Author: Jim Murphy

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Henry Carver – How to Generate Wolverhampton

Tonights speaker Wolverhampton business man Henry Carver has made quite an impact in the City over the last year.

Frustrated by the failure of the Summer Row development Mr Carver called  on local businesses to join together to fight back against what he saw as obstructive Council policies and red tape which he believed to be blighting the City.

Over 300 people attended the first meeting with Mr Carver called in February leading to the formation of the Wolverhampton Business Group which aims to develop pro-business, pro-job policies and to encourage and support the City Council to enact those policies in order to create a more vibrant local economy in which there are more and better paid jobs.

Following lobbying by 
Wolverhampton Business Group and other interested parties they believe that there has been a “sea change” in the Planning Department following recognition by the Council of the urgent need to send out a “pro-business, pre-development message” but Mr Carver urged the business community in Wolverhampton to remain vigilant and to maintain consistent pressure on the Council to keep up the good work.

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Auction of Promises

Today saw the Club’s Auction of Promises at Patshull Park organised by Club member Ken Whalley in support of Compton Hospice.

Club members and supporters donated a wide range of promises including rounds of golf at South Staffs Golf Club and at the Belfry, County Cricket Days at Edgbaston and holiday flights and accommodation in Majorca (the days star performer raising £540).

In all 58 lots were offered under the expert hammer of local auctioneer and Club member Ken Swash. The two Kens gave us all a great day with a lot of laughs and the generosity of the room amply rewarded all of their hard work raising £8,800 for Compton Hospice. Our thanks go to the two Kens and to everyone who supported the event.

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The Olympics – Trevor James

We were joined this evening by Trevor James who gave a talk on the English origins of the Olympic Games.

Trevor is the Honorary Secretary of The Historical Association a charity which supports the study and enjoyment of history.

He explained to the Club how the history of sporting competition in this country stretched back to at least 1614 with the Cotswold Games and the sporting competitions which followed it helping to generate huge public interest.

By the 1850s these had developed into recognisable athletic meetings and Trevor argues that it was the success of events such as this which formed the template for the modern day Olympic Games.

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In Memory – Remembrance Day 2011

Rotary is built on the ideal of ‘service above self’ and in recognition of the selfless sacrifice made by former and current generations in furtherance of that ideal Vice President Ian Rigby today joined with President of Tettenhall Inner Wheel Club Lynn Cave, the President of Wolverhampton Inner Wheel Club Eileen Gosling, President Richard Green of the Rotary Club of Wolverhampton and President Chris Barry of the Rotary Club of Wolverhampton St George’s and with representatives of other service organisations from around the City to pay our respects to the fallen at the Civic Service for Remembrance Sunday.

Following the observance of a two minute silence and a Drum Head Service in St Peters Square poppy wreaths were laid before the City’s cenotaph.  There was tremendous support for the ceremony which was followed by a formal service in St Peter’s Church where the sermon was given by The Reverend (Squadron Leader) Christopher Lawrence Chaplain DCAE Cosford.

Reverend Lawrence called on his own memories of serving under fire in Kandahar and spoke of the struggle which many surviving service personnel face when returning from active service to cope with their memories of conflict and of the importance of their being given the time and support to allow them to work out the meaning of those memories and to emerge with a renewed understanding of the purpose of their life.

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Armistice Day Concert

Perton Community Hall was the venue for a special Armistice Day fund raising Concert hosted by the Club this evening. Over 200 guests were entertained by the Four Oaks Big Band with a selection of classic big band music.

A sell out night the concert raised £2,500 which will go towards the funding of the Rotary Volunteer Suite at Compton Hospice. Our thanks go to the Four Oaks Big Band for great nights entertainment and to Rotarian Peter Maddox for all of his hard work in organising the event.

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Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre

Rotary has always recognised the powerful difference which can be made when local people work together -putting service before self – for the benefit of their community.
Over the years Rotarians from the five Rotary Clubs of Wolverhampton have translated this into action and have been involved in the foundation and operation of many local charities including Compton Hospice and the  Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre.
This year the Centre celebrates its 25th Anniversary and we were joined tonight by Wolverhampton Rotarian Peter Williams to tell us about its history, its current work and its future development.
The Centre operates a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber which helps to relieve the extreme fatigue which sufferers feel. It also offers a range of physiotherapy and reflexology services designed to alleviate some of the more distressing symptoms of the disease and to help sufferers to cope a little better with everyday life. Many of the services are provided with the assitsatnce of trained volunteers and Peter explained that more volunteer assistance was needed if the Charity is to continue its vital work into the future. Looking to the future the Centre has recently acquired additional premises which it is in the course of developing to provide further support for its users.
If you’d like to volunteer to help the Centre to continue its work or to make a donation towards its annual running costs of over £90,000 the Centre would love to hear from you and the Centre Manager can be contacted on 01902 744888.
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New Member – Roger Lewis

Its always great to welcome a new member to our Club and this evening President John had the pleasure of inducting Roger Lewis into the Rotary family.

Roger, a legal executive specialising in debt recovery matters, lives in Bobbington with his wife and three children. The son of former professional footballer with Birmingham City Roger is a keen sportsman and we are looking forward to him teaming up with a couple of the Club’s more recent recruits to mount a serious challenge in the District Golf competition.

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John Richards- a Wolves Legend

John Richards doesn’t make habit of speaking to Rotary Clubs so we were over joyed when he agreed to support his old Round Table friends in the Club by agreeing to speak at tonight’s meeting.

John entertained us with tales of his days playing with fellow Wolves legends Derek Dougan, Steve Kingdon and Danny Hegan amongst others. While at the Club he experienced both ups and downs – with UEFA cup run excitement, League Cup victories and relegation to the lower leagues. It’s clear that John thinks that the modern game has lost something in its focus on avoiding relegation at all costs and he looks for a return to the time when cup glory mattered to both players and fans.

Originally from Warrington John’s connection with Wolverhampton spans 42 years now and he described to us not only the sense of privilege in playing for the Wolves but also his gratitude for the way in which its fans have and continue to treat him.

John is still involved with football and through his involvement with Pitchcare he gave us something of an insight in how technology affects every aspect of the game – even down to blade of grass. We’re grateful to John for sharing his stories with us and wish him continued success.

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So We’re From Canada EH!

Rotary’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country’s culture and institutions, observe how their occupations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.



For the last four weeks we’ve been fortunate to have the company of the visiting GSE team from Rotary District 5550 which spans Northwestern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada. As their visit to this country draws to end Tettenhall had the great pleasure of hosting a Farewell Rally for the team – an opportunity for the team members to let us know what they’d learnt and experienced during their visit and to thank the Rotarians who had made the visit possible whether by hosting them in their homes or by arranging the extensive program of social events and occupational visits.

Team member Alicia Smith works in the water industry back home in Moose Jaw . Whilst here Alicia has had the opportunity to spend time with South Staffordshire Water, Severn Trent and OFWAT. Her fellow team member Jody Jury works on the family farm in Neepawaand. The visit here gave her the opportunity to visit Harper Adams University, to spend time with a number of local farmers and to gain an insight into different farming methods. Probation Officer Brennan Brooks from Saskatoon had the opportunity of not only seeing the operation of his English counterparts but was also able to spend time with Walsall magistrates to gain an insight into their decision making process. Brennan has been particularly impressed by the work of the Drug Rehabilitation teams which he met. For Shauna McKim a police officer from Regina, it must have seemed like business as usual with visits to five police stations and the opportunity to be involved in the arrest and processing of suspect whilst visiting Hanley.

The team was led by Rotarian Dave Bennet, a retired teacher, who was himself given the opportunity to visit a number of schools, colleges and universities whilst with us and even to step back in front of the blackboard again.

Its not been all work for the team though with time for boat trips on the local canals, and visits to Alton Towers, JCB, Wroxeter, the RAF Cold War Museum, Stafford Castle and the Black Country Museum.


The team have been excellent ambassadors for their Rotary District and for their country. We hope that the experiences which they have had will help them in the development of their careers, that the friendships they have made will last a lifetime and that they have a safe journey back to Canada.

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Wolverhampton’s Big Killers

As chair of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust there aren’t many people who know more about the state of Wolverhampton’s health than Rotarian Barry Picken.

Whilst the Trust has been able to secure some notable successes over recent years including the elimination of deaths from hospital acquired infections Barry explained that the public health problems  in Wolverhampton were amongst the worst in the country.

With life expectancy for men in the area being two years shorter than the national average and for women just over a year shorter the Trust is currently focusing efforts on reducing deaths from the City’s big killers – Alcohol, Lung Cancer, Infant Mortality, Suicide and Coronary Heart Disease. In developing and implementing eductaion programmes and improved facilities to deal with these the Trust hopes to address some of the healthcare inequalities within the City.

Barry is a member of the Rotary Club of Wednesfield and District Governor Nominee2013-2014.