The January District Newsletter is now ready for you to read HERE
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1veg0/RotaryinLondonDistri/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F466386%2FRotary-in-London–District-Newsletter–January-2012
Jeremy Jessel, District Marketing, Public Relations and Communications Committee
New members and those who joined in the last couple of years but have not previously attended are invited to a New Members Meeting at our District Headquarters in 6 York Gate, NW1 4QG, on Thursday 9 February at 6.30 for 7pm. The meeting will commence with a buffet supper, after which there will be a short talk about the world of Rotary. New members may be accompanied by another member of their club. There is no charge but we do need to know numbers by 5 February at the latest.
I need your help! In spite of the fact that District 1130 is still involved with our current scholars, I am already receiving requests for host clubs for Global Scholars for the next academic year. (Ambassadorial scholar requests will also be arriving soon, but the Global Scholars process is more urgent.). When the sponsor clubs/districts apply for funding for a scholar they should have already identified a club in the hosting district and a ‘committee’ of three club members, including the counsellor. I will have no way of knowing at this stage, how many scholars will apply and how many will be accepted, but I do need to have a list of potential host clubs at my fingertips.
Please will you contact me if your club is willing to host a global scholar, and send me the names of your team plus e-mail addresses and their club office if applicable as soon as possible. Any club not allocated a global scholar will be added to the list for ambassadorial scholars.
I realise there may be some problem with regard to bookings for the District Conference at Warner’s as non-refundable deposits are expected and bookings need to be confirmed earlier than usually expected at Eastbourne. I have asked for advice from the Conference Chairman, and will send information as and when I receive it.
Thank you to all for your support for this year’s scholars. From their reports they are extremely indebted to our district for the guidance, hospitality and help they have experienced so far. Don’t forget, many are still keen to visit the clubs. If your club has not had the pleasure of hearing at least one of them, please encourage your programme chair to send an invitation.
Stella Russell, Foundation Scholars Coordinator
The Rotary Club of St Pancras are sad to record the death of Chris Leverton, a member for more than 60 years. Chris was the son of Stanley Leverton, perhaps the most famous of British Rotarians, creating the plan for the development of Rotary in London. He often reminded us of all the days when, as a boy, he sat upon the knee of Paul Harris, a regular visitor to the Leverton household. For details of the funeral arrangements contact Honorary Secretary, Diana Goodwin.
Details of all official Rotary International fellowships, in one 26 page PDF…
The Chance for Knowledge is a project developed by Rotaract Club of
Westminster and Rotaract Sofia Vitisha Izgrev Club. It was run under
the supervision of Rotary of London and Rotary Sofia Vitosha.
The main objectives of this project were to help in the supply of new
Braille machines for the school which would enable new students to get
the proper tools for education. By providing them with four new
machines Rotary help their educational advancement and social
integration.
http://www.youtube.com/v/
Rotary members in London and across the world are cautiously celebrating
a major milestone in the global effort to eradicate the crippling disease polio. India, until
recently an epicentre of the wild poliovirus, has completed a full calendar year without
recording a new case since January 13th 2010.
Until tests come back from surveillance teams, it will not be confirmed that India is officially
clear of polio for the past year. It will be a further two years of successful tests before the
country is declared polio free. The 12-month milestone in India, where the last reported
case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal, continues the progress of 2010, when the
country recorded only 42 polio cases out of 1,352 worldwide.
The milestone is seen as a testament to the determination of Rotary members in Great
Britain and Ireland and the rest of the world, especially the 116,000-plus Rotarians of
India, to eradicate the infectious disease through the mass immunisation of children, a goal Rotary took on 27 years ago.
Rotary launched its polio eradication programme in 1985 and, in 1988, became a
spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, with the World Health
Organisation, UNICEF, and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Since
then, new cases of polio have plummeted by more than 99 percent, from more than
350,000 cases a year to only 604 reported so far for 2011.
RIBI President Ray Burman is immensely proud of the polio eradication effort by
Rotary: “Every Rotarian, everywhere supports this incredible campaign. We raise funds
and we support Rotarians in India and other endemic countries. Rotary members in India
have worked diligently month after month, year after year, to help organise and carry out
the National Immunisation Days that reach millions of children with the oral polio vaccine,
saving millions of young lives from this terrible disease.
“This is potentially the beginning of the end of polio in India but we must not be complacent. The disease can flare up suddenly so the vaccination programme must continue to make sure that no more children are struck by this curse.”
Rotary in London District Governor Trevor Johnson said: “Here in London Rotarians have
worked with communities to raise funds for this life-saving campaign. It is incredible to think that every penny raised is helping to spare children from this crippling and sometimes fatal disease. It has taken over 25 years but there is a lot of good news here and we are all hoping that tests will show that India is on the road to recovery.
“Marching ahead, the goal now is to sustain this momentum. There are Rotarians from London who are going out to Delhi to help with the National Immunisation Day next month. Their efforts will save the lives of millions.
“I’d like to thank everyone for supporting all our fundraisers and for helping in the drive to
make polio history. If you would like to know more about how Rotary has helped eradicate
polio, please do get in touch.”
If all ongoing testing for polio cases through January 13th continues to yield negative
results, India will be declared by the World Health Organisation to have interrupted
transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus, laying the groundwork for its removal from the
polio-endemic countries list, shared with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
However, other countries remain at risk for cases imported from the endemic countries,
which is why immunisations in India and other endemic and at-risk countries will continue.
Neighbouring Pakistan, which has reported 181 cases so far for 2011, is a major threat
to India’s continued polio-free status. In 2011, a polio outbreak in China, polio-free for a
decade, was traced genetically to Pakistan.
If you would like to know more about Rotary, contact your local Rotary club and discover
how you can make a world of a difference.
Congratulations to the successful candidates in the ballot for Assistant Governors 2012-2013: Chris Wyatt, Helen Antoniou, Mac Purcell, Mike Abbott, Mohamed Manjra, Nick Damji, Shirley Kirk, Tom Hunt.
I have received a request for New Generations Exchanges from two students (22 year old brother and 23 year old sister) from Belgium for two months, February and March 2012. They are coming as part of their university course requirement to immerse themselves in another culture for two months. We have secured work experience in the Radisson group of hotels, although at this point I am not sure exactly which and where inLondon.
In exchange we have two London students ready to take up the opportunity to go to Belgium on the same programme but the family circumstances of neither of these students enables them to offer home hospitality. I am therefore looking for host families for each of the Belgian students separately and urgently. Hosting could be for the whole two months or just one month, so I am looking for two, three or four host families. The students will need accommodation and food. They will be out in the working week but would appreciate being taken around a bit. They will be hosted by Rotary cubs and will attend meetings. No one will need a CRB check!
Any one of us who has hosted youth exchange students will tell you that it is a very rewarding experience. Please respond to this request as soon as possible to Di King
DGE Eve Conway-Ghazi has produced a programme called “Nicole’s Legacy” about the late Nicole Dryburgh, Rotary Young Citizen Award 2008 winner, who spoke at our District Conference in 2009. It was transmitted on the BBC News Channel a number of times over the New Year Holiday and will be repeated next week-end on Sat 7th Jan at 02:30 and 05:30 and on Sun 8th Jan at 20:30. It is also available on the BBC I-Player athttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/