Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club celebrated its 10th Birthday on Saturday, 19th November 2022, at CIM Moor Hall in Cookham.  The community-based club organised a fabulous and glamorous party for its members and guests to mark the special occasion. More than 100 guests enjoyed a three- course meal and then danced the night away.
 
In the 10 years since the club was formed, they’ve taken on crazy challenges such as the Thames Path 50k Walk in aid of Send a Cow which saw them buy two whole farmyards, The Big Climb – climbing the outside wall at Longridge 244 times, the equivalent of base camp to the summit of Everest, to raise money for Rotary Foundation and the epic 24 Challenges in 24 hours… 24 physical and mental challenges including swimming, Zumba, clubbercise, boxing, cycling, football and so much more.

They have also raised money for Children in Need, taking Pudsey Bear on tour round local schools, supported DASH, Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice, The Thames Hospice, The Brett Foundation, Daisy’s Dream, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Thames Valley Air Ambulance and so many more good causes.
 
Then there’s been their community projects, the flagship Easter Family Fun Day providing much-needed free entertainment for local families in Grenfell Park each year. They also organise an annual Health Awareness Day where they’ve saved lives offering blood pressure checks, diabetes and cholesterol tests.

Possibly the biggest contribution the club has made was through their Covid Response Project which saw them feed 32 families every week for over a year; and support more than 120 households with errands such as shopping, prescription collection and befriending, a project they are immensely proud of.

Lisa Hunter, Founder President, commented “When we created the club, we said we wanted to bridge communities, bridge cultures and bridge generations and we are still very much doing this. I am excited to see what the next 10 years bring and am very much looking forward to working with all the amazing members of the club to share ideas and take action.”

Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club is a proud, and very involved club within Maidenhead and surrounding areas. Their members are always willing to help local causes, often rolling up their sleeves providing hands-on volunteering, they’re passionate about and making a difference!
 
The club has also grown, with more than 50 members, all doing their bit to make our world a better place.  This commitment and dedication was recognised by the BBC in their “Britain’s Volunteer Army” program, hosted by Ross Kemp in 2020; and Lisa Hunter was also awarded a British Empire Medal in The Queens New Year's Honors List 2022, for her contributions in leading the Covid Response Project.
 
You're Invited!
If you're not a member of the club yet, then we’d also like to extend an invite to you and your friends to join us at one of our fun upcoming events to find out more about what we do and how you can get involved. 
 
Remember we’re a very relaxed, flexible and friendly club so you don’t have to commit huge amounts of time to get involved.  It’s a great way to meet new people, try out new activities and give something back to the local community.

A valiant team of volunteers from Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club and Ashfield MedComms, an Inizio Company, braved the elements to transform a forgotten garden at Richard Silver House, an assisted living home, on Friday 4th November.
 
Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club had been contacted by a relative of a resident living at the home asking for help to tidy up the communal garden area so residents, and their families, can enjoy the outside space.  Naturally they leapt into action.
 
Ably assisted by a team of five corporate volunteers, the team worked hard to dig out existing gravel, remove damaged weed-control fabric, empty and re-fill raised planters, dig over flower beds and re-lay new weed-control fabric and gravel.
 
Natalie Beavan, a volunteer from Ashfield MedComms, commented “We really enjoyed helping with the garden project at Richard Silver House as part of our Ashfield MedComms Make it Matter community action day. It was great to be working alongside colleagues and members of Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club to transform the garden and get it ready for planting. Meeting some of the residents and their families was the highlight and hearing we were making such a difference made it a truly rewarding experience.”
 
The Rotary volunteers have already had a message of thanks from the parents of one resident, who says it looks "100% better"!
 
Event Co-ordinator Harrie Hayward commented “We were so pleased to be able to help and are looking forward to doing more in the future with plans to plant bulbs, plants and shrubs to give a splash of colour in the spring and summer months; as well as create a recreational area with seating and sun protection so residents can really enjoy the garden”.
 
“We also want to extend a huge thank you to the team from Ashfield MedComms who worked so hard all day and achieved so much – we really couldn’t have done this without them”, Harrie continued.

You're Invited!
If you're not a member of the club yet, then we’d also like to extend an invite to you and your friends to join us at one of our fun upcoming events to find out more about what we do and how you can get involved. 
 
Remember we’re a very relaxed, flexible and friendly club so you don’t have to commit huge amounts of time to get involved.  It’s a great way to meet new people, try out new activities and give something back to the local community.

Check out the list of upcoming events on the back page of the newsletter, if you’d like to join us get in touch today.

We hope you enjoy reading it and if you, or anyone you know, would like to get involved with any of our volunteering opportunities, or attend one of our meetings, please do get in touch; and feel free to share our newsletter with others too.

You're Invited!
If you're not a member of the club yet, then we’d also like to extend an invite to you and your friends to join us at one of our fun upcoming events to find out more about what we do and how you can get involved. 
 
Remember we’re a very relaxed, flexible and friendly club so you don’t have to commit huge amounts of time to get involved.  It’s a great way to meet new people, try out new activities and give something back to the local community.

THE section of the River Thames running through Maidenhead was given a spring clean on Saturday by all of the town’s Rotary Clubs assisted by its sea cadet unit.

Members drawn from the Rotary Clubs of Maidenhead, Maidenhead Bridge, Maidenhead Thames and Maidenhead Rotaract scoured the river bank for litter between Boulters Lock and the M4 at Bray, while sea cadets from TS Iron Duke in Mill Lane took to the water in launches to clear litter from the river itself.

In parallel to the clean-up, Claire Booth and Sushi Gow from Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club ran a stall in the High Street giving information to members of the public about how to reduce their carbon footprint and live more sustainably.​

The initiative was part of a Thames Valley-wide Rotary project which saw all clubs whose areas include the Thames turning out to clean up their stretches of the River. The day was also used to highlight an international Rotary campaign called End Plastic Soup, which aims to stop single-use plastics being dumped into our waterways and oceans by 2050.

The Maidenhead clean-up was organised by a team from all four Rotary clubs led by Rotarian Gurdial Singh.

He said: “It was a fantastic day and shows what can be achieved when Rotary Clubs join forces with each other and work with community groups. Rotary would like to say a huge thank you to Maidenhead Sea Cadets for coming on board with the project and providing such invaluable help.
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“While we picked up a respectable amount of litter from the river banks, many areas were actually reasonably clean so well done to the people of Maidenhead for being environmentally aware and taking their litter home with them. Thank you to everyone for their support on the day.”

THE town’s four Rotary Clubs will be teaming up on Saturday for a spring clean along the River Thames.
 
Members of the Rotary Clubs of Maidenhead, Maidenhead Thames, Maidenhead Bridge and Maidenhead Rotaract will be collecting litter from both banks of the river between Boulters Lock and the M4 at Bray.
 
They will be supported by Maidenhead sea cadets who will be manning boats to allow Rotarians to also clear litter from the river itself.
 
Meanwhile, a separate team from Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club will be manning a stall in the town centre to raise awareness of environmental issues and promote greener alternatives to help people reduce their carbon footprint.
 
The project is part of a Thames Valley-wide Rotary initiative which will see clubs which cover stretches of the river from Oxford to Windsor turning out to clean up their sections of the Thames.
 
As well as reducing litter and its impact on the environment, the day also aims to promote a major Rotary programme called End Plastic Soup which has the objective of stopping single-use plastics being dumped into waterways and oceans worldwide by 2050.
 
Sushi Gow from Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for all of the town’s Rotary Clubs to join forces for the good of our community. By working together we can make a real difference and also raise awareness of important environmental issues.
 
“Last year Rotary added protecting the environment as a new core area of focus so this will be only the first of many initiatives locally, nationally and internationally as we turn the same energy and determination that has led to the near eradication of polio to reducing the impact of climate change.”
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Rotary is the world’s largest volunteer humanitarian organisation with 1.4 million members in 46,000 clubs across the globe. Together they work to make the world a better place is areas such as promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water and sanitation, protecting mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies and protecting the environment.

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 10th Annual Easter Family Fun Day, organised by Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club, had arrived after a 2-year enforced break due to lock-downs this April.
 
This year children enjoyed the many activities on offer including bouncing like bunnies on the inflatable slide, having their faces painted, playing bar 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 10th 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 1000 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 a flowerpot under timed conditions and of course sampling the lovely ice cream and other food on offer.
 
For the first time we were joined by MooMusic who put on several singalong play sessions that had everyone, old and young, joining in.
 
Over £1700 was raised at the event which will be donated to local good causes to support community projects, just one of the aims of the day and Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club.
 
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!”
 
For more information and to be kept up to date about other events organised by the club visit www.maidenheadbridgerotary.org.uk/easterfunday or contact Lisa Hunter on 07876 341334 or e-mail [email protected]

Homeless people in Maidenhead and Windsor are set to receive some seasonal good cheer thanks to a joint initiative by three of the borough’s service organisations.
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Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club, Maidenhead  Rotary Club  and Maidenhead Lions Club have teamed up to provide 30 goodie  bags packed with fun and practical items ranging from socks and toothpaste to chocolate Santas'.

The initiative is co-ordinated by Rotarian Eddie Piekut, who is also a volunteer for the RBWM Primary Care Service for the Homeless. He said: “If I was on the street I would be really chuffed to get one of these bags. It would give me a real lift to know someone was thinking about me this Christmas.”

He added: “It’s great to be part of the borough’s overall approach to the homeless. With help from RBWM’s ‘Make Every Adult Matter’ Rough Sleepers Team and Browns Community Services CIC we will ensure these bags provide some Christmas cheer to those in need.”

Lions president Karen Brown said: “The presents are part of the Lions’ overall approach to Christmas in 2021, where we are delivering vouchers to some of our town’s vulnerable people and their families to let them know Lions are still out there assisting the community.”

Nas Parkes, president of Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club, said: “Winter is a very difficult time for people without a permanent roof over their heads, especially during the pandemic and this will help bring them a bit of festive cheer.”
President of Maidenhead Rotary Club Martin Trepte added: “This is a great initiative and shows what can be achieved when the town’s service clubs work together.”

​We are excited to release the second edition of our club newsletter for this Rotary Year.  ​It is packed full of updates and articles on all the amazing things we've been doing over the past couple of months and a few details of upcoming events (now we’re allowed out in public again!).

​You're Invited!
If you're not a member of the club yet, then we’d also like to extend an invite to you and your friends to join us at one of our fun upcoming events to find out more about what we do and how you can get involved. Remember we’re a very relaxed, flexible and friendly club so you don’t have to commit huge amounts of time to get involved.  It’s a great way to meet new people, try out new activities and give something back to the local community.
 
Check out the list of upcoming events on the back page of the newsletter, if you’d like to join us get in touch today.
 
We hope you enjoy reading it and if you, or anyone you know, would like to get involved with any of our volunteering opportunities, or attend one of our meetings, please do get in touch; and feel free to share our newsletter with others too.

Almost £15,000 was raised for 39 different charities by walkers taking part in the 40th Rotary Club Boundary Walk on Sunday.
 
More than 350 participants stepped out in aid of their favourite causes for the annual sponsored walk. While most completed the traditional 13-mile circular route around the town, others followed a new 5km family route introduced this year to ensure the event was accessible to walkers of all ages and abilities.
 
The highest single amount of sponsorship was £2,500, raised by a 55-strong team led by Rotarian Gurdip Bahra in aid of the Makindhu Dental Project, which provides vital dentistry to a rural community in Kenya.
 
The event is based on the tradition of ‘beating the bounds’, a walk around the boundary of the old Maidenhead borough which dates back to the town being given its charter in 1582.
 
It is organised jointly by the Rotary Club of Maidenhead and Rotary Club of Maidenhead Bridge which deployed nearly 60 volunteers to man checkpoints and marshal road crossings along the route.

​This year saw the Boundary Walk return to business as usual after being held in a special ‘bubble’ format last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

​Event chairman Jim Howles said: “Despite the number of walkers being down, which we think is due to people still being cautious after lockdown, the amount raised for good causes was absolutely fantastic and up there with some of our busiest years.”

Fellow organiser Lisa Hunter added: “It was really wonderful to be back for our 40th anniversary and to see the happy, smiling faces of those taking part.”

Maidenhead MP Theresa May once again joined walkers for the start of the walk, along with Royal Borough Mayor, Cllr John Story, and Rotary district governor Karen Eveleigh.
 
Mrs May said: “It’s great to see the Boundary Walk back to normal. It is such an important feature of the Maidenhead year. It’s lovely to see so many people coming along and participating.  It’s really important that people are out today raising money for charities as they have found it really difficult during the pandemic as most of their fundraising events have not been able to take place.”