here - Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland

From the Exec. Team
An update from the RGBI Chairman & Executive Team
RGBI News Update
European Social Awareness Project 2008 & Birmingham 2009
Share Your Successes
A chance to find out about great activities that have taken place around RGBI
Dates for your diaries
Information on two special events during this Rotaract year
ROTARACT IN GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND
NEWSWIRE OCTOBER 2008
ROTARACT IN GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND

From The Exec. Team
Each month, Chairman Keith Pickles and the Exec Team will be updating you on what is
happening within their roles.
Chairman - Keith Pickles
Greetings to all of RGBI,
Another Month has passed and Rotaract has new members to welcome to the fold :-)
2 new clubs have chartered, Martin will update you on these later in his Membership
and Extension report.
TEAM
TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE
Membership is vital to our organisation and as I am always saying:-
It is crucial that we are all now planning our approach to recruitment for the new year, less than 3 months
away. This is a prime time to encourage more people to join, as they'll have New Year Resolutions that
Rotaract can help fulfil, and also with the present situation society is in, Rotaract is a great way for people to
get involved and maKe it happen :)
To get more people involved, we must get the Rotaract name out there. So be proud to be a Rotaractor and
part of the Rotary Family and Shout about it!!!
Tell your friends, family members, neighbours, work colleagues and even your Dentist , a person close to my
heart after my recent hospital adventure! :-)
Get out there and make a difference and make sure everybody knows about it.
I'm looking forward to the next council meeting, on Sunday 16th November and hope to see as many of you
there as possible.
With the festive period soon to be upon us and lots of Rotary Collections to help out with, I'm looking forward
to a merry time :)
What better chance to raise the Rotaract profile, whilst having fun and making a difference than with World
Aids Awareness Day. E.R.I.C. and Unicef have joined forces to give you the chance to make people aware of
how much impact AIDS has on our world, whilst doing a pub crawl, collecting funds in fancy dress --> covering
everything that we want to cover!
Also, the excellent R.O.P. is in top gear heading towards 'Go Gambia' and this is another brilliant project we
can use to entice new members and promote the real difference Rotaract can and does make! A wonderful
example of this was the Camberley Rotaract R.O.P. fundraising Barn Dance which I recently attended. The
event, held on Saturday 18th October, raised over £800 toward Go Gambia 2009.
Please keep us updated with all the fab activities you are getting up to, by sending photo's and brief
descriptions and or articles to editor@rotaract.org.uk
Thanks for now, from your friendly neighbourhood RGBI Chairman.

Membership & Extension Officer - Martin Coates
What an exciting time it has been for RGBI within the last few weeks, in that I am
delighted to welcome the Rotaract Club of Lisburn Valley in District 1160 and the
Rotaract Club of Doncaster in District 1270 into Rotaract in Great Britain and
Ireland, as now RGBI has a presence back in District 1270 and an even stronger
presence in District 1160.
Congratulations to all those who were involved in the chartering of these clubs and the new members of
the Clubs and I am very much looking forward to meeting you all in the future. There are more club charters
in the Pipeline and I am very much looking forward to keeping you informed of the continued progress
of the new chartered clubs.
Best Wishes
Martin Coates
RBGI Membership and Extension Officer
membership@rotaract.org.uk
07775 600 960
Claire Mercer - Rotaract Overseas Project Co-ordinator
On 26 September, Westbourne Rotary hosted a Gambia Night in Bournemouth in
aid of Go Gambia, the 2009 Rotaract Overseas Project
The evening started with a selection of Gambian food, with a chicken and
vegetarian dish, as well as a varied selection of salads.
This was followed by the very Gambian watermelon slices. All of which were delicious, of course I sampled
it all.
We then settled into a presentation from Westbourne Rotary President and Assistant Project Team Leader
Sue Burnett. The presentation explained the background of ROP, and an overview of the project in the
Gambia. This is a significant project for the team to take on, and the more details we receive about it, the
more adventurous it seems to be. (For more details on the project, go to our Facebook group).
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22921452039&ref=ts
The next part of the evening wasn’t quite as scheduled. The Gambian dancers and drummers were
unfortunately unable to attend. Instead they were replaced by some enthusiastic amateur Gambian
drummers, who had a go at the drums with background music. The most entertaining were, of course,
Richard and Sue Burnett who ran up and down the stage hitting all the drums in some kind of rhythm.
On the evening, the raffle and collection raised just under £600. Also, I’d like to give a big thank you to
Westbourne Rotary who donated a further £1,500 and Poole Bay Rotary who pledged £1000 to ROP on the
night.
With this event, and the various generous donations we are now approximately half way to our target of
£12,000 to pay for the project. There are also various events going on around GB&I as the team work hard
to raise the money needed for the project.
If you would like to know more, make a donation, or would like someone to come to your club to tell you
about the project, please contact me, Claire Mercer, on rop@rotaract.org.uk.
3

RGBI News Update
ROTARACT EUROPE SOCIAL AWARENESS PROJECT 2008
This year's European social awareness project is AIDS Awareness and RGBI have teamed up with UNICEF to
put our own spin on it.
The idea of the social awareness project is to raise awareness all over Europe of AIDS and to hold AIDS
awareness parties across Europe, ideally, on December 1st!
As this is a Monday (which for most of us is a school night) we suggest moving it to either the weekend before
or after the 1 st !
What RGBI would really like is for each club throughout RGBI to organise and hold Charity Fancy Dress
pub-crawls to raise awareness and money. All money raised would go to UNICEF's AIDS projects.
UNICEF has a number of child based AIDS projects running which need support…
Through the campaign, which was launched in 2005, UNICEF aims to make a real difference to the lives and
life chances of children affected by AIDS. The campaign has four key goals:
1. Prevent mother to child transmission of HIV
2. Provide paediatric treatment
3. Prevent infection among young people
4. Protect and support children affected by HIV/AIDS
In 2007, an estimated 2.5 million people were newly infected with HIV.
Money Raised
RGBI would like clubs taking part to manage the finances themselves rather than sending cheques to RGBI.
We would appreciate it if you could bank the money and send a club cheque directly to UNICEF. Please down
load the submission form from the website www.unicef.org.uk/rotaract. The form can be found in the
downloads section.
Please let me know how much your events have raised.
Resources
UNICEF have set up a Rotaract/UNICEF website www.unicef.org.uk/rotaract which will explain what we are
doing and why and will be a resources centre – there are downloads and general information about their
projects.
Never organised a pub-crawl? Check out all info you need on the next page.
Claire
Claire Tennant
RGBI International Officer 07/09
international@rotaract.org.uk
07930 505516
4

RGBI News Update
Organising a Charity Pub Crawl
Pub-crawls are really easy to organise and tend to raise around £250 - £300 even on a quiet night!
N.B. You don’t need to arrange a licence for a pub-crawl but you do need to contact the pubs in advance to ensure that it is ok for
you to go into their pubs (a) dressed up and (b) to collect money! You should not, however, collect money between pubs as for this
you do need a license!
1) Agree as a club who will be talking part!
a. You will need some people to dress up (Ideally 8 people)
1. Too few and you wont make an impact (min is 5 people)
2. Too many and you will scare people although, if in a large town, you can divide the pubs
between two groups and cover more ground!
b. You will need a couple of ‘straight men’ basically it is there job to go on ahead and re check with the pubs that
it is ok for you to go in still – some pubs will change their minds!
c. It is a pub-crawl so you can drink but it is recommended that you assign a couple of drivers (or non drinkers) –
so that you have a safe way of getting the money raised home
2) Agree Date, Time and Meeting point
a. You need to agree date
b. What time you’ll meet up and where – it’s recommended that you meet at someone’s house and make your
way into town together
3) Identification – Every member of your party will need Photographic id with the following info (you may not be asked for
it but some pubs wont let you in unless you can prove who you are so your ID should have:-
a. Photo
b. Name
c. Charity Number/ID – this will be on the UNICEF/Rotaract website
d. Rotaract log
e. Club Presidents signature
4) Hand Outs – Material to hand out, this will make it easier to explain to people what your doing and why, especially in
noisy pubs – You can find down loadable material at the UNICEF/Rotaract web site
5) Organise Costumes – a theme is always good i.e. Superheroes, cartoon characters, anything that makes you stand out.
Try and keep cost to a minimum – some fancy dress places will do you a deal if you explain what you are doing and if you
order a number in one go!
6) Collection Tins – if you order in advance UNICEF will send you collection tins (contact details on the UNICEF/Rotaract)
website, otherwise ask your local Rotary clubs.
7) Ring Round Pubs
a. Try to keep the pubs you visit close to each other and contact about 20 pubs – you want about 15 of those to
confirm that you are ok to visit, although you probably wont get round them all. It is best to have organised too
many than too few!
b. Make a list of pubs in town along with their numbers
c. Ring pubs – keep check of which ones said yes and which said no.
5

RGBI News Update
Rotaract Preconvention - Birmingham 2009
From the Producers and Directors of EUCO 2008, we
bring you "Swinging Sixties Britain" and the
Birmingham 2009 Rotaract Social Programme.
Yes, that's right, the Rotary International Convention is
coming to Birmingham and that means we’ve got an
amazing Rotaract Social Programme organised for you!
We've had so much fun in places like Barcelona,
Brisbane, Copenhagen, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles,
now it's our turn to show all Rotaractors, RYLArians,
Foundation Alumni, Exchange Students and Interactors
a great time in Britain's 2nd City - Birmingham.
The 2009 Rotaract Preconvention starts on Thursday 18th June 2009 and finishes on Sunday 21st June
2009. But why leave the stunning beauty of England's 2nd City early, stay on until Wednesday 24th June
2009 and enjoy the 100th Rotary International Convention and the additional events we've got planned.
The fun-filled programme includes:
* An Indian Night - enjoy traditional Indian music, dance and curry
* Swinging Sixties Theme Club Night including a free glass of bubbly
* Brindley Place Pub Crawl around the great city canals
* Evening visit to the Snowdome - Snow, Ice & Leisure
* Afternoon visit to Cadbury World and Bourneville. This tour shows you how one of the world's
largest chocolate producers makes their chocolate. You get to enjoy samples along the way, and
see how the factory village was formed.
It's going to be a superb event but places are limited and we’ve already started selling…we’ve already got 5
countries represented! So don't miss out on this great opportunity and take advantage of the fact that an
RI Convention is on your doorstep.
We promise to show you a good time in Birmingham with a fun-filled social programme and the
opportunity to network with fellow Rotary Family members from all over the world. Visit
www.brum09.com for more information.
Lisa
Lisa Burnett
Chairman Rotaract Host Committee – Birmingham 2009
Email: lisa.burnett@brum09.com
Birmingham 2009 Preconvention Social Events Website: www.brum09.com
6

Share Your Successes
Camberley Rotaract Barn Dance for Go Gambia 2009
Camberley Rotaract has just had its annual Barn Dance, which was very, very successful, many thanks to all
those who attended. It was fantastic to see so many people there from so many different areas of the
club’s lives having a fantastic time. All proceeds from the event are going towards next year’s ROP project
in the Gambia.
Over 130 people attended the event from all walks of life and the youngest present was a 9 month old
baby – although Camberley’s newest member, Kate, could have challenged that – she happily took a full
part in the event including dances despite being only six days away from her due date for hers and
husband Neil’s first baby!!!!!
The event was well supported by family and friends of current club members as well as past club members.
There were also Rotarians attending from at least 5 clubs in the district, including an Assistant Governor
and the Group Study Exchange team visiting the district from Brazil. It would be interesting to know what
they made of the event and how it compared to the Gala Ball at the District Conference in Bournemouth
the previous weekend!
The evening was very successful and we were fortunate enough to have
picked the bigger of the two halls we have used in recent years. I know
from speaking to former club members that it has been several years
since the event has been so well attended, and certainly we’ve never had
two firkins of Real Ale behind the bar (that’s 144 pints to the uninitiated)!
The evening was very successful and has raised over £800 towards the
target of £12,000 for next year’s trip to the Gambia.
NordAct 2008 - Jonathan Nish
Sue Connolly (Ealing Rotaract) and I participated in NordAct
2008, in Vasteras, Sweden. Nordact is the
annual Scandinavian Rotaract conference - targeted at Rotaractors
from Norway, Sweden & Denmark but
attracting others from further afield, mainly as it's
conducted all in English. This year 90 people attended.
The event took place from Fri 10th Oct to Sun 12th Oct. The
opening night included a buffet meal in a nightclub decorated
completely in white, followed by a visit to the largest nightclub
in Vasteras - the Blue Moon Bar.
Saturday was conference day with some external speakers on
Project Management and internal Rotaract speakers on Rotaract
Europe and projects. There were breakout workshops on
a range of Rotaract topics and I was given a slot to promote
Brum 09 using the promotional video Lisa Hunter put together
(available on YouTube).
I had an early departure on Sunday but the event continued
with a team building session (wall climbing and more!) and a
farewell lunch.
7

Dates for your diaries
RGBI Conference 2009 - Six Months & Counting Down.....
Breaking news! RGBI Conference 2009 will also feature a range of speakers, including a spokesperson from
the creators of Wallace and Gromit, Aardman Animations. RIBI President, Ian Thompson, will also be
giving us an insight into his role.
Keep an eye on the website for updates on the Conference schedule!
Conference Packages
Platinum Package – 3 nights full accommodation (including bed and
breakfast), participation in Friday night event, Saturday buffet lunch, Saturday
night Gala Dinner, The Wide Awake Club, Sunday buffet lunch, Sunday dinner,
Sunday night fancy dress disco, and all conference sessions including tea and
coffee.
Gold Package – 2 Nights full accommodation (including bed and breakfast),
Saturday buffet lunch, Saturday night Gala Dinner, The Wide Awake Club,
Sunday buffet lunch, Sunday dinner, Sunday night fancy dress disco, and all
conference sessions including tea and coffee.
Silver Gilt - 1 night (Saturday) – 1 nights full accommodation (including bed
and breakfast), Saturday buffet lunch, Saturday night Gala Dinner, The Wide
Awake Club, Sunday buffet lunch and conference sessions on Saturday and
Sunday including tea and coffee
Silver - 1 night (Sunday) - 1 nights full accommodation (including bed and
breakfast), Sunday buffet lunch, Sunday dinner, Sunday night fancy dress
disco, and all conference sessions on Sunday and Monday including tea and
coffee
Bronze – All conference sessions including tea and coffee, Saturday buffet
lunch, Saturday night Gala Dinner, The Wide Awake club, Sunday buffet lunch,
Sunday dinner, and the Sunday night fancy dress disco. (No accommodation)
£209
£179
£119
£99
£109
Tin (Gala Dinner & Saturday night) £99
Copper (Day Delegate) – One day’s conference session including tea and coffee £19
Gala Dinner – Attendance at the Gala Dinner on the Saturday night £36
8

Kevin Terence Farleigh (1963 – 2008)
Paul Harris Fellow, Past District Governor (d1290), Past President of Plymouth Mayflower Rotary Club
As most people who knew Kevin will know, he was the sort of person who had his finger in many pies.
I first met Kevin when I joined the Port of Plymouth Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1991. He had already been a member for a
number of years although it wasn’t until he became President in 1997 that our friendship started to develop. It was around this time
that numbers in the Junior Chamber started to decline and although we both worked to keep it going, as a fall back, he
suggested that I might be interested in this group called Rotaract that he belonged to. And so I became just one of the many that
Kevin introduced to the Rotary family.
I knew from our chamber days that Kevin was an avid attendee of conferences as well as travelling
overseas and this continued through Rotaract and Rotary. I have many fond memories of attending
conferences in Poznan (in Poland), Santander and Barcelona in Spain as well as many here in the UK –
including Banbury Camping
Although when I joined Rotaract, Kevin had already moved on to Rotary, he was still an avid supporter
of Rotaract, often being referred to as “the oldest Rotaractor” around and long after I had moved on
into Rotary, he was still attending Rotaract conferences around the world.
Kevin was well known in the Rotary world, with friends he had made from his days in Rotaract in far off
places such as Japan, South Africa and Australia. Not everyone agreed with his approach to things,
but no one can fault his commitment and enthusiasm to Rotary or to any of the causes he supported.
I mentioned in my opening line that he had his finger in many pies, and the fact that he was hardly ever at home will testify this. As
well as being a member of Rotary, he was also a member of Plympton & Plymstock Roundtable, the Wooden Spoon Society and
several other organisations. If he wasn’t at any of these, you could be fairly sure he would be at one of two other places – at a
quiz or watching Plymouth Argyle.
Kevin was well known around Plymouth for taking part in quiz nights – at one point,
he would be attending up to 2 or 3 a week – along with his other commitments.
And if you wanted to stand a chance of winning one of these quizzes, Kevin was
always someone you would want in your team. This probably stems from the great
memory he had for facts and figures. In all the time I knew him, I don’t think I ever
saw him write a telephone number down – he would just remember it.
As mentioned above, apart from Rotary, his other big love was that for the “Green
Army” – Plymouth Argyle FC – well I guess someone had to support them! He was a
season ticket holder for many years and before the redevelopment of the “Theatre of Greens”, i.e. Home Park, he would stand in
the Devonport End cheering his team on through thick and thin as well as travelling many miles to watch them play away from
home. That was devotion for you!
Kevin was a true Plymothian, and as well as Argyle he was also an avid supporter of Plymouth Albion RFC – where he was an
occasional match day steward and Plymouth Devils Speedway team. In fact he was passionate about most sports and we shared
many an hour (and good time) watching rugby on the TV (usually in a bar somewhere) or at Twickenham and Cardiff.
So what other memories do I have? To be honest there are probably too many to record here and I
am sure we all have many of our own memories of him. Most of us will share his uncanny ability to fall
asleep almost anywhere, at anytime. I recall many people telling stories of him falling asleep with the
disco blaring away at a dinner – I even saw him once fall asleep surrounded by almost 70,000 people
at Twickenham prior to an England v Australia rugby international! But I suppose I will remember him
more for his great friendship.
His knowledge and enthusiasm for Rotary will be sorely missed and his untimely passing leaves a
massive hole in not just the Rotary family but in the hearts of everyone who knew him. Yes at times he
could be a pain – but who isn’t? But as those who attended his funeral will testify, he had a heart of gold and more often than not
would put others before himself and worked tirelessly to help those in a less fortunate position than himself – hence his involvement
in so many different organisations. He was a larger than life character who left an impression wherever he went.
Kevin, we’ll miss you mate!
Darren Hands,
District 1290 Communications Chairman
Article reproduced with kind permission from the Rotary D1290 Newsletter

Have your say......
If you have any articles or stories that you think other
clubs may be interested in, please send them to me, the
Newswire Editor, at editor@rotaract.org.uk).
Please send your articles and photos no later than
15th November 2008
RGBI Chairman 2008/09
Keith Pickles
Email:
chairman@rotaract.org.uk
Website: www.rotaract.org.uk
The views and opinions
expressed in this newsletter do
not necessarily reflect the views
of the Exec. Team or the Council
of Rotaract in Great Britain &
Ireland.
TEAM:
Together Everyone Achieves More
Dates for your diaries....
16th November 2008 RGBI Council Meeting (Bournemouth)
1st March 2009 RGBI Council Meeting (District 1140)
25-26 April 2009 RIBI Conference, Edinburgh
1-4 May 2009 RGBI Conference, Cardiff
3rd May 2009 RGBI Council Meeting (Cardiff)
14th June 2009 RGBI Council Meeting (Edinburgh)
18-20 June 2009 Rotaract PreConvention, Birmingham
21-24 June 2009 RI 100th Convention, Birmingham
The 2008/9 Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland Executive Team
Role Name, Club & District Contact Email
Chairman Keith Pickles (Hart & Rushmoor 1140) chairman@rotaract.org.uk
Administrator Claire Seale (Edinburgh 1020) rgbi.admin@rotaract.org.uk
Treasurer Andrew King (Carmarthen 1150) treasurer@rotaract.org.uk
International Claire Tennant (Deben 1080) international@rotaract.org.uk
Extension Martin Coates (Liverpool Hope 1180) membership@rotaract.org.uk
Rotary Liaison Richard Burnett (Westbourne 1110) rotary@rotaract.org.uk
Past Chairman Paul Simon (Colchester 1240) pastchairman@rotaract.org.uk