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CLUB PROJECTS:
Helping people locally:
Our
Community Service Committee regularly helps to arrange local events to
support some of the needs of our local community, including raising
funds for local charities. These include, Lions Hospice Appeal,
the Eleanor Foundation, St John's Ambulance and British Red Cross.
We hold an annual Junior Speakers competition, support NW Kent Young
Enterprise and award an annual Northfleet Citizen of the Year Award. Recent local projects: We serve the community by organising Health awareness
days, in which leaflets and information about diseases are distributed to the
Public. Blood pressure checks are offered during the Stroke Awareness days. Cancer
awareness is also promoted.
For
many years, the club has provided speakers for the Talking Newspaper
for the visually handicapped. Members read news items and articles
from local weekly newspapers, recorded on high quality tape recording
equipment and forward the tapes to Maidstone for processing and
distributing to registered blind people. This is an ongoing
project for our club.
Money is also raised to donate to to local charities,
including frequent donations to Kent Air Ambulance. We have helped our
local Milestone Specialist School to purchase a computer whiteboard to
aid pupils in the classroom. The club alsopurchases much needed
equipment, such as a canoe donated to Gravesham Scouts and help
for young people with various projects involving travel abroad. Demelza
House, the Hospice for Children was conceived and founded by of one of
our members, and this is an ongoing cause that we support. Currently,
the club is helping to purchase specialist electric wheelchairs for
disabled children and to organise local training in using the electric
wheelchairs and road
awareness training, etc. These powered wheelchairs cost up to
£9000 each and are purpose built and customised to suit the size and
disability of each child.We
have provided equipment for Gravesend and Darent Valley Hospitals, esp.
their Maternity Dept, the Baby Care Unit and Ward curtaining in
conjunction with Friends of Gravesend Hospital. We purchased
Blood Sugar monitors for diabetics, Syringe Drivers for chemotherapy
use in cancer patients, Cardiac care equipment; plus various equipment
purchased for home hire through the British Red Cross.
Rose bushes were planted at Deneholm Old Peoples home and re-decoration
of various rooms was undertaken by club members.
Helping Nationally:
We have raised funds for many national disasters over the years, including the Folkestone floods a few years ago, RNLI, Guide Dogs for the Blind, distribution
of poppies for British Legion, helping to organise donors for Blood
Transfusion Service, distribution of organ donor cards and many other
deserving causes.
Helping Internationally:
The
club sponsors the purchase of Shelter Boxes (tents and emergency
equipment) for disaster areas worldwide. Shoe boxes are distributed
(containing gifts collected by local schools) for deprived children
overseas. Our
current and ongoing project is supporting the creation of a new Hospice
of Hope (for children) in Romania. This included raising money
for an RI matching grant (with Rotary club of Bucharest) to help
purchase the building, and specifically, to equip a video conferencing
suite for medical staff and clinicians to video conference with
specialist medical staff in other countries on patient treatment and
medical professional development.The Club has also funded (with the help of other Rotary clubs in
Kent and India) a rain water harvesting programme in Ahmedabad in India. This
gives access to clean water to over 2000 school children and staff of a
school. The club is currently working on an RI matching grant for a water and sanitation project in West Bengal, India, amongst 62
families of tribal people. The Rotary Clubs of Gibraltar, Paris and Calcutta are
also involved in funding the project. This will make the village community self
supporting in water and sanitation for many years to come. Other projects have included:
Sponsoring a project in Brazil to improve school and health
clinic facilities for children. Eye camps in India to restore
sight to cataract sufferers. Help in building a medical centre in
Tanzania. Supporting a resident Doctor for remote parts of Africa
without medical facilities and recently providing cooking facilities
for a handicapped residential children's school in Poland.
By far, the largest International programme ever launched by
Rotary, was for the eradication of Polio throughout the world. In
conjunction with the World Health Authority, and recently the Bill Gates Foundation, this project is nearing
completion, with well over 1,000 million children immunised against
this crippling disease.
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