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Press Releases
After any major charitable or social event, the Club issues a Press release to ensure that maximum publicity is given to the recipients. Here is a selection of recent releases, together with the associated photographs:
BURMA RELIEF:
The Rotary Club of Eastbourne has donated five ShelterBoxes to the disaster relief in Myanmar (Burma), from monies raised at our Jazz concert in April. Shelterbox's own response teams have ensured that the boxes reached the disaster victims without delay!
Since 2004, our Club has purchased a total of sixteen Shelterboxes for use around the world.
See our "Gallery page" for more information on Shelterboxes or visit http://www.shelterbox.org/.
PRESS RELEASE: 10th June 2008
Funwalk-Funday is looking for the Sun!
The Rotary Club of Eastbourne is organising its annual Charity Funwalk & Funday again this year. In an effort to find some better weather after the washouts of the last three years, the date has been moved to Bank Holiday Sunday 24th August 2008. The event will take place on the Western Lawns, King Edward’s Parade, opposite the Grand Hotel.
The Funwalk allows local Charities & individuals to raise money for their own good causes in an event run by the Rotary Club. The organisation of the Funwalk, applications & entries will all be managed by Rotary Club members, with assistance from a dedicated team of local supporters. The Funwalk will start at 11am, with check-in from 10am. Walkers will have a choice of three different length routes along the seafront - 1.5 miles, 3 miles or 6 miles, all routes being patrolled by Marshalls, and wheelchair users are encouraged to get involved in the fun as well. There will be entertainment throughout the day in the arena & around the Lawns.....bands, Punch & Judy, displays, etc with food & soft drinks also available. A particularly special display will be provided by the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Showtrailor, a “monster” of a truck, complete with visual display units, large screen projection & even a built-in climbing wall for children!
Pitches on the Western Lawns are available to Charities at no cost, to run competitions, display their wares and promote their activities. To recover the expenses of running the Funday, the Rotary Club will invoice participants after the event for 10% of each Funwalker’s sponsorship money. Rotarian John Coffey is co-ordinating the 2008 Funwalk and Funday. He said ‘Although the weather in the past few years was not kind to us, massive amounts of sponsorship were raised by walkers to support a variety of local charities. With an assurance of better weather this year (we hope!), we look forward to a bumper turnout of walkers for the 2008 Funwalk to raise even more money for good causes’.
If you would like to take part as a Walker or would like a pitch for your Charity stand, the relevant application form(s) can be downloaded from the Funwalk page on the Club’s website or obtained from Beckett Newspapers, 1 Commercial Road, Eastbourne.
PRESS RELEASE: 28th April 2008
The Rotary Club of Eastbourne keeps pressure in check!
The Rotary Club of Eastbourne teamed up with The Stroke Association to hold the fifth annual Stroke Awareness day in the Arndale Centre on Saturday 26th April. The aim was to combat high blood pressure which is the biggest risk factor for strokes.
From 10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. a team of Rotarians and medical personnel were present to take blood pressure readings for members of the public.
Two members of the Rotary Club, Dr Peter Nash and Dr Alan Forster, headed the medical team. They were ably supported by nurses from the Community Stroke Rehabilitation Team based at Firwood House in Hampden Park. They were also joined by two theatre sisters from the District General Hospital and a Macmillan nurse; all of whom cheerfully gave up their Saturday to help out.
The event was co-ordinated by Rotarian Barrie Gent. He said that the day was a great success. A total of 356 blood pressure measurements were taken. Sixty three people were recommended to visit their GP including six for whom urgent referals were recommended. Barrie added ‘It demonstrated again that many people are unaware that they have high blood pressure and risk the onset of a stroke or other related illness. Each year, approximately 20% of the blood pressure readings we take warrant further attention’.
Our picture shows the Mayor of Eastbourne, Cllr Mary Pooley, having had her blood pressure taken by Nurse Brenda Rigsby from the Community Stroke Rehabilitation team.
PRESS RELEASE: 18th February 2008
Support for Literacy Projects
2008 is National Year of Reading, with the slogan ‘Every Child a Reader’, and in anticipation of Rotary Literacy Month in March, the then-President of The Rotary Club of Eastbourne Bob Hamblyn has visited local schools to support their literacy projects.
The Head Teacher of Bourne County Primary School, David Swales, was the speaker at the Club’s meeting on 28th January. He explained that the school is located in an area of high social deprivation (Devonshire ward) and has a higher than average ratio of children with special educational needs. English is an additional language for a large number of pupils, and a staggering total of 34 other languages are spoken by the pupils. David outlined the school’s five attainment targets in literacy: speaking and listening, reading, writing, spelling and handwriting.
The school provides a language rich environment with lots of positive role models – adults and children; with group reading, shared reading with adults and support from Volunteer Reading Help. Jacqueline Wilson is the Volunteer Services Manager for VRH in Sussex and she joined David to explain the benefits of the scheme and in particular how it works so well in a school like Bourne.
Later President Bob visited Bourne School and presented the Club’s cheque for £500 to help the school train its VRH volunteers. Helen Roberts has also spoken to the Club about the work of South Downs Outreach Service. The Service aims to support as many children as possible who are referred with language and communication difficulty; and to support staff working with those children in mainstream schools. Children with language and social communication difficulties often find it hard to access school life fully, and the curriculum in particular. They may find it hard to concentrate, interact with their peers, respond in an appropriate way and as a result often have low self esteem. As a consequence of their problems, they may also have behavioural problems. The Service supports these children who either come into the Language Suite for two sessions each week with specialist teaching; or with one-to-one support in their own schools by outreach staff for two sessions each week, or with a mixture of both types of support.
President Bob visited South Downs Community Special School and attended a celebration assembly led by Deputy Head Teacher, Sharon James. Afterwards, he presented the Club’s cheque for £500 which will be invested in Teaching Resource Boxes to assist the children when they study specific topics or themes.
