The Rotary Club of Edinburgh
Bulletin 2,070 - 4th August 2005
REVIEW
Attendance
Last week we had 65 members and one guest at the Club. Members of the Rotary Club of Dingly Village in Australia have been in Edinburgh this last week and left greetings for our Club with the Hotel. Forbes Ridland has been visiting St. Andrews Rotary Club.
The Next Charity Lunch
A charity lunch is planned for Thursday 8th. September. The Hotel generously donate 50% of the lunch money to the club for charitable purposes. This is a fund raising gift not to be ignored and it may be just the time to bring along a guest to the club lunch. Who knows, as a bonus your guest just might also like to join!
Rotary First Responders.
There have been two Save a Life Courses held by the Red Cross. Twenty members and fourteen spouses, children and friends attended the courses. These were professionally presented by experienced lecturers. They were considered to be practical, interactive and worthwhile. Since 70% of cardiac arrests occur outside hospital, mainly in the home, family members should be encouraged to attend. It is hoped that further courses may take place in the autumn to allow more members to participate.
The Cookbook Again!
Friends, Rotarians, Countrymen and women. Trust Fred Lawson to put it this way.) At last the long awaited Rotary cookbook has arrived. It is a must for every household and would make an outstanding Birthday or Christmas present. For as little as ten pounds you could amaze dinner guests with culinary skills that would put Nigella Lawson in the shade.
Contact Jacqueline Easson to order your copies at only £10 each. [Email address removed]
FOCUS
Group Study Exchange
Group Study Exchange is a foreign trip for a group of young people at the start of their careers. There should be some experience of similar professional practice in the exchange country. The group goes away for about six weeks. It cannot be described as a holiday, but it is a unique experience for those involved.
Doug Forsyth gave us an insight into group study exchange about two weeks ago. He has reorganised the selection process to help create a cohesive team to represent our District. To do this, he needs to have a number of candidates from whom to choose. The people should be in their mid twenties and in skilled employment. They would attend an assessment day, some weeks before the interview, after which four will be picked for the tour.
The District is also looking for Rotarians interested to act as Team Leader. Applicants should be in good health since the tour is very demanding with long days full of activity and friendship and often little time for sleep or rest. In the first instance, the successful person will act as Deputy Team Leader for the Exchange in 2005/2006 with District 6990 Florida and will be expected to shadow the Team Leader, Kate Keter, and attend a number of the training sessions. He, or she, will then become Team Leader for the next GSE, destination as yet unknown, which will take place in 2006/2007 If anyone would like to know more, they should contact John Lawson as soon as possible but no later than 31 August 2005 GSE District Officer Tel: 01506 842634
PRATTLE
MacLaren on Playfair
Eight ladies made up a party on Monday to visit the Royal College of Surgeons with Iain MacLaren as their guide. They were taking up one of the raffle prizes from the Britannia Spice evening in aid of the International Committee's programme of water aid and other projects in South East Asia.
Ian was very knowledgeable, with interesting stories about the college, far superior in every way to its English counterpart, and the wonderful Playfair building. The front onto the Bridges is only the beginning. There is a gallery round the cupola in the entrance, a wonderful hall, library with windows onto the garden and a ghoulish museum of body parts preserved for the enlightenment of future medical generations.
Research Project from the Rotary Website
Greetings to the Rotary Club of Edinburgh from Celine Cressman, who is a postgraduate student in Public Health Research at the University of Edinburgh. She is in the midst of writing her dissertation and wishes to speak to a group of about 6-8 older (50+ years) people about their thoughts on stem cell research. Her thesis is examining the social & ethical implications of this research and how the public engages in this science. We would aim to discuss questions and issues raised both by her, and the group, as the discussion develops.
Celine hopes that she might be able to recruit some participants through the Rotary Club. The discussion group would meet once for about an hour at the University of Edinburgh. The idea would be to conduct the group as soon as possible (within the next couple of weeks). Celine is happy to explain her work in greater detail to any one interested in helping with her research. She can be reached, preferably by a group of people, at 0131-228-5944 [Email address removed]
N.B. This is not an "approved project". - editor.
THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER
Thursday 4 August 2005: Eileen Davis,
Topic - "Seizing Opportunities".
Vote of Thanks: to be announced
NEXT WEEK'S SPEAKER
Thursday 11 August 2005: John McGurk,
Editor of The Scotsman
Vote of Thanks: To be announced.