Surrey residents raised over £1,000 for the Cherry Trees charity, which offers home and respite care for local children and young people with severe learning and physical disabilities, at a Burns Night Supper in Guildford on Saturday 21 January. The evening was attended by around 100 guests and was organised by Guildford Chantries Rotary Club to support Cherry Trees and other Rotary charities.

With all the Burns Night traditions of piping in and addressing the haggis, the evening included a good helping of Robert Burns’ poetry, plenty of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, rounded off with a lively Ceilidh dance.  Favourite numbers included the Gay Gordons and Strip the Willow.

Cherry Trees charity was founded in 1980 by a group of parents and doctors and has become a lifeline for the families of more than 100 children and young people who are regularly cared for in East Clandon, nr Guildford – for a few hours, a weekend or even a couple of weeks.

David Greatbatch, President of Guildford Chantries Rotary Club said “Chantries is delighted to support the excellent work that Cherry Trees provides to our local community.  It was a real team effort on the night and thank you to everyone who came along.”

Members from Guildford Chantries and their Partners were volunteering recently at the famous Goodwood Revival meeting.  A social start to the day, found us eating baked potatoes and drinking coffee in heavy drizzle! Conversation swung around the impending fly-past of 10 Spitfires and where the best vantage point might be.

A couple of hours later and with many photos taken, it was time to turn to the main purpose of our visit – raising money for the Richard Burns Foundation. We stood at the main exit encouraging the departing visitors to contribute to a very worthy cause! During our shift, we enjoyed glorious sunshine and a shower or two, but we came away with the feel good factor warming the inner person. Next year, why not join us? You too might get to meet Laurel and Hardy!!

RIBI President Ray Burman is coming to Guildford on Tuesday 23 August.  The visit will start at 10.30am in the magnificent Guildford Castle Grounds, where Burman, along with Anne Milton MP and Guildford Mayor, Councillor Terence Patrick, will be planting a tree for Polio eradication.  We are also pleased to welcome our new District Governor for 1250, Duncan Anderson, who will be with us throughout the visit. 

Following this, we will be moving on to visit the Samson Centre, the home of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Group (Guildford) and finishing with a buffet lunch at the Holiday Inn by Surrey Sports Park at 12.30pm.  Everyone is welcome to join us -local Rotarians and those interested in finding out a bit more about what we do in Rotary –both at the Castle and for the Buffet lunch, but please let Frank know if you are planning to attend, so we are aware of numbers.

 On 21 July, Mike (with help from Sheila) gave a fascinating talk on their explorations of the South West corner of the USA.  Packed with facts and figures, they recounted the highs (Mogollon Rim – 7000ft above sea level and marking the end of the Colorado plateau) and the lows (Death Valley); the heat in Death Valley – the hottest, lowest, driest place in USA with an average of 1.9 inches of rainfall pa and the cold of the snow still blocking a number of roads into Yosemite. » Read more..