Rotarians in Bromsgrove have supported the Primrose Hospice in the first week of 2022 with a donation of £1500. We acknowledge the sterling work carried out by our local Hospice and its staff and we recognize that opportunities for normal fundraising activities have been curtailed severely by the ongoing public health situation.

Our Rotary Club is very pleased to be able to support our local Foodbanks again namely the Basement Project, Catshill Baptist Church and New Starts with a donation of £500 each to begin the New Year. As Rotarians we recognize that many people will be struggling to make ends meet after the festive period and given the ongoing problems caused by the public health situation.

Wishing all our members and Friends of Rotary a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year 2022!

It was a great delight to see Ken Pheysey presented with his certificate to celebrate 30 years of service in Rotary at our Christmas party held at the Maekong Thai Restaurant on 8 December. The event was the first time we have sat down together for a meal for a very long time due to the current public health situation, and everyone enjoyed the evening immensely. Very many congratulations to Ken as a role model for ‘Service above Self.’ Pictured left is Ken receiving the certificate from our President John Teece.

Great progress has been made on our joint venture with the Rotary Club of Uttara in Bangladesh, and we are pleased to record that five new family latrines have been built in a rural area using funds supplied by the Rotary Club of Bromsgrove and its members. We are very fortunate to have Rotarian Faisal Sharif as one of our members who has worked hard to make the project a reality and has made the communication process between the two Clubs very simple.

We are very sad to report the loss of Rotarian Stephen Godber who passed away at 8am on 31 October 2021. Stephen was for many years a very active Rotarian and member of our Club. He remained an Honorary Member when impaired mobility prevented his regular participation.

His funeral will take place at 1.30pm on 16 November at St Godwald’s Church in Aston Fields.

Members of our Club will be joined by students from local schools at 1.30pm on 19 November 2021 to plant 4000 crocus corms at Crown Close in Bromsgrove adjacent to the town’s War Memorial. The initiative represents our ongoing commitment to efforts across the world to eradicate polio for ever. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Members and Friends of Rotary will be very glad to learn that awareness of Rotary has been heightened further through the recent coverage in the Bromsgrove Advertiser and What’s On – Worcestershire as a result of the Club’s donation of £5000 to the Avoncroft Windmill Appeal.

Our international focus led the Club to donate £1000 to Thailand recently to support people through the difficult times caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. Local contacts of Mu and Tony Docherty in Thailand have ensured that the resources purchased reached the people who were most in need.