How Storrington Rotary adapted during the pandemic to continue community support
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The club has also been busy planning future events via Zoom during the pandemic, with its first successfully taking place on Monday, May 31, in the form of a bank holiday car boot sale.
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Hide AdRotary president Pippa Davies said: “We are grateful for all the support we have had from local folk during the pandemic, keen to get back to a safe kind of normality over the coming months and looking forward to fulfilling our ‘service in the community’ commitment.”
Among the new fundraising ideas is a Rotary Club monthly lottery which has been launched with three monthly prizes of up to £80 which will increase as support grows.
A new Storrington Rotary eBay shop also raised more than £1,500 worth of sales from the community by selling nearly-new vintage and designer clothes, jewellery, collectables, old mobiles/cameras, DVD’s, photograph frames, children’s toys and equipment and more.
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Hide AdThe club been able to provide funding support for caring organisations including Chestnut Tree House, Turning Tides, Mary How, District Food Bank and Mercy Ships, and the club’s public collection in August raised more than £1,000 for victims of the Beirut disaster.
The club also continued support for the Rotary ‘End Polio Now’ world wide campaign with a donation and planting thousands of crocuses at Storrington Memorial Pond that provided a burst of purple colour in spring.
ALthough the Rotary christmas tree recycling scheme had to be cancelled, the club was able to complete its distribution of 50 Christmas sacks containing gifts, Christmas goodies, clothing and a cash voucher to those less fortunate in our community thanks to generous donations.
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Hide AdClub member Mike Lavender said: “Our support for young people will continue this year when we send three local school pupils on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards programme which gives young people hands-on challenges to grow a variety of skills.
“Pupils at Steyning Grammar School link with the Club through the Rotary Interact Club there that helps them to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self.
“Further afield we have close links with the St Michael School in Kilolo, Tanzania where the club donates annual school fees for a pupil and a number of Members give private support to children of the rural poor people living in that area of Africa.
“We also plan to bring back the Monthly Rotary Film Nights at Sullington Hall that help many local elderly folk and those in isolation enjoy the latest cinema entertainment.