Ocaka Denis is only 16 years and had the worst experience as a child abducted at the age of 11 years, while helping look after the family goats. He returned after a year in Captivity to find all his parents killed. Now an orphan, Denis struggles to make ends meet on a daily basis by fetching water for a fee or food.

Denis wants to become a builder by taking a 4 years course in Brick laying and concrete practice. The tuition per term is 170,000/= Ug.Shs, an equivalent of 51 GB Pounds. The total amount for the entire course is 612 GB pounds. After the course, Denis would like to find a good job with building companies and there after, start paying for his two younger brothers and sister.

Click here for the full story from Francesca Del Mese. [14 Jan 2008]

As a follow-on from the demonstration of cancer sniffing dogs held on 1 May 2007 at Great Missenden Rotary Club, Dr John Church outlined how this pioneering Research began in Amersham. President John Coates (right) handed over a cheque for nearly £1,200 from the money raised with the Club's Xmas Float for continuing research on the subject. [In the earlier demo, Tangle, the dog, gave a demonstration of its sniffing abilities. Apparently dogs are one million times more sensitive than humans in smelling. Experiments were made to smell cancer of bladder through urine samples].[14 Jan 2008]

Tickets £45 to cover Sparkling reception, 3 Course Dinner, wine and coffee. Entertainment, from 7 pm till 12:30, includes a live Band, Prizes for best dressed, Lucky Draw, Raffle etc. Click here for details, prizes and sponsors.

Tickets from: John Coates (01494 764249) OR Nigel Blackburn (01494 873839)

Club members were delighted to welcome Martin Bolton [Centre] as a new member of the Great Missenden Rotary Club. He is seen here with President John Coates and Martin's wife, Georgeina. Martin is from Prestwood. He is a Traffic Management Engineer and has served in the Police Force.[7 Jan 2008]

Xmas Float - photos, routes and money raised.....

Thanks to the generosity of the local people ... over £4,000 were raised during the Xmas Float Season - to support Cancer Dogs, Chiltern Air Ambulance and other Rotary supported local Charities. This time, we had a female Santa as well! President's wife Sue Coates slipped into Santa's outfit to cover for someone else. The Reindeers had some new power behind them, thanks to Gavin's efforts. Ed Whymark looked cool as ever at Prestwood. Click here for the routes, amount raised in each route and for the photos. [Dec 2007]

Ian Arthurton gave an absorbing talk about the railways and narrated his experience as the Operations Director of London Transport. He said that 'if God had meant us to fly, He would not have given us the Railways'. He answered a number of pertinent questions cheerfully as all members have experienced London Transport for several years. Ian is the Chairman of Friends of London Transport Museum. It is undergoing a £24m refit programme. [26 Nov 2007]

Club member John Knight outlined the role RABI [Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution] - as the first part of his 'my job talk'. He has been a member of the organisation for 50 years. It has helped farming families in distress. He showed a DVD of some of the case studies which were quite moving. [19 Nov 2007]

John Faircloth at the helm of Accolade in the 1967 Prince of Wales Cup, Cowes.
Photo by Beken of Cowes

With a topic called 'Fourteens are Forever', Club member John Faircloth gave an interesting and informative historical account on sailing with 14 footers. He has himself been associated with some of the famous people many of whom were Olympic sailors. It is worth noting that Great Britain has won many gold medals in Sailing. Some more info at: http://www.international14.org [12 Nov 2007]

Lest that we should forget..... President John Coates, Vice President John Skrimshire, and Rotarian John Knight attended the Remembrance Day Service at Gt Missenden Parish Church on Sun 11 Nov. John Coates laid a wreath at the War Memorial outside the church on behalf of members of The Rotary Club of Great Missenden, and the 2 minutes' silence was observed.

This year's Remembrance Day should be particularly poignant for local residents, since it is now 90 years since a number of local men were killed at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Paschendaele, serving with the Oxforshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment. By coincidence, John Coates' grandfather also fought in the battle, as a member of K Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. [11 Nov 2007]

Our District's GSE (Group Study Exchange) Team shared their experience in Argentina with the Club members and guests from other Clubs. They covered a great deal - in terms of vocation, culture, people, places, Rotary Clubs etc. and their likes and dislikes. In the photo: L to R (standing) Alan Maizels (Chairman of the meeting), Kirsty Crombie-Smith, Gavin Plews [GSE Team Leader] and Sheila Chauhan. Sitting: Liz Genever. [15 Oct 2007]. Click here for earlier stories about the GSE UK/Argentina 2007.

During his visit to the Club, District Governor (DG) Brian Doggrell (left) inducted Rotarian John Skrimshire (centre) as the Senior Vice-president. President John Coates is seen here congratulating John Skrimshire. The DG thanked the Club members for their achievements. He also outlined the proceedings in the USA during his training programme and his vision for the future - such as new younger members recruiting more younger members and club leadership plans. He also urged the members to apply for Presidential Citation and updated on the progress of RIBI's efforts in fund raising for the flood victims in the UK, partly through Naomi Campbell's efforts. [8 Oct 07]

The idea for an evening of Ferret Racing came from Rotarian John Knight... and the event was organised by Rotarian Paul McDowell in Prestwood Village Hall. About 50 people took part in it, and around £800 were raised for Rotary Charities. Many thanks to all those who helped in making the event excitable and enjoyable. Some Rotarians came with their Flat caps and bicycle clamps. Click here for the pictures. [7 Oct 2007]

President John Coates (left) inducts a new member into the Rotary Club of Great Missenden, Brian Barnett. Brian is from Hyde Heath and runs a business concerned with Bathroom Supplies and Fittings. [Sep 2007] 

Some of the Club members met the RIBI President Alan Jagger when he visited Amersham Rotary Club. Alan is keen to run RIBI as an efficient business and believes in Club members playing an active role rather than the Club Councils and Committees etc. For instance, he suggested that the Club Council meetings should last no more than 20 minutes - mainly to discuss membership and finance issues. [Aug 2007]