And what a tremendous start to our year it is!

Suddenly after months of planning, consideration and negotiation, the Rotary Club of Bradford West Summer Ball in aid of Cancer Support Yorkshire has arrived.

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The venue is the Midland Hotel, Bradford. This splendid former railway hotel is a jewel in Bradford’s Crown and provided a fitting venue for this ‘glittering’ occasion.

The honour and credit for the evening must go to President Allison Coates, not just for her determination to make it happen, but for the personal strength and commitment she showed by simply attending the event so soon after the death of her own father.

Allison’s stated ambition in her lead up to her year in office was to recognise and help Cancer Support Yorkshire, an organisation that had given her support during a past illness and who could deny her that?

Over 200 local people and representatives from 12 Rotary clubs including the RC of Leeds White Rose and the RC of Skipton came together on Saturday 15th July to raise £2,300 for this important local charity. A tremendous amount raised on the evening by very generous people.

I recently visited Linda Enderby and her team at Cancer Support Yorkshire and was immediately struck by the warmth and family feeling in this place, offering such wonderful support to anyone with cancer and to their families too, giving them the promise of comfort, friendship and hope during their illness.

So it is entirely appropriate that we were partying, dancing to Abba Tribute Band and celebrating the start of what promises to be a wonderful year in office for Allison and me. A superb evening that will be remembered for all the right reasons.

Well done Allison, your family will be very proud of you as we all are.

Personal ethos and insight I have been proud to be associated with Rotary since Oct. 1986, the old saying goes ‘that you don’t know what you are missing until it’s gone’ was certainly true of my experience during the five years I was unable to be a part it. I have many interests and hobbies but none so deep as my involvement with Rotary. Rotarians are often critical of the fact that ‘Rotary doesn’t mean anything’ to outsiders and that ‘it’s difficult to get our message across’ because we are such a diverse organisation. For me personally, it is that diversity that continues to make it interesting and simulating. Even after all this time there are aspects of Rotary that I never knew and I am constantly learning. Rotary, the organisation, is so diverse it attracts members of equal diversity, who have no other common interest. I am constantly surprised even in my club with the people who manage to get together, laugh and share a common goal, who would never normally meet or speak. Throughout my Rotary life I have been content to work at the ‘grass roots’, whether it was taking up office in my own club, stood in a supermarket with collection box or organising event for local people; making a difference in my own small way. In 2005/2006 I was proud to President of my own club and for the first and I got an insight into District activities as well as those of other clubs. I am the only member currently in our club to go through a full second full term in 2014/2015 and again I got involved with Rotary outside my own club. Everything that Rotary is, what Rotary stands for and what Rotary achieves is as a result of individual members making a difference and giving ‘Service above Self’. Recruiting new members both to replace existing ones and ultimately to increase our numbers, is in my opinion the most important objective we should have.

One thought on “Starting as we mean to go on!”

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