Page 31 - Phonebox Magazine May 2016

Rotary Club of Newport Pagnell
What is Rotary and what do they do?
Our Club has not published in Phonebox for a while, so it is probably best to start with a reminder of what Rotary is, and what it does.
Rotary International was founded in 1905 and has grown
to be the largest Service Organisation in the World. There are more than 1.2 million members of 32,000 Clubs in over 200 countries, all sharing the principle of “Service Above Self”. Membership in Great Britain is over 55,000 in 1600 clubs. The Rotary Club of Newport Pagnell is one of several in the Borough of Milton Keynes.
Globally, Rotary has six areas of focus: promoting peace; ghting disease; providing clean water; supporting mothers and children; supporting education and growing local economies.
Locally, our club has committees for community, vocational and international service. We raise funds through events and collections, and provide service to the community through hands-on projects. Social events and direct involvement lead to Rotary’s other objective of Fun and Fellowship.
Recently, our club presented a cheque for £3,000 to Willen Hospice from our Christmas collections. Our annual Jaipur Restaurant charity
dinner raised £3,000 for the Rotary Jaipur Limb project that provides low cost prosthetics to amputees in less developed countries. We work with local schools to organise Young Musician and Technology competitions, provide Christmas trees and gardens, and organise an annual outing to Whipsnade Zoo. Our members help with small maintenance jobs at social clubs. Each year we provide Shelter Box and/or Aquabox for emergency use after natural disasters.
Forthcoming events include a plant sale in Olney Market Place on 14th May, and a Summer Concert by Northampton Male Voice Choir at the Chrysalis Theatre on 23rd July.
This is just a small sample of Rotary’s work locally and globally. Much more information can be found on the internet or from our publications on Twitter and Facebook. We can be contacted via rotary.np@ btinternet.com, through which anyone interested can arrange to attend one of our Wednesday evening meetings at the Swan Revived Hotel, Newport Pagnell.
MK Festival of the Arts
Olney Brass
Olney Beginner Band achieved third place and were awarded the bronze medal for their performance at the Milton
Keynes Festival of the Arts in March. This was their rst competition since being formed in 2014 with support from Olney Town Council and Olney Brass – the senior band. Under the direction of David Rose the band played A Regal Fanfare, Theme from Star Wars and When the Saints. All the children are under 13 and initially learnt in small groups before joining together as a band last September. They will be joining the Senior Band at this year’s Spring Concert to be held on Saturday 7th May 2016 in the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes. Entitled
“Round the World with Olney Brass,” the band have chosen to play pieces that re ect different countries. Ousedale School Choir will also be guests at the concert. Tickets are
priced at £8.50 and are available at the door – the concert starts at 7.45pm. Olney brass can be followed on facebook or by visiting their website www.olneybrass.co.uk.
May 2016 | Phonebox Magazine 31