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December 11th 2006

                  Rotarian Ian Tilley brought some amusement to the meeting with his own selection of humorous anecdotes that was to be his presentation under the heading of a literary lunch.  On Monday evening the club once again organized the Asda Shopping night for the handicapped and local senior citizens who do not readily have transport at their disposal.  Over 90 residents attended the evening and upon arrival at the store were greeted by the Mayor Sue Robinson and Club President Bert Collins.  During the evening the Caister Air Cadets and the Young Citizens Guild did a marvelous job in pushing the wheelchair bound residents around the store allowing them to complete some Christmas shopping.  The club are indebted to them for their help and that of the Asda Store staff who worked tirelessly throughout the evening.  The Club would also like to thank Asda Management for their generosity in supporting this event.  At the last minute the Cobholm Community Singers came to our rescue and with the help of some Rotarians delighted the shoppers with a range of Carols.  Thanks also go to Caroline Coaches. British Red Cross, Dial, Norfolk County Council Transport Division and Centre 81for their assistance. 

 On Monday 18^th December the club will hold the Presidents Ladies Night at the Burlington Hotel between 7. 30pm and 8pm.

 December 4th 2006

                  Monday’s speaker was Billy McCallion who gave an overview of the Open Door Charity he founded 11 years ago with the intention of providing a substantial once-weekly meal to a very limited number of disadvantaged people in Yarmouth. Although it was not his original intention, the charity now has grown to provide a good meal to 120 people every Wednesday and a further 80 people every Friday and they plan to provide a special Christmas dinner for 240 people on Christmas Eve. It is funded purely by charitable donations and has the help of a good number of voluntary helpers despite having to overcome a certain amount of official red tape. His ‘clients’ not only include the homeless and those with drug and drink related problems but also the lonely, some of which come from Eastern European countries

                 Most members were given details of the people they have to pick up for late night shopping for the elderly and handicapped at Asda on Monday evening and members were reminded of the three Rotary Clubs’ Evening of Christmas Music and Carols at Christchurch on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m.

November 27th 2006

                This was a business meeting which gave the Members an opportunity to discuss recent topical items.

November 20th 2006

                Rotarians welcomed Jim Carter to the club as this week’s speaker who is well known to the majority of the members especially with his connections to the Town.  Jim having been in Retail Management for many years was involved with the local Crime Prevention Panel, the St Nicholas Church Preservation Trust and a Founder Member of the Crime Stoppers initiative.

               Still keen to serve in the voluntary sector Jim became involved with the RNLI and is now Chairman of the local branch, a position that he will hold for 3 years.  Jim gave the members an overview of the work of the RNLI especially the work of the volunteer crew and the groups that fundraise to help keep the station in operation.  There is no doubt that the splendid work undertaken by its members is carried out in the knowledge that their training and superb equipment is vital to the safety of the crew who risk their lives to save others.  There were several questions from the floor, which reflected the interest that this presentation had generated.  Jim who has been a past member of Rotary has dedicated much of his spare time in helping voluntary organisations to raise funds and to assist in many other ways.  There is no doubt that Jim would be an asset to any organisation especially with all his knowledge and specialist skills.  Rotarian Colin Brooks thanked Jim for giving an insight into the work of the RNLI.

               The Club will once again organise the Asda Shopping Night for our local Elderly Citizens, which will take place on the evening on Monday 11^th December. 

November 13th 2006

                  Alan Carr, Head of Great Yarmouth Tourism,gave an amusing and entertaining talk to the Members.

It had been 11 years since his last visit to the Club and was sure the image of Great Yarmouth had improved over the years with the work that had been undertaken since 1998 with the regeneration of the sea front and adjoining areas.

He spoke of his defining moments which had shaped his career before and after his appointment as Head of Tourism in 1993.

Before that one of his first jobs was at Windsor Safari Park ( now Legoland ) attending to the cleaning up of the toiletry habits of the animals.

He then moved to Dorset as Entertainments manager for one of the hotels, followed by four years in Skegness as Entertainment manager.

It was in 1993 that he came to Great Yarmouth for the interview of Head of Tourism , following the retirement of our own Club member Tony King.

1994 was the year that for the first time the Borough Council and the Tourism board joined together to promote the town and try to recover the gradual loss of tourists due to closure of many guest houses and hotels, mainly as a result of peoples changing habits for a seaside holiday.

Recently the Pop Beach Event was very popular and the Annual Maritime Celebrations on the South Quay attracts 1000's of visitors every year.

!998 was the year when it was decided to re-generate the sea front and bring the area into a more modern era. There were lots of setbacks but funding of 16 million was obtained and today can be seen the results of the last few years efforts. It has been worthwhile as recognised by comments of local residents and holiday makers and also has given confidence to the local business community. New lighting systems and new look Regent Road have added to image of a safer environment.

Great Yarmouth can look to the future with greater confidence with the development of Marine Parade, the coming of the Outer Harbour and the possibility of a new large Casino being given a licence to operate . All these initiatives should bring in more visitors to the town and increase the use of the existing facilities. Rotarian John Tomalin thanked Alan for his enlightening and humorous speech.

                  Next Monday the speaker will be Jim Carter, a former club member ,who will tell of the workings of The Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

                  Members are asked to support the special Charity show at Potters Leisure Resort on Sunday 3^rd December 2006 at 3pm. The details are shown on the home page of the Club’s website. The Charity being supported is The East Anglian Air Ambulance.

                 Members were advised of the Three Local Rotary Clubs “ Evening of Christmas Music and Carols” to be held at Christchurch,Deneside on Wednesday 13^th December at 7.30pm.

November 6th 2006

                 Rotarian Ken Ward with his state of the art ‘Ghetto-Blaster’ played a range of music and songs from the period between the 1920’s through to the 70’s.  Ken admitted to the members that in his opinion the vast majority of music lovers do not listen to todays popular music, as was the case several years ago.  His choice placed before the members reflected his thoughts and there was no doubt that his passion is for the songs that were the hits of the bygone years   Mike Butcher thanked Ken for taking the time to present his music collection and his crusade to keep the old songs very much alive. 

                 On a different issue Rotarian Ray Calnon has signed up with his son Peter to take part in the Inca Trail Trek in May 2007 raising money for the British Heart Foundation.  Ray and Peter have set themselves a target to raise £6500.00, and having started fund raising they will hopefully achieve their goal to make sure that they can take part in this enduring challenge.

October 30th 2006

                   The club welcomed Nick Fenn back to the club and he soon settled into the lively proceedings during the lunchtime meeting.  Lesley Seabert introduced Victor Ling a Director with Alliance & General Finance.  Victor’s talk was based around Consumer Finance and how it would be possible to utilise all the banking offers that would ultimately give monetary savings to the consumer.  Victor covered the benefits of using a credit card, which offer protection clauses that can be useful especially when a company moves into receivership and the consumer has outstanding issues to resolve.  He also gave an overview of his involvement in the ‘Work Wise' scheme that is aimed at helping young people prepare themselves for the workplace.  This two-day course is for those aged between 12 and 14 and includes team building exercises thereby raising their self-esteem and gaining the confidence that is so vital when they apply for employment.  After some searching questions from the members Rotarian Colin Brookes thanked Victor for his presentation.  Club member Ken Ward will present a music session at next weeks meeting, which will be at the normal time.

October 23rd 2006

                   The club welcomed Alan Thompson the Senior Reporter for the Yarmouth Mercury.  Alan has been in journalism since 1966 and has worked not only in the UK but overseas including the USA   He talked about his work with the BBC and commercial radio including his working experiences with Radio Wiltshire, which was his previous position before leaving for Norfolk.    Alan’s talk was most enlightening talking about those special moments throughout his career.  One incident he remembers quite vividly was a female caller who was quite suicidal and he managed to keep the caller on the phone while contacting the Samaritan who made contact with her.  This story had a happy ending and there was no doubt that Alan’s call in programme was a line of hope for this young woman.  Alan joined the Yarmouth Mercury in September 2005 and will return to print journalism, bringing all his knowledge and flare to the newspaper.  Rotarian Wally Ladmore thanked Alan for addressing the members and the club wished him well in his new position. 

                 The Club is now arranging a visit to an evening performance at the St Georges Theatre on the 16^th November with a meal before the show. 

October 16th 2006

                 At Mondays lunchtime meeting Rotarian Graham Plant enlightened the members with his humorous stories on a wide variety of subjects including history the arts and those all important golfing stories that brought a real smile to those who take the game very seriously.  John Burroughs thanked Graham for his presentation and the in-depth research he must have undertaken in order to select those items that would be of interest to the members. 

October 9th 2006

                 This was a business meeting when general topics of interest to members were discussed.

October 2nd 2006

September 25th 2006

                 Despite the torrential rain and horrific travelling conditions in Great yarmouth, the Club meeting went ahaead with a surprisingly good turn out of members. However the Club felt it wise to advise the scheduled speaker from the Break charity not to travel from her sheringham headquarters. Instead an impromptu Quiz amongst members was organised.

                 On Sunday a river trip to Reedham had been arranged starting fro North Quay at 11.00am.

                 On Friday 6th October a fund raising Casino night with a meal will be held at the Imperial Hotel and to prepare members in the art of gaming, our own Rotarian Norman Bailey will divulge his secret recipe for success at Mondays Club meeting.

September 18th 2006

                 The club welcomed two representatives from the Herring House Trust namely Gaynor Collin Operations Manager and Lesley Canes the Client Services Manager.  They are based at Beuleah House Great Yarmouth with a their team of workers who provide emergency accommodation and support for both men and women over the age of 18years who have become homeless.   The Trust, which is a registered charity, was set-up some 15years ago and Gaynor explained how the organisation has changed to deal with present day problems.  They also operate four halfway houses where the client can experience the home environment with a view to them moving into more permanent accommodation within the community.  Whilst they receive some funding from the Norfolk County Council and limited Government Grants they still have to rely on other fund raising initiatives to provide the services.  The client’s all have a story to tell and a problem that sees them knocking on the door for help.  Lesley talked about some of the individuals that have come through the system and the success stories that have seen homeless people regain their lives and their dignity.  On average the Trust supports some 700 people a year but sadly there are times when the home is full and they unable to offer them a bed.  

                 Rotarian John Westgate thanked Gaynor and Lesley for giving the club an insight into their work and the support they give to those who are desperate and in need. 

September 11th 2006

                 This weeks programme was a "Literary Lunch" and it proved an interesting session despite the fact that two senior "literary" members who normally conduct such programmes were unable to do so, one at a very late stage, so Club Secretary Terry Ashbourne took over and ably conducted the proceedings at very short notice. Four members, John Westgate, Wally Ladmore, John Wiseman and Colin Brooks gave a varied and enjoyable programme of readings on subjects from John Prescott, Spike Milligan, Norfolk Squit and the words of Rupert Brooke through to Erotica.

                 The members also welcomed back honorary member Keith Horne after his recent illness.

                 Senior vice president Ian welcomed three guests, one local, one from Helston Rotary Club in Cornwall and one from Texas USA.

                 John Clarke reported on the golf success that he and Alan Spinks had attended. ( Report below for the 4th September )

                 Sunday sees the Clubs premier fund raising event of the year with the Annual Duck Races being held on the seafront waterways from 2pm, followed later in the day with a barbecue at the home of Rotarian Ian McCreadie in Browston.

September 4th 2006

                  Today was the Rotary National Golf Final for all districts ( 34 ) in RIBI . This was the 20th year of the competition organised by the Rotary club of Sutton-in-Ashfield District 1220. The winning team of 3 from each district is invited to compete in the final at the magnificent Notts Golf Club, Hollinwell. ( venue of many International golf tournaments )

                   Last year our team won the District 1080 and entered with a team of Alan Spinks, John Clark and Ian Tilley. We had a lovely day but at a very difficult course we were not successful in winning a donation for the Club but received a cheque for £100 for being District winners of 1080.

                   This year Alan Spinks was the District representative for the competition and congratulations go to the winning team from Ipswich East.

                   As a result of organising the event in the district, an invitation was accepted to play a team in the Guest Tournament with participation of all the prizes (nearest pins, longest drive etc. ). There were 14 guest teams.

                  Our Haven team was Alan Spinks, John Clark and guest Richard Manning. This time the team played exceptionally well, probably as a result of knowing the course from last year, and WON the Guest Competition with 77 points ( best from 2 at each hole ) . This score was in fact the best score of ALL the teams taking part on the day. The team were each presented with a lead crystal commemorative glass tankard and an invite to enter the Final next year. ( assuming we don't win the district again ! )

                  The winning team was Wolverhampton St George with a total of 74 points and received a cheque for their Rotary charities of £3000. Runners up were Reading with 71 points.

                   An excellent event, well supported and thanks to Tim Alderton and Stuart Tryner for all their hard work in organising the event.

September 4th 2006

                  On Monday the club guest speaker was Eric Burgess from the Great Yarmouth Christian Youth Group, who talked about his recent visit to southern Ukraine with youth members Mathew Dyball, Shaun Humphries and Jonathan Ward.  These young men were given the opportunity to stay with two families and to experience the culture in the Ukraine.  They visited a town called Zolobrasha, which is situated 200 miles south of Kiev.  They soon realised that life is quite hard in this part of the Ukraine but despite this everyone made them very welcome and treated them like family members.  One of the hosts namely Victor Marsakova managed to arrange a visit to a young offenders institute where some of the inmates were imprisoned for stealing food.  They were living in very poor conditions and breaking rocks in the local quarry as part of their punishment.

                 They managed to interact with the young offenders and gifts of chocolate and sweets were well received.  Their living conditions will always remain a lasting memory but more so the smiles on the young offenders faces during their visit seem to make such a big difference to their very mundane lives. These three young men were overwhelmed by their experiences and they plan to return in 2007.  Eric informed the meeting that he had managed to arrange a much-needed aid package from the International Aid Trust for the young offenders institute that hopefully should improve the lives of these young men whose futures look very bleak.

                  Rotarian George Ermini thanked the guests for bringing this to the attention of the members and wished them well in their future visits.

                 There will be a literary session at next Mondays meeting.

August 21st 2006

                On Monday the club speaker was Liz Thomas who is a member of Yarmouth Inner Wheel. Many years ago she was approached to join this club but like so many people she was reluctant to commit herself. However she eventually became a member and has undertaken many positions within the club.   She talked about how the organisation was formed and it’s role within the voluntary sector.  First formed in 1907 by wives of Rotarians they came together to promote friendship and offer service to the community not only locally but also on the international scene. They have 32,000 members in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and are the largest voluntary organisation in the world. This talk highlighted to all Rotarians how dedicated this organisation is and the very important role it plays in offering help to individuals and groups seeking support and assistance in a variety of ways.  Rotarian John Clark thanked Liz for updating the meeting. 

                 The club will meet again on Monday 4^th September.

August 14th 2006 

August 7th 2006 

               This was a business meeting and general discussion.

July 31st 2006

               At the Monday lunchtime meeting Rotarian Charles Lewis enlightened the members with a talk on the world of music.  We visited countries including Russia, Spain, North America Bulgaria and India sampling some of the local traditional music.

              Once again Charles gave the club an insight into the different styles of music that can be heard throughout the world and having experienced many of these whilst on his travels assures the audience that all of the different types of music can be obtained from leading music stores.  Charles completed his presentation with a song from the throat singers of Tuva with its unique vocal sound.  Rotarian Mike Self thanked Charles and delighted the club when he made a very good effort in trying to create the Tuva sound. 

              Congratulations to Wally Ladmore who was the winner of a recent club golf competition. 

              There will be a business meeting on Monday 7^th August.

July 27th 2006

               Eight members took part in Haven's own annual Club golf tournament today starting at 2.00pm at Caister and Great Yarmouth Golf Club. Those taking part were  Alan Carman, Alan Spinks, Bill Cooke, John Hovell, Wally Ladmore, Richard Delf, Tony Wortley, and Mike Erskine.

               The format was an 18 hole stableford on full handicaps.

               The conditions were very favourable being a sunny hot day with a mild sea breeze. The greens were excellent although the brown fairways had suffered because of the hot July weather.

                After the golf, a special steak meal was enjoyed by all, and the golfers were joined by Vice President Ian for the meal , and President Bert came later to present the prizes.

                The event was first inaugurated 16 years ago when Wally was Sports officer and presented the cup to the Club.

                Fittingly this year ,after trying for so long the winner was Wally Ladmore with 43 points. In second place was Bill Cooke with 39 points. John Hovell was "nearest the pin" on the par 3 14th. Alan Spinks had the longest drive on the 8th. 

                The putting competition always takes place after the meal, and the idea is NOT to win "the David Bluck Putter ". President Bert took part , and although never having played before, putted the "wobbly" ball into the hole leaving Alan Spinks with the trophy,and embarrassing comments in the bar !!

                 A great fun day and evening and hopefully will have more members next year to take part.

July 24th 2006

               District Governor Nigel Neville (Cambridge Rotary Club) addressed the club giving the members his vision for the forthcoming year.  He believed that strong leadership in all areas of Rotary would strengthen the membership and improve productivity.  He did recognise the good work undertaken by the Haven Club where good humour and fellowship are the key elements within its ranks.   He was of the opinion that many clubs undertake a variety of fundraising initiatives but fail to keep the general public updated on these achievements.  In his view every effort should be made to forward projects with a local interest to the press thereby raising the profile of the club.  The District support a variety of charities and he took this opportunity to mention Barnardo’s, Impact Trust, Wheelchair Foundation and the initiative for Rotary members to undertake leaflet distribution for Cancer Research.  He then spoke about the importance in recruiting new members into Rotary and retaining the existing membership.  He said that every effort should be made to encourage younger people to join, thereby creating an even balance within the club and without this new injection many clubs would struggle to maintain their current level of membership.  With new members ,come new ideas, which is always important in retaining a healthy membership.

              President Bert Collins thanked the District Governor for visiting the club and speaking to the members.  There will be a Club Council meeting at the offices of PFK situated on Beacon Park in Gorleston on Tuesday 1^st August.

July 17th 2006

            A general discussion took place of various Club matters, raised by the Members.

July10th 2006

           This weeks guest speaker was Rex Steadman who is a member of  ‘Grapevine’, an organisation that provides blind people and the visually handicapped with cassettes featuring local news and factual information.  The members who are all volunteers now total 80 in number and were formed in 1980 by a group of Rotarians providing 70 blind people with the talking cassette tapes.  They were housed within the Northgate Hospital complex and over several years they have managed to increase their circulation, providing tapes to over 300 people throughout the UK.  As a result of improvements in technology they are now able to produce the tapes much quicker, taking into account the work involved with formatting the tapes, editing the news and recording it onto the cassettes. They are a self-financing organisation and therefore rely heavily on donations and fundraising events to keep the project alive. There is no doubt that this is a very important service to the blind community in our area giving them a sense of independence with social benefits that keeps them in touch with local news.  Rotarian Richard Delf thanked Rex for a most informative presentation, and for giving people with such disabilities the opportunity to be updated on local issues.

           There will be a club discussion on a topic to be decided at next Mondays lunchtime meeting.

July 3rd 2006

            Members are reminded of the planned trip to the Theatre in Southwold on the 18^th August and those that have yet put their names on the list should contact Ian Thomson. 

           The guest speaker at next Mondays meeting is Rex Steadman (from Grapevine) who will be talking about his work producing newspapers for the blind.   

June 30th 2006

            Our golf duo of Bill Cooke and Alan Spinks played their semi-final match in the RIBI National Golf Tournament at Great Yarmouth and Caister Golf Club.

Despite home advantage, a very strong pair from Ipswich East Rotary Club proceeded to birdie or par nearly every hole ,and although the match was close, we succumbed to a birdie on the par 5 15th and lost 4 and 3.

            We wish our team in the District Knockout , a winning combination later this month. ( However it is Ipswich East again at Purdis Heath Ipswich ! )

June 26th 2006

             Port Manager Alex Woods returned to Great Yarmouth Haven Rotary Club to give an update on the progress of Eastport. Showing a short video on the history of Great Yarmouth Port, he pointed out that with a total of over 400 offshore companies, the town is still a major player in the gas industry. He also provided an impressive array of statistics to show that the harbour is doing as well as ever, with over 7,000 vessel movements each year, 3,000 needing a pilot. The harbour is accessible 24 hours per day, seven days per week and with Holland only 100 nautical miles distant, the need to accommodate larger ships and provide an alternative route to the congested southeast is of paramount importance. The new outer harbour, Eastport, will do exactly that. By last December, all relevant permissions to build the outer harbour were in place. The response from the private sector was very positive and the appointment of a Joint Venture Partner is very close. He anticipated that the first ships would be in the harbour by the end of 2008.

             President Monty Spandler thanked all those involved with the organisation of the Club’s 25^th Anniversary Dinner on 23^rd June. He also thanked those who attended and made it such an enjoyable evening.

             There is no speaker next week as it is the Presidential Handover. Retiring President Monty Spandler will present the chain of office to Senior Vice-President Bert Collins, who will be in the hot seat for the next year.                    

June 19th 2006

             At last Monday’s lunchtime meeting of Great Yarmouth Haven Rotary Club the Club Assembly took place in the presence of Alan Price, Assistant District Governor East Elect. Deputising for President Elect Bert Collins, Senior Vice-President Elect Ian Thomson introduced each of the committee chairman to present their programmes for the coming year. International Committee Chairman, Ted Witton, summarised activities over the past year and commented on the changed make-up of next year’s committee. The popular Duck Race in the Water Gardens will feature in next year’s money-raising events and his committee hope to adopt one or two new charities in addition to those that it has supported regularly in the past. His committee now includes the former Foundation Committee and he touched on Gift Aid, the District Simplified Fund, Matching Grants, Group Study Exchange and Ambassadorial Scholars. The Chairman of Vocational Committee, Des Sadler, predicted that apart from a new schools competition involving the completion of a Rotary Jigsaw, his committee would continue with a proven successful programme. Committee members will continue to search for worthy causes that the Club can support. John Burroughs, Community Services Committee Chairman, reported briefly on the Kids Out event, in which the Club hosted 219 youngsters at Pleasurewood Hills. This will also be a feature of next year’s programme. The Whizz Kids collection at Tesco’s is a new feature. It is also planned to continue The Asda Late Night Shopping at Christmas. Summarising those small local organisations that the Club have helped previously, he emphasised that his committee are always on the lookout for new organisations in need of help. Hon. Secretary Tony King read out a report from President-Elect Bert Collins in which he set out the plans of the Club Service Committee for the forthcoming year.

            Assistant District Governor East Elect Alan Price praised members for the good, happy, harmonious Club that he found, as evidenced by its recruitment record. He commented on various events in next year’s programme that had caught his eye and wished members every success for the new Rotary Year.

            The Club’s 25^th Anniversary Charter Night takes place on Friday night at the Burlington Hotel (7.30 for 8 p.m.).

            Next week’s speaker is Port Manager Alex Woods.

June 12th 2006

            Rotarian Mike Muskett introduced Kevin Hall Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services   This Private Limited Company assists in the creation of new jobs by offering the necessary advice to people who wish to start the own businesses.  This can be in the form of training, advice loans or property and even if the business has been operating for some time they will continue to offer help and support.  The agency was formed 25 years ago when two major employers in the area closed their businesses.  In 2005 the agency helped over 240 businesses and there is every likelihood that they will match this figure this year.   Whilst he accepted that there were always a number of business failures there were always new projects being created that would replace those that had failed.  He also explained that their team covered many parts of the UK thereby diversifying into different areas.

            Kevin felt that Great Yarmouth was the’ hidden gem’ of the region and was confident that the town would prosper in coming years and it was his intention that his agency would be at the forefront of this transformation.  All members felt that this was a very informative presentation and Rotarian Ted Witton thanked Kevin for updating the members. 

             The club is organising a trip to the Southwold Theatre where the production ‘Outside Edge’ by Richard Harris is being performed. Arrangements have been made to visit a local restaurant prior to the performance. Those members wishing to attend this function are reminded to place their names on the list as soon as possible.   Next weeks meeting will be a club assembly at the normal time.

June 5th 2006

             Rotarian Ted Witton updated the meeting on the international effort in response to the Java earthquake and secured finance from the club for two Aqua boxes to be dispatched immediately.  The Club also approved a proposal by Des Sadler to finance the purchase of printing equipment for the Norfolk International Project.

            Alan Spinks introduced Frances Holmes as this week’s speaker who talked about the launch of a scheme to help homeless people in the Yarmouth area gain work experience in an effort to obtain employment.  The programme called ‘Business Action on Employment & Skills’ has been operating successfully in the Norwich area for some time and as a result it was decided to bring this initiative to Great Yarmouth in an effort to help people in this area. Those agencies involved in helping the homeless will nominate individuals for this programme giving them a chance to rebuild their lives.  This initiative will need the support of local business who will offer work experience to those nominated onto the scheme thus enabling them to gain the necessary skills that will help them to gain jobs. The scheme will be launched on the 4^th July at a “Seeing is believing” event. During the afternoon local business leaders will be given the opportunity of increasing their understanding of the issues faced by the homeless by visiting agencies that support the client group.

            Ken Ward thanked Frances for giving the club insight into the scheme and wished her every success in the venture.

May 22nd 2006

              Andrew Cullen, Director of Sales and Marketing for Norwich City F.C. was the speaker at this Monday’s lunchtime meeting. He began by commenting on the unprecedented occurrence whereby Norwich attracted higher crowds in the Championship League than they did when they graced the Premier League. He attributed this to the loyalty of the fans and the significant relationship that the football club has with the local community. He contrasted the figures to those of another club whose home gates are more than two thirds less than when they were playing Premier League football. A Premier League club can look forward to receiving around £20 million from TV deals. This amount falls to £900,000 in the Championship League. 18,000 Norwich fans renewed their season tickets for next tear, 14,000 before March. A further 1800 are on the waiting list. Other income comes from sponsorship deals with mainly local firms, catering, hire of the club facilities, a travel agency, a security business, telesales function and design agency. He also touched on the sale of three acres of land for a new 4 star Holiday Inn. The club will hold a stake in this venture.

             Earlier on, members agreed to purchase seven microwave ovens for the organisation Holiday Homes for the Handicapped, based in Scratby.

            There will be a Club Council meeting at the Italian Restaurant, King Street on 2^nd June at 6 p.m. The Joint Council Dinner will follow this at 7.30.   

There will be no meeting next Monday as it is a Bank Holiday and the speaker for 5^th June will be Frances Holmes, who will speak on Employment in the Community.

May 15th 2006

         Our golf duo of Alan Spinks and Bill Cooke were successful in reaching the semi-finals of The 20th RIBI Rotary Club Golf Competition, when beating a team from the Wymondham Rotary Club. Home advantage was a bonus as the match was played at Great Yarmouth and Caister Golf Club. We await further results for our next opponents but again we will be playing at home !