SIDCUP ROTARY CLUB
District 1120 RI Club No 19449
Founded 1935
Good Out of Evil
Barry and Margaret Mizen gave a very moving talk to the Club. Their son Jimmy was
tragically murdered one day after his 16th birthday in 2008. As Margaret said "three
minutes of madness-that's all it took for Jimmy to die". Jimmy was an altar server
at his local church and was a member of Sidcup Rugby Club. He was 6'4" tall and was
a "gentle giant", a fine decent caring young man who enjoyed life.
After Jimmy was killed the friends of one of his brothers who went to Canterbury University raised some money for them. They did not know what to do with it but as more money came in they brought buses for Scout groups which they named "Jimmy's Buses". They started getting invitations to talk and that was how the Jimmy Mizen Foundation came about. The Foundation is a positive way of remembering his life and Margaret and Barry work tirelessly to help young people play a positive role within their communities as independent and responsible attitude fighting against violence and aiming to make our streets safer.
They are working on many initiatives. They support local Scouting organisations, arrange apprenticeships and they have set up their Awareness Project that addresses audiences of young people, parents and teachers in schools, prisons and youth clubs to promote anger management, stress awareness and the consequences of violent crime. They have encouraged the setting up of City Safe Havens, shops where young people can go when they feel in danger where they know they will be safe and any crime will be reported. They have opened the Cafe of Good Hope in Hither Green as a community hub for the area and, to raise funds for the foundation and give employment for young people. A recent project is to plan a campaign for peace 50 days before and 50 days after the 2012 Olympics which is in the tradition of the ancient Olympic Truce which protected athletes and pilgrims travelling to and from the games.
Margaret and Barry are two inspiring parents who came to terms with the most appalling tragedy that can befall any family and have shown how good can come out of evil.
Chislehurst and Sidcup Sea Cadets
President David Barker together with three other members of the club visited the Chislehurst and Sidcup Sea Cadets. Their Officer in Charge Sub Lt Nigel Clarke RNR has worked tirelessly to build up this unit. They were very impressed with the discipline and quality of instruction to which the cadets very obviously responded. They were given a demonstration utilising the first aid equipment that our club had provided.
Community Day
Each year the club holds a Community Day Lunch and invites local charities and organisations
to thank them for the work they have done during the year. This year’s lunch was
also attended by the Mayor Cllr Val Clark, the MP James Brokenshire and our District
Governor John Dunkley. This year’s Community Award was given to Kay Salt
er and below
is an explanation of why she deserved it.
Kay Salter is utterly devoted to what she does and what she does is quite extraordinary. She runs a gymnastics club called Falcon Spartak that is primarily based in Hurstmere School.
When the then Kay Cook took over the running of the small but enthusiastic club in 1985, I doubt that she imagined that 26 years later she would be devoting so much of her life to it. In fact, with coaching sessions almost every day and the task of running a club that gets no outside funding to speak of, Kay's only day of rest is Friday.
Kay's Falcon Spartak is a very unusual gymnastics club.
It is open to anyone from Greater London, but the vast majority of athletes comes from the local boroughs. That makes it a wonderful resource for young people in Bexley.
Falcon Spartak caters for both able-bodied and disabled athletes of all ages and three of the coaching sessions each week are fully integrated. This philosophy of integration has paid huge dividends for athletes in our area - Kay's teams have enjoyed great success in International competitions over the years.
Back in 1999 three of Falcon Spartak's girls won places on the National Disabilities Display Team and competed in Gothenburg, Sweden and this year, the club has seven of its members on the National Disability Squad.
In fact, 2 out of the 60 or so athletes who train at Falcon Spartak under Kay's coaching supervision are current national champions.
So successful has Kay's dedication and expertise proven to be that in 2004 she was awarded the status of Master Coach by the sport's governing body, British Gymnastics - an honour only currently enjoyed by 100 people. She has also received an Award of Merit from the same organisation.
But for Kay,personal recognition is the tip of the iceberg. The real reason she devotes her life to what she does is the benefits for the athletes in her care.
As recently as last November a team of 18 from Falcon Spartak took part in a major competition for gymnasts with a disability, in Poole. They came home with the Team Trophy and a host of individual medals.
Kay's selfless dedication has seen her club grow in strength and in success over the 26 years she has been associated with them and the young people she has worked with have benefited in all kinds of ways whether they have won medals or not.
Japanese disaster – Shelterbox
On hearing about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami the club quickly organised collections
in the High Street and at Ruxley Manor Garden Centre. Together with members personal
donations nearly £3000 was raised for Shelterbox. The photograph shows President
David Barker with his wife Annette braving the rain. Click here to go to the Shelterbox
page.
Know Your Blood Pressure Day
Lives saved?
On Saturday 16 April, in conjunction with a team from the local St John Ambulance,
the Rotary Club of Sidcup once more took part in the Rotary Know Your Blood Pressure
Day. Passers by had their blood pressure checked by St John Ambulance members,
general practitioners and nurses. 218 members of the public had their blood pressure
checked. Among them was the Mayor of Bexley, Councillor Val Clark.
26 of those tested were advised to consult their own GP for advice or treatment. Of the 9 under 60 who needed referral to their GP, 6 were not aware that they had raised blood pressure and therefore at an increased risk of a stroke and heart disease. In addition one person was found to have an undiagnosed and dangerous irregular heart rate and was then taken to hospital urgently for treatment. The Sidcup teams were pleased to have been able to help those tested with a timely warning and an opportunity to take preventative action before they have a stroke or heart attack.