Year 2012

President Geoff Dew and Sally entertained members and guests to drinks and nibbles at the Redwood Centre Haywards Heath on Saturday 7 January

President Geoff Dew makes the presentation to Johanne Hodgkinson, Centre Co-ordinator, supported by Lilian Constable, Joan Palmer, Doreen Lowes and Tony Thonger, together with Club Past President Trevor Clapp

The Club helped to complete the refurbishment of Age UK's Redwood Centre in Haywards heath by donating a large chiller cabinet to the local organisation. Whilst there are full meals available at lunchtime, the chiller enables members to enjoy a snack or refreshing cool drink whenever they want.

The association between the two organisations has existed for many years, to the benefit of area's seniors citizens. The Club funded the construction of the conservatory which gives Age UK members the opportunity to enjoy the views of the park, even on cold winter days. In return the Club uses the function room for social events, in particular when entertaining guests from their international partner clubs.

Age UK at Haywards Heath is very active in providing a range of activities and services at the Redwood Centre, located alongside Clair Hall, plus trips out and holidays.

David Wilson and Alan Dearden present a cheque for £1,000 to Meyrav Mor for her trip to Nepal

Meyrav Mor had already established a school for 3 to 6 year-olds in Kathmandu, which is flourishing with local staff 15 years later.

She has now been requested to research the situation of early learning in the remote, mountain district of Humla, in north-western Nepal in June. This is with a view to formulating a curriculum which marries local culture with education. The Club paid for her £1,000 air fares.

The winning team and their Oathall supporters

New member introduced
to the Club

On the same evening that the Club entertained the Oathall team and supporters to supper at the Bent Arms, President Geoff Dew inducted Jaime Wallden as a member.

The Club now has 44 members, all dedicated to the Rotary motto – Service above Self.

This popular and well established event was concluded in June 2012 for the fourteenth consecutive year – in excess of £100,000 has been raised by the Cuckfield & Lindfield Club over this period through this competition for local and other charities. The Club’s experience has indicated that the demand for funding charities continues to reach ever increasing financial heights – locally, nationally and internationally.

For this local event this year, the Club has supported St. Peter & St. James Hospice North Chailey, and Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice near Arundel, together with other charities supported by Rotary.

At the entertaining and very successful Presentation Evening, arranged with Andy and Linda Jones and held at the Horsted Club Horsted Keynes, representatives from the two hospices were presented with a cheque for £5,500 each.

The Club made a profit of around £15,000 for their charities together with just over £2,000 raised by some event participants for their own charities.

The 2012 Winners

Attended by over 100 event participants, guests and Club members and wives, the prizes for 2012 were presented at the annual Presentation Evening and the winners were:

Ladies: The Crown Inn, Newick. Sponsored by: Derek Hopkins, Past President of the Club

Gentlemen: The Crown Inn, Newick. Sponsored by: Bakers Timber Buildings, Bolney Grange Business Park

Mixed: Ansty Sports & Social Club. Sponsored by: Savills, Estate Agents, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath

Highest Sponsorship: Brooks Braithwaite (Sussex) Ltd, Haywards Heath. Sponsored by: Bentleys, Chartered Certified Accountants, South Road, Haywards Heath

The Club coconut shy is a regular feature at community events in Cuckfield and Lindfield – such as village days and the Cuckoo Fair.

Saturday 2 June 2012 turned out to be a fine warm and sunny day (contrary to the more gloomy weather forecast) and Lindfield Village Day formed an integral part of a great weekend of celebrations marking the Queen's 60th Anniversary Jubilee.

As usual the Club's coconut shy was one of the many successful stands on the Lindfield village common – and it had a record take. More importantly it gave pleasure to the many children (and adults sometimes) who had a shy during the afternoon.

At the end of June five members and their wives made the biennial visit to the Rotary Club of Karlstadt-Arnstein, about 100 km east of Frankfurt.

After a reception on arrival, the visitors were entertained by non-hosting Rotarians at dinner parties.

Saturday saw the party boarding a large raft to float down the River Main for four hours. A tasting of local Franken wines was interspersed with local snacks and the entertainment was provided by a compere with lots of German jokes, some of which translated very well.

A hog roast of wild boar was the main dish at a jolly evening barbecue which ended just in time before a dramatic thunder storm. Sunday morning was free time with visitors' hosts.

David Wilson and Ellie were shown round Würtzberg, in particular the Residenz, which is second only, in splendour to the Palace of Versailles. This was followed by a tasting of more local Franken wines and food at a restaurant nearby

Oone of the highlights of the Club visit was a raft cruise along the River Main to Gerlachshausen – pictured above (left) the flower-bedecked raft, and (right) some of the happy passengers, foremost President Geoff Dew and Sally.

On 2 October, as customary now, Club members joined the Lindfield Scouts in their hut for an evening of presentations and bangers & mash.

Explorer scout Jack Hagger (centre) talked about his Tall Ships Youth Trust voyage on the brig Stavros S Niarchos, and Georgia Maddock (left) gave a presentation on her five-day Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) course at High Ashurst Outdoor Education Centre, Box Hill, in April. Georgia received from President Alan Bray the David Jenkins Medal, a new award made by the Club in memory of former member the late Dr David Jenkins.

Also pictured: Andrew Pearcy (second left), a 2011 RYLA course participant and chairman of the Oathall College team which won the national finals of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition this year. The evening was hosted by Jeremy Pearcy (second right), Chairman of the 1st Lindfield Scout Group

Ardingly College's winning team in the Senior section – (left to right) Jenya Morrice, Juliet Frost, Hazel Chon with Alan Bray, President Cuckfield & Lindfield Rotary Club, Councillor Will Blunden, Chairman Lindfield Parish Council, Councillor Gordon Marples

Great Walstead's winning team in the Intermediate Section (left to right) Councillor Gordon Marples, Poppy Phelps, Florence Merrett and Luca Williams

Details about opportunities for young people can be obtained from Bill Cormie, Youth Activities, Cuckfield and Lindfield Rotary Club. Telephone 01444 482780

If the audience at this year’s Rotary “Youth Speaks” competition for schools thought they were going to witness a celebration of the Queen’s achievements in her Jubilee Year, they could not have been more mistaken. Speaking for Great Walstead, Luca Williams pressed home his main point, which was all about “sending HER victorious,” a skilfully articulated argument in favour of the first-born child of a monarch succeeding to the throne regardless of sex.

As one of three teams representing Great Walstead in the intermediate section for 11 to 13 year-olds, Luca, together with Florence Merrett (Chair) and Poppy Phelps (Vote of thanks) took first place to go into the next round of the national competition. Florence was voted Best Chair. Willemijn Paul, also from Great Walstead took the prize for Best Speaker with her perceptive observations on “Do people fulfil their potential?” Ardingly Prep had two teams in the competition and their Tabitha Anderson came out on top with the Best Vote of Thanks.

In the Senior section, Juliet Frost from Ardingly College expertly tackled the paradoxes associated with “New paradigms in Art.” With a beautifully structured speech, Juliet illustrated how tastes change over time by quoting from William Wordsworth’s “Daffodils,” - poorly reviewed by his contemporaries in 1807 but now one of the best-loved poems in the English language.

Juliet took the Best Speaker award in the Senior section for 14 – 17 year-olds. Her Chair, Hazel Chon was Best Chair and with Jenya Morrice (Vote of thanks) they are through to the next round. The adjudicators said they were particularly impressed by the way that Hazel and Jenya spoke, as English is their second language. The award for Best Vote of Thanks went to Morwenna Richard from Warden Park Academy.

Awards to the teams were presented by Councillor Gordon Marples, Vice-Chairman of Mid-Sussex District Council, who said that the inspiring results on the evening were a tribute to the hard work put in by all of the teams and their teachers.

Alan Bray, President of Cuckfield & Lindfield Rotary Club, said, “We are delighted to have had 10 teams competing this year, - a record for us and no doubt inspired by Oathall’s win in the National Competition last year. But it’s not just about numbers, the standards were very high and we can look forward to more success in the future. Once again it shows what a wealth of young talent there is when it comes to public speaking. We are delighted we can help develop their confidence and skills in this way.”

Club members had another busy time when the Lindfield Shopping Night took place in the High Street on Tuesday 4 December.

At the Plumpton Christmas Race Meeting on 17 December the Rotary Club of Cuckfield & Lindfield raised £600 for St Peter and St James Hospice. A choir comprised of the ladies of the Inner Wheel Club of Cuckfield & Lindfield, with the aid of a few bass and tenor voices from Rotarians, sang carols to entertain before the race.