ROTARY CLUB OF ROCHFORD
PRESS RELEASE - 25 APRIL 2016
THE ROTARY CLUB OF ROCHFORD STARTS DISTRIBUTING RECORD CASH COLLECTED
Leading up to Christmas last year, the Rotary Club of Rochford (“The Club”) raised a record amount of more than £9,100 from its house-to-house and retail store collections around the district. The Club has now distributed some of the money raised towards a number of local good causes, fourteen of which are detailed below:
- 4th Rochford Scout Group are raising funds to provide wheelchair accessible toilets and shower room at their Rochford HQ. They have over one hundred young people as youth members and twenty-two voluntary leaders, but have been restricted in accepting wheelchair users and also had to turn down a disabled adult volunteer due to the lack of facilities. The Club was so impressed with their plans and fundraising efforts after recently touring their HQ building, that a donation of £1,000 has been made to support the project. A photo at the scout HQ is attached with Rochford Rotary Club President, Graham Jackson, Group Scout Leader, Bill Neobard and some of the scouts;
- New mobility scooter – Jim Rand, is eighty-two years old, a long-standing resident in the Rochford District, a member and former Secretary of Paglesham Church and Rochford Congregational Church. He travels around Rochford on a mobility scooter that is past its best and probably quite dangerous. The Club has purchased a replacement scooter for Jim, which has now been handed over to him as shown in the attached photo with President Graham Jackson and Rochford Rotarian, Dan Squier;
- The 2nd Hawkwell Scout Group has assisted the Club over a number of years with our Christmas collection at the Co-operative Supermarket in Rochford. They give their time freely as part of their community activity. The Club has donated £200 towards their costs of attending the Essex International Scout and Guide Jamboree Camp later this year;
- Lady McAdden Breast Cancer Appeal and the Mushroom Theatre Company. In recognition of Sainbury’s allowing the Club to make a collection at their Rayleigh Weir store, the club donated £250 to each of these important local charities who Sainbury’s also support;
- The Old People’s Welfare Committee for Rochford and District. As in previous years, the Club donated £100 towards the cost of their annual Christmas lunch;
- The Footprints Community Group, St Marks Hall, Rochford. The organisation assists deprived families and children and provides a base for community meetings and activities. The Club has supported their annual Christmas Party with a £250 donation;
- Rayleigh, Rochford and District Association for Voluntary Service (RRAVS). As in previous years, the Club has supported RRAVS “Families in Need” appeal, which provides some Christmas cheer for disadvantaged families in the area, with a £250 donation;
- Havens Hospices. The Club made a general donation of £1,000 towards their running costs and another for £250 in memory of one of the Club’s Honorary Members who sadly passed away recently at the Hospice;
- Kaos Youth Club, Ashingdon & East Hawkwell Memorial Hall. This was set up in July 2015 and has over 70 young people aged between ten and fifteen who meet and enjoy activities including cooking, pool, table tennis, craft, football, Xbox, PS4 and Djing. The Club donated £200 towards the cost of a new television and a PS4 games consul for use by the members;
Rayleigh Age Concern – The Todman Centre. The Club has donated £250 towards a commercial dishwasher for the Centre;
- Grade 2 Listed Buildings and were built circa 1600 by Lord Ryche. They are provided for single people of pensionable age, who do not own their own property and have no more than Social Security level of capital and have lived or worked in the Rochford District for a long period of time. The Club donated £500 in 2014 towards a new domestic boiler and double glazing for the properties. The Club has now donated another £500 towards providing a shower and cubicle with a seat and low level toilet for an occupier who can no longer use a bath
- Kerry Walters is a young lady who had an horrific motorcycle accident in Brays Lane, Rochford in June 2015. Kerry lost her right leg, but bravely took her first steps in August on a temporary prosthetic leg. A former King Edmund School student, she was a dedicated horse rider with aspirations to compete in the Olympics. The Club was so impressed with her determination to ride again and raise money for a permanent prosthetic limb, we have donated £500 towards the cost;
- St. Nicholas School is a community special school in Southend, offering a quality, inclusive education for secondary age pupils with a range of difficulties including communication and interaction, cognition and learning, autism, social and medical needs. The Club has supported the school for many years through an annual national Rotary event called “Kids Out”. The Club takes the students to Talk Nightclub and they are treated to a disco and food and then on to Adventure Island for a two-hour session exploring the many rides on offer. The Club also assisted the school with the cost of a coach to take a choir from the school to perform at the London Palladium last year.
Rochford Rotary Club President, Graham Jackson, said: “It’s great to see the record amount of money which was so generously donated by so many people in our area during the Christmas period last year being put to such good use within our community. We believe that many people - young and old - have benefited from our endeavours.”