projects

At Christmas time the Rotary Clubs of Eastbourne AM and Eastbourne Sovereign organise a special Christmas Tree which is located outside the Congress Theatre. The tree is covered in a host of white lights each one dedicated to the memory of a loved one.

The importance of the tree is the comfort it gives to families and individuals throughout the area. Everyone has been affected at some time in their lives by the loss of a relative or friend, visiting graves is not always practical and to be able to remember someone special at Christmas is important.

Individuals are invited to sponsor a light in memory of a loved one and the money raised benefits a number of local charities. Click on the image to visit the Tree of Light website.

Overview of Projects for the International and Foundation Committee - July 2009 - June 2010

VISION AID
International is committed to collecting and sending as many pairs of unused spectacles as we can to Vision Aid.

AQUA BOX
We liaise with the Interact members and the schools where 5 boxes so far have filled.

QUICKEN TRUST
The committee has a continued commitment to support the education of a young girl in Kabbubu. She has now moved up to secondary school. We write to her and have regular reports back. Club members took part in the Static Bike ride to support the charity. Click her for images of the bike ride

Click here for images of our project in Kabbubu......

ICC MISSIONS
We work closely with ICC Missions to support the work in the Ukraine. Last year the club supported this work with an Ł800 donation. The committee will continue to support this over the coming year.

Last year we helped raise funds to provide the first part of a Nurse Training for a young woman in India living in a leper colony. Usually a relative of someone suffering from this ancient but curable disease would not have the opportunity of an education. The stigma is very great. We hope this year to be able to continue to fund this training.

INTERNATIONAL MEAL
Each year we organise an International Meal and most of the profits we make go to the Jaipur Limb Project in Delhi, India. The rest will go towards other Rotary International projects. This year the meal will be at the Ganges Indian Restaurant, at the harbour on February 25th.

Click here for more details......

CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS
Each year we sell fabulous Christmas puddings on behalf of a Rotary Club in Wales and all the money raised goes to the Clear a Minefield appeal. Last year one of our members, Dave Tritton, went out to the minefields with Past District Governor, John Wilton.

CONTACT CLUBS
We have two contact clubs, one in Kasangati, Uganda and the second in Altenburg Germany. We have been working with both clubs on a Rotary Matching Grant to provide a well in Kasangati which will provide clean water for the hospital and village. We also have the opportunity to visit and host our Altenburg contact club members.

Look at our news page for more information on the matching grant project at Kasangati.

We provide services to the local community both in Eastbourne and further afield. This year our main fundraising efforts are supporting the purchase of a RNIB Talking Book and our ongoing commitment to the Breakaway Project run by Horam based charity SASBAH. Smaller projects include a Christmas Party for disadvantaged children, christmas hampers and other treats for the local womens' refuge and support for the Eastbourne charity BabyAid who provide some Christmas joy for orphans in Romania.

Win A Car - We will be be having our stand in the Arndale Centre again this year, where we will be raising money for our community projects.

Christmas Cake Raffle - After the success of last year our ex Elite Hotels pastry chef Community Chair is raffling a beautiful handmade Christmas Cake with tickets on sale from mid October

Quiz Nights - We will be running our very succesful Quiz Nights quarterly at Alice Croft House, Eastbourne. The next quiz with the theme "Back to School" is taking place on the 20th November, tickets Ł8 to include a delicious fish and chip supper from Tsan Fish Bar in Seaside Road. There will be a fun raffle, a bar and a chance to win a case of wine in this opportunity to show off your Trivial Pursuit skills!

Rattonians Matinee Trip - on the 28th November we are taking 20 elderly people to the Rattonians' Christmas matinee and then onwards for a cream tea. This is a joint project between the Rattonians and Eastbourne AM with St Andrews School very kindly donating the minibuses to collect them and take them home.

Narrowboat trip - We are renting two narrowboats to take us to Camden Lock on the 10th March for a tour of the Talking Books studio, some retail therapy and a trip through the Regents Canal. Details are yet to be confirmed.

The youth lead for this year is James Hookway, assisted by Ben Algar. James is delighted to take up the lead on Youth, with the support of the club, and knows that this is a subject close to all members’ hearts. He would firstly like to thank Jackie Macgillivary and her team for all the hard work done in the last 12 months, particularly with carrying on the Baton of RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

On 16th October 2010 Eastbourne AM are to hold a Murder Mystery evening in the village hall of East Dean. This event has carried over from last years fund raising and will raise vital monies to send 3 Students on a RYLA weekend this autumn. The students have been chosen so we just need the support of everyone at this fun, and very worthy, event.

It is hoped that the club will continue to support RYLA through the next 12 months and plans are underway to organise an event in the early part of 2011 to fund further candidates later that same year.

Over the next few months, August through to October, plans will begin to try and liaise with local Secondary schools. It is hoped that interest can be developed within these schools so that a joint inter school ‘challenge day’ can be organised for sometime in 2011. The structure for this day has yet to be decided but may well take on the look of several different team challenges to include University challenge, general quiz and perhaps the great egg race.

Combined with the ongoing efforts of international fund raising events, the possibility of future ‘Rotary Aqua Boxes’ will also be considered at a local school level.

As a breakfast club, we have very little time on Friday mornings to get to know each other better and further develop the friendships and fellowship that bind us together as a club to achieve the objectives which are important to us all.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON ANY PROJECTS THAT SHOULD APPEAR IN THIS LIST, PLEASE FORWARD INFORMATION TO GRAHAM BUCHANAN graham@wsileadingwebdevelopment.co.uk