck Rotary group can contact our secretary for more information.
The well-reported problems with the ferry proved no concern for the annual Swanage & Purbeck Rotary Summer Fête, supported by our Business Partners, as crowds flocked to Sandpit Field to see the numerous stalls, entertainment and activities on offer.
From our major charity for this year Julia’s House and other local charities and good causes, to the ‘Boutique in a Bus’, there was a multitude of things to see and do. In the craft tent, there was a wide variety of stalls selling jewellery, clothing, works of art and other crafts. As ever, the refreshment tent, selling sandwiches, ploughman’s lunches, tea, coffee and cakes, proved very popular as did the barbeque which had a steady queue for burgers, sausages, bacon baps and, new this year, Portobello mushrooms.
There was no shortage of entertainment either. Curley the Busker started proceedings with a couple of sets incorporating 50’s, 60’s and 70’s classics, following which Kevin Burke did his magic show to an enthusiastic reception from the gathered crowd. Jurassic Rock and Roll, all musicians local to the area, rocked the field in the early afternoon and Karen G completed the line up with a selection of familiar and classic tunes.
Later in the morning, the Novelty Dog Show was a very competitive affair with winners claiming prizes for titles including prettiest bitch and waggiest tail and in the afternoon, the children’s games took place with several competitions keeping the children active and entertained.
Towards the end of the afternoon, the Grand Draw took place, with more than twenty prizes, nearly all of which were kindly donated by local people and organisations, being handed out to the lucky winners.
The weather just about held for the event and Club President Steve Parsons thanked everyone for coming and supporting the event and the Grand Draw, all the proceeds from which will provide valuable funds for many local good causes. More photographs from the day are available on our Facebook page.
Next year’s event will take place on Thursday 6th August 2020. Make sure it’s in your diary!
More than 30 local groups, charities and good causes joined Swanage & Purbeck Rotary in King George’s Field this weekend to raise awareness of all the fantastic activities that are available to our community.
Coupled with the Swanage Classic Car Rally, taking place in the adjacent Main Beach Car Park, hundreds of local residents, and some visitors to the town, came to take a look at the various stalls, activities, fun and games taking place.
The weather was dry and largely fine, allowing people to circulate around the the range of organisations represented. Interspersing the day was an interactive display from Herston Hall Zumba, Swanage Town Band and the group Singing for Pleasure in the performance area, which attracted good audiences during their performances.
A Treasure Hunt attracted many children of all ages, who explored the field for clues to a list of questions and were rewarded for their efforts with prizes of sweets, drinks, pens and baseball caps.
Rotary Community and Vocation Chair Maggie Hardy declared the day a huge success and it is hoped that this can become a regular event. Rotarian Dai Hounsell from the Community and Vocational Committee was delighted with the response from Swanage residents to this initiative.
Grateful thanks goes to Swanage Town Council and Swanage Development Trust for their help and support in enabling this event to take place.
The great and the good from Swanage and Purbeck, including Club members, Business Partners, Friends of Rotary, Past members and other Rotary clubs assembled at the Knoll House Hotel on Wednesday 20th March to celebrate the Club’s 60th Charter.
Amongst those present to commemorate all those years of fun, fellowship and service to the local community were our mother club Bournemouth, our daughter club Wareham and representatives of seven other Rotary clubs. We were honoured to also welcome RIBI National President Debbie Hodge and District 1110 Governor Allan Smith to the event as well as Swanage Town Mayor Mike Bonfield.
President Elect Steve Parsons and Teresa with Roy & Jill Parkinson and Dick & Julie Mattick from Swindon Old Town (Steve’s former club)
RIBI President Debbie, proposing a toast to the club, spoke warmly about the Club’s history and achievements. In response, PDG David Pike further detailed some of the more memorable events from the club’s past. Then Club President Linda Winter, proposing a toast to the guests, explained how important the local community and visitors to our community are to the club’s ongoing success.
District Governor Allan Smith responded on behalf of the guests and highlighted the important place that Swanage & Purbeck Rotary holds in the life of District 1110.
The event was a joyous occasion and we were delighted to welcome so many people to join our celebration. More photographs are available on our Facebook page
Club members were delighted to welcome around 30 local residents to the United Reformed Church on Christmas morning for breakfast.
This annual event has been running for many years and is always a very happy occasion, with a full English breakfast being served, accompanied by the Buckle family playing Christmas carols and songs. President Linda Winter welcomed everyone and Town Mayor Mike Bonfield also said a few words of welcome to those present.
And despite a very busy night, Santa found time to make an appearance, handing out small gifts as people were leaving.
We extend our most grateful thanks to Budgens, the Co-Op and Costcutters for proving the food and to our Business Partners and supporters for all their help in organising this event. More photographs can be found on Facebook.
It’s been a busy few weeks for Swanage & Purbeck Rotary.
The Annual Christmas Street Market on the 8th was again a great success. Over 50 stalls braved the rather windy weather and the threat of rain, and were rewarded by being well supported by the local community.
Either side of that, Santa and his sleigh have been touring Swanage, Langton and Corfe Castle over a 16 day period from 3rd. Large groups of children came out in all weathers to see him and there were plenty of sweets to go round! Keep an eye out for the winner of the Giant Hamper, which is being drawn at Hays Travel on the afternoon of 22nd December from the free raffle tickets that were handed out on the sleigh’s rounds and which have been entered into the draw. It could be you!
At the same time, our Christmas post service has been operating over the first half of December, and we have hand delivered over 4,000 cards to local addresses in the run up to Christmas.
In total, we have raised thousands of pounds for Rotary-supported projects and our grateful thanks go to everyone who has supported, attended and contributed to our events.
We will once again be running our breakfast on Christmas morning, for people who will be on their own and who have registered to attend. This is always a happy and joyful event that we all look forward to.
We would like to thank our wonderful Business Partners for their fantastic and ongoing support of our activities, and we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful 2019.
