22 June 2020

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust's charity dreamdrops has received a kind donation of £300 from the Rotary Club of Huntingdon. The club had successfully approached the Rotary District 1070's Coronavirus Grant Scheme for £300 to advance the work of dreamdrops.

This has enabled the charity to buy age-appropriate activity packs for local children and their families being supported by dreamdrops.

The packs include colouring books, colour felt tips pens for the older children, dot to dot books for younger children, sticker packs, arts and crafts, doddle magic books, story books with puzzles, bubble wands and fun pads. The parents have also benefitted by receiving adult colouring packs for de-stressing, calming and relaxation, hand repair cream and face moisturiser and relaxing aromatherapy candles.

Part of the grant will go towards providing one of the family's with a SensaHut - a perfect sensory haven indoor tent, where a child can explore 'glow in the dark' resources, and retreat from the stresses of daily life for a while.

Anne-Marie Hamilton, Chairman of dreamdrops said: "A huge thank you to everyone at Rotary District 1070, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness and generosity in enabling us to provide these care packages for our families who are struggling to cope with all the additional stresses during the current lockdown. The gifts that you have enabled us to purchase will make a huge difference to not only the children, but will also be a tremendous help to their families during this time.

"My sincere thanks to David Cozens, President of the Rotary Club of Huntingdon, Assistant Governor, Gloria Heywood from Rotary District 1070 and Mike Andrews, Vice Chairman of dreamdrops for their involvement in making this all possible."

Assistant Governor, Gloria Heywood from Rotary District 1070 said: "The Rotary Clubs in Huntingdonshire have always had a supportive, close and very caring interest in dreamdrops and the fine work that is achieved.

"It is wonderful that the gifts recently provided can be enjoyed by families impacted by the Corona virus."

26 February 2020 - Rotary Technology Tournament

The annual Technology Tournament, organised by the Rotary Club of Huntingdon, has grown in popularity and, for the first time in ten years, all of Huntingdon's seven secondary schools sent teams to compete in the challenge, which was hosted by St Ivo Academy this year.

The Tournament, sponsored by Urban&Civic, is held on a single day with the students challenged to design, build and demonstrate a completed machine in about five hours, with no prior knowledge of the task. This year the teams were asked to build a flashing beacon that was capable of giving a large number of flashes without being touched after it was set going. They were provided with a kit of parts including wooden rods, stiff card, light bulb, batteries and a range of other smaller items.

There were three different levels of difficulty to cater for students from Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 - designated Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. The teams were assessed by a team of judges throughout the day and were awarded points for planning, teamwork and development of a solution as well as building and demonstrating the final machine. The winning teams each received an engraved trophy, a cash prize for their school and individual certificates.

The Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Dr Andy Harter CBE, attended the event and handed out awards to the winning teams. He expressed his appreciation of the effort the teams had put into designing and building their machines and encouraged the students to consider a career in the well paid sphere of engineering.

This year's Tournament was also attended by the Rotary District Governor, Rodney Spokes, who took the opportunity to discuss the event with the teachers and the students. He congratulated the Rotary Club of Huntingdon on the excellent organisation and delivery and commented that it was great to see the Club undertaking such successful community service.

Roy White from the Rotary Club of Huntingdon said: "The students really look forward to the event and find the task challenging but enjoyable. The chance to build a machine from scratch and the element of competition provide an experience that they rarely find within the school curriculum. The feedback from the teachers and students has been very positive and makes all of the work involved very worthwhile."

20 February 2020 - Cheque presentation to Carys Verdicchio

Carys, accompanied by her mother and coach attended the club meeting to receive a cheque from President David Cozens to support her visit with the Trampoline GB Team of the Rotations Trampoline Club of Huntingdon competing in Portugal this year.
Photos by Rotarian John Caldwell

2 January 2020 - Cheque presentation to Evelyn Doarks

Evelyn is taking a gap year to visit Nepal for 8 months as a "Project Trust" volunteer, to teach children English. The Rotary Club of Huntingdon is providing some funding to assist her.
Photo by Rotarian John Caldwell

20 December 2019 - Carol Singers at Huntingdon Railway Station

Rotary Club of Huntingdon Carol Singing at the Railway Station.