Author: Jim Murphy

Tonight saw the Club celebrate its 30th Anniversary with a special dinner at the Mount Hotel in Wolverhampton.

Originally chartered in January 1982 President John paid tribute to those founder members – 14 of whom are still actively involved in the Club today- and to those members of the Rotary Club of Wolverhampton (our mother club) whose work had been instrumental in establishing the Club.

Picking out some of the highlights of the Clubs history President John noted the contribution of Honorary members such as the comedian Lenny Henry whose concert helped us to raise £135,000 in one night, the work which the Club carried out with Wolverhampton Wanderers collecting for local good causes outside of the Molineux Stadium and which has now raised over £40,000 over the 17 years that they have been running, the contribution which the Club has made toward education in the City with the mentoring programme which it runs with Smestow School, and of the success of the Club’s annual Santa Sleigh runs which as well as bringing some Christmas magic to the children of the city has also helped to raise over £40,000 to benefit local charities such as Compton Hospice.

Internationally President John acknowledged the work of founder member David Cave who over four years as the Clubs Foundation Officer raised £19,500 to help the Foundation’s work in eradicating polio from the face of the earth – work which is now showing real progress with no new polio cases in India for over a year.

With 58 members Tettenhall is one of the county’s largest Rotary Clubs and President John expressed his confidence that the current members would continue to build on the work which had been carried out over the first 30 years and that Rotary would continue to be at the heart of our community.

Tettenhall Inner Wheel President Lynne Cave brought the congratulations of the ladies of the Inner Wheel Club and the toast to the members of the Club was proposed by District Governor Barry Preen who presented President John with a certificate of recognition of the Club’s service from Rotary International President Banarjee.

Our thanks go to all those who joined us to help celebrate our anniversary and to Club member Mike Unwin for organising the event.

Welcoming a new member to the Club is a great way to start a New Year – though in the case of our latest member Stuart Herritty it did feel as though he’d been part of the Club for some time as he had already thrown himself into the Club’s activities by helping with our sleigh collections through December – at the same time as helping his old Round Table club in Bridgnorth with their sleigh activities.

Stuart is no stranger to Rotary having been a member of a Rotaract Club in his youth. Aimed at 18-30 year olds Rotaract Club members enjoy a wide range of social activities as well as the opportunity to get actively involved in their local community and to raise money for local good causes.

Stuart works as a Manager with Treble Pumps in Wolverhampton the UK’s largest specialist pump distributor and we’re are all pleased to welcome him back into the Rotary family.

Following on from a record year for our Santa Sleigh the Club tonight took the opportunity to recognise the contributions of two of its members without whom it would not have been possible.

We pride ourselves on having the best sleigh for Santa of any Club in the area and that of course is due to the hard work of Ray Hill who originally built the Sleigh and who now maintains it with the invaluable assistance of his grandson Oliver to ensure that it looks better each year.

Organising and co-ordinating the Club’s sleigh activities is a massive task and during December it becomes a full time job. Since the first Sleigh run and up until last year that work was in the safe hands of Sleigh Commander Roger Timbrell and Roger’s tireless work has ensured that Tettenhall’s sleigh visits are a much anticipated part of  the Christmas season for many in Wolverhampton.

Both Roger and Ray have selflessly given of their time and energy and in addition to the magic which the sleigh brings to the children of Wolverhampton it has helped the Club to raise thousands to benefit local charities. In thanks for all of their hard work President John was delighted to award Ray and Roger certificates of recognition on behalf of the Club.