Club News

At the end of January, Forest of Blean Rotary held its annual quiz to raise funds for ShelterBox Emergency Disaster Relief.

As in previous years, Faversham Rotary entered a team of 8 keen quizzers to support FoB and ShelterBox.

It was a fun evening with a very close-run battle between the Chris Cox table, Faversham Rotary and the Baxter table. There were only 16 points between first and last, with all 16 teams scoring highly.
The Cox team once again proved invincible – but Faversham were a close second, just one point behind. Maybe next year……..!

The evening raised more than £2800 for ShelterBox. What a great result.

Rotary at its best – having fun while fundraising!

https://shelterbox.org

The Rotary Cinque Ports Group is just what its name suggests! It’s a group of 14 Rotary clubs with links to the Cinque Ports, either one of the five original “head ports”, one of the two “ancient towns” or one of the seven “limbs”.

Group members meet from time to time for lunch or dinner, to enjoy each other’s company and to listen to a guest speaker.

The most recent meeting was held in Dover in January and was attended by two members of Faversham Rotary, Clarissa and Ruth.

Dr Helen Clayton spoke about her work in Sierra Leone with the charity Transform Salone which provides education, medical assistance and food relief.

The event raised £625, which will be directed towards the Salone lighting project which is working to provide solar lighting in villages without electricity. It will contribute to the safety of women and girls, and children will be able to study and complete their homework in the evenings.

Additionally, Helen confirmed that 728 toothbrushes were collected. This will have a positive impact as poor dental hygiene can result in long-term health issues.

For those interested in learning more about the charity Transform Salone, whose work is at the heart of these initiatives, please visit www.Transform-Salone.org       

Jenny McCarthy was the guest speaker at the club’s early January meeting. She spoke about Carers’ Support East Kent, a Kent based charity which offers a range of services for adult carers, including young adult carers aged 16 to 24 years old.

Information, support and signposting are provided by phone, email, text, online and in person.

The teams of paid staff make home visits if possible, meeting up to three or four carers per day.

In some circumstances, they can arrange respite care so that carers can have a break, even if only for a few hours to have “time for me”. The mental health of carers is an area of concern for Carers’ Support.

There are drop-ins and support groups where carers can share their experiences and realise that they are not alone.

In Faversham alone there are over 700 registered carers and probably many more who are unregistered. They may not think of themselves Carers, but if they look after a relative or friend who couldn’t manage without their help, then they are Carers.

Carers’ Support East Kent website www.carersek.org.uk