The Rotary Club of Bloxwich Phoenix

On Saturday St John’s Methodist Church hosted a large number of budding ambassadors as the 2012 Bloxwich Carnival Royalty were selected. The competition for this, the Diamond Jubilee year, was tough, and all those who walked onto stage to answer questions were very impressive this year.

Our judging panel consisted of a local councilor supported by the current (2011) Carnival Queen, and winners from 2003 and 1953! They took some time to come to a decision while all the candidates waited in anticipation…

The winners were Alice Jones (Carnival Queen, centre), Amelia Ellis (Carnival Princess, left) and Megan Leigh Small (Carnival Rosebud, right). Our congratulations to them, and our thanks to everyone else who took part on the day.

This year’s Diamond Jubilee Carnival takes place on Saturday 16 June, and entrance will be FREE. So why not come along for a great family day out, for nowt! We look forward to seeing you there.

On Saturday morning members of our Rotary Club were on hand at Reedswood Methodist Church to do some decorating. Several members had already been in earlier in the week to help our resident decorating expert Stuart to do some preparation, and on Saturday some of the workers turned up to begin the painting.

The church building dates back to 1902, and as well as providing a home for the Methodist congregation it is also used, as are many local churches, for other community group meetings and events.

We have volunteered to decorate the three toilets, and will be back soon to add a second coat and complete the task.

The 2012 Bloxwich Carnival Queen, Princess and Rosebud will be selected on Saturday 21^st April at St. Johns Methodist Church Hall, Victoria Avenue, Bloxwich at 11.00 am. Application Forms can be downloaded here.

Contestants MUST live in the Walsall/Bloxwich area and their Parents/Guardians pay their Council Tax to Walsall Council. Contestants must be within the stated age limit for the competition they are entering for by the qualifying date; Queen (16-24), Princess (11-15) or Rosebud (7-10).

The Carnival Queen, Princess and Rosebud will be required to attend the Carnival Day, Saturday 16^th June 2012, and winners, in particular, the Carnival Queen will be expected to attend at least 4 community events during their year including Carnival Royalty Selection 2013 and Senior Citizens’ Party. The Carnival Queen automatically becomes a member of the committee and will be expected to attend regular meetings.

It’s a big responsibility, but also a great opportunity to take part in the local community, so why not download an application form and enter now?

At each first meeting in the month of our Rotary Club we collect fines from members and put the proceeds towards a charity, cause or project selected from the Global Giving website.

The projects chosen can all benefit from small donations and as such are perfect for these small amount raised, but, as we always say, every little helps.

This month we have selected HERA, a UK based charity which is working with women trafficked into the country to give them entrepreneurial skills and confidence and allow them to break the cycle of abuse which they have been involved with, letting them take control of their lives.

HERA works in partnerships with NGOs, government initiatives, and academic institutions, to help women achieve economic autonomy and self-sufficiency; conditions which are necessary to create and sustain alternatives to dangerous sex work and forced labour.

HERA promotes an entrepreneurial approach to women’s career development and choices as a contrast to traditional, subservient or passive roles that may have been imposed on them in the past.

For women taking part in the programme, there are two major components; the first is an intensive course on entrepreneurship run in partnership with a business school: and the second component is a 9-12 month relationship with a professional mentor recruited by HERA.

Recruited mentors undergo training in coaching skills and ways of dealing with the issues they may come across when mentoring their protégés.

Our £12 donation will cover the cost of lunches for training delegates; a small impact, but a worthwhile one. If you would like to add more, you can do so via their Global Giving page.

Our final selection for our 12 days of Christmas event is Andrew Crump from Cheslyn Hay. Andrew, 29, is married to Hayley, and they are expecting their second child on 30 April.

For most of us therefore that would be a perfect excuse not to be running the Lichfield Half Marathon on May 6! Andrew will be though, and raising funds for the Make A Wish Foundation.

Make-A-Wish is an international charity which grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Since being established in the UK in 1986, they have granted over 7,000 wishes.

At any time in the UK it is estimated there are 20,000 children and young people living with life-threatening illness. To provide wishes for an estimated 1,200 UK children each year costs over £5 million, so all support is of course gratefully received.

Andrew’s page is very new, so ours will be one of the first donations on it. This will being to £144 the total we’ve given over the 12 days of Christmas, and whilst we know these are small sums we hope that we have raised awareness of these special causes and the people doing so much to help them. And, if you’ve a few pounds to spare we urge you to read the stories we’ve brought to you and select one or two to benefit a little more.

Our very best wishes for 2012 go to Andrew and his family, and to all those involved in the fundraising we’ve highlighted over the last 12 days.

Gary Jenkins is aiming to run the 2012 London Marathon in April to raise funds for SANDS.

17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth every day in the UK. Sands provide support when a baby dies during pregnancy or after birth, both to the parents and family of the child.

Gary describes the loss of his daughter Niamh at 20 weeks as one of the toughest times for his family, and those who have experienced that loss will understand how hard it can be. Sands is there to support people during these times, to improve care levels, and to help research to reduce the incidence of stillbirth.

Gary is hoping to raise £1,000 via his JustGiving page which has only recently been set up for the April event.

We wish Gary well for the event, and will be trying to keep up to date with his efforts as we get closer to the date!

Although today’s highlighted page was set up by Jane Harris, it really belongs to Joe, who is Jane’s great-nephew. Along with his teammates at Pelsall Villa Colts he took part in a 10km sponsored walk to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.

Joe and his team made the local papers some time ago after Joe’s Dad did a splendid job to gain Legion approval for the team to wear embroidered poppies on their strip all season, not just for Remembrance Day.

So far a total of £30 has been raised via the JustGiving page. You can join us in adding to this total via that page, and help Joe to reach his target of £50.

Our congratulations to Joe and his teammates. We think your team strip looks great, and congratulations to your Dad for getting the approval to wear it all year!

This is the tenth of our twelve pages selected as part of our 12 Days of Christmas campaign, highlighting some of the fantastic efforts of people in our local area to help others.

Three of our final four highlighted JustGiving pages this holiday period are for runners, the first of whom is Joy Mason.

She completed the Great Birmingham Run on October 23 last year, to raise funds for Crohn’s and Colitis UK. They aim to improve life for everyone affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), the most common forms being Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, conditions which affect about 250,000 people in the United Kingdom.

They provide information lines, local groups and support for those affected by the condition, as well as funding research into treatment and prevention. Those interested can join the charity for just £12 per year.

For Joy, from Pelsall, this was her first half-marathon, and as a result of her efforts she has managed to exceed her target by a significant amount. Her JustGiving page has so far raised a total of £503 for this little known but very important charity. We will be adding a small amount to that total as part of our 12 Days of Christmas event, and encourage you to do the same by clicking on the Donate button on her page.

Many of us will have cycled along the canal somewhere in the local area. Some of us may have ventured as far as Walsall or Wolverhampton, or even Birmingham, but I think we can all agree that to cycle along the canal all the way to London is something of a major feat.

Well that’s exactly what a group of people from the Black Country area over a long weekend during September. A total of 160 miles, with 15 punctures along the way.

They did it to raise funds and awareness for the Foundation for Conductive Education, a leading UK charity working to improve the lives of children and adults with neurological motor disorders through the practice of Conductive Education.

Every year, thousands of children and adults are diagnosed with a motor disorder, such as Cerebral Palsy and Dyspraxia in children and Parkinsons, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Cerebral Palsy in adults. Receiving a diagnosis can be a devastating time for all concerned and families and individuals can often feel isolated and not sure of where to turn for information, advice and practical support.

In a year over 1,000 children and adults will turn to the Foundation for Conductive Education for support through their on-site services, workshops, training and outreach projects. The Foundation for Conductive Education offers a whole of life solution to managing a motor disorder condition. It does not set arbitrary barriers on achievement but rather guides and teaches individuals how to overcome these as one large step towards improving quality of life for them and their family.

Via Matthew’s JustGiving page a total of £345 has been raised so far. We will be adding a small donation to this total today, and you can too, by visiting the page and simply clicking Donate Now and following the simple instructions.

Our congratulations go to the whole team on their achievement.

Today we’re highlighting a JustGiving page raising funds for the RNLI. The page was set up by Ben Hughes in memory of Vic Stirrup.

Vic Stirrup sadly passed away on Friday 25th November 2011, aged 93.

Vic loyally followed West Bromwich Albion FC for a staggering 87 years and had been a season ticket holder since 1938. He missed just 5 games since the end of World War 2. Vic’s support for the club quite rightly earned him national acclaim in 2005 when he was voted the Barclays Fan of the Year.

Vic also followed the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Team for many years.

Throughout his life, Vic was passionate about supporting the RNLI, and raised money for them on several occasions. Vic spent a lot of the time at sea during the war, and continued to love the sea all his life. Vic therefore had an admiration and respect for the work which is done by the RNLI.

So far a total of £302 has been raised from donations to this page, a total which will go up by a further £12 after our donation. We have, for the 12 days of Christmas, selected 12 fundraising pages on Just Giving to highlight and donate to over the festive period, of which this is the seventh. You can add to the total raised by donating to the RNLI via Ben’s JusyGiving page.