The Community Service Committee is one of the three service committees of our club. The following end of year report from Sue Dowswell, Chairman in the last Rotary year 2010/2011, gives picture of the work of the committee.
This year’s committee has had a very busy year having taken on the organisation of three of the main 75th Anniversary Events.
The year began with the 75th Anniversary Launch Lunch at Kemnals. Fortunately the weather was kind and a great event was enjoyed by all.
In November we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Chartering of the Club with a Dinner at the Bromley Court Hotel. We were delighted that representatives for our two Contact Clubs were able to join us together with the District Governor and members of other Rotary Clubs in the District. Click here to read more.
The Christmas collections were greatly reduced in number this year due to the severe weather conditions. An enormous amount of planning goes into organising the collections and it was disappointing that the weather conspired against us. The total raised from the collections, that did take place, was £3,675.62.
An invitation list was prepared for the Community Day Lunch and a citation prepared for the recipient of the Community Award. Click here to read about the Community Lunch and about the recipient of the Community Award, Kay Salter of Falcon Spartak.
The third of the 75th Anniversary events was the Concert at St John’s Church on Saturday 19 March. The event was a collaboration between ourselves and Bird College music department and the senior students. Over 200 people attended the Concert including the Mayor and a number of VIP guests. Click here to read more about the concert.
As part of the National initiative we again organised a Stroke Awareness Day which was co-ordinated by Malcolm Greening and David Hall.
In addition we provided marshals for both the Greenwich and Bexley Hospice walk and the St Christopher’s Hospice Fun Walk.
We collected for Marie Curie at Tesco’s and Morrison’s and assisted Bromley Mencap with their Flag Day and Ruxley Collections.
Two visits have been organized this year for Club members. The first was to Buckingham Palace in September including a guided tour of the gardens. The second was a unique visit to Westminster Abbey in October. We enjoyed Choral Evensong followed by a guided tour of the Abbey including a climb up onto the roof with amazing views over London. After the tour we adjourned to a nearby restaurant for an excellent dinner.
Two visits were arranged for Carlton Road service users. On 28 October 90 people from the Centre attended the circus at Ruxley thanks to James Evans. The second visit was to Eagle Heights on Monday 13 June with tea and cakes at Ruxley thanks yet again to James Evans.
Donations
The committee recommended the following donations which were all approved by both Council and Club to:
Age (UK) Sidcup
Bexley Alzheimer’s
British Heart Foundation
CAMEL
Falcon Spartak
Friends of Carlton Road
Sidcup Blind Club
Kemnals Own Scouts
Lark in the Park
The Maypole Project
Royal British Legion
St John Ambulance
Community Service
SIDCUP ROTARY CLUB
District 1120 RI Club No 19449
Founded 1935
