The 50 year old Carnival was controversially cancelled last year after organisers could not reach agreement with police over the route of the parade and the cost of signage. With Abergele Round Table and Abergele Rotary Club stopping the traffic, the colourful parade once again took to the streets of Abergele. The parade that started from Tesco at noon headed through the town centre towards Pentre Mawr Park, where we had set up a display consisting of the Shelterbox gazebo, a number of boxes, together with a collection of posters about Shelterbox and our Rotary Club.
The carnival opened at 1.30pm, when our display was supplemented by the arrival of the old Abergele fire engine, having taken part in the parade, driver by Rtn Colin Knowlson . This proved to be of great interest to the public, and helped in drawing them towards our display. The field events had started about 10am and we manned the display all day until about 6pm. Highlights of the day included a fancy dress competition, a baby show and martial arts display, wrestling, and the excellent weather helped make the day.
Even though many different originations were vying for the support of the public, we collected £35, for Shelterbox, and the display proved to be a valuable PR exercise both for Shelterbox and our Rotary Club, and we believe this will bear fruit in the coming months when some of the offers of support we received come to fruition.
Our Earlier Press Releases Click Below
found that the disabled want to do things for themselves, whenever possible and that on board most things are possible due to the design of the ship.
Working with someone in such a close environment, often helps develop firm friendships, many of which go on for years after the end of a voyage. The whole experience is very uplifting and enjoyable she said, and the benefits to both groups are immense.
of whom are in wheelchairs, can participate in the full experience of manning and steering a tall ship,
taking the full four hour watch, day and night, alongside the able-
of many of the club memb
ers, who asked Gillian a number of questions following her talk. President Richard gave a vote of thanks. Gillian Barratt, Following the speaker President Richard moved on to another pleasant part of the evening.
Richard was pleased to be able to announce that the club had arranged a
Paul Harris Fellowship award (PHF) as a surprise
for Rtn. Edward Lyons, in celebration of his 90th birthday this week. Rotarian Ron Jones who made the presentation on
behalf of the club mentioned, that Edward has given longer service to Abergele Rotary and the local community and
continues to do so. Since attending the Abergele clubs first charter presentation in 1972 ,Edward has given freely of his
time, despite having an hectic work schedule, until his retirement, heading
up the eye department, at St Asaph Hospital,
(which he helped found in the early 50s,) On three occasions Edward has been chairman of the clubs International Committee and has remained a
very regular attendee at both committee and business meetings and his wise words have always been both encouraging and enthusiastic.
August 2010
for £50 was to be sent to Shelterbox, and that one for £250.00p was to be sent to Aquabox, to pay for the
full cost of an Aqua30 box to aid the victims of floods in Pakistan, Aquabox say that they will have shipped
500 Standard Aquaboxes and the equivalent of 24 Aqua 30's by the end of September. These have a
nominal value before shipping of £50,000. An Aquabox 30 comprises a rigid plastic container
with approximately 75 litre capacity and 30 Filter Purification sets to give a 33,000 litre capability.
President Richard was pleased to announce that therecent barbeque at Manorafon had been a great
success, raising £1,500 for St Kentigern. Special
thanks to Gino and the ladies of the Abergele
St Kentigern fund raising committee for all their
work in preparing and serving the food.
The next big event the club is involved in is the
Abergele Rotary Club Annual Men’s Charity Open
Golf Tournament, in aid of local charities this will
take place on Wednesday 15th September 2010.
At Abergele Golf Club with start times from
11-
first 4 teams, the entrance fee is £60 per team of 3. Members were reminded that help will be needed on the
day and that if any one wishes to enter a team, or knows of any none members that would be
interested in entering a team they should contact: Dave Hughes, on 01745 825061.
Members were also reminded that Summer Fun Quiz forms are still on sale until the 25th of September and
that any completed forms must be handed in by 30th of September, as the prize draw will take place at the
club meeting following that date. -
6 th September 2010
Philippa , who was an extremely articulate and well prepared speaker, told the members about the many ways this condition can manifest itself and that the individuality and unpredictable progression of the condition mean that it is absolutely vital for those living with Parkinson's to receive regular comprehensive advice and support from both medical and social care professionals. However, access to such support across Wales is currently inconsistent and insufficient. She went on to say that Parkinson's UK believes that no-
5th of October.
enthusiasm about the company, which is a family business, that was founded in 2007 by Steve and his wife Juliet West, with director Mark Ellis joining the team soon after. He told the club that the company currently employs 12 people and that they specialise in the creation of premium puddings and desserts, that are hand-
Inner Whe
el Club at their Christmas Party.
On Monday evening the 6th of December, at the invitation of our wives and partners, members of the Rotary club of Abergele, joined the ladies of the Inner Wheel Club at their Christmas Party. This was held at the Kinmel Manor Hotel where we were treated to a superb evening of entertainment, food and fellowship. The entertainment was provided by a group of very talented young people, with an age range of from 7 to 14, singing as a choir and individually as well as playing instruments such as the harp, French horn and cornet. One young boy performed a recitation, which 3 years earlier had won him a first prize at the Urdd Eisteddfod, the expression and humour he put into his performance rendered a translation unnecessary, as was obvious from the warmth of the applause
use. Following a varied and by-
Lunch On 7th December
And The Club Welcomes Another New Member
On the following day at the first lunch time meeting of the Rotary Club of Abergele
on the 7th of December President Richard Arrowsmith was pleased to be able to induct
a new member into the club. Following a short induction ceremony, Richard welcomed,
Rtn. David Hall to the club and the world-
January 4th at the first meeting in 2011
On the 4th of January at the first meeting in 2011 of the Rotary Club of Abergele
members were pleased to extend a warm welcome Mariko Uno, who is one of the Rotary
Ambassadorial Scholars that are staying in our Distract this year 
and attending Bangor
University.
Mariko who was also the Speaker for the evening makes
an excellent Ambassador for her country. She has
studied the English language since she was 15 years
old and developed an interest in Language Acquisition
and Research. She graduated in Language education
in Japan and was also awarded a Diploma in New
Zealand for her work in this field. The Rotary scholarship
as enabled her to continue with her research into
Language as a Post Graduate student at Bangor
University, which has an international reputation in
the fielded. Mariko's told the club that her ultimate goal
is to become a researcher or to teach students who
share her interest in Language Acquisition in
other countries including Japan. She has a strong
belief that language education makes a significant contribution to global communication and peace and hopes that more and more people in the world can experience the joy of exchanging their cultures.
With the aid of a number of photographs she told the club about her home town and a little about life in Japan. Her pleasant manner and warm personality and intelligent answers to the questions the club members asked of her clearly displayed why she had been selected to receive the scholarship from her home Rotary District. And why she had also been invited to give a presentation about Linguistic and Language Acquisition at an International Conference held in Maryland USA, October 2010.
Prior to introducing the speaker President Richard had announced the results of our collections with Santa’s Christmas Float and thanked everyone that had given support to the Rotary and Round Table enabling us to collect a total of £5,196 which will be divided between the two clubs after making donations to the Abergele Venture Scouts (who helped with the collections), and the Abergele Council of Churches (for carol singing during our Tesco collection).The money collected is used to support local good causes as well as support for international disasters with the supply of emergency aid boxes containing water filtration and survival equipment
February 2011
Abergele Rotary Club President, Richard Arrowsmith, was particularly pleased to introduce the speaker at the meeting on the 1st of February, as it was one of the three new members that have joined the club in recent months. David Sydney Hall fascinated the club members with his well structured talk that gave members a good insight in to the personality, integrity and abilities that combine to form the character that is David. Although he tended to down play his achievements in a light hearted way, the talk left members in no doubt of the asset he will be to the club, and the community that it serves. David, who once spent 4 years as a volunteer Samaritan, went to grammar school in Wigan, and by his own admission achieved more on the rugby fielded than he did in his studies. After leaving school he worked as a mechanic fitting aerials to tall masts for the emergency services communications network, whilst studying in his free time to become a Chartered Engineer, specialising in Telecom's and computer systems. As the technology revolution progressed these skill proved to be transferable to the oil and gas industry where he had a 25 year career working in many different locations around the world, and ending his time as a senior manager with an international oil and gas company. Where his systematic way of working enabled him to restructure the way the company worked, before retiring at the age of 50. He then moved to Wales where he has taken a keen interest in the local community enjoying his life, his motor cycle and his touring caravan whilst slowly learning to speak Welsh.
Following the speaker members were asked to volunteer to man the club’s “get to know
Rotary” stand and the collection that is due to take place at Abergele Tesco on the
23rd of February. This will be part of a week-
March 2011
Abergele Rotary Club wish to thank Tesco for allowing a collection at the Abergele store, on the 23rd of February, and all the shoppers that contributed towards the total of £166 that was collected in aid of the Rotary Polio Eradication Campaign. This amount will now benefit from the Gates Foundation $200 Million Rotary Challenge to the tune of £294, making the total value of this collection £460 that will be used to protected children from this crippling and potently deadly virus.
At the meeting held on the 1st of March President Richard Arrowsmith was pleased to welcome 7 guests to a “Get to know Rotary” evening. This was the second year in succession that the Abergele Rotary Club has celebrated the anniversary of Rotary International, with a collection for Polio Eradication, followed by this kind of meeting. The first speaker was Tudor Jones who explained that it was 106 years since the first meeting of a Rotary Club took place in Chicago USA. And that this year is the 40th year of Rotary in Abergele. As a founder member of the Abergele club Tudor was able to give a vivid description of how the club was formed and of the early days of the club and of the local good causes that the club have supported over the years.
This was followed by the clubs VP (Vice President) Dr David Gozzard giving a brief description of how Rotary has evolved over the years, from a gentlemen’s club, to a duel gender service club. He also outlined how Rotary is still changing to meet the challenges of the 21st century and the evolving role of Rotary in the voluntary sector and the need for new members, in light of the cuts to services and ever increasing need for help both locally and from international emergencies.
This was followed by a presentation given by the clubs PRO and International Chair, Chris O’Brien, who outlined details of a possible new fund rising project, that if implemented could potentially make a substantial contribution to the clubs charitable funds and become a popular annual event in the clubs programme. Following this presentation a discussion took place with members and guests making suggestions of how the plan could be amended, improved or implemented, Chris thanked all the contributors to the discussion, saying that the discussion had proved valuable in that all the comments could be discussed and taken in to account, if, or when, formal planning for the event is implemented by the club council.
VP. David ended the evening by thanking Tudor and Chris, for their contributions to the evening and the guests for coming along and showing an interest in Rotary and inviting them to take a membership application.
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29th of March
The International Committee of the Rotary Club of Abergele held a fund-
The reason for selecting the “Literacy in a Box Trust” as the recipient of the proceeds from this year’s international meal event, was our belief that improving levels of literacy is one of the keys to the development of many poor countries, after all if you can't read, or write, it is virtually impossible to acquire the skills to overcome poverty and support your family, let alone progress in modern society. The Trustees of the “Literacy in a Box Trust” are all Rotarians, so we know that the maximum amount possible of the money we donate will be spent on improving levels of literacy, rather than on administration and wages and this fact played a large part in our decision. The event which was open to members, wives and friends, attracted 22 diners in total and raised £120 for the charity.
Chris O’Brien, the club’s International Chairman, said that: “The evening was a success, and everyone told me that they enjoyed it.” President of the Abergele Rotary club Richard Arrowsmith, thanked the restaurant management for the excellent meal. He also thanked Chris and his committee for organising the event.
If any of your readers would like to know more about the “Literacy in a Box Trust” they can find the website at : http://literacyboxtrust.org.uk/ or, if they would like to know how to join Rotary or they are just interested in helping us in changing the world, they can ring Abergele Rotary club on: 07747651077 or see the club website www.abergelerotary.org
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APRIL 5th APRIL 3011
There was an excellent turnout of Abergele Rotary Club members on the 5th of April when the club hosted a joint meeting with the Abergele Inner Wheel Club.
The after dinner speaker was Mr Ray Jones, President of B.I.R.D. (British International
Rescue & Search Dogs) that is based in Llanfairfechan, Ray who is 82 told the meeting
that B.I.R.D is a highly trained team of un-
Ray went on to tell the meeting that the services they provide are delivered free of charge to the recipients, and that they operate solely on donations and sponsorships. In the case of an international call out, much of the air transport the team rely on to get them, their dogs, their food and water, drilling and cutting equipment to an emergency, is donated by British Airways, and Virgin. With other national air lines helping out, when the team is responding to a situation in that airlines own country. Ray said that much of the teams work can be very harrowing, but that it is a bonus when they get someone out alive. Although Ray is now mainly spending his time on fund raising, and administration, it was obvious from the many anecdotes that he told of his exploits and the numerous photos’ on display, that he had been a very active member of the team over the years, and that he could still be relied upon to play hide and seek with the dogs as part of the search and rescue training.
The Rotary clubs Vice President Dr. David Gozzard, gave the vote of thanks, saying that he was amazed that such a service could be operating so close to Abergele and he thanked Ray for his talk and for bringing details of this vital service to the clubs’ attention.
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MAY 3RD 2011
For the second time this year members of Abergele Rotary Club were pleased to welcome
two new members to the club. On the 3rd of May Richard Arrowsmith, The club President
was pleased to be able to perform the inductions himself, despite his recent illness
still causing him some difficulty, he introduced Rtn. Barry Richards and Rtn. Brian
Laing, 
to Rotary fellowship, Following the short ceremony Richard introduced the
guest speaker for the evening Mr. Mike Laugharne, Mike was speaking for “PAPYRUS
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Mike who comes from Mold, started by giving a number of shocking statistics about
young suicide. He also told the club that PAPYRUS is a membership organisation that
anyone can join, Members’ experiences and views inform the work and direction of
the charity. The main focus of the charity spans an age range up to 35, but much
of the work activity is of benefit to all age groups, so no-
Supporting suicidal young people and those who live and work with them, they operate a
national confidential helpline – HOPE LINE UK on: 0800 684141 -
They try to engage with the young people to promote positive mental health and emotional wellbeing. They also contribute to policy making at both government and local level and share expertise and good practice.
They support research and disseminate the findings, and campaign for change. They also work with media to encourage responsible reporting, work in partnership with others to reduce the incidence of suicide, and produce resources for young people, families and professionals, as well as signposting people to appropriate agenc.ies for further help when possible.
Vice President Dr. David Gozzard, gave the vote of thanks to Mike for his talk and asked him to pass on or thanks to Papyrus, for the work they do, saying that although the subject of the talk had been somewhat sombre, it is a problem that need highlighting and the service provided by PAPYRUS is much needed in Wales and the rest of the UK .
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June 2011
At the meeting of the Rotary Club of Anergele that took place on the 7th of June, President Elect Rtn. David Gozzard, welcomed :
AG (Assistant District Governor) Rtn. Colin Godfrey, 
to this year’s Club Assembly,
and explained to the members that in order to allow us a more relaxed atmosphere,
our AG was already in receipt of reports, from all of the various committee chairs,
and the club secretary. These reports outlined the various committee's hopes and
plans for the club in the Rotary year 2011-
President elect David, thanked everyone for their attendance, their Contributions and their Patience, in light of the noisy disco that had persisted throughout the meeting , which he assured the District Governor , was not the norm for the club meeting , but was in fact an unusual one off event taking place in the ball room next door to the meeting. He than ended the meeting by proposing a toast to Rotary and Peace the World over!
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21st June 2011
At the last business meeting of the current Rotary year the members of Abergele Rotary Club were pleased to welcome four guests to the meeting, two of whom were a visiting Rotarian and his wife from Tornio, in Finland, The other two guests were both ladies, one being the guest of the vice President and the other of the second vice president, VP. David was delighted to advise the meeting that his guest, Lynne Pritchard, of the Departure Lounge, Abergele, is destined to become the first lady member of the club.
After welcoming the guests David, asked the Club Secretary Rtn. Kevin Brown, to report on the progress made in reorganising the club’s annual in care evening that had to be postponed from May. Kevin advised that the various residential homes and clubs are being contacted to ask if moving the time of the event from evening to afternoon would be of benefit to their residents or members, and so far this would seem to be the likely outcome, possibly towards the end of September. A new venue had been identified and catering identified that would allow the club to provide a more inclusive and sustainable event.
Vice President David Gozzard then congratulated Rtn. John McLaren, on becoming Mayor of Abergele, before calling on him to give the report on the clubs community service activities John advised the club that his committee are actively seeking a local disabled young person that would benefit from a sailing experience on board one of the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s tall ships. And that the Rotary junior school photographic competition that was successfully initiated the club last year, will take place again during the summer holiday, with judging taking place in September. John also told the club that the club’s annual fund raising bingo sessions will start at Towyn Community Centre at 8pm on Friday the 8th of July, and will continue until the 9th of September. VP David then called on Rtn. Chris O’Brien to give the International Service report, Chris started by inviting interested members to join the International and Foundation Committee in the coming Rotary year, which starts in July. He then went on to advise members that receipts for donations the club had made recently to various charities had been received these included Water Aid, Save a Child’s heart, and the Rotary Foundation.
VP. David, thanked everyone for their attendance, then ended the meeting by proposing a toast to Rotary and Peace the World over.
