Innner Wheel  District 26 - Overseas Service

News archive - pre April 2004

• School-Aid is Inner Wheel's chosen charity this year. British Schools donate unwanted books and equipment which are then transported to Africa, courtesy of Capespan and Air Zimbabwe. Inner Wheel members have donated art and craft materials, as well as books, musical instruments and pre-school toys. These have a total value in excess of £10,000 so far.

  With help from Inner Wheel, Rotary, Clancy/Docwra and other volunteers, the first shipment of the year was loaded into 36 pallets and into 40-ft lorry bound for Cape Town. Children in township schools near Cape Town and Johannesburg will soon benefit from their efforts. For a pictorial story, click here. School-Aid's website is www.school-aid.org

• Total raised for Hope and Homes by the Inner Wheel District 26 stands at a record breaking £7500. [July 2003]

• Les Lee gate crashed into the District 26 Inner Wheel meeting to make a surprise presentation of an International Service Award to Sandra Maizels, the Inner Wheel District Overseas Service Chairman. Les stated that it gave him enormous pleasure in making this presentation and hoped that International Service and Overseas Service can continue to work together. Click here for details. [12 July 2003] 

• In aid of "Hope and Homes for Children", a KidsAid Concert was held on 23 March 2003 at the Thame Leisure Centre. District Overseas service Chairman Sandra Maizels was the Musical Director of the programme. Over 400 people attended the event, and they raised £1,500 for Hope and Homes. Click here for full story. [March 2003 + further pictures added May 2003]

         

   

• Gujarat Earthquake: Six clubs have been awarded a certificate by the Rotary Club of Bhavnagar, India, “in recognition of their outstanding support in our Earthquake Rehabilitation Project, and setting an example of humanity”. These clubs are Ampthill, Chesham, Hoddesdon, Luton, Luton Chiltern and Luton North. Click here to see the certificate with snapshots of rebuilding projects. [May 2002]
  

  

• Bob Parfitt has been awarded Inner Wheel’s highest honour, the Margarette Golding Award for his services to the forgotten people of Croatia. For full story of Valerie Linder pinning the badge, click here. [May 2002]

  

• Last year Beryl Grimwood offered two of her prize-winning quilts to raise funds for the charity ChildHope. The quilts travelled from Bedford to Hatfield, Bournemouth, Glasgow and Harpenden, and raised £1000. The total amount raised for ChildHope was over £3000, and a cheque was presented to the director Geoffrey Cordell at the Overseas Lunch in May 2002. Click here for detailed photo. [May 2002]

  

  Plans for 2002-03

• The District Charity for 2002-03 is Hope and Homes for Children. In addition to fundraising activities organised by individual clubs there are three projects in which the whole District can take part.

   

• Charity Concert for "Hope and Homes for Children": D.O.S.C. Sandra is the deputy conductor of the Thame Concert band, and they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a family concert. It will feature soloists, audience participation and a choir of 100 children. It will be held on Sunday, 23 March 2003 at the Thame Leisure Centre.

• The Flora Light Challenge for Women: A 5km sponsored race was held in Hyde Park on Sunday 1 Sep 2002. An Inner Wheel team took part  and raised a good deal of money, although Sonia O'Sullivan won the race, narrowly missing the world record. Click here to see D.O.S.C Sandra setting off with 24,999 other women. [Update 5 Nov 02]

  

• We shall also be manning a series of stalls at charity markets, selling soft toys, (many of which were a gift from Great Missenden Rotary Club) and other childrens’ items.

• We are also collecting items for Bob to take to Croatia: Clothes, Sturdy shoes, Rice, Pasta, Sugar, Cooking oil, Tins of fish, fruit and vegetables.

• Other ongoing collections are stamps for the Barbara Kelly Home in Madras, foreign currency for Ockenden International, old tights for the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, and toner cartridges of all kinds for our District Charity.

  The next collection date is Thursday 21^st November in Hatfield, followed by 20^th March in Dunstable. All donations are welcome. Enquiries about any of these items should go to the District Overseas Service Chairman, whose phone number is 01296-613901.     

• For a pictorial story on our efforts to help refugees and needy people in Croatia, what you can do to help further, and our chosen charity for 2001-02, click here. ( 1 Aug 2001)