The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove was delighted to welcome Mike Layton and his wife Andry to our Fellowship Meeting on 27 June 2017. Mike talked about his career as an author since leaving the police service, and he has now produced eleven books with two other works being published in due course. Mike read some moving excerpts from his book ‘Police Dog Heroes,’ which tells the history of police dogs in British Transport Police. Andry has just published her own book ‘The Night The Owl Cried’, which tells of her early life in Cyprus. All of the published works are available from Amazon. Pictured top left are: Mike Layton; President Deborah Roberts; and Androulla Christou Layton.

The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove is delighted to have supported Hewell Bowling Club with a donation of £8000 as a contribution towards the construction of the new pavilion. Pictured left to right are: Rotarians Karen Bowe; Ron Pearce; Liz Pheysey; Amal Rampal; John Teece; Ken Pheysey; Deborah Roberts; and the Captain of the Bowling Club.

During our 80th Birthday Party at Hewell Bowling Club our President Deborah Roberts was delighted to receive a wonderful birthday cake for the Club made by the daughter of our President Elect Amal Rampal! The pyrotechnic decorations even managed to set off the fire detection system at our party venue! We had a superb evening, which included a fish and chip supper and ‘a night at the races.’

 The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove ran a stall in High Street Bromsgrove from 11am until 3pm on 17 June as part of its 80th Anniversary celebrations. Members staffed the stall and took a street collection, helped ably by local Scouts and Guides who have benefitted from Rotary funding support during the year. Importantly, the event raised awareness with the public of what Rotary can do to help communities locally and abroad.

On 17 June 2017 the Rotary Club of Bromsgrove will celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Club receiving its Charter. Members will celebrate with a stall in Bromsgrove Market from 11am until 3pm to publicise Rotary and some of the charitable work in which the Club has engaged. In the evening, the Club will hold a supper party at Hewell Bowls Club to include a ‘night at the races.’

At our Fellowship Meeting on 23 May 2017 members were delighted to welcome Deb Rattley Head Teacher of Chadsgrove School and Liz Morgan Project Manager for the new Chadsgrove Learning Centre, which extends provision at the school to the cohort aged 19-25 years . The Club chose to support this new venture with a donation of £5000, because we value the aims of Chadsgrove and believe in the outcomes which staff at the school are achieving demonstrably for their students and their families. Our President Deborah Roberts is pictured inter alia with Deb Rattley and Liz Morgan.

The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove is very sad indeed to record the passing of Reverend Alan White, who died in the early hours of 20 May 2017 only a few days short of his 99th birthday.  Alan has been a stalwart member of the Rotary Club of Bromsgrove, and would have celebrated 50 years of membership in December 2017. Members of the Club have lost a very great friend.

His life and achievements will be celebrated at a Service of Thanksgiving at 2pm on 6 June 2017 at Tardebigge Church, when donations will be offered for the Primrose Hospice and Tardebigge Church.

The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove is pleased to support the Summer School being held in 2017 by St Johns Middle School with a donation of £1000.

The Rotary Club of Bromsgrove is glad to support the Kids Cancer Charity with a donation of £550 to provide a respite break for a Bromsgrove based family with a child suffering from cancer.

Rotarian Julfiker Choudhury has just returned from a visit to Bangladesh where he presented books and equipment to pupils at the H.A. Wahid Chowdhury Secondary School, which the Rotary Club of Bromsgrove chose to support with a donation of £3000. His visit was received very well by pupils and staff. Academic results at the school are improving.