Rotary Club Secretary Professor Frank Clark and incoming Vice President Ken Robertson are seen here demonstrating a Water Survival Box to the pupils of Holy Cross Primary School Croy.

Commenting on the visit to the school Frank said “It is great to maintain our long association with Holy Cross Primary and to see and hear at first hand about the marvellous efforts of the children (and the teaching staff) in raising funds to help people less fortunate than ourselves. In the past the school has raised significant sums of money to enable the Rotary Club to purchase emergency shelters and water purification kit to be sent to disaster areas throughout the world”.It is no exaggeration to say that their efforts have literally saved lives and on this occasion as a result of a Sponsored Silence, Water Walk, Raffles, Parental Workshop and Filled Money Box they have been able to donate over £1200.

 

When Condorrat man Paul Thain who suffers from the rare genetic disorder Tuberous Sclerosis outgrew his previous tricycle his mother Jennifer approached the Rotary Club of Cumbernauld for assistance in purchasing a replacement. Club Secretary Professor Frank Clark said “amongst the many other challenges Paul’s condition affects his mobility and the specially adapted tricycle affords him some degree of independence and exercise and it is clear that he enjoys cycling. When we heard that the Tuberous sclerosis Association was wiling to fund 50% of the cost of a replacement our Club President Alex Mearns had no hesitation in using part of his discretionary fund to meet the balance. It is heart warming to see that such a modest investment can make such a difference to the quality of someone’s life and this is exactly the type of local initiative which Rotary is happy to be associated with.”

The spirit of Christmas was alive and well at TESCO in Craigmarloch when Cumbernauld Rotarians and their partners carried out their Annual Festive Food Collection.

 We asked customers to add one or two items to their shopping and to place them in our trolley when they were leaving the store. This simple act enabled us to gather enough items to prepare over 150 parcels which will be distributed by Cumbernauld Action for Care of the Elderly, The Salvation Army, Women’s Aid and The Unemployed Workers Association to people in Cumbernauld who are less fortunate than ourselves.

Cumbernauld played host to Vale of Carron in the District 1020 Plate Quiz and were “narrowly” beaten 25 to 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Both teams were well served by Quizmaster Jim Howatson a former President of the club and Vice President of Cumbernauld Probus Club who ran the quiz with a “rod of iron”. We were comforted by the fact that at least the buzzers worked well !!!!!!!!!!!”

 

The Rotary Club of Cumbernauld Shelter Box Display in the Antonine Centre made a big impression on these Cumbernauld youngsters who were surprised that such a small sum of money could save the lives of ten people.

Club Secretary Frank Clark explained to the boys that the Shelter Boxes costing £   each contained a strong tent, ten sleeping bags, water purification kit and cooking equipment and utensils – in short everything needed to sustain life in areas devastated by  disaster. In recent times Rotary had transported many thousands of  these boxes to such far flung areas as Pakistan where an earthquake had made tens of thousands homeless in sub zero temperatures and the Democratic Republic of Congo where over a quarter of a million men women and children had been displaced by militia and government forces.

Commenting today Frank said Rotary International currently has shelter Box teams in four countries and supplies of the boxes are stretched to the limit. As we contemplate Christmas even in the midst of our current economic difficulties we cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to have no shelter, no clean water and no food – all things that we take for granted. The Shelter Boxes literally save lives and we are therefore indebted to shoppers in the Antonine Centre who on Saturday generously donated enough cash to enable us to buy and send a Shelter Box to a disaster area. Every penny received will go to this good cause and that Box WILL save 10 lives!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Frank added “If you are interested in supporting the Shelter Box Appeal or if you would like to know more about Rotary and whether you might want to become involved why not contact me on 01324 824 214 or e-mail me at frankclarkcbe@btinternet.com  - I would be delighted to hear from you

Club President Alex Mearns is shown here with Secretary Frank Clark, Past President Alun Morgan and Karen Johnston Manager of the Antonine Centre at the clubs recent highly successful promotional day.

 Commenting on the event Frank Clark said “This was an opportunity for us to share with the people of Cumbernauld a something of the work undertaken by the Rotary Club at Local, National and International level. At a local level we have over the years supported such worthy services as Strathcarron Hospice, Redburn School and Glencryan School. We have worked in partnership with Cumbernauld College and Abronhill High School where we have been privileged to sponsor some excellent senior pupils to enable them to take part in the life changing opportunities provided by the Rotary Youth Leaders Award and Challenge Enterprise.  At national level we support the Scottish Centre for Motor impaired Children (The Craighalbert Centre) and Internationally we have twinned with The Rotary Club of Paco Manila in the Philippines where we have assisted in the creation of a school for The Aeta Tribe. In addition we have worked with a number of local schools to raise funds for Aqua Boxes and Shelter boxes which have in turn been sent to some of the world’s worst disaster areas.

All of those who spoke to us were amazed at the range of our activities and more so when they learned that all of this was combined with a very healthy social programme.

We are grateful to our friends at the Antonine Centre for allowing us to use the excellent facilities there and to the generosity of the people of Cumbernauld for their continued support.”

We were pleased to welcome District Governor Alasdair Seale on his first visit to Cumbernauld this Rotary year.

The DG reminded Rotarians of the progress which had been made towards the eradication of Polio in the world and commended the Club for being one of only 24 in the District which had exceeded the target of $100 per member donation to Rotary’s own charity The Rotary Foundation. He went on to describe the many other areas of humanitarian work which Rotary was engaged upon worldwide and he welcomed the partnership which we had developed with The Rotary Club of Paco Manila in support of the Aeta Tribe.

The DG was pleased to note that one new Rotarian had been inducted so far this Rotary year and that a second member would be inducted in two weeks time and he encouraged the Club to maintain this momentum. President Alex was pleased to assure him that the club was fully committed to recruiting new members and that our ambitious programme of work at local, national and international level required such development.

Vice President Robert thanked the DG for his kind words and extended an invitation to him to visit the Club again when his busy schedule permitted