Index

Press Release28/04/13

On the 26th April 2013 the winners of East Kilbride Rotary Club's Youth Speaks competition from Duncanrig school came along to present club members with their speech on the Pro's & Cons of wind farms. Accompanied by their school teacher Georgina Scott , Lucy Devlin, Scott Joyce and Michael McKinnon certainly gave a sound argument as to why alternatives have got to be found to put an end to the deformation of the Scottish landscape. Highlighting the many miles of coastal waters that Scotland has thus letting us fully utilise this as a way forward to feed our addiction for a constant supply of energy.

Press Release21/04/13

The following Rotarians carried out a survey of the blood pressures of shoppers at East Kilbride Town Centre last weekend. This is the second time that this has been done by the Rotary Club.

Rotarians John Cardno, Ray Porrelli, Archie King, George McGraw, George Gunn, John Murphy, Jim Moretti, Roddy Shanks, Leslie Irvine, Frank McLuskey, Iain Wiseman gave of their time but the Stalwart Rotarian was Past President Dr. Henry Doig, Henry met many of his old patents plus he was the man in charge ably assisted by Nurses Ann Smith and Margaret Blackwood without whose assistance, the task would have been quite difficult although the Rotarians also took some of the readings. At one stage there were four sphygmomanometers in use.

The work was made more pleasant by the use of an open gazebo but if this exercise were to be repeated, higher chairs (even stacking chairs) would be a big improvement.

Those with raised BP or other problems were given specially prepared advice leaflets with the present BP readings for the use of their doctor. Blood pressure is extremely variable.

Findings

Total number tested 145

Raised blood pressure 29

Known hypertensive's 13 (Mostly on medication)

Unexpected HBP 16 (these with raised BP, not on treatment or if on medication needing review by GP)

Referred to GP 17 (two for very abnormal heart rate)

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Another successful sporting trophy for East Kilbride when they defeated Govan and Ardrosssan Rotary Clubs in previous rounds to get into the final of the District Challenge Cup.

The members who represented East Kilbride in final had all participated in the two previous rounds. Each finalist team proposed a sport - East Kilbride Selected Table Top Curling; Govan selected Carpet Bowls and Snooker was the choice of Bothwell & Uddingston. Final Scores: East Kilbride 8pts; Bothwell & Uddingston 6pts; Govan 4 pts.

On the 17th of April 2013 the club's annual general meeting was held and the following members were officially elected as shown elected to the offices below they will take up post at the beginning of July 2013.

Election of 2013-14 Office Bearers:

Officials :President: David Brown President Elect: Archie KingVice President: Ian Macpherson Treasurer: Ian Craig Secretary: Jack Blackwood Immediate Past President: Jack Blackwood

Board Members: Current Members: John Cardno and Frank McLuskey (3rd Term) Liam Donnelly (2nd Term) Bruce Gunn, John Murphy, Tom Wilson (1st Term)

Convenors: Club Administration: Archie King (PE) Service Projects: Ian Macpherson (VP) Membership: Not Filled Foundation: Roddy Shanks Publicity & Club Historian: Eddie Robertson

Others:

Sports Officer: Jim Moretti Attendance Officer: Andrew Ferguson Speaker Secretary: Ian Wiseman Youth Exchange Officer: Frank McLuskey Club Protection & Safety Officers: Jim Moretti & Roddy Shanks Sergeant at Arms: Not filled at meeting Auditors: Barry Wood & John Murphy.

Press Release 07/04/13

Bruce Gunn joined East Kilbride Rotary Club on the 2nd of November 2012 and on the 5th of April 2013 he was given the full attention of his fellow Club members when he gave his "My Job" talk.

From a bakers boy at primary school to milk boy in secondary school, who left Scotland for London in 1984 to work as a lifeguard & sports coach before accidentally falling into sales. Worked in sales for over 20 years, firstly for Irish life insurance then onto mobile phones, software & latterly in web development, software & IT support. He explained how his life changed late 2008 while on holiday when he was got bitten by mosquitoes & had an allergic reaction, as a result of this he had to focus on what he could do with his life.

Started by setting up a secure courier company for disabled people. Incorporated as a community interest company the company DNDP provides opportunities for young people, 16-21 to become 'co-pilots' to the disabled drivers. They provide the 'legwork' to the drivers who in turn mentor the young people. DNDP have came a long way in 3 months & hope to be employing 50 youngsters by the end of 2014.

The secure courier service is a business to business package that adds corporate social responsibility & is provided to local authorities, charities, government, architects, solicitors, IT companies & other professional organisations.

Highlights: Pick up from anywhere in the Scottish central belt and deliver anywhere in the central belt within two hours.

" Our six hour turnaround service for mainland Scotland

" End-to-end services tailored to your specific needs

" Registered with the ICO on the data protection register

" Live GPS vehicle tracking

" Onboard locked strong boxes

" Fireproof and waterproof cases

Vote of Thanks on behalf of the membership was given by PP John Cardno

Press Release24/03/13

On the 22nd March 2013 Rotarian Bob Macdonald from Dennistoun R.C. spoke on the Scottish Mining Museum at Newton Grange. Although retired, he was a speaker with a vibrant delivery on his specialised subject that he spent the majority of his working life in. Joined the mining industry when it was producing 2 million tonnes of coal from 249 Collieries and 80,000 working in the industry in 1949. Seen the demise of the industry falling to 10 Collieries with 17,000 employees in 1984 when oil became the front runner in Scotland.

Press Release 16/03/13

Press Release16/03/13

Despite the freezing weather an audience of about 280 attended the recent Lanarkshire Association of Burns Club's Competition for East Kilbride primary schools on the 11th of March, which was again organised by East Kilbride Rotary Club. Following the success of the 2012 competition this year's event was moved to the larger Ballerup Hall. Although this was a better venue, it still proved slightly inadequate with standing room only for some of the audience in the packed hall.

Ten schools were represented with 130 entrants who competed in two age groups doing recitations, solo singing, choir singing and instrumental pieces all set by the Burns Association. All the entrants gave of their best, each receiving a certificate, and there were some animated performances of "A Dug, A Dug" in the P4/P5 competition and "Tam O'Shanter" by the P6/P7 group.

All this gave the judges, John Mitchell, Wendy McNab and Audrey McKirdy a very difficult task in deciding the winners in each category, but after due consideration the winners' certificates and cups were presented to the delighted pupils by Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride. On behalf of the judges, John Mitchell, warmly congratulated the winners and praised all the entrants for their effort. Thanks were also given to East Kilbride Rotary Club and its Vice President Archie King for all his, and his members', work in organising such an excellent and well supported competition.

The Tony Brown Memorial Shield for the school which had the best overall performance was won for the first time by Auldhouse Primary School, a remarkable achievement for the smallest primary school in East Kilbride.

The winners in each section will now go forward to the Lanarkshire District Final later in the month, and with excellence of their performances it is hoped that some will then progress to the National Final, possibly the winner's rostrum?

Results:

P4/P5 Recitation - 1. Meg Sloan, Long Calderwood; 2. Eilidh Smith, Kirktonholme; 3. Charlie Frew, Hunter.

P4/P5 Solo Singing - 1. Emily Downie, Heathery Knowe; 2. Ben Carmichael, Auldhouse; 3. Katie Beel, Maxwellton & Mirrin Morton, Auldhouse.

P4/P5 Choir - Heathery Knowe

P6/P7 Recitation - 1. Kerr Wilson, South Park; 2. Aaron Hannah, South Park; 3. Chloe Edgar, Long Calderwood.

P6/P7 Solo Singing - 1.Aidan Neil, Auldhouse; 2. Mya Kelly, Auchinraith; 3. Neeve Smith, Heathery Knowe.

P6/P7 Instrumental - 1. Rebekah Smith, Auldhouse; 2. Ruby Bennett, Kirktonholme, 3. Estrella Balmer, Auldhouse.

On Thursday 14 March the Rotary Club of East Kilbride held its second annual Youth Speaks competition for the town's senior schools. The event was held at the East Kilbride Group Training Association premises in Nerston and members of the East Kilbride Speakers Club provided the judges, Bob Hunter and Harvey Littlejohn and the timekeeper, Pauline Ann McGrath.

All three senior schools were represented with four teams speaking on the topic "Windfarms - a blight on the landscape or a necessity?"

In front of a lively audience each team had ten minutes to present its case followed by questioning from the floor.

It was clear that all the teams had researched the subject very thoroughly and the quality of their presentations was reflected by the difficulty the judges had in agreeing a winner.

Harvey Littlejohn provided a summation of the evening and a review of each teams' performance before announcing the winning team was Duncanrig Secondary School senior team of Scott Joyce, Michael Mackinnon and Lucy Devlin.

The trophy was presented to the winners by Isobel Dunlop, President of the East Kilbride Speakers Club and the vote of thanks was given by Jack Blackwood, President of East Kilbride Rotary Club.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for all involved

Press Release 3rd/03/13

The Crème de la Crème of the towns secondary schools descended on the East Kilbride Rotary club's lunch meeting last Friday for their visit of the schools to the club.

An annual event, the three 6th pupils from each school accompanied with a teacher come along to meet the Rotarians, hopefully get some worthwhile advice and address the members on their chosen careers, work within the school both on education and socially.

One of the most interesting and satisfying facts the Rotarians learned was the pupils passion for helping in the community and how they managed to fit this into their busy schedules. This was highlighted in Mr Cosgrove's introduction of St Andrews and St Brides when he expressed his views that he would like to see more in the newspapers of the good work carried out by the pupils.

Teacher Kathleen McCann introduced the three pupils from Duncanrig, Darren Hutton, Stephanie Cullen and Shona Lethem before handing over to Stephanie.

She spoke very eloquently on her career to go into teaching, of Darren pursuing music technology and Shona taking up nursing.

Calderglen was represented by Mrs Jenkins, teacher of Computing and Business, Scott Anderson, Erin McIver and Kirsty Reaich. All three pupils have unconditional offers for University. Kirsty spoke of their work in the community and of her intention to study Pharmacy, while Erin is pursuing language and business and Scott will study history politics and education.

Mr Cosgrove, head of St Andrews and St Brides, presented his three pupils, Scott Cummings, Michael McGuire and Lisa Cowling. Lisa spoke of her intention to study Maths at university, Scott's unconditional offer to attend university for business and accounts and finally Michael focusing his career on business and economics also at university.

President Jack spoke on behalf of all the Rotarians present expressing how extremely impressed we were by the very high standard of qualifications attained by each pupil and the dedication and time spent in helping the local and worldwide community and the commitment and success of the school staff in instructing our children both in education and morals.

Press Release 23/02/13

Our Speaker on the 23/02/13 was Margaret Bryden from Inner Wheel District 23, who came along to take time to speak to those present on the history, membership and future of The Inner Wheel. Margaret had a sympathetic audience in that the Inner Wheel were suffering from the same problems as Rotary that of the loss of Clubs in the district due to the lack of new members who were willing to give their time to come along to participate in the well being of their Local and International Communities.

Past President Ian Macpherson gave the vote of thanks on behalf of his fellow Rotarians in attendance

Several members of East Kilbride Rotary under the guidance of Rotarian Roddy Shanks planted 5000 Crocus purple bulbs 2 years ago, just outside the civic centre on the hillock facing the towards the telephone exchange as a reminder of their continuing fight against polio whilst at the same time giving the general public their first little hint of spring just being round the corner. The reason for the purple crocus was the colour of the dye used to mark the fingers of those who had been given their sugar lump. There are only 3 countries left in the world where polio has not been eradicated and Rotarians worldwide are determined to ensure that Afghanistan

Pakistan and Nigeria become Polio free zones thus eliminating the disease from the world . as a means of continuing to raise money towards their ongoing project Rotarians are currently dispersing small lapel crocuses and the money raised from the donations made from this will go straight their Polio eradication

Press Release 23/01/13

Robert Gillies of the East Kilbride Development Trust came along to the club on the 1st of Feb 2013 to highlight some of the work being done by the trust some of whose funding came from the Clyde Challenge fund. The EK Development Trust has 100% voluntary staffing who's objective is to improve East Kilbride in such a way that there are benefits & opportunities to learn for all it citizens. They have had help from South Lanarkshire Council who given them space at Calderglen Country Park. The National Trust for Scotland has given the trust space at the National Museum of Rural Life. They have been successful with a grant application to the climate challenge fund for resources and equipment which has enabled the trust to develop projects at both sites and form partnerships with South Lanarkshire College and a number of schools. Robert announced that free gar4den seeds would be available for all at their open shop on the 9th of March 2013 all of these seeds have been propagated here in East Kilbride Despite the weather conditions they managed to set up the office base. Get a number of community projects up and running. Get our first lot of seed saving plots underway. Restored the old greenhouse. Delivered successful courses including bee keeping and chicken keeping.

The vote of thanks was given by Rotarian John Murphy.

Press Release 18/01/13

Friday the 18th of January 2013 was a celebration day for East Kilbride Rotary Club, in that one of their members celebrated his 40th anniversary as a member of the club. However there it was a double celebration that took place when Past President Jim Anderson announced the birth of his 6th grandchild and needless to say at Jim's expense baby Erin's birth was well celebrated by those present.

Past President Ian Macpherson was the member celebrating the forty years membership with the club. Ian took time to reminisce over the years and spoke about the work that the club had done in the past and how Rotary has changed over the years. Ian raising a few laughs whilst doing so.

President Jack Blackwood on behalf of the members, presented Ian with a tie press with a difference as a momentum of the occasion. Past President Edwin Robertson who maintains the history of the club listened to every word that Ian said hoping he would make a mistake somewhere with the information he was passing on, the reason for the this being that he was giving the vote of thanks on behalf of his fellow members, alas his reserved attention did not give him a chance to find an error with Ian's talk.

Press Release 09/12/12

Three architects at this lunch meeting, two retired and one still working but the main one is the man in the middle Peter McGurn who spoke to the club on the 7th of Dec 2012 on what he has been doing since his retiral by finding out what to do with his spare time, as he didn't golf. However he ended up speaking to the club on his views on the Scottish referendum giving some very good what "ifs" and tried to give some questions that we the electorate should be asking!!! All in all a very good speaker who obviously researched his topic well. There was a short Q & A with the vote of thanks falling into the hands of one of the other architects namely our own George Gunn who is on the left of the picture with President Jack Blackwood on the right.

Press Release 30/11/12

What a wonderful visit the Rotary club had at their lunch on the 30th of Nov 2012 when three pupils from Calderglen High school came along to speak to the club of their experiences as Olympic volunteer helpers at this years games in London.

Left to right in the picture with Club President Jack Blackwood are Ryan Fennessey, Laura Carberry, Jacqueline Ferguson and head teacher Tony McDaid. East Kilbride Rotary Club have close ties with the school who have helped the club in the past at our yearly environmental clean up of Calderglen. Plus the support we have given them with their funding for their trips to South Africa and the London Olympics. The School were one of twenty eight schools in the UK who were in this particular category of helpers and the only school from Scotland this was quite an achievement especially when the London 2012 Olympic organisers went out of their way to congratulate them as a team for their high standard of contribution and in return for this they were given VIP seats at the stadium to watch Mo Farah running and a visit to the pool to watch a water polo match. George McGraw gave a vote of thanks on behalf of his fellow Rotarians

Press Release 11/11/12

Visiting speaker Matt Donnelly (Accountant) came along to East Kilbride Rotary Club to speak on the subject of "Tax avoidance is it morally wrong?" Needless to say he had an attentive audience which included two visitors from East Kilbride Kittoch Rotary Club namely Jean Murray and Diane Ashwood. Much of the time taken by Matt was in the form of question and answers between his audience and himself and in conclusion providing the move for tax avoidance is legal between the client and the HMRC and operating within tax laws of the United Kingdom it was not wrong to implement them on behalf the claimant. Past President Barry Wood gave the vote of thanks on behalf of those present

Press Release 04/11/12

East Kilbride Rotary Club are in need of new members and they have just welcomed there first internet applicant when Past President John Cardno introduced Bruce Gunn to their membership. President Elect David Brown then took over the induction proceedings and firstly called upon Junior Vice President Archie King to read out the objects of Rotary to those present which read as follows:-

1 The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.

2 High ethical standards in business and professions and the recognition of worthiness of useful occupations, coupled with the

dignifying of each Rotarians occupation as an opportunity to serve society.

3 The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarians personal, business and community life.

4 The advancement of international understanding, good will and peace through a world-fellowship of business and professional persons united in the Ideal of service.

David Brown then informed our new member Bruce of his obligations to Rotary, that of "Service before Self", after which Bruce gave the membership present further background information on his work and family life. Membership within the club now stands at 29 but the club to sustain its operation within the community and internationally should be around the 40 mark, so if there are members of our community who would like to put back something into society and think they may well have the necessary aptitude to participate, please contact us via our web site or email us at membership@ekrotary.com

Press Release 20/10/12

The annual East Kilbride Rotary Club quiz night to raise money for the "Toys for Kids" was held last Friday in the East Kilbride Golf Club.

Twenty Three teams entered for the quiz, many of them regular supporters of this event.

Questions were set by Quiz Master Ronnie Watson who skilfully controlled the proceedings with the help of Irene, Jean and Jim. Any protests, and there were quite a few, were fended easily by referencing to Wikipedia or the "I am right" philosophy.

The quiz started with the usual picture question and continued until the last question before the half time break "where are the pies", went unanswered!

Pies did arrive, hot and spicy, courtesy of Stephen Sheriff, The village butcher.

After the raffle the 2nd half commenced with a number of teams fighting for top place.

The ultimate round concluded with 3 teams each on 106 points with the eventual winners, team "The Plebs are us" winning on the tie break question of how long is the BayeuxTapestry. They were closest to the answer of 70 metres.

2nd Place went to "Monkey Tennis" and 3rd to team "Densa".

Rotarian Jim Moretti, who organised the quiz, presented the prizes to the winning team of Brian & Katrina Carson and Brian & Anne McKelvie .

The quiz raised £815.00 and when added to the Golf AM-AM held earlier in year boosts the toy appeal fund by £2815.00,

In partnership with local company Chesapeake, who also are fund raising, there will be enough money to buy Christmas presents for over 400 local children.

The presents are given to the Social Care department who identify local children who may not get any Christmas presents, They gift wrap the presents and personally delivery before Christmas

Press Release 20/10/12

Ernie Hassler Rotarian from Erskine Club was the keynote speaker at the club this week. Ernie was instrumental in setting up EMMAS (Glasgow) which is a non profit able charity. His presentation was quite exceptional, topical, given last week's front page editorial, thought provoking and obviously a topic which reflected on his charitable trust works - Child Slavery and in particular Child Prostitution in Scotland, a trade with grosses £60million per year.

Ernie has a calling, which assists all manner of those caught up in this vicious cycle in being able to recover their lives who go out in turn onto the streets in our major cities to support and help those still caught up unable to break free from their controllers. He urges us all to ask the Scottish Ministers 'what are you doing to address this problem'

The annual Quiz night to support and provide presents for kids at Christmas on the social register in East Kilbride will be held this Friday at Nerston Golf club, last year in excess of £4000 was raised through the quiz and other activities in association with Chesapeake Packaging Ltd.

Rotarian Ian Macpherson reported on the 'DOOS' again this week which he has ran over the past ten years or so, relating the facts of the percentage of pigeons still suffering the anomalies of the current weather conditions and getting lost out at sea.

PressRelease 07/10/12

On Friday 5th October the club had as their guest Dale Cassidy, the East Kilbride Group Training Association apprentice of the year, accompanied with Susan Pollock and Jim Lewars.

Dale is an apprentice with Clyde Union Pumps and Susan Pollock is Learning and Development Manager with Clyde Pumps. Jim Lewars is training advisor with EKGTA.

The apprentice of the year is an annual event and the Rotary Club invite the winner along to give a talk on his/her career and present the winner with a cheque in recognition of their achievement.

Dale left school with higher grades and joined Clyde Pumps as an apprentice in the drawing office. His training included working in various departments within the company and off site training with EKGTA. Recognising his potential Clyde Pumps is sponsoring Dale through University for a degree in Mechanical engineering. He is very focused on his career path and after gaining his degree he wishes to continue his education for a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

PressRelease 29/09/12

The magnificent seven Rotarians led by Roddy Shanks and President Jack Blackwood of East Kilbride Rotary braved the weather to 'bag a Munro' on Friday. On reaching the summit of Ben Lomond a link via satellite to the remaining members of the club at the Stewartfield Farm was established. Albeit the weather was atrocious, with hail stones the size of chick peas and 70mph winds, the link was successful for at least one minute to record the 'loftiest Rotary meeting in Scotland' if not the UK.

Members of the team were Jack Blackwood, Roddy Shanks, John Cardno, Ray Porrelli, George McGraw, Archie king, and last but not least Frank McLuskie.

There were a few laggards (tail end Charlie's) huffing and puffing as we neared the summit with John setting attempting the climb in his flip flops. Not quite, the sole of his shoe became detached on the way up.

Our day ended in the Clansman, a welcome hostelry at the foot of Ben Lomond, where we nursed our aches and pains and warmed ourselves with a cup of good cheer.

The official recorded time to reach the triangulation point was 1 hour 58 minutes, and monies raised for the 'Guess how long it would take' will be given to 'help for heroes' as the walk took place on the official charity day.

PressRelease 14/09/12

Paul McStay was the lunchtime guest speaker as pictured with President Jack Blackwood elaborating on youth football in Scotland which he is a leading light.

Paul has recently returned from Australia Paul to set up a soft ware program that assists clubs and the individuals to formally keep track of player track records, progress, achievements, skill, training and dietary needs and requirements on an individual basis which already is showing results. The program has now been adopted by many leading and prominent teams that have forward thinking youth policies. A lengthy discussion regarding the opportunities and other sports which shows that this can easily be rolled out into Rugby, tennis, swimming and all other main stream sporting activities. Needless to say question and answers run well into extra time and eventually ended in a penalty shoot out as to who could present the final questions.

The Ben Lomond walk to hold Scotland highest meeting in now fully organised and well supported and an open invitation to other Rotarians is extended to join the club at the top. (Ray what date I have forgot)

Interest in Interact, which is 'Youth Rotary in Action', as intimated last week, has been high and meetings are being set over the next few weeks to lay down a basis, through the senior schools in East Kilbride. Interact is a medium which helps develop leadership skills while helping others, self-governing and financially independent, making it possible to choose and carry out service projects that they care about.

Press Release 09/09/12

Our Club were privileged to have as their guest speakers' on the 7th of September 2012 four excellent representatives from Duncanrig Secondary School, namely teacher Georgina Scott on the left and in front of Georgina we have Sarah Johnston who gave the vote of thanks, on the left of Sarah was Lucy Coyle who was in the Chair and centre back was the principle speaker Amy Cook who gave a very strong case as to "Why Celebrities Make Good Role Models" this was the subject that was used by them to finish second in the Rotary Clubs Youth speaks competition held earlier in the year. Our Club President is self evident in the picture

Press Release 02/09/12

A revisit from Gary Louttit, Assistant District Governor of District 1230 to East Kilbride Rotary Club on the 31stof August 2012, however on this occasion it was to highlight the formation of an Interact club by the Rotary Club of Renfrew.

Gary has been asked to look after on behalf of Rotary District 1230 the formation of such clubs within the District, so far the Rotary Club of Renfrew have spoken to 5 clubs out of the 52 clubs within the Rotary District to see if they could try to take up the challenge of forming Interact clubs utilising as a source of membership the schools within their encachment areas. Schools in Renfrew have been receptive of the challenge and have allowed two schools to date to operate in Renfrewshire

These clubs are developing leadership skills whilst helping others, these clubs are self governing and financially independent making it possible to choose and carry out service projects that you care about. They interact with other schools who are interested in making their community and the world a better place. there are more t an 250,000 Interactor's word wide. Each club try to carry out two projects a year, including one that furthers international understanding and goodwill. President Jack Blackwood and members of East Kilbride Club board have now got to go and get their thinking caps on to see if there may be a demand for such clubs within our encachment area.

Press Release 12/08/12

East Kilbride Rotary Club have had quite a long association with East Kilbride Dementia Carers group going back as far as their initial occupation of their premises at Pine Crescent.

It was a indeed a pleasure for those in attendance to hear their guest for the day Brian Doig highlight the highs and lows of how the carers group was functioning, and more so a pleasure to hear of the success the group has had on the purchase of their new vehicle. Brian also in his little talk thanked the Rotary club for their £2500 cheque he had received as a result of their recent Golf AM/AM

Press Release 12/08/12

Deborah Kimathi spoke to East Kilbride Rotarians on the 10th of August 2012 her work for Give a Child a Future in Kenya where she is running her charity that was founded by her Grandparents 2001 and who in 2008 handed over the reins to her to develop the charity further They currently look after 3000 children through the year. Their aim is to put Christian love into action in a practical and compassionate ministry among children who are vulnerable and in desperate need way.

The charity works with various projects throughout Kenya, facilitating growth & sustainability. They strongly believe that each child or teenager has potential and have simply been lacking opportunities since birth. They aim to transform this so that each child can look forward to a brighter future

The club's vote of thanks was given by George McGraw who has close ties with Let us Shine operation in Ghana and seen similarities in the work being done by both Charities

Press Release 31/07/12

The Dim and Distant Past

This was the title announced for the talk at a Friday Rotarian lunch, the principle speaker being one of the Clubs own members; Past President and Paul Harris Fellow, Rotarian Bob Duncan, born 26th February 1919, 2 months 15 days after the end of the first world war. I could not think of a better tribute to Bob so hence my reason for using it.

The following words give a true insight into a large part of Bob's Life.

As a result of his talk this little tale has been written; if for nothing else but for the fear of losing the content in time when the memory is gone.

Bob Duncan was one of a group of survivors who are few and far between in their ability to explain explicitly, and without default; the factual information of an interesting, if not unwanted experience of becoming a Prisoner of War at the early part of the second world war.

Bob took time to relate to his younger days being raised in Aberdeenshire, where he came from a family who for seven generations had made their living from the sea. His Grandfather started a business with two boats and a small curing business, so he grew up really being an integral part of the fishing community.

Bob and his brothers were fortunate in that they were bright at school; as a result of this their father did not want them to make their lively hood from the sea.

After his school days our speaker was accepted as a indentured apprentice by a company known as C.S & E and eventually became a Civil Engineer.

Conscription started in July and August of 1939, and when the war started on the 3rd of September1939 reservists & the territorial's were mobilised. In October of 1939 Bob had to go to the Bridge of Don, he was a young man 20 years old who got on a bus in Peterhead took a journey of one and a half hours, walked into the army barracks & immediately became a Gordon Highlander.

In the billet were another 29 conscripts, a regular corporal and a regular lance corporal, with the platoon sergeant being billeted in the Barrack building. (If my memory serves Bob correctly this sergeant was from the London Scottish and was waiting to be commissioned).

Training for the army took place with one month Basic Training at Bridge of Don, followed by three months at Linksfield Training School, after which he became an infantry signalman.

March 1940 came along and a group of Gordon Highlanders were marched from their barracks to the railway station (as a reader, do you remember London North Eastern Railway and London Midland Scottish) where they boarded a rather crowded train on their journey southward. They did not disembark from the train until they arrived in Southampton. Here they boarded the Ulster Prince and were shipped to Cherbourg, then by train to the Belgium boundary near Armentieres. There joining the 5th Gordon Highlanders territorial battalion unit, which with the 1st. Gordon Highlanders and 4th Blackwatch formed the famous 51st Highland Division.

The British Expeditionary Force was stationed along the Belgium border and it was decided that the 51st Highland Division would replace a French Division in front of the Maginot line. So our soldiers went again from the Belgian frontier to Alsace Lorraine, where they were re- stationed.

The local population had been mostly evacuated and the severe winter had given way to lovely spring.

The Germans fired several shells per day to keep everyone awake and the 51st. in turn did the same.

On the 10th of May the Germans attacked Belgium and Holland and attacked the 51st in force as a result we had to retreat behind the Maginot Line. From there we were moved by rail through Metz, Orlean & Abbeville where we were held up by the Germans for 6 hours and then chased by them until we arrived at St. Valery by which time we had abandoned everything except our rifles.

We took up a position about three kilometres from St Valery and all day the remnants of the British Expeditionary Forces and French Forces were making for St Valery where they hoped they would be rescued.

On the morning of the 12th of June Bob's group had taken up positions along a rural French road with rifles pointing to a dense hedge some 50 metres away, when a couple of officers came down the road telling them that on orders from England we had to surrender, at that point we took the bolts out of the rifles and threw them away.

Shortly afterwards a German tank broke through the hedge with an armed soldier sitting crossed legged on the top of the tank knowing that he was not going to be fired upon, and to sum up, that was that!!

Now the long walk began through France, Belgium and Holland then by coal barges to Germany from where our story teller was moved by trucks to Thuringia in East Germany from here our story teller was shipped with another one hundred and eighty prisoners of war to a camp in the village of Unterbreizbach. Here there is a salt mine (Potassium Chloride) used for fertilizer. Attached to the mine was a factory where the salt was put into sacks and labelled then distributed all over Europe.

Some of the prisoners worked in the mine but our story teller because of his profession as a civil engineer was assigned to the Blacksmith shop. By a strange coincidence the boss of the blacksmith shop was a prisoner of war during the first World war on the Isle of Raasay and spoke English with a strong Scottish Highland Accent.

Life continued routinely in the camp., we always believed that the Germans would lose the war but we didn't think that it would take so long. On Good Friday 1945 about 600 prisoners of war in the area in which our group were being held were marched due east across the Thüringen Wald then due south into Bavaria from where we travelled via Ravensburg & Landshut. We usually walked by day and slept in barns but we walked through Landshut at night and we stopped there and were told by our Guards to get off the road and sit in the shop doorways. It was dark and we could not see very well suddenly there was a shuffling column came through the town. It was being herded by S.S. guards and later on when we passed a large field where they had been put into we saw the stripped clothing and a heap of bodies.

Later our guards told us to stop and get off the road ,we sat on a wall and watched a column pass us There were all sorts of eastern European nationalities their S.S. Guards were armed with machine guns and rode on motor cycles & sidecars the Holocaust certainly did happen.

We walked to within sight of the mountains when our guards left us in this small village wished us good luck and said goodbye.

The following morning an American officer and his driver arrived in the village and told us we were now free but he couldn't stay. The Americans transferred us via Dachau to Ulm on the Danube. At Dachau we stayed overnight in the guards quarters which had been taken over by the Americans and did not see any of the concentration camp buildings.

The Americans informed us that the war was over on the 8th of May 1945. we stayed a few days at Ulm and the Americans flew us to Brussels and the RAF picked us up and flew us to an Aerodrome in the south of England where we arrived late at night. At this point we were given a meal and telegram forms to fill up so that our folks would be told that we were safely back in Britain.

On the 30th of June 1948 Nessie & I got married and moved to England where we could get a house with the job and for the first part of our married life I spent four nights a week attending night classes and doing course work at weekends and by 1951 had passed parts 1& 2 of the Institution of Civil Engineers and in 1953 I became a member of the Institution. This was seven years later than it should have been had it not been for the war

I owe Nessie a great deal for her love and support and encouragement over these years and look forward to celebrate 60 years of marriage on the 30th of June 2008

Robert Duncan

No one could have written a better story of Bob's life hence my reason for using it for a second time. Bob loved his Rotary and even in his latter years always supported his Rotary Club it has been a pleasure for me & my family to have known Bob Duncan bob is survived by Nessie his son Andrew

ROTARY ROUNDS HELP CARERS

Lady Luck smiled on the twenty two teams who competed in the second East Kilbride Rotary Am/Am golf competition. After prolonged periods of wet weather during the preceding week the sun shone on the day, and the teams generally scored well on the course at East Kilbride Golf Club.

Repeating last year's success, the Currie & Brown team of Robbie Loudon, Andrew Loudon, Billy and Ray Morley won the competition narrowly from Clyde Fasteners, with a team from Stranraer Rotary Club coming third . The individual prizes for nearest the pin and longest drives were won by, Billy Hood, Stuart Mackenzie, Jamie Booth and Sandra Cameron. Prizes were presented by Jillian McPherson (Ladies Captain EKGC)

As none of them made any of the prize lists, perhaps the hospitality provided by East Kilbride Rotarians for all the entrants at the eighth tee was too much for their fellow members!

The event was held to raise funds to assist the East Kilbride Dementia Carers Group at Pine Crescent with their purchase of a new minibus, and the Club's Children's Christmas Toy Fund. Refreshed after their efforts on the course the teams then entered into the spirit of the day by enthusiastically entering the raffle and prize draws, before bidding for the many prizes on offer in the auction.

The prize in the main draw was a weekend at the Cardrona Golf & Country Club with the use of a Mazda MX5 sports car, courtesy of Phoenix Motors. This was won by Elaine Gerrard from Portpatrick, and Jean Harvie from East Kilbride won the £100 note draw.

The enthusiasm of all the competitors and volunteers helped raise £4100 on the day. The Rotary organisers were delighted with this fantastic result, and at the conclusion expressed their thanks to all the teams, volunteer helpers, and the many prize donors.

Club President Jack Blackwood on the right had a special welcome for District Governor Alex Blair who hailed from the Rotary Club of Ardrossan & Saltcoats when he introduced him to his fellow East Kilbride Club Rotary members on the 27th of July 2012.

District Governor Blair highlighted the urgency in trying to attract new members into Rotary and this was not just for some clubs in fact the majority of clubs were trying hard to identify possible sources of new members and many of them were finding difficulty in finding a solution to the problem. He took time to explain what some clubs were doing to generate an increase in their membership from changing their meeting times to different type of memberships moving away from weekly meetings to fortnightly meetings

Press Release 15/07/12

East Kilbride Rotary Club seen it as a fitting gesture for Jim Moretti to receive a Paul Harris Award for the work that he has done at Club Level and for the ongoing contribution that he is making within the Club and District 1230. This award is the highest award that a club can make to a member or member of the public who fulfils the criteria of Rotary Ideals and service to others

Assistant District Governor Gary Louttit a member of the Rotary Club of Renfrew came along on the 13th of July 2012 he was supported by his brother Derek also from the Rotary Club of Renfrew and spoke to East Kilbride members on the subject of Diversity within Rotary Clubs in the District. He took time to highlight the growth of interact clubs within the catchment area of Rotary District 1230. If East Kilbride Rotary Club wished to develop such a club he would be only too happy to come along and provide further information. There was an interchange of Club banners between the Rotary Club of Renfrew and East Kilbride

Friday the 20th of July sees the Club's AM/AM taking place at East Kilbride Golf Course at Nerston AND THE Rotarians are most grateful to the golf club allowing this competition to take place. This is being held as a way to raise cash for East Kilbride Dementia carers group at Pine Crescent and the Christmas Toys for Kids appeal so if golf course members can come along or members of the public can come along please do so as the more cash we can raise the better for all concerned

Press Release 08/07/12

The 6th of July 2012 seen the start of the Clubs 4 minute "Waffle" season for the year 2012 when Past President Dr. Henry Doig spoke to his fellow Rotarians on his 1991 visit to China & Tibet. As many people will know, the Doig Family are world travellers and been to many places. Henry took more than his allotted 4 minutes and his fellow Rotarians were more than delighted to listen to his travels to Lhasa the capital of Tibet and his sail on the Yangtze River. Vote of thanks on this occasion was given by Past President Barclay Wales who emphasised that he had only flown over China and Tibet and that this was a new experience enjoying Henry's landward trip

At the second round of the District Challenge against Ardrossan & Saltcoats on 27 June, East Kilbride were represented by Rotarians Jack Blackwood, Ray Porrelli, John Cardno and George McGraw. The darts, pool and table top curling were played at the Nonsuch Snooker Club in Saltcoats and the challengers won 6-4 with only George McGraw remaining undefeated in all three events. Soup and sandwiches were provided after the competition was completed, and the evening of fellowship was completed by watching extra time and the penalty shoot out between Spain & Portugal in the European Championship. In the next round East Kilbride will meet up with Bothwell & Uddingston and Govan date to be arranged. If you want to know more about east Kilbride Rotary Club you can find us on Facebook or Twitter or our own web site at ekrotary.com

Press Release30/06/12

East Kilbride Rotary Club invited a local lass, Lisa Johnstone along to speak to them on the 29th of June 2012, Lisa is a young lady with a sense of wanting to learn and improve others lives in that she explained to those Rotarians present that she is off to Malawi on a 10 week trip under the auspices the International Citizen Service aid program, where she will be part of a team who will be giving tuition to the local population on subjects that they the local people want not what the western world think that they need. Part of this trip is where each volunteer has had to raise a sum of £800. Her talk was interesting and in a way informative, after which Past President Liam Donnelly gave an amusing vote of thinks, stand in Past President Roddy Shanks was happy to present a cheque to Lisa to help her on the trip, explaining to her that this money not only came from the Rotarians but also from the citizens of the town who donate funds into our local "Fairy Nuff" Wishing Well

Press Release 25/06/12

A new President took over at East Kilbride Rotary Club at their Friday lunch when President Leslie Irvine after his summation of his year in office relinquished the Presidency to Incoming President Jack Blackwood.

New President Jack then proceeded to introduce the new board members for the Rotary year 2012-13 and in doing so presented them with their badge of office. Board members are President Jack Blackwood, David Brown President Elect, Junior Vice President Archie King, Secretary Ray Porrelli, and Treasurer Ian Craig.

First Rotary event of the year will be to raise funds EK Dementia Cares group within the town and our Toys for Kids appeal this will be our Golf AM/AM being held at East Kilbride Golf Course on the 20th of July. Anyone wishing to participate in the AM/AM can gain entry from our main web site page at ekrotary.com or contact Jim Moretti on his mobile number 07947 250 228 we can cater for 25 teams and it is anticipated entries will be up from last year when we had 25 four man teams participating

All funds collected from our "Fairy Nuff" Wishing Well are being given to local community groups. To date the following charities and groups have been allocated cash. EK Pipe band, Dementia Care, Sea Cadets, EK 5th BB, Woman's Aid, EK Ice Club, Linzi Docherty Dance School, Parkhall House, Ryan McNair, EK Newstapes, Shopmobility, Calderglen Wind Band, EK Pipe Band, Sanderson High School, Pamela Clark, Kidz Play, West Kirk Guides, Master Hutton, Academy, Duncanrig School, Cardiac Rehab, Clyde wind ensemble, Mossneuk Girls Brigade, Duncanrig Concert Band, Dynamica, Kilbride Dancers, Hairmyres Hospital ward 19, Aiden's Goal, Calderglen High School, St Andrews Church, Kilbryde Hospice,

Calderwood Baptist Church are the latest group within the town to receive a donation the picture shows President Leslie Irvine presenting a cheque to the value of £200 to Revd. John McKinnon of Calderwood Baptist Church for refurbishment work at Hunter House from the funds gathered over time from the wishing well. All of the allocation of monies has been made possible by the generosity of the general public Fairy Nuff Wishing Well

Although Club membership has fallen in recent years, East Kilbride Rotary Club have a history of rising to the challenges that lie ahead and there is none more than that of tackling their own problem of getting business people to come along and participate in the Rotary Movement within the town. Anyone interested should contact East Kilbride Rotary Club via their web site at ekrotary.com and they will only be too happy to give them further information about Rotary. The Club meet each Friday at the Stewartfield Farm 12.45 until 2pm

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