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Latest News
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GSE Team Visit from Australia 2008
 
In July, the Rotary Club of Swaffham hosted the visiting GSE Team from D.9700, New South Wales,
Australia.
Our visitors included Team Leader John Roberson (Retired Farmer), Julie Andrews (Media and Marketing
Consultant), Shane Atkinson (Community Development Officer), Shane White (Police local Area Commander) and Jennifer Coombes-Pearce (Radio
Broadcaster).
A Reception and lunch was held at the Hay Barn, Oxborough by kind permission of
Malcolm and Sue Whittley, followed in the afternoon by a visit to Oxborough Hall.
On Monday the team visited Sandringham, and were given a private tour of the House before opening to the general public.
This was a real bonus with the special attention of three guides.
The Vocational day on Wednesday allowed each Team Member to study a subject within
their own vocation/profession and as carried out in the U.K. This can be a learning
curve both ways!
The Final Rally on the Thursday Evening was held at the George Hotel, Swaffham. This
enabled District Officers and all Rotarians from the many Clubs involved, a chance
to hear the Final Presentation and to say farewell to a most outstanding GSE Team.
This also included many of the Hosts who had been involved in earlier weeks and it
is quite special the bonding you get with your guests in just seven days.
Helping with the programme for this fourth week of the exchange, the Rotary Clubs
of Dereham and Downham Market arranged visits to the Gressenhall Rural Life Museum and
Wayland Prison. This enabled many members and partners to meet the visiting team. Visit our photo gallery to see some pictures.
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President's Night 2008
The Rotary Club of Swaffham Presidents Night 2008 was a very special
occasion, when the club welcomed Dame Stella Rimington (the former Head of MI5) as
its guest speaker.
On Monday 19th May the Presidents Night 'Charity Dinner' was held at the
George Hotel in Swaffham, and was attended by almost 100 Rotarians, partners,
guests and friends of the club.
The Dinner was in aid of REFUGE (the charity supported by Dame Stella
Rimington) which helps women and children who have been subjected to domestic
violence.
The first publicly named head of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, author, lecturer, non-executive director, former head
and first woman Director General of MI5, the job she described as " the best
job in the world", gave the audience a brief look into the secret world of
MI5 and the difficulty she experienced in breaking out of the 'glass box' as
a women in a very male dominated world. Where have we heard that before?
At the end of the evening a cheque was handed over to Dame Stella for the
REFUGE charity by President Simon Thair.
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Club Handover for 2007-2008
On Monday 2nd July 2007, the Rotary Club of Swaffham said farewell to their outgoing club president Alan Henry and welcomed the beginning of a new Rotary year, under the direction of Simon Thair the incoming club president for 2007-2008.
The handover took place at The George Hotel in Swaffham, and both partners and honorary club members were in attendance. Seals of office were handed over to the club secretary, treasurer and vice-president elect Chris Vardy, and a special Paul Harris Fellowship Award was warmly presented to Tony Hopping for 30 years of hard work and dedication to the Rotary movement and to the Swaffham club.
The entertainment for the evening was provided "in house" by our very own Trio of Grumpy Old Rotarians, with a comedy sketch that delighted the audience. Photos from the evening can be seen on our gallery page. To read Simon Thair's welcome message, click here.
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Foundation Jazz BBQ
On Sunday 29th July 2007, the Rotary Club of Swaffham's Foundation Committee held their annual Summer Jazz BBQ, with around 100 guests including children in attendance.
Despite our fears for the weather, it was a dry and relatively warm day, and everyone enjoyed the food and the music in the lovely setting of Mike and Jane Cornwell's garden at Ling's End.
Our thanks to Mike and Jane and to all those who helped behind the scenes and on the day, especially those who helped with erecting and dismantling the marquees, carting the chairs, preparing the food, and doing the barbecuing.
A good day, good fellowship, and a good result. Profits will be in the order of £900 and Barclays Bank Plc., have generously agreed to sponsor the event to the sum of £750.
Foundation has got off to a great start this year! Well done everybody.
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New Town Notice Board for Swaffham
On Friday 29th June 2007, members of the public gathered to witness the unveiling of a new town notice board for Swaffham, located on the wall outside the Assembly Rooms building in the market square.
The notice board was commissioned and donated to the town by the Rotary Club of Swaffham, and was officially handed over to Mayor Shirley Matthews, by club president Alan Henry.
Shirley Matthews thanked the Rotary Club of Swaffham for its generous donation to the town, and said that she was delighted to accept the key to the notice board, on behalf of Swaffham town council, visitors to Swaffham, and its residents.
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Visit to SCWS Dereham
Members of both the Rotary Club of Swaffham and the Rotary Club of Dereham met
at the old site of the Crane Fruehauf factory in Dereham, where SCWS have now
consolidated their considerable steel fabrication business.
The party were met by Andrew Scales, Managing Director, David Green, Commercial
Director and other managers from SCWS. A brief presentation by David Green
gave the history of the company, the expansion over recent years, an outline
of the work carried out within the business, and examples of some of their larger
contracts within the U.K.
The visitors were split into smaller groups and were able to see the factory and
the most interesting details within the Drawing Office. It was indeed a fascinating evening, everyone found it most interesting
particularly the members with past engineering experience!
Andrew and members of the family looked after us very well, and produced a superb
buffet and drinks before departing. Photos from the visit can be viewed on our gallery page.
For more information about SCWS, click here to visit their website.
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SOLD OUT - Rotary Bears Find New Homes
Great News! The Rotary Club of Swaffham are very pleased to announce, that ALL of the Rotary Centennial Celebration Bears have now been sold.
The bears were made exclusively by Steiff, and were commissioned by the Rotary Club of Swaffham to commemmorate the 100th anniversary of Rotary.
The bears (part of a limited edition), were sold to buyers, other Rotarians and Steiff collectors all over the world, with some bears finding new homes as far afield as Australia.
The proceeds from the sale of the bears will go into the general charity account, and will be used to benefit many local and international projects.
Many thanks to Steiff for lending their support, and to everyone involved. Well done!
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French Rotarians Visit Swaffham
The Rotary Club of Swaffham and the Rotary Club of Rue-Baie de Somme, (in northern France), have just celebrated 30 years of fellowship and friendship together.
The two clubs were twinned back in 1967, and have met every year since that date. To mark the 30th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Swaffham
organised a fantastic programme of events covering the whole weekend, beginning on Friday 27th April 2007 with a welcome lunch at the Lydney House Hotel in Swaffham.
On the Saturday,
everyone met at Sandringham for a tour of the house, museum and gardens, followed by tea at the visitor centre. This was followed in the evening by
a three course dinner at Timbers Restaurant in Fincham.
On Sunday 29th April, all the rotarians gathered to say "Au Revoir" over a yet another fantastic buffet lunch. Many thanks to everyone involved for making the whole weekend such an enjoyable and memorable occassion.
Visit our photo gallery to see some snapshots from the weekend.
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RIBI Conference Report
Three days is a very short time, but eight members and partners did not find
the time difficult to fill at the 2007 RIBI Conference in sunny Bournemouth!
President Alan and members Colin E, Denis B, Simon T,Malcolm W, Mike L,
Dorothy P-H, and Lawrie G with partners enjoyed a full and very successful
conference.
Highlights included a Classic Car Rally, a fly-past, a record breaking Kite
Flying Competition by Rotaract, Maori Dances, Banner display, Postage Stamp
display, a very well presented House of Friendship, well organised
conference venue, an appearance on BBC News 24 live television AND many
excellent speakers. Of the speakers I will only pick out the ones that particularly stood out
for many of us.
RI President Bill Boyd - a very quiet, dedicated and intense man with a very
relaxed style.
Julian Fellowes, actor, writer, producer and dedicated fund raiser for
Cancer charities who was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowsip of his
tireless work for charity.
Chris Moon, a mine field victim and a replacement speaker for Heather Mills.
A very, very good replacement! Inner Wheel President Phyl Fennelly - a very funny, but dedicated lady from
Dublin.
There where many more outstanding presentations from the Interact members,
Foundation Scholars, other charities, RI and RIBI leaders, Andrew Neil for
Barnardos, Ken Behring of the Wheelchair Foundation and the US Ambassador (not a great speaker I must say - too much
political comment).
However our outstanding memory will be the speech by the incoming RIBI
President Alan Jagger - he was excellent. Extremely funny and at the same
time with a right amount of serious comment. The video based on the 'Hovis
Advert' pushing the trade bike up the hill, flat cap and all, was so funny!
We were not looking forward to Blackpool next year - but after that speech
we may, just may have changed our minds.
On top of all that Swaffham members also had a great time in local
restaurants - of course - see the photos! A great time was had by all - maybe more members can join us next year?
Rtn. Denis Bishop (Club Secretary)
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Grand Christmas Charity Raffle
After spending three consecutive weekends in December selling raffle tickets in the cold, the Rotary Club of Swaffham have collected all the ticket stubs, put them in a bucket, and picked three numbers at random, to find the winners of this year's Grand Christmas Charity Raffle.
The general public were very generous and supportive, so much so that at one point, demand out stripped supply, and extra raffle books had to be printed!
There were three lucky winners: Mrs Farlow from Bradenham who won £200 worth of Waitrose vouchers, Ms Pateman from Swaffham who won the luxury Waitrose christmas hamper, and
Mr Cross from Foulden who won six bottles of wine.
Club President Rtn. Alan Henry was delighted to present the winners with their prizes at the George Hotel in Swaffham. He wished them all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and
prosperous New Year.
The Rotary Club of Swaffham would like to thank Matt Rowland (the Manager of Waitrose in Swaffham) for donating the hamper and allowing the club to sell raffle tickets at the store.
We would also like to say a big 'Thank You' to everyone who bought a ticket, because you have helped us raise over £1300 for two very worthy local charities. The money will be shared equally between
the East Anglian Air Ambulance and the East Anglia Children's Hospice at Quidenham.
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Italian Evening
The chairman of Swaffham Rotary's International Service committee is pleased to report that the Italian Evening held on Saturday 11th November 2006 at the Lydney House Hotel in Swaffham, was a great success.
All 115 guests were treated to a five course sit down meal with wine, combined with a classical evening of music and song including authentic Italian operatic arias.
With Rotarians and friends in attendance from many other clubs across the 1080 district, the event raised a staggering £1200. This will be distributed
to various international charities in the new year.
Many thanks to everyone involved in the planning, especially the partners and wives for helping with the flowers, room decoration, serving and cooking,
and to all those behind the scenes who helped on the night. Grateful thanks go to Sarah and David Impey at Lydney House for hosting the event at their
splendid hotel.
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Halloween Parade with Fireworks
 Almost 400 people joined in the Halloween torchlight procession on Friday 27th October 2006 in Swaffham town centre, and walked
the short distance to the Campingland for hot dogs, music and hot drinks. The event, organised by the Rotary Club of Swaffham and supported by the ICENI Partnership, concluded with a spectacular fireworks display.
The whole event was provided as part of the local Rotary Community Services activities, and was not intended to raise funds. However the sale of food and drinks, and the generosity of the crowd, ensured that the Community Services funds were boosted by almost £400.
Event organiser Rtn. Chris Vardy thanked everyone for their support, and expressed a hope that a similar event could be arranged each year. He also added: "Organised firework displays are much safer than smaller less controlled events, and should be encouraged as the best way to use and display fireworks." |
Art Exhibition Success
 The Rotary Club of Swaffham's 13th Annual Art Exhibition was a great success! It was held in the beautifully refurbished Assembly Rooms in Swaffham, our new venue for 2006.
Ninetyeight artists provided over 480 exhibits, ranging from fine art sculptures
to watercolours, photographs, and oil paintings. Over one hundred artists and guests attended the exhibition preview evening on Friday 20th October, which was declared open by the Deputy Mayor of Swaffham, Ann Greaves. The Deputy Mayor said: "The Rotary Club of Swaffham are
an integral part of the community, and provide support and help to charities locally, nationally and internationaly when needed."
Club President Alan Henry thanked all the artists for taking part, together with the team of Rotarians and their partners, who had worked for months to put together such an excellent exhibition. He also thanked the exhibition sponsors; Bluestone, Pearsons Ltd., and the ICENI Partnership.
During the event, which was open all weekend over the 21st and 22nd October, the exhibition was attended by over four hundred visitors, who purchased £5700 worth of artwork. Over £3000 will be available to the Rotary Club of Swaffham to distribute to charities in the next year. |
Baroness Shephard Joins Rotary
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On Monday 21st August 2006, at a special induction ceremony in Fincham, Baroness Shepard of Northwold JP DL became an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Swaffham.
The picture on the left shows Club President Rtn. Alan Henry, presenting the Baroness with a Rotary lapel pin. The Baroness said she was delighted to be joining the club, and paid tribute to Rotary for all the good work that they do locally and around the world. |
Report on the Visit to Lakenheath
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A group of around forty people visited RAF Lakenheath for a full day on Monday 31st July 2006. The party were guests of the USAF, and
were welcomed by a member of the community liaison team, who escorted us throughout the day.
The visit included a tour of the facilities available to both families and the USAF staff, lunch at the Officer's Mess, meetings with the Fire Services team, and a tour of the
base Armoury. We were also given the opportunity to look inside and crawl all over one of the latest fighter aircraft used by the USAF.
Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable and excellent visit, and a great fellowship day for members, partners and friends. |
Report on the Foundation Jazz BBQ
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The annual Rotary Foundation Jazz BBQ was held this year at The Hay Barn, Oxborough, by kind permission of Rtn. Malcolm Whittley and his wife Sue.
The event was organised by Rtn. Dorothy Pulsford-Harris, and the rest of her team on the Foundation Committee.
Over 120 Rotarians, family and friends attended the event, which was held on a beautiful summer's afternoon on Sunday 30th July 2006. We are pleased
to report that the event and the raffle raised over £1000.00 for Rotary Foundation. |
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