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.

The Ebenezer Clinic in Swaziland and The Jesse May Trust, based in Bristol, were the recipients of cheques to the value of £900. James Packer, President of Gordano Breakfast Rotary Club, presented each charity with their cheque for £450 at a recent breakfast meeting. The funds were raised as a result of two events held in December: the ever-popular Sainsbury’s Trolley Dash and Portishead’s inaugural Santa Dash. Seen here with James Packer, are Helen Mackie from Jessie May and David Tyers representing the Ebenezer Clinic.

Seven young authors from Congyar Class at St. Mary’s C of E School in Portbury, recently completed a six -week writing project. The aim was to produce a 200-500 word piece of work as part of Rotary International’s Young Writer Competition. The title of the 2018 submission was “My Inspiration”. The Year 4 students were released from class for an hour a week and together they researched the meaning of “Inspiration”, exchanged ideas, wrote and rewrote, edited their work and made good use of a Thesaurus to produce seven very

On Sunday, December 16th, Portishead saw its very own Santa Dash, organised by Gordano Breakfast Rotary Club and ably supported by the Lions and Fit For Sport UK. Santas, large and small and four-legged too, “dashed” around the Lake Grounds to raise money for the Jessie May Trust. This charity was especially chosen as Christmas is such a magical time particularly for children. The Jessie May Trust supports families with terminally ill children, providing a hospice at home. The Santas and onlookers were treated to seasonal music from the Rock

A massive thank you to everyone who supported this fundraising event. We sold just over £1000 worth of tickets and raised very nearly £730 for our charities: Jessie May Trust, Ebenezer Rural Clinic in Swaziland and other Rotary charities. The winners were:- 1st prize: Giles Regan (who donated the prize to his wife Sarah): 3-minute Trolley Dash worth £200 2nd Prize: Sarah Hildersley: £50 Sainsbury’s voucher (donated by Sainsbury’s) 3rd Prize: Dawn Freeman: £20 cash (Dawn asked for the £20 prize to be donated to charity. Thank you!). Special thanks to

The Salvation Army Hall in Pill was a hive of activity on Thursday, 6th December when 18 local children, between 10 months and four years, were treated to a Picnic organised by Gordano Breakfast Rotary Club under the auspices of the Kids Out organisation. There was also a rumour afoot that there would be a very special visitor dropping in later. Parents and children enjoyed the finger food of sandwiches, fruit and assorted savouries washed down with apple or orange juice. Just as the last of the children finished the

Congratulations to Jenny and Colin Wring for organising a superb evening of music in support of St. Peter’s Hospice at Portishead’s Somerset Hall. Special thanks to all who bought tickets, supported the raffle and gave generously to our retiring collection. The total raised to date is £1938 but this is expected to rise as raffle tickets are still being sold for the Grand Christmas raffle. The music was of a very high quality and enjoyed by the audience of 135 people. Thank you to the club members who sold tickets

Gordano Breakfast Club recently welcomed two members of Krefeld Rotary Club, who came to visit with a view to initiating a possible twinning between the two clubs. Our German visitors, Dr. Dieter Porschen and Dr. Armin Knors, were hosted by various GBRC members as they were treated to whistle-stop tours of Bristol, Portishead and Clevedon. During their visit, which lasted nearly three days, they visited Bristol Cathedral, the Law Courts, St. Nicholas Market, Bristol Water Front, Clifton Bridge, the RNLI station the Lock gate control centre, and Clevedon Pier. On