The Rotary Club of Edinburgh
Bulletin 2205 - 17th March 2008
Last Meeting 10 April
President Robin Wilson welcomed Dr Robert Mills and quoted from an unseasonable poem by A.C. Swinburne. His grace gave thanks for the resurgence of creation, the hour of fellowship that gives focus and for opportunities to serve and be served. The new express service of lunches continued and members found their food to be much hotter.
Past Secretary’s announcements.
In the absence of Bill Barr at the RIBI Conference at Blackpool, John Havard announced we had 60 Members and 1 guest, a total of 61.Next week our speaker would be Mrs Emma Law, the our member Hamish Law and her subject was to be “The Edinburgh Inner Wheel”, with the Vote of Thanks by Jeff Gibb. Next week would be a Charity Lunch. The Club Council would meet on Monday 14th April. John reminded members of three forthcoming District 1020 Events, Council on 27 April at Lockerbie, District Assembly on 18May and the District Governor’s Meeting on 27 June.Tabled Notices.
Details of the following events :- Senior Citizens Outings to Peebles on Tuesdays 13th and 20thMay, for which drivers and escorts were still required -Contact Malcolm Shanks. The Arts Committee Outing to the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow for a short conducted tour and lunch on Monday 28 April - Contact Keith Frost. John Havard then referred to the formal notice, read last week and printed in the bulletin as follows:-THE ROTARY CLUB OF EDINBURGH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
In terms of BY-LAW IV, Meetings and Quorums, Section b), the Annual General Meeting of THE ROTARY CLUBOF EDINBURGH will be held on Thursday, 22 May 2008, immediately after lunch (12.30 for 1 p.m.), in the Barcelo'Edinburgh Carlton Hotel, North Bridge, Edinburgh. Nominations are required for the Nominations Committee, for the Rotary year starting on 1 July 2008. Nominations should be signed by the proposed candidate as well as by the Proposer and Seconder and be in the hands of the Club Secretary, Bill Barr by Thursday, 1 May 2008.
Fund-Raising Ceilidh
President Robin then made a strong and warm appeal to support this fund-raising event being run by Fergus Gillies and Rajiv Naik, who now had tickets for sale at £32.50. Members may wish to book tables of 8 and also find sponsorship for some parts of the event. We would also host the visit of Belgian Rotarians and their partners. The Ceilidh would support the Headway Charitable Trust and our own JCF. Please contact Fergus or Rajiv.Challenge Enterprise Weekend.
VP Tim Simpson then gave a full but very interesting account of the weekend which a number of our members had recently offered senior pupil delegates from the schools in the Lothian and Borders area. Led off by Alisdair Seale the District Training weekend had maintained a great pace and the young people were kept at games, exercises and talks throughout each day. The standard of the course offered was high and many of the participating school students grew noticeably more confident as time went on leading to a final presentation by each group of their business plans. Our members again took on the task of the “Big Negotiation” practising their skills in managing employee relations. John Howieson, a former member of our club led the session and Jacqueline Easson and John Fordyce were two of the group facilitors. John Lafferty of District 1020 endorsed the work of our club members and passed on his appreciation to President Robin. VP Tim presented bottles of wine to those involved, but the auction his own bottle was reserved, at the wish of Club members, to next week’s charitable lunch. Visiting Speaker, Bob Mills was then introduced by President Robin. He had studied in London and in Bristol, had been a consultant in Dundee and Edinburgh and was now a Reader in Otology at Edinburgh University. His chosen subject was The Hearing Surgery Camps in Nepal. Starting with a fabulous view of the Himilayas, he took us on a superb tour of the villages of Nepalgunj and Dama in the Katmandu Valley. In the countryside round such towns as there were, people existed on subsistence farming and the camps provided by volunteer surgeons and consultants from Edinburgh, Canada and Australia had provided ten years of this vital service in a land where hearing difficulties were more prevalent than in the developed world. He showed us the area of Terai in the South of the Country and the two hospital buildings where the work was carried out. They had a strong team of nurses to support their work and also clinics held in rural areas. Their policy was to train volunteers to conduct the ongoing work, providing batter-operated hearing test machines, fitting and operating hearing aids. In particular the UN had given equipment for the refugee camps for those who had been expelled from Bhutan. They made good use of old NHS Hearing Aids. Bob emphasised that the achievements of the two hearing camps was immense and he commended the great success rate of the intervention of volunteer hearing assistants through the rest of the year. As he projected his last two stunning pictures of an Edinburgh Doctor entertaining a local youngster with his radio controlled helicopter and a sunset on the well watered paddy fields, Bob told of his special joy in this aid project, because there were no NHS Managers to be seen anywhere ! As the members’ laughter subsided, President Robin mentioned to Dr Mills the existence of the Edinburgh Rotary Club’s Jubilee Charity Fund, which was run separately from the Club by Trustees.Vote of Thanks.
John Fordyce then proposed a vote of thanks to Bob, commenting that this was an important day in Nepal, when new elections were taking place. He hoped these would be peaceful and spoke enthusiastically of the interesting talk we had heard on the Ear Surgery Camps and Education and of the great photographs that Bob had taken. Before closing the meeting President Robin informed the club that it was VP Sandra Watson’s 21st birthday, though some Rotarians thought it was her over 21stbirthday, but she smilingly accepted his good wishes. The final Toast to mark the RIBI Conference was “Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland. ”Arts Committee Visit. The Arts Committee was making arrangements for a visit to the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow on Monday 28 April for a conducted hour’s tour and a lunch together at 12.45in the excellent restaurant at the gallery. This would make an inexpensive visit in view of the proximity of the Ceilidh date. Contact Keith Frost for suggestions of car sharing or free bus transport.Bill Stevenson has successfully come through his operation, but is not well enough to receive visitors Contact Ian Urquhart to send good wishes.