The Rotary Club of
Cuckfield & Lindfield

The Rotary Year 2001/02

How do we enjoy our Rotary in
Cuckfield & Lindfield?

A look at just one Rotary Year: 2000/01

Fund Raising & Giving

The Club donated £1,200 to the National Osteoporosis Society to enable the continued use of the mobile scanner operating locally. Most of this sum was raised during the Christmas street collections in Cuckfield and Lindfield, supplemented by the sale of Christmas trees supplied by one of our members.

A donation of £500 was made to CHASE (the Brighton-based children's hospice at Loseley Park) from the proceeds of a collection by members at one of Brighton & Hove FC's home matches.

Two aqua boxes funded by the Club were sent to San Salvador and to Gujerat to help with relief operations in those devastated areas.

A charity concert organised by members and held at Clair Hall in Haywards Heath raised £1,150 for the St Peter & St James Home & Hospice at Wivelsfield, Headway Hurstwood Park at Newick and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The Club's major event of the Rotary year was held at the race meeting at Plumpton on Easter Saturday. A total of £4,400 was raised from race sponsorship, a raffle and a public collection at the end of the meeting. This sum is to be donated to the St Peter & St James Home & Hospice.

The annual Book Fair in King Edward's Hall Lindfield at the beginning of May was another successful event and raised £2,000 for Headway Hurstwood Park and other charities.

Members ran a coconut shy at the Cuckfield Fair in May and again on Lindfield Village Day in June. This only raises a bit of money but adds to the variety and attraction of these popular local events.

Finally we completed another grand Darts Marathon competition run by members in local pubs and clubs, making over £2,500 for our selected charities. The winners attended a prize-giving event in June at the Bull Inn, Newick.

Practical Help Locally

A number of members regularly provided weekly transport for elderly people attending the Lindfield Autumn Club, and transport was also provided to bring some disabled people home from a holiday in Hayling Island.

A Lindfield family suffering hard times and ill-health was given special help at a time of crisis.

Members carried out painting and decorating work in rooms at The Yews in Haywards Heath.

One of our members gave help to patients in the woodwork shop at Headway Hurstwood Park, where members were also refurbishing the garden shed. Another member sat on a lay panel at Princess Royal Hospital overseeing the work of patients who are mentally ill.

Members organised a local Youth Speaks competition as part of a national event for students at schools and colleges. Six teams took part and one from Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath went on to the Southern Area Final at Lancing College, where it performed well (but did not win).

In June members took part in the annual Kids Out Day, when disabled and handicapped children from Court Meadow School in Cuckfield and the Infants' School at Newick were taken out for the day to the Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey.

Further afield, six members volunteered to serve as technical advisers overseas on short term projects under the British Executive Service Overseas scheme operated in conjunction with RIBI (Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland).

The Social Scene

A group of members and wives went to Germany as guests of the link club Karlstadt-Arnstein in July for the 800th town charter anniversary celebrations.

A party of members and wives enjoyed a few days' holiday break in the Isle of Wight last October, walking, painting and playing golf. Another group went to the District 1250 Conference at Bournemouth in November. Some members attended the RIBI Conference at Bournemouth in April, and one member attended the International Convention in San Antonio, Texas, in June.

Other social events during the year included a barbecue in July, a couple of Ladies' Nights in the autumn, the President's Christmas Drinks, and the annual Charter Anniversary Dinner in March.

The monthly President's Walks (apart from a brief interruption through the recent foot and mouth epidemic) and the Supper Club meetings both survived to complete a seventh consecutive year of Club activity.

And There's More

We had a succession of good and interesting speakers at our regular weekly meetings. In June, Club members hosted and entertained for a few days a Group Study Exchange team of four farmers from District 9930 in North Island, New Zealand. Several members took part in District 1250 sports competitions, and one pair won the Bridge cup. One member photographed all the hundreds of club banners (many rarely seen) so that they are all now available for inspection in one handy volume. Another member designed and constructed a Club web site, which shortly afterwards won a special recognition award at the Rotary International Convention.

Another good year!