Club News

At the end of May, a party of seven Rotarians and their partners travelled to Germany where they were hosted by the Rotary Club of Soest-Lippstadt. They were joined by a group of fourteen from the Rotary Club of Harderwijk in the Netherlands, the third club in this contact group.

As usual on these occasions there was a busy programme of varied activities throughout the weekend, starting with an informal get-together and barbecue on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning we all met at Lippstadt golf club to discover how agriculture had given way to golf and leisure, followed by a friendly putting competition and lunch.

A cultural visit in the afternoon took us to the Abbey Museum at Liesborn where the Liesborn gospel takes pride of place. This manuscript has only recently been returned to Liesborn where it was created over 1000 years ago.

Another change of mood – and clothes! – was needed for the formal dinner on Saturday evening. A delicious meal was followed by speeches from the Club Presidents. The Harderwijk guests entertained everyone with their performance of how all the Dutch learn to swim – essential in a country where so much land is below sea level !!

A leisurely start to Sunday found us at a gallery of modern art in Soest before moving on for lunch in a local restaurant. All too soon it was time to say good-bye to friends old and new.

It was certainly an action-packed weekend, but there was also plenty of time for fun and friendship, two of the cornerstones of Rotary.

Organised by Faversham Rotary Club, this year’s Family Bike Ride took place on Sunday 1st June and for the fourth year running the weather was fine and sunny, if a bit breezy. 172 riders, the most yet, were started on their way by Cllr Josh Rowland, Mayor of Faversham.

The 12.5km route started and finished at the Abbey School, with the riders cycling through some of the beautiful countryside around Faversham.

Three generations of riders – children, parents and grandparents – were in some of the family groups and almost 50% of the cyclists were under 16years old. The youngest who completed the route under their own pedal power were just five years old. Even younger children were on child seats or in trailers on adults’ bikes. Well done everyone!

Judging by all the smiling faces when everyone arrived back, the riders had certainly had a good time and all the route marshals enjoyed cheering them on their way.

All that fresh air and exercise meant that the 1st Faversham Scouts were kept busy cooking for the cyclists when they returned. Bacon baps were very popular.

Thanks go to everyone involved, but particularly all the cyclists who took part.  

See you all again next year!

But the last word goes to the rather tired young rider who told a marshal at the half-way point that he was determined to finish so he could collect his medal to show to his school friends. He did reach the finish!

At the Club’s March meeting Lin Holder, the Club’s newest member, gave a very informative and interesting talk about SERV Kent Bloodrunners. Lin is one of the volunteer controllers for the Kent area.

SERV stands for Service by Emergency Response Volunteers and SERV Kent began in 1993. It is a charity providing a courier service 24hours a day, 365days of the year using around 150 volunteer bike riders, car drivers and controllers.

Lin explained that although the groups are known as Bloodrunners they in fact do a great deal more than delivering blood and blood products to NHS hospitals. The volunteers collect samples and deliver them to the appropriate laboratories and testing facilities. They also collect and deliver urgent supplies between hospitals.

The role of SERV Kent includes support for Demelza and Ellenor hospices, with collection and delivery of drugs between sites and of equipment to patients’ homes.

Other services involve the collection and delivery of donated breast milk, and support for home dialysis and transplant patients.

Since 2013 SERV Kent has supported Kent Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance with deliveries of blood to their base at Redhill.

Lin said that in the past year SERV Kent has carried out over 4500 NHS blood & sample transfers, 776 air ambulance support journeys, 222 milk runs, 385 home dialysis deliveries, 143 transplant medication journeys and 15 hospice support calls.

As a registered charity, SERV Kent provides all these services free of charge to the NHS.

They certainly are the “unseen emergency service”.

To find out more please visit www.servkent.co.uk