Wessex Mead (Trowbridge) Rotary Club

This year, 3 schools took part in the Wessex Mead Rotary Young Chef competition.  Heats were held at the schools with the finals taking place on Thursday 24th June at Trowbridge College.  After 2 hours of cooking time plus 30 minutes of setting up time, the 5 finalists presented their meals to the judges.  They had cooked a 2 course healthy meal for 2 for £9.  After taking into account a range of skills the overall winner was announced as Holly from Lavington school.

the winner

Winning menu: Mushroom and Stilton Tart with Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Couscous, Salad topped with bacon and balsamic vinegar dressing followed by Brandy Snap Baskets filled with vanilla mascarpone cream with summer berries.

Keiley Kids Out

Wessex Mead facilitated the day  for them, with Caroline Smyth and Sarah Hiscocks helping out Kingfisher class.  They had their lunch and all the activities included in the day out provided by Rotary. 

It was a lovely spring evening as 61 guests gathered at the beautiful Cleeve House at Seend, in their posh frocks and black tie. They were greeted with a glass of Pimms or juice, and mingled outside on the terrace or in the great hall before a bugle player called them in to dinner.

Casino winner

The Rotary Club of Wessex Mead had a special guest at the Business meeting in April 2010, Gill Frere-Smith from Alzheimers Support was invited to join us at Red or White for a meal and to accept a cheque for £617.50 - half the money raised at the Bavarian Night that we arranged in March. 

Gill gave the club members an interesting talk on the wonderful workings of the organization, detailing some of the range of flexible services that they offer to support people with Alzheimers disease and other dementias and their carers.This organization is for the residents of Wiltshire; with many activities on offer locally, we were particularly interested to hear about the Singing for the Brain group that will start on April 19 at the Wiltshire Music Centre.

Bavarian Night evening

The Rotary Club of Wessex Mead (Trowbridge) held their 8th Annual Bavarian Night at St Margaret's Hall, Bradford on Avon on Saturday 13^th March. The hall was organised into 4 rows of long tables to resemble a Bavarian Oompah party night, where Karls Bavarian Brass entertained by playing not so traditional Bavarian party music and organising not so traditional party games including favourites such as knobbly knees and yodelling. The games were punctuated with the bands signature song ‘lean forward, lean backwards to the left and the right, stand up, sit down, to the left and the right song.

We split into two teams - Berlin and Hamburg, both had team captains and secretaries who chose contestants for the games. German beer and sausages were sold, and a commemorative glass Stein was included in the ticket price.

Over £1300 was raised in aid of Alzheimer;s Support South West and Wessex Meads very own International project in Indonesia for a Mobile Health Clinic Project to provide health care to street children.

Bavarian Oompah Night 2010

The Pub Quiz at the Polish Club in Trowbridge raised over £300 to be shared between Age Concern and Children's Hospice South West.

16 teams battled it out over the 8 rounds of the quiz. Fish and Chips from Frydays in Frome Road, Trowbridge, were served in the interval, there was also a raffle. 

 The winners were Andrew Mullens, Louise Knox and Carolyn Spruce, the runners up were Martin Bloomfield, Nick Bloomfield, Rhian Griggs and Trudy Rosling.

Thank you to the generous shoppers in the Castle Place Shopping Centre, Trowbridge, who donated to the Rotary Clubs of Wessex Mead and Trowbridge, as we collected this weekend to raise funds to help the victims of the disaster in Haiti. 

Money raised will go to purchase a water survival box and/or shelter box.  These are both Rotary projects where 100% of the money raised goes directly to the people who need it most, in the form of practical help.  Rotary have already dispatched 2 x 200 water survival boxes, and 1500 shelter boxes. 

Water Survival box contents

Shelter Tent

Shelter box contents

So what is Purple Pinkie?

When children are vaccinated against polio, they have a purple stamp put on one of their little fingers.  In this way the immunisation team knows who has been vaccinated. Each Purple Pinkie brings us closer to making polio history.

For more information see the  Purple Pinkie website 

This poem is official confirmation
I support Polio eradication
If recited then I am dutifully bound
From those who listen to collect one pound
Be you brother, neighbour, friend or wife
For your donation I say ‘Thanks For Life’

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The Big Breakfast held at the Scout HQ, Southwick raised over £475 for Polio Plus, thanks to the canny shopping skills of Rotarian Caroline Smyth, and tombola of donated prizes.  More than 100 people tucked into unlimited drinks, cereals, toast and a full english breakfast.

The club worked well together as a team, and the sounds of enjoyment from the diners in the hall spurred on the cooks and washer-uppers in the kitchen. 

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Thanks to Trowbridge Tesco supermarket, for allowing Trowbridge and Wessex Mead Rotary Clubs to collect for 'Thanks for Life' on Saturday 27th Feb.  This was part of a nationwide agreement between Tesco and Rotary, so up and down the country you could find a rotarian promoting Polio Erradication at a Tesco supermarket.  We manned from 8am and 8pm and raised £304, which we were very pleased with and will make a difference in the fight against Polio world wide. 

This brings the Wessex Mead final total this year for 'Thanks for Life' to over £1250.  Massive thanks to all who have supported us.