Rotarian George Rivas, a member of Great Missenden Club, gave an 'Insider's View' of the Aylesbury Youth Custody Centre. He has been a 'volunteer Chaplain' for many years. While explaining his role, he also touched on the wider aspects of the growth in prison population, and the effect of various schemes in reducing the reoffending rates. [8 Feb 2010]

Another highlight for them is the show entitled 'Colour the World' due to be staged on 7 Feb 2010 at Wycombe Swan with over 100 people on the stage! [1 Feb 2010]

An award ceremony for Rotary Xmas Story Competition was held on 28 Jan 2010 at Damien Hall. Three winners were selected from each age group and the winning stories were brought to life by story teller Nick Gallant to an audience of pupils, teachers and family members. There were probably over 700 entries. The annual event was organised by the three Rotary Clubs in the area, and the Presidents of Amersham, Great Missenden and Chesham made the awards which included book tokens, Usborne Illustrated Dictionary for Life and entry tickets for the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden.

Click here for full details of the winners names and their schools. [Jan 2010]

Picture above L to R: Winners with Rtn Derek Bryant, President of Amersham and Rtn Terry Cann, President of Great Missenden.

Picture below: top row, L to R: Winners with Rtn Derek Upcott, President of Chesham, and Nick Gallant reading one of the stories. Bottom row: Past District Governor Les Lee, chief guest and Rtn Gavin Plews of Great Missenden who organised the award ceremony.

[Photos supplied by Chalmers Cursley, RC of Amersham]

	TARGET FOR MUMBAI BOOKS PROJECT REACHED AND APPEAL NOW CLOSED...
	Great Missenden Rotary Club have sent some 100 books, and have ordered 300 more copies of the 'Dictionary for Life' to Mumbai. It is for underprivileged school children to help improve their self-esteem and career prospects... The latest contribution is from the District Foundation Committee with a Simplified Grant of £450. This completes our target.	Click for more info  & to see how various clubs and organisations supported. Thanks to everyone who helped.

Rotary Club of Great Missenden's Xmas Float season started in Hazlemere Shopping Parade on Sat 5 Dec. Santa John Skrimshire was supported by (L to R) Alan Maizels, Peter Westby and John Faircloth. The collection for Rotary supported charities on the day were slightly higher than that of the previous year.... thanks to the generosity of the shoppers in spite of the crisis.

Behind the scenes (see pictures below), there have been challenges - particularly for Martin Bolton and Brian Barnett who have been master-minding the mechanics and logistics of the float. On one occasion, Martin was struggling to start the engine ... until he realised that the 'start' button had not been switched 'ON'! Then there were big smiles. 

Click here for Santa's routes, the Charities supported [SSAFA, Pepper Foundation etc.] and money raised. [5 Dec 2009]

Tesco in Amersham were kind to allow the members of the Club to collect for Rotary supported charities on 8 Dec 09. Father Xmas, Rotarian Ed Whymark in this case, charmed the shoppers - young and old! He is ably assisted by Rtn Ian Bullock and Rtn Margaret Larder. Many thanks to all the shoppers who donated generously.The main beneficiaries will include the MS Centre in Wendover and Thames Valley Air Ambulance. [8 Dec 2009]

D4L - 'Dictionaries for Life' to Mumbai: The Rotary Club of Great Missenden has successfully completed a mini-project. At the request of RC of Bombay, 104 copies were sent straight away as the kids would benefit most from their current school term. RC of Hoddesdon and RC Club of Misbourne Matins from our neighbouring District 1090 contributed with DHL providing an economical rate for airfreight. RC of Bombay covered the local costs (customs clearance, delivery etc.). TOTAL cost:est. £625.  In the picture, a copy of the book is being officially handed over by President of the RC of Bombay, Nandan Damani, to Neeta Pradhan of the NGO collaborating with their school's project.

Click here to see how they used the books during the first week after delivery and a press article.

As an additional project, Great Missenden are planning to send another 300 copies for delivery in May 2010 with possible support from the District Simplified Grant (Foundation), other clubs (RC of Amwell, and RC of Wendover & Dist) and organisations (Ranfurly Charitable Services). Click here for background and further information on both the projects. [1 Dec 2009]

Old Time Music Hall: A joint event was organised by Great Missenden Rotary and Amersham Rotary on 27/28 Nov 2009. Thanks to the generosity of the actors of the Hyde Heath Old Time Music Hall Society - the event was a great success. People enjoyed it and helped raise around £2,600 net. Several Rotarians acted - including President Terry Cann and his wife Barbara, Charlie Carrington and Brian Barnett. Some of the guests also joined in the spirit of the occasion - as can be seen in the photo of Richard Waterfield and Penny. [Nov 2009]

Children in Need Appeal: Some of the Great Missenden Rotary Club members supported the annual collection organised by our neighbouring Misbourne Matins Rotary Club at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. Those that took part: Mike Rainford, Peter Westby, Gavin Plews and Guru Guruswamy (in the photo). [20 Nov 2009]

The Group Study Exchange team which represented our District 1260 to Indiana gave an interesting and amusing account of their rather intensive vocational, social and cultural experience at Great Missenden Rotary Club. Some members from the neighbouring Chesham Rotary Club and the newly formed Wendover & District Rotary Club also attended. [9 Nov 2009]

L to R: President Cheryl Law (Wendover & Dist. Rotary), Charles King, Mark Relf, Rtn Roger Sharp (Team leader from Dunstable), President The Rev. Derek Upcott (Chesham), IPDG Les Lee (Chesham), Emma Tucker, President Terry Cann (Great Missenden) and Atalie Gains.

A new neighbouring Rotary Club, Wendover & District, was chartered on 30 Oct 2009 at Chartridge Conference Centre. Many members of Rotary Club of Great Missenden joined them on the occasion to wish them well. 

Photos [Courtesy of members of Wendover & Dist. and Rtn Alan Maizels], clockwise from left: President of Great Missenden Terry Cann giving the club banner to Cheryl Law, first President of Wendover & Dist [W&D]; Rtn Sandra Maizels, first secretary of W&D; our club members Mike Rainford and Jenny Plews with members of W & D - Cate Bowley and John Owen; Immediate Past RIBI President Ian Thomson handing over the Charter to President Cherly Law; Rtn Guru Guruswamy with Jane Larkham. A fuller report can be seen at Wendover & District's website. [30 Oct 2009]

Tony Ring gripped the attention of the members of Great Missenden Rotary Club with the story of ' A morning with Olive and Kali' - two leopards - in the Masai region of Kenya.  He had taken some incredible and unique pictures of how a mother leopard takes its kill up a near vertical tree, and how it and the offspring feast upon it.  As a back drop, he also showed pictures of other animals engaged in various interesting activities - cheetahs, lions, elephants, giraffes, crocodile etc. Tony is a member of the Chiltern U3a Photography Group, and he is also an expert on P G Wodehouse. [26 Oct 2009]