The Rotary Club of Maidenhead had donated £4,500 to the project - £1,500 from its own funds and £1,500 each from grants received from the Prince Philip Trust and Rotary District.
 
Lisa said: “A massive thank you for all your support. To have the backing of every Rotary Club in Maidenhead meant the project could happen and it shows how well the clubs work together - particularly in a time of crisis - and that we can make our community a much better place to live.”
 
While many of the volunteers were Rotarians, others were members of the community who wanted to get involved. “People wanted to volunteer and we had a way for them to do that. I hope that some of the community spirit lasts after all this is over,” said Lisa.

The project is now starting to wind down as lockdown eases and normality slowly returns. But Lisa stressed no one would be left without support if they still needed it.
 
Club president Mary Spinks thanked Lisa for the update and said the project had been invaluable to the community and a great advert for what Rotary can achieve.

A fascinating insight into a Rotary scheme that helps students pursue their studies around the world was given to the club at its meeting on Monday.

The guest speaker was Danielle Perro, who is being sponsored under the Rotary Scholarship Scheme to complete a doctorate in women’s reproductive health at Oxford University.
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The scheme provides grants to support graduate students studying abroad in areas relating to one of six key Rotary causes: promoting peace; fighting disease; providing clean water; saving mothers and children; supporting education; and growing local economies.

Danielle was awarded her scholarship through her local Rotary Club in Orangeville, Ontario in Western Canada, and is also supported by a host Rotary Club in Oxford. The scholarship is funding her to conduct world-leading research into the cause, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis – a condition that affects up to 10 per cent of women and can lead to chronic pain and even infertility. It takes years to diagnose and there is currently no cure.

“We need to get members to look at all the benefits that membership has brought them and not be shy in spreading the word about the opportunities Rotary brings and encouraging new people to join,” she said

She also plans to improve the induction process to help new members settle in quickly and find their way around the club.

Janet, who had a 17-year career in banking before moving into business management in education, knows how the skills new members have developed in industry can contribute to Rotary.

“We want new members to join successfully,” she said. “We want them to get the most out of being a member and to be able to use their skills to the best effect, such as by joining the right committee or project where they can really make a difference.”

Club president Mary Spinks said: “I am sure members will join me in welcoming Janet to this role and wish her well. She will be an excellent and inspiring membership secretary.”

Ted, whose father was in the Royal Navy, was born in the military hospital at Chatham in Kent. He grew up in nearby Wigmore and attended the Gillingham Grammar School. He won a scholarship to the London School of Economics where he studied economic geography and was later to also complete an MA. While at the LSE he met Carol, a fellow student who would become his wife of nearly 60 years.

Ted completed his national service as an officer in the Royal Artillery and remained in uniform as a captain in the Territorial Army for another 10 years.

He began a civil service career as a tax inspector, a job Carol recalls he hated, before moving into local government in London. But he was later to rejoin the civil service, working with Government minister Michael Heseltine on Britain’s entry into the EU before moving to the Department of the Environment as a planning inspector. This was a role he loved and Ted remained a planning inspector until he was 73, working on many high profile projects including the regeneration of Exeter.

Ted married Carol in 1961 and the couple, who had previously lived in Datchet, moved to Maidenhead in 1970.
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Ted joined Rotary in April 1983, and his background as a planning inspector showed in his quiet, thorough approach to the responsibilities he undertook during his 37 years as a member of the club.
 
He served five years as secretary and 11 years as assistant secretary. He also did stalwart work in the administration of the Boundary Walk for many years.
 
Outside of Rotary the couple loved to travel. Carol worked in HR for ICI, a job which took her around the world, and Ted would travel with her when possible. They also enjoyed dining out and were founder members of the Berkshire Branch of the International Wine and Food Society. “The thing Ted would enjoy most of all was a good meal at the Waterside,” recalled Carol.

Ted also loved gardening and was a keen allotment keeper and a member of the Royal Horticultural Society. He enjoyed bird-watching and was a member of the Maidenhead branch of the RSPB. He also had a lifelong passion for steam trains.

Carol described her husband as a caring and modest man who did not seek the limelight. She said: “He was a very gentle person. He was very intelligent but did not like to argue with people – but if he thought you were wrong you would not move him. He was a great companion and always supportive of others.”

Rotarian Mike Holness added: “I had the pleasure of working closely with Ted, when I was secretary and in my year as president, and I counted him among my particular friends. I will miss his quiet humour and careful advice.”

Covid restrictions prevented a normal handover ceremony which would have taken place at the club evening meeting at the end of June. In its place, the video that was made for the handover to our new president is now available to view above and to the right.

​Sir Nicky, who dedicated himself to many charitable causes during his 106-year life, is best known for rescuing more than 600 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport train shortly before the outbreak of World War II. 

The club has been meeting online via Zoom since the start of the pandemic and, as the lockdown rules begin to ease, Rotary president Mary Spinks thought it was the ideal opportunity and setting for a physical gathering.

“It’s a huge outdoor area so we could all maintain social distancing,” she said. “The gardens are very inspirational to walk around, featuring many of Sir Nicky’s sayings and using railway sleepers to represent the journey of the children. “Despite some rain it was a wonderful opportunity for us all to come together and celebrate the greatest Rotarian we have had in our club.”

“Similar projects in other parts of the UK have had very rewarding results,” said Mary, “The elderly enjoy the friendship and realise how great our young people are while the teenagers gain valuable life experience. Some of them have even gone on to careers in nursing and the care sector.”

Mary, who lives in the Riverside area of Maidenhead, is no stranger to the caring professions. She was awarded a CBE in 2010 after a 52-year career in nursing. She came to England from Cork to train as a nurse in 1958 and on qualifying spent 15 years in theatre nursing. Mary became chairman of the National Association of Theatre Nurses and continued her career in nurse management to become Regional Nursing Officer for North East Thames.

She was director of the Florence Nightingale Foundation from 1996-2010, raising substantial funds to increase the number of scholarships for research, travel and leadership to develop nurses’ careers in the modern NHS. She remains an honorary vice-president of the organisation.
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Despite taking over as Rotary president during the pandemic, Mary is determined to continue the organisation’s good work and called on members to be optimistic. The club is currently holding meetings over Zoom and Mary says this is an example of how Rotary can adapt. 
 
She told members: “We are facing many changes in a challenging world but I want us all to travel with hope and positivity through these choppy waters. If something is not blatantly impossible there must be a way of doing it and that is the approach we must take as we look ahead.”
 
A Rotarian for five years, Mary’s plans for the coming year also include recruiting new members, increasing fundraising and continuing with the club’s support for overseas projects. Another key objective is to build on the club’s already extensive work with schools to help develop the potential of students.

Achievements include £2,000 donated to the District Thames Hospice Furniture project raised by a successful Indian meal held in November, and £4,500 of financial support provided to the Rotary in Maidenhead Covid-19 project headed up by the Maidenhead Bridge Club. Other successful collaborations include the Boundary Walk and Maidenhead’s Got Talent.

Sean and several other Rotarians, supported the Lion’s Club prostate screening event last year and our club has now pledged to run the event in the Spring of 2021, Covid-19 permitting.

Prostate Cancer also featured on the charity front with Sean pledging support during his year. A representative from Prostate Cancer UK visited the club last July to talk about the disease and £2,000 raised from the 2019 Bikeathon was donated to the charity.

Spreading the Rotary message in the community was another aim, and in the last year Sean and other members of the club have spoken on Radio Berkshire and Marlow FM and featured in the pages of the Maidenhead Advertiser.

Another issue tackled during the year was improving club governance.  Sean explained: “Over the past few years the club has been changing rapidly with new members hungry to get involved and make a valuable contribution. Questions about vision, strategy, transparency, democracy, finances and our constitution have all surfaced. We’ve had some serious debates and discussions and I think we’ve made valuable steps forward which will serve only to make the club stronger in the future.” 

Sean said he was naturally disappointed the impact of Covid-19 had halted so many plans in the latter part of his year and saddened events had to be cancelled, particularly the Quadrilateral.   

“But equally I’m proud of what has been achieved and the way that we as a club responded to the crisis. Undeniably, the Bridge Club Covid-19 project has been an amazing headline project and the speed with which it was established was remarkable,” he said.

“It is months since we had our last physical meeting at Desborough Bowling Club and when that meeting ended I don’t think we really had any idea of how we were going to continue our Rotary business. But we quickly re-grouped, have established our Zoom meetings and are now meeting regularly as a club, and via our various committees.”

“Finally, none of what we have done in the past year could have been achieved without the help of the club and I need to thank you all for your amazing support.”

​“Today the same thing is happening in our hospitals with people dying from the virus without being able to see their families and the nurses are once again communicating with their loved ones. It’s a very strong parallel,” she said.

Mary, who was awarded a CBE in 2010 after a 52-year career in nursing, was director of the Florence Nightingale Foundation from 1996-2010, raising substantial funds to increase the number of scholarships for research, travel and leadership to develop nurses’ careers in the modern NHS. She is now an honorary vice-president of the organisation.

For 14 years Mary organised the annual service held at Westminster Abbey to mark birthday of Florence Nightingale. It is usually attended by about 2,200 people, including the three matrons-in-chief from the armed services but will not take place this year due to the Covid-19 lockdown. “I had a little weep that I was not going to be there and we were not holding the ceremony this year,” said Mary, who is a leading member of the Rotary Club of Maidenhead and due to take over as its president in July.
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Mary came to England from Cork to train as a nurse in 1958 and on qualifying she spent 15 years in theatre nursing. She became chairman of the National Association of Theatre Nurses and continued her career in nurse management to become Regional Nursing Officer for North East Thames. 

​Club spokesman Martin Trepte said: “Fellowship is one of the pillars of being a Rotarian so even during the lockdown its business as usual for the club as far as is possible. “Inducting a new member via Zoom is a new milestone for us but is an example of how you can adjust to difficult circumstances. The club and its committees meet regularly on Zoom and there have even been some social events, such as a quiz night.”

While most of the club’s community activities are currently curtailed, members are continuing to plan events which will hopefully be able to take place when the lockdown ends, such as the annual Boundary Walk in October.

The club is also financially supporting the Rotary in Maidenhead Covid-19 volunteer community response team which provides a vital lifeline for vulnerable people who are self-isolating.