On the evening of Saturday, November 28th, 2023, Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club hosted a memorable and successful Indian Cultural Night at Holyport Memorial Hall, the first of its kind. The event brought the local community together in a celebration of Indian culture while raising funds for two deserving charities: Alzheimer's Dementia Support and the Indian charity Goonj.
 
The event was a resounding success, attracting a diverse and enthusiastic crowd of individuals from Maidenhead and beyond. Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club, renowned for their commitment to community service and philanthropy, pulled out all the stops to create a night that will be long remembered.
 
On arrival guests were greeted by members of the club adorned in full traditional Indian attire and were gifted beautiful bangles by the club.  They then walked through a beautifully decorated entrance which included a statue of Hindu God 'Ganesh' and Rangoli, a traditional Indian decoration made with brightly coloured ground rice.
 
Guests were treated to a delightful and authentic Indian meal prepared by Kebabsaab Catering, which featured a delightful array of flavours and aromas, highlighting the rich and diverse cuisine of India. The delectable spread included a wide selection of appetizers such as Samosas and Channa Masala, curries, saag panner, tandoori naan and mouth-watering Gulaab Jamun with Kulfi for dessert.
 
Rajan Gujral, Event Organiser, commented “We organised this event to coincide with the start of Diwali, India's biggest and most important holiday of the year.  Diwali is a festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and the human ability to overcome challenges. Our Indian Cultural Night, and Rotary, certainly ticks all those boxes!”
 
Prior to the cultural programme, Katie Hodges, District Governor of Rotary in the Thames Valley, started the evening with lighting a lamp. This is a very symbolic Hindu ritual, to ward off any darkness and negativity.
 
The entertainment for the evening was equally enchanting, as the event featured live performances of traditional Bharatanatyam dances and energetic Bollywood songs. Dancers adorned in colourful attire brought the art of Bharatanatyam to life, mesmerising the audience with their grace and precision.
 
The event was not only a feast for the senses but also a tremendous success in raising funds for two vital charities, with more than £2000 raised. Alzheimer's Dementia Support, a local organization that provides invaluable assistance to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's and dementia, will greatly benefit from the generous donations. Additionally, the Indian charity Goonj, which works towards providing essential resources to underprivileged communities in India, will receive crucial support to further their noble cause.
 
Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the event's sponsors, volunteers, performers, and, most importantly, the attendees for their support in making the Indian Cultural Night a triumphant and memorable evening.
 
Club President, James Ticehurst, shared his thoughts on the event: "We are truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from our community. This Indian Cultural Night was a testament to the power of unity and cultural exchange. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the success of this event and helped us raise much-needed funds for these remarkable charities."
 
Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club plans to continue its tradition of hosting vibrant and impactful events that bring the community together while supporting local and international charitable causes.

​For more information and to be kept up to date about other events organised by the club visit www.maidenheadbridgerotary.org.uk or contact Lisa Hunter on 07876 341334 or e-mail [email protected]

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

A couple of Sunday’s ago we all met at a pub at 8am…yes, in true Maidenhead Bridge style we were starting early, and finishing at an establishment which sold alcohol! This was our “dry run” of the Maidenhead Boundary Walk, an event jointly run by Maidenhead Bridge and Maidenhead Rotary held in October.
 
Thankfully, it was April – so the weather was good, and the walk well – started off nice, got a bit painful about midway, and then nearly resulted in a certain very tall Vice President passing out in the pub (no alcohol involved – honest).
 
The views in the Maidenhead area, looking out over Wycombe, Furze Platt and along the river were stunning, it made the walk very enjoyable and worthwhile. 27,488 steps later (yes – I have a fitbit!), burning 4,245 calories and walking a total of 14 miles in roughly 4.5 hours (ish).
 
The Maidenhead Boundary Walk will be held on 7th October and is well worth having a look at. Both Maidenhead Rotary and Maidenhead Bridge Rotary organise the marshals along the route and we’d love to hear from any budding volunteers to get involved.

​For more information, please go to www.maidenheadbridgerotary.org.uk/boundary-walk

Smith’s Coffee House is a family business which prides itself on their distinctive passion for tea and coffee roasting. They started off as a small local roaster in Mill Hill, operating out of a family-run grocery store serving the local Londoners, since 1936. Today, they operate a much larger factory in Hemel Hempstead, complete with state-of-the-art training and tasting facilities. They also supply coffee across the UK and Ireland, Central and Eastern Europe and the Far East.
 
 Our club members had the unique privilege and opportunity of being invited to a private guided tour of this thriving Coffee House, by the owner himself.  After receiving a rather warm and inviting ‘latte’ welcome, we were escorted on a fascinating  tour of the Coffee House,  factory and museum.
 
We certainly felt well informed after watching the video on the ‘Life of a Coffee Bean’, from the time they’re picked, planted and processed. What a fascinating journey!
 
Once inside the factory, we savoured the wonderful aroma of freshly roasted ground coffee beans. We definitely came away feeling rather enlightened on the various types of coffee including the complex roasting and blending processes. Our tour ended with a visit to the museum, where we had the opportunity to view some antiquated coffee machines and equipment.
 
Smiths Coffee House is definitely worth a visit…a massive thank you to the owner for inviting us and showing us around this impressive coffee house.
Rabika
 

The second Tenpin Tuesday of the year and the challenge was set once again….could I actually get any skittles down?
 
There were two teams for the evening, evenly matched with girls and boys. Team 1 was Dave, EJ, Vic and Keith with Team 2 made up of Adam, James and myself.
 
Much swapping of balls, at least on my part was done, I still can’t decide whether the heavier or lighter balls is the better option, neither really aided my sense of direction (or distinct lack of).
 
Ex-President Vic ended the evening sporting an injury, not in achieving the strike, but in the celebration afterwards! Well done Vic for achieving a strike!
 
There were some great scorers of the night with Adam achieving a 153 and Keith achieving the highest break of a 147 (oops wrong sport, that’s snooker!)
 
This is always a fun night, chatting with fellow Rotarians and building friendships as well as enjoying the half price bowling, can’t wait for the next one in 2018.                                 
Katherine

On Saturday 2nd September the Rotary Clubs of Cookham Bridge and Marlow Thames held their annual Regatta in Cookham.  Due to our undeniable success in 2016 we decided to have another bash this year in the Canoe Cat races and our able team of rowers (President Mike, Elisa-Jade, David Gratton, James B, Katherine, Keith , Nisha and David Gunn) spent literally minutes training and building up their stamina in the weeks leading up to the big event.
 
It was a beautiful day, and the rowers and the support team pitched up their deckchairs on the river bank and out came the picnics. After a shaky start to the first race (where our team rowed off in the wrong direction to get to the start line) the team rallied together but only managed to come second (or rather, they lost). The second race saw more success, and a more strategic positioning of rowers in the boat (big lads at the back) seemed to streamline our efforts and the race was won!
 
Whilst all this was going on, I entered Bagel (my beagle) into the dog show (the “Most Handsome Dog” class) but sadly it seemed the judges were unable to spot perfection and we came away unplaced.   A few days later I received an email from the organisers to say that because our team won the second race we had actually won a trophy! Still not entirely sure how that happened, but we will gladly take it!
 
There’s talk of us entering the Dragon Boat races next year for which considerably more training will need to take place. I believe there is drumming involved. Looking forward to it already!
Victoria