Latest News and Club programme.
Programme 2020 – 2021
For further detail please contact the Secretary in advance.
Due to COVID-19, Club meetings will continue on Zoom twice a month online and once a month as small group meetings.
COMMANDING OFFICER OF 1ST BATTALION THE ROYAL GURKHA RIFLES JOINS CHANNEL ROTARY
Channel Rotary is proud to announce that Lieutenant Colonel Edd Oldfield QCVS, Commanding Officer of the Ist Battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, has joined Channel Rotary as an Honorary Member. The induction took place at Sir John Moore Barracks, Folkestone on 28th April. Lt Colonel Oldfield was appointed CO of 1RGR in August 2020 and has wide experience in various operational theatres including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sierra Leonne and Northern Ireland.
Inducting Lieutenant Colonel Oldfield, Malcolm Stewart President of Channel Rotary said:
“We’re delighted that Lieutenant Colonel Oldfield is joining Channel Rotary. He continues a tradition dating back to the early 2000’s that the resident Commanding Officer of ‘the Gurkhas’ has joined our Club and we have enjoyed a close and mutually supportive relationship which has benefitted the Shepway community and various community projects in Nepal. Many local residents will remember seeing Gurkha soldiers taking part in our annual charity fund raising events. In recent years, Channel Rotary has supported the Nepal earthquake appeal, the Gurkha Welfare Trust and the Gurkha Memorial Fund’s work in Folkestone and in Nepal alongside its support for local charities including, in the past year, over £25,000 for good causes such as Age UK (Folkestone), Folkestone MIND, Shepway Sports Trust, local schools and many other smaller good causes.
Responding, Lt Colonel Oldfield said:
I am very pleased to join Channel Rotary Club and to be associated with its work in the community and look forward to building on the strong and lasting friendship between 1RGR and the Club.”
Channel Rotary Young Artist Competition 2021
For your Information Pack: http://bit.ly/YoungArtist2021InfoPack
To enter contact david.rolls@channelrotary.org.uk
Share your creative talents with a wide audience by taking part in our new Young Artist competition. Express yourself with your interpretation of this year’s theme ‘Wild Nature’ and submit a piece of artwork (two dimensional please). Your artwork will go through a local stage first, followed by the district heats and then, if you are lucky, on to the national final. The competition is open to artists aged between 7 and 17.
Channel Rotary Charity Golf Day
For Information and Entry forms please contact mike.simmonds@channelrotary.org.uk
Clap your hands for Folkestone Channel
Rotary Club member Alan Myers!
- £3000 raised by his daily charity swims in the English Channel.
- 30th Anniversary of Alan’s major involvement in building the Channel Tunnel.
This week Alan finished 28 days of charity swims in the English Channel off Sandgate Beach near Folkestone and has raised £3000 for charity. His Rotary friends thought this was a great venture and have supported him throughout. He’s also been supported by a large number of worldwide followers on Facebook and Instagram from Australia to Canada via Greece and Sweden.
On Tuesday 1st December he completed his final swim and, surrounded by socially distanced family, Club members, partners and friends he celebrated with a wide smile, a brisk towel down and a tot of rum to bring his body temperature back to normal (sea temperature 13C).
This hasn’t been a simple challenge. Alan’s been through all the sea conditions you can imagine from flat calm to 8ft seas, driving rain, howling winds and freezing temperatures – but he hasn’t missed a day. Nothing daunted he kept going, driven on by the thought of raising much needed funds for the Celia Blakey Cancer Care Unit at the William Harvey Hospital (where his wife and several Channel Rotary members have received excellent care) and local Channel Rotary charities.
Tuesday 1 st December was also a memorable day for Alan as the 30th anniversary of the British and French drilling teams, breaking through in the Channel Tunnel. Alan was senior tunnelling manager and the second Brit through the hole to greet his French counterparts followed by the Secretary of State for Transport Sir Malcolm Rifkind. In his study he has a piece of rock broken off the very last piece that separated the UK and France. He gave that last piece to Margaret Thatcher who had just resigned as Prime Minister. It was, in all ways, a memorable day in world tunnelling history and some readers may have heard Alan recalling vivid memories on BBC Radio Kent on Tuesday afternoon.
Would he do the swim again? “Probably not” he says with a big grin. “It’s not been easy but it was all in a wonderful cause and the proceeds will be so helpful to our local charities when funds are very short due to Covid. It’s a strange thing – 30 years ago I was in the Tunnel deep under the English Channel and for the past month I’ve been swimming over it!”
Folkestone Channel Rotary Club Member
Awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours
Channel Rotary is proud to announce that our member Derek Harris (left) has been awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours for his exceptional services to UK charities and charitable fundraising.
Said Channel Rotary President Bill Flavell:
“We are all delighted to hear of Derek’s award. For ten years he was Sales Director for Age UK, doubling the number of shops to 200 and greatly increasing their impact and contribution. Such was his commitment that, when he could have retired, he took on a similar role in the mental health charity Mind as a Director of Minds Matter Trading Activities. Mind provides advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem and campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding of mental health. In the seven years until he stepped down this month, the annual turnover of the retail shops had effectively doubled underhis stewardship
“Derek joined Channel Rotary in 2001 and was our President in 2009/10. He has also held other senior responsibilities including directing our popular annual Santa Run. Throughout, he has worked tirelessly for the Club and for the charities and good causes we support locally, nationally and internationally. He exemplifies in every way the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.”
2020 Folkestone Channel Triathlon
The third year of this event was another great success. This has now become a key event in the Folkestone calendar incorporating a sea swim from Sunny Sands beach, a cycle route from the town around the Alkham valley and a run along the sea front. All finishing at the magnificient harbour with the exciting developments on the harbour arm.
The 4th Channel Tri will be held on Tri 5th September 2021
