The sun was shining on what has to be one of the hottest Easters we can recall!  The bouncy slide in prime place, stallholders ready to welcome families and the clues to the treasure hunt laid out round Grenfell Park.  The 7th Annual Easter Family Fun Day had arrived!

This year children enjoyed the many activities on offer including bouncing like bunnies on the inflatable slide, having their faces painted, playing skittles and trying their luck at the coconut shye.  Of course the main attraction was hunting around the park following clues to answer the Easter-Themed quiz so they could be rewarded with chocolates.
 
This is the 7th year the club has run the event and it gets bigger and better each year, and this year was no different, proving to be a huge hit with local families and a great success, with more than 800 people joining in the fun, the most to ever attend.
 
Families sent time playing and enjoying the sunshine, whilst decorating bunny masks, seeing how many marbles they could get inside the flower pot under timed conditions and of course sampling the lovely ice cream and other food on offer.
 
For the first time we were joined by Eagle Claw Kung-Fu School who put on a superb demonstration with their Lions, as well as a Kung-Fu masterclass.  This really brought everyone together and shoed the amazing skills of the children at the school.

Event Organiser Adam Hunter, commented “We have had a great day with excellent support from the local community.  We’re thrilled with the number of people who came to enjoy this superb park in the centre of town, and join in the fun.  Here’s to doing it all again next year!”

Dozens and dozens of Easter Bunnies came to life in the Nicholson Centre at a special Easter craft session yesterday as Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club brought fun and laughter into the town centre.

The community-based club organised the free session to give our young Maidonians a chance to let out their creative sides without creating a mess at home and were thrilled to see so many people, young and old, transform their masks into very impressive bunnies!
 
Adam Hunter, Club Member and Event Organiser, commented “It was loads of fun and great to see the smiles on everyone’s faces as they went crazy with glitter, cotton wool and feathers!  We’re really looking forward to seeing all our newly created bunnies hop down to Grenfell Park on Easter Saturday to join in the free Easter Family Fun Day”.
 
This is the fifth year the club has organised this free craft session as a pre-cursor to their FREE Easter Family Fun Day, being held in Grenfell Park on Saturday 20th April from 11am to 3pm, which is aimed at young families with children aged 0 – 12 years old.  During the Easter Fun Day the club will be holding an Easter egg hunt, face painting and many other children’s activities.  Throughout the day there will also be fun children’s activities such as singing and dancing.  They’ll be fairground rides, ice cream and plenty of chocolate, so this really is an event not to be missed! 
 
For more information and to be kept up to date on rides and attractions click here

​What an amazing night of simply stunning talent.  From dancing, to choirs, to opera, to African Drumming our young performers were simply the best  at the annual Maidenhead’s Got Talent showcase on Friday 1st March.
 
The charity event, organised by all of Maidenhead’s Rotary clubs, saw performers aged six to 22 appearing in a matinee and evening show at Taplow Court, in Cliveden Road.  The event featured pupils from five of the area’s primary schools, solo artists and a number of performance academies, totally over 500 performers! 
 
The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for performers in schools and local groups to get experience of being on stage and performing to a large audience.  There’s lots of talent in Maidenhead and it’s something we should be proud of.
 
A massive thank you to everyone who came to support the youngsters, to all the performers and all our amazing Rotary Volunteers who make the show possible.  We're still adding up all the donations but it looks like, with your help, Rotary in Maidenhead will have raised £6000 to support the charitable projects we do locally, nationally and internationally.  So a massive thank you from us!

​The Rotary Club of Maidenhead Bridge invited town residents to pick up some health tips and information alongside their shopping this weekend.  Over 100 people took us up on our offer, receiving blood pressure checks, cholesterol checks, diabetes checks as well as advice on exercise, healthy eating and mental health.
 
We took over a unit in the Nicholson Shopping Centre from 10.30am to offer advice and information on getting fit, eating healthily, the effects of high cholesterol and how to manage it, diabetes, and the risks of high blood pressure – all completely free of charge with no obligations. 
 
Neil Gow, event organiser, commented “After having their blood pressure checked 15 people were advised to visit their GP within a month and one was advised to visit their GP within a week. This proves that these events really do potentially reduce ill-health and perhaps save lives.”
 
The event also offered free cholesterol checks and blood sugar tests; the team gave advice on how to lower cholesterol levels and avoid contracting diabetes, which is an increasing healthcare concern.  80 people had their cholesterol levels checked with 50% of them being told to get further tests and advice from their GP due to higher than normal readings. An additional 3 people were told to seek advice about the potential risk of diabetes after our blood glucose tests.
 
In addition Rotarian Victoria Williams, a therapeutic coach and mental health practitioner from Hope-Rio Wellbeing, spoke to people about mental well-being, tips on reliving stress and anxiety and signposted visitors to organisations that can provide additional support.
 
Another popular feature of the event was an onsite consultation on good posture from Laura Rigby from Berkshire Health Clinic.  Laura not only gave advice to the public, but her team were on hand giving massages to people as they waited to be seen by the clinical team.
 
Adam Hunter, assistant event organiser commented “This event is so important to the local community. Providing a confidential, free, drop-in service whilst people go about their shopping. One way our club and the Rotarians in it are making a difference.”
 
Fit for February is just one of the many local community based activities carried out by the Rotary Club of Maidenhead Bridge, alongside a free Easter family fun day in Grenfell Park and a close working relationship with FoodShare helping to feed the hungry in Maidenhead and the immediate area.

​It was a race to the finish line at the annual Reindeer Race in the Nicholsons Centre on Saturday.
 
Organised by Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club for the sixth year running, the festive, fun-filled event pulled in the crowds to watch competitors wind toy reindeer and sleighs across the finishing line.
 
Races lasted approximately 5 minutes each and brought lots of laughter and fun to the masses.  Shoppers also go to meet Bruno and Patch, mascots from the charity Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, where all money raised at the event will be donated.
 
This year we had extra special guests join in the fun in the form of two puppies in training.  Ozzy a one-year old Black Labrador and Leighton a five-month old Cocker Spaniel stole the hearts of many shoppers and were only too happy to roll over and have their tummies stroked!  Both dogs also loved their larger-than-life-sized mascot friends with Ozzy playfully tugging on Patch’s tail!
 
Adam Hunter, Rotarian and event organiser, commented, “The dog mascots definitely help to pull in the crowds and to see the joy on children’s faces as they rush to give them a hug is priceless.  Thank you to the generosity of shoppers the day raised over £200 for the charity, which we are thrilled about”.

It’s been an amazing 12 months at Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club with numerous charity challenges, reindeer and health checks being just some of the many activities the club has been involved with.
 
On the 23rd November the club celebrated their sixth birthday, and there’s lots to celebrate as the group of young professionals and volunteers have somehow managed to fit in more than 190 events over the last 12 months ranging from hands-on volunteering such as supporting FoodShare and the Waterways Project, to socials including walks in the countryside and plenty of pub visits, to fundraising for local and international charities, to networking!
 
The club organises several key events each year including the Easter Family Fun Day in Grenfell Park which now attracts over 800 local families each year, as well as the annual Health Awareness Day in February which gives advice to Maidonians about blood pressure, healthy hearts, diabetes etc with the support of professional organisations. 
 
The members of our club are an amazing group of people; they inspire me and motivate to help make the world a better place

The Rotary Club of Windsor St George were asked by the event organisers if they can provide volunteers to help with the marshalling at the above event, being a horse lover but a marshalling novice of course I was more than happy to take a day off work and take part.
 
For those that don’t know there are three races during the day:

• CEI 2* International Riders race 120km
• CEI 1* International Riders race 80km
• National Riders race 40km

 
The 120km riders have a maximum of 10 hours to complete the race, all horses are subjected to a 40 minute cool down after each leg, the vet will then check their heart rate etc. and decide whether the horse can continue. This is a true test of Endurance for both horse and rider.
 
Half of the 70 volunteers, made up of mostly Rotarians from the surrounding clubs, but also students from Bournemouth Uni, Local Riding Clubs and the Royal Vet College, attended the briefing on the Sunday before this event. I’m pleased that I attended the session on the Sunday as we had a very early start the following Friday.
 
I arrived on site at 5.40am to grab my breakfast and picnic lunch, along with radio and orange high-vis ready for the days action and I was not to be disappointed. I was partnered up with Howard Smith from Ascot Rotary and we headed off following Malcom Wallace and other Rotarians to Ascot Racecourse.
 
We were shown the dog leg of the roadway that we had to marshal; there were 10 plus people on that part of the course. The 120km and 80km racers arrive through the car park, come along the Ascot Racecourse roadway past the entrance to the Golf Club under the tunnel, around the racecourse, back through the tunnel and out through the car pack back to Windsor Great Park.
 
As well as shouting to each other when horses were coming, when it was clear and when cars could go I also needed to shout each riders number to Howard so that they could be recorded. Well... trying to read the numbers from a group of 26 cantering horses was a challenge, but how Howard managed to write them all down so quick I’ll never know. In under an hour circa 80 horses and riders had completed this part of the course.
 
We all headed back to the main hub to be relocated to other parts of the course. This is where I left Howard and his fellow Rotarian Raymond Cheung and joined Ella Nunn from the Suffolk Hunt. Ella and I then spent the remaining 6 hours on our picnic chairs at the bottom of the long walk chatting to passers-by, enjoying the scenery and of course recording the rider numbers as they passed us every now and then.
 
A fabulous way to spend the day and next year’s date, Friday 10 May 2019, is already firmly in my diary. I nearly forgot, the Rotary clubs also benefitted from £100 for each volunteer so if anyone else would like to take part next year let me know and I will collate all the details to advise Windsor St George Rotary.

What do you do for a living?
Job situation at the moment is a bit on the air as I am currently writing up my thesis. I, though, by qualification am an Engineer. Hopefully once all is clear with my submission I should be once again looking for a job within one of several fields that I am interested in; Aerospace, Automotive, Health and Forensics.
 
What do you do for fun? 
Fun, well my idea of fun has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Now that I am a father I take most pleasure in spending time with my family. But if conditions allow it (whether internal or external) I enjoy going on a boat trip or even better getting the motorcycle out for a spin just to blow the cobwebs off the helmet.
 
Where are you from?
As the name suggests I must be affiliated with some other part of the world. Well that is correct, I am originally Greek – Cypriot. I was born in Cyprus and once finished my military service I moved to the UK to commence studying.  Funnily enough I may still be considered a student, as I am still studying.
 
Can you tell us something we may not know about you?
I love anything that has an engine on it, I will try and strip it and put It back together. Usually it works otherwise I end up buying a new one. What I enjoy the most I guess is restoring vehicles back to their former glory. It sometimes feels like something is too good (especially if the engineering behind making it is fascinating) to be left to rot or perish.
 
Where did you go on your last holiday? 
That is a great question. I do not remember, although the last holiday I do remember is Orlando Florida with the family. Although it was following a conference, once that was done and dusted I was enjoying the sun and sea. I must admit, this was the first time across the Atlantic and it did take a while to get used to the lifestyle.
 
What is your favourite book/film and why? 
Favourite book is the Count of Monte Cristo, which is now a good few years back when I last read it. As for a movie, I do not think I do have a favourite movie. What I do have is a favourite mini-series, Band Of Brothers. For anyone out there that enjoy factual WW2 documentaries/series then this is a must see. Tom Hanks is in the leading role as well as a director.
 
Why did you join Rotary?  
​I am here with my family, which is my son, wife and dog. Everyone else we have is scattered around the globe. I thus want my son to be brought up in a friendly and future-proof environment. This meaning that if we, as the current stakeholders of our community (both local and global) don’t look after each other and the future of our communities no one will. In addition, by spending time with likeminded people helping others almost puts you in a band of brothers, where you create a bond with the people around you that are all striving for a better future.
 
What have you enjoyed most in Rotary so far?
I think the diverse nature of the events we do has certainly kept meinterested. As for a favourite event I think the Swimathon and the Easter fun day. What is certainly most enjoyable though is seeing the amount of people that turn up every meeting, people that are willing to spend their time giving back to others.
 
Which Rotary events are you looking forward to?
I would really like to not just help organise, but also partake in two events this year, the Maidenhead boundary walk as well as the Cookham Regatta.
 
If you could describe our Rotary Club in 3 words what would they be?
Unique, Diverse, Welcoming