The Club was delighted to be able to present Mary Pearce from the Nicola Corry Support Foundation with a cheque for £500 at our breakfast meeting this morning. This money was raised during our recent ‘Music on a Summers Eve’ concert at which tenor Ben Makisi performed.

The club held a very enjoyable President’s Supper at the Poacher in Portishead last night. This was the first Supper of Jenny’s Presidency. Food was excellent and a great evening was enjoyed by all. Ben and Maina Makisi, who both performed at our Music for a Summer’s Eve concert raising £3250, also joined us as our special guests. The club took the opportunity to present cheques to our charities to ensure that the money raised is put to good use as soon as possible. Cheques were presented to Jessie May

Operatic Tenor, Ben Makisi, sang to a packed house at St. Peter’s Church. Ben was accompanied by the gifted pianist, Matthew McCombie, who also performed some solo pieces. Ben’s wife, Maina, joined him in the second half of the programme to perform some traditional songs. The evening was enjoyed by all and raised significant funds for the charities and causes which GBRC are supporting. A huge thanks to everyone who supported the evening.

The Club took our fairground games, designed and built with Gordano pupils taking their Duke of Edinburgh awards, to the Raft Race today at Portishead Lake Grounds. Another beautiful day in Portishead!

Really interesting presentation from Skye from Severn Physiotherapy this morning at our first Speaker meeting of the new Rotary year. She gave us a comprehensive overview of physiotherapy in common conditions, services available in our community and a few tips on how to stay mobile and well in later years. Visit her website (see below) to see what services Severn Physiotherapy provide to the local community: https://www.severnphysiotherapy.co.uk

Jim Packer hands over the reins to Jenny Wring, President for 2019/2020. The club also presented cheques of £500 each to Jessie May Trust and to Ebenezer Clinic, Kingdom of eSwatini.

Excellent presentation by Ian from Great Western Air Ambulance this morning. Keep up the great work!

Huge thanks to Dr. Dee Wevill for making the journey from Birmingham to give us a very inspirational insight into Swaziland and the work (and challenges) of Ebenezer Clinic. Ebenezer Clinic is our international charity for this Rotary year. We have donated £450 to Ebenezer so far and agreed that this would be used to provide an autoclave. (This is used to sterilise medical equipment on site. Currently, equipment has to be sent away to sterilise.) We look forward to providing further support to Ebenezer as the year progresses.

Early Springtime in Portishead and Gordano Breakfast‘s Rotary crocuses (Purple4Polio Campaign) are out! For more details: https://www.rotarygbi.org/projects/purple4polio/

Congratulations to Kilkenny Cats who pipped Codeword to win our charity quiz. A massive thank you to key coordinators Mike Rowland (Question Master), Raj Sudhakaran (stats man) plus Majestic Wine and the HUB Gym for donating prizes…and everyone who took part and helped make this such a great evening. Finances are still being finalised but it looks as if about £200 will has been raised for our charities (Jessie May Trust, Ebenezer Clinic in Swaziland and other Rotary Charities). We hope to see all of the competitors again next year!

Very informative talk from our breakfast guests this morning, Sue and Vanessa from Turn The Tide Portishead. Go to www.turnthetideportishead.co.uk to find out about what they do.

Many thanks to everyone who made the Burn’s Night meal such an enjoyable event. This was our first event at the newly refurbished Poacher pub and we expect to be back. The food was excellent, served very efficiently and we received a warm welcome from the landlord, Gary. Thanks to our piper who added the traditional feel to the evening.