The recently introduced tradition of a Burns’ Night supper was very well attended this year with 38 members and guests sitting down with wee drams of the Famous Grouse, all the better to add flavour to the obligatory haggis. Georgia the Chef faced not only the challenge of cooking haggis for the first time ever but also the biggest one yet prepared and cooked by William the Tartan Butcher here in Faversham. The haggis refused to be lifted from its oven dish and collapsed in stages with the effort. Thankfully President David Kirsch-Mills had a sufficiently large section to ceremoniously parade round the guests and to stab with the dirk handed to him by Billy Rae, our regular guest with the most wonderful baritone voice.
Simon Moore delivered a very evocative speech on the immortal memory of Robert Burns, which was warmly applauded. John Blackford recited from memory the first verse of Burns’ touching poem “John Anderson, my jo” in a toast to the lassies, to which Clarissa Hanna replied with a contemporary poem, “Mrs Midas” from the Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy, followed by a reference to Melania Trump’s inauguration hat, which clearly puzzled some of the audience.
“Ae Fond Kiss” sung beautifully by Billy Rae silenced the room and the evening ended with the traditional joining of hands to sing “Auld Lang Syne” . Some guests have already signed up for Burns’ Night next year…
In mid 2024 The Rotary Club of Faversham launched the ‘Faversham Community Chest’. It is a fund set aside to assist local, Faversham based not-for-profit organisations to improve and continue to provide their much needed services within the community. Managed by the Trustees of the fund, the Community Chest has received a number of applications and we are proud to have assisted several organisations within the Faversham Community.
At its January meeting the Club hosted two of the organisations who have received support from the Community Chest - The Faversham Food Bank and The Faversham Befriending Service (operated by Swale Council Voluntary Service). It was heartwarming to hear the stories of how the support from the Community Chest has helped make a difference - especially during the darker, cold days of winter.
Other groups who have recently benefited from the Community Chest include Boughton and Dunkirk School food bank, Eastling School nurture shed and Faversham Pools.
To learn more about the Faversham Community Chest and how it can help the local community click https://favershamrotary.org/index.php/community-chest
Thank you to the people of Faversham! This year’s Christmas Carol Tour raised £5,302.
Thank you for your generosity and thank you to all those who volunteered to help with the collecting. There were two days at both Tesco and Macknade Fine Foods, plus one day in the Market Place, and of course Santa toured the streets of Faversham – for 12 nights this year.
Everything went very smoothly and we had great fun meeting our supporters as we toured the town. As usual there was a great atmosphere.
The live tracking of the float via the website was definitely well-used. Father Christmas can be quite elusive so it was good to know where he was. Thank you Santa’s elves!
The money raised will be used to support one or two international projects, but most of the funds will go to local charities and good causes, including the Umbrella Centre, the Food Bank, Porchlight, Age UK and Faversham Youth Football, to name just a few.
In the weeks before Christmas, pupils from St Mary of Charity and Davington schools were busy designing Christmas posters and writing Christmas cards. The posters are on display in the Town Hall and the cards were delivered by Rotarians to care homes in the town, together with mince pies and sweets for the residents. The Club also donated mince pies to the Umbrella Centre.
Happy Christmas everyone!
The Rotary Club of Faversham Trust Fund - Charity No. 272383