Written by Matt Dyer unless otherwise stated.
NEWS UPDATE - Thursday 2nd February - Visit of Zoya Phan, Burma Campaign UK
This was the stage where James got to showcase the cause that he put forward last summer that the club then voted in, and he did well to secure Zoya Phan as a speaker - just by searching for her on google you can see that she's a highly influential personality. Having lived out in Burma James is clearly passionate about this campaign, but Thursday also helped to show the rest of us - around 10 club members, quite a number of Rotarians and a few other guests exactly what the campaign is all about and why it is so important that people support it. It was well attended, and well received, and quite impactful - and our money will help to keep that campaign ticking over. Without people's money they can't do anything! Check out our facebook fan page to see pictures from the evening.
As we didn't have a proper club meeting last night, please email me or Dan if you would like to join us at any forthcoming event, and the updated social list is attached to the About us page, as is the ball poster! Hopefully see plenty of you very soon, including Duncan who attending Thursday's talk.
NEWS UPDATE - Sun 29th January
A week of Rotaract meetings this week for me, firstly a productive first meeting exclusively about our ball on Friday 29th June on Tuesday at mine, then a catch up with Paul and Kate about the Coventry Rotaract website on Wednesday, and getting them off the ground, and then a board meeting at Nicola Flanagan's on Thursday. I have put together some content and a brief for some new posters and flyers, which I've circulated to the board to review. We are more determined than ever to promote the club to the thousands and thousands of young adults out there who don't know about our club, and how it can help them.
Ball tickets are now ready, and we've sold 3 - if possible we'd like to get all current club members signed up to the ball as quickly as possible! June will soon come round! If you enjoyed last year, this will be better, so forward the poster or facebook event group to anyone who you think might be interested! Contact me or James about tickets! Before then of course, the quiz is only 3 weeks away on Friday, another 1 of our key events! The crown jewells of our club! :-)
This week we have the visit of Zoya Phan from Burma Campaign UK, and don't forget we will be in the Manor House part of Newbold Comyn Arms, not the pub. I'm sure it'll be a very interesting talk!!
News update including our famous skittles victory!
On Thursday 10 of us took on the might on Warwick Rotary at skittles and comfortably beat them. The food again was nice, Phil Harris hosted us fantastically well and Tom again did his bit with the scoring - while wearing our new polo shirt. Deservedly Phil presented him with a bottle of wine for his efforts, and James was presented with a nice trophy for our own efforts! An enjoyable evening!
This week we have the ball committee meeting at 8pm at mine on Tuesday, a proposed cinema night on Wednesday which I'm up for providing it isn't just me and Tom, and then a board meeting at Nicola F's on Thursday - where anyone is welcome! See you soon!
As you will probably know, James is now promoting the talk we have on Thursday 2nd February from the outspoken speaker Zoya Phan who will be telling us about Burma.
Bowling from Thursday 12th Jan plus News Update
4 of us went bowling on Thursday, Dan negotiated a very cheap deal, although turns out whoever Dan spoke to was wrong and we should've paid more. Anyway, it was good fun, although maybe not for me because I was dreadful and was 4th in both with my lowest ever scores and in the 2nd game I descended into a coma of self pity!! Ellen was fantastic with a huge score winning the first, and Dan winning the second! The 4th person, in case you were wondering was Nicola Flanagan, who was desperate to get out and get away from her visiting mum and dad!!
This week we have Helen Ley on Wednesday with Dan as quiz master, and then 9 of us, with possibly James joining, are giving Warwick Rotary a skittles contest at the Wild Boar in Warwick. Phil Harris isn't actually confirming numbers to the pub until Tuesday this week, so there's still time if anyone else fancies it!! I also still need to give a few people their spangly Rotaract branded polo shirts!
PLUS - THE BALL TICKETS ARE READY AND FOR SALE!!
NEWS UPDATE - Wednesday 4th January
Its our first meeting of the year tomorrow! I've just attached our upto date social list in case you can't make it, or would like a sneak preview! We have a couple of guests attending from a Rotaract club in Jamaica, I'm hoping to collect our new polo shirts tomorrow and people will be able to sign up for the skittles evening (please bring a tenner if you are!), amongst other things! Looking forward to seeing a good turnout to kick the year off!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wishing everyone a successful and prosperous 2012!!
Remember, its our first club meeting of 2012 on Thursday, and if you're planning on joining us at the skittles evening on the 19th Jan please bring your tenner for the food so that we can pay in full when we confirm numbers shortly after the meeting!
The Alternative Queen's Speech
Well, as another year draws to a close I wanted to address the Rotaract hordes at Christmas time. Sometimes when the going gets tough we react in certain ways, but as a group who tries to give up some of our time for other causes on a voluntary basis, we all know that its your values that you fall back upon - respect for others, trying to do the right thing, appreciating difference amongst other people. We're not about huge targets, we're about trying to do a bit, but trying to do a bit with a smile on our faces - every little bit counts, small contributions are appreciated, larger contributions are even better, and lets try to have a laugh while doing it. If it becomes a hassle, we lose motivation. We should be as much about creating friendships as raising money, a group is stronger with everyone rowing in the same direction. Sometimes its good to apologise, to listen, to understand, to accept, to move on, and to not lose sight of what's important - the people! 2011 has provided some notable successes, the quiz and ball were huge successes, to raise £3,000 was brilliant, the plight of Rotaract has been communicated well by James, with a bit of support by me. We've got some great new polo shirts on the way, we have a nice new Rotaractor of the Year trophy, our Helen Ley quizzes continue to be a success and should continue when the takeover goes through.
So hopefully in 2012 we can all have a good year, personally and with Rotaract - and we can put on a few good events, but do it with a smile on our faces and with respect for each other, and I'm sure there have been plenty of times I've got it wrong! Lets raise a glass to a great 2012!
Friday 23rd December - NEWS UPDATE
On Thursday evening, Ellen hosted a really productive board meeting, and Tom lead the meeting superbly. Preparations are going on for the quiz, we discussed responses to the survey we sent out - with a key finding being that most people joined Rotaract to meet new people not to fundraise, we have made some changes to how we organise events to minimise some of the issues we've had recently, we talked quite a bit about publicity and the fact that the huge majority of people don't know what Rotaract is, and for those who do it has a bad perception, or suffers from the links with Rotary - we also discussed forming a publicity working group - if anyone is interested in joining me on this, let me know. The polo shirts have now been ordered, and I'm hoping they will be ready for the first meeting in Jan. I will also be arranging a working group for the ball early in the new year, and we'll be inviting people via the ball facebook page early in Jan. The poster is ready, and the ticket has been designed and due to go off to print shortly. Lots of other things discussed - but that gives a good flavour! Oh yeah, Tom also said he's been to a couple of Santa's Sleigh's and they are going well.
If anyone has any "unwanted" christmas presents, i.e. you've had too much wine or chocs, a pair of socks from an aunt - then give Tom a shout, or anyone else on the Quiz committee who are trying to pull together raffle prizes.
Saturday 17th December - Carols in the Castle, Warwick Castle
NEWS UPDATE - Thursday 2nd February - Visit of Zoya Phan, Burma Campaign UK
This was the stage where James got to showcase the cause that he put forward last summer that the club then voted in, and he did well to secure Zoya Phan as a speaker - just by searching for her on google you can see that she's a highly influential personality. Having lived out in Burma James is clearly passionate about this campaign, but Thursday also helped to show the rest of us - around 10 club members, quite a number of Rotarians and a few other guests exactly what the campaign is all about and why it is so important that people support it. It was well attended, and well received, and quite impactful - and our money will help to keep that campaign ticking over. Without people's money they can't do anything! Check out our facebook fan page to see pictures from the evening.
As we didn't have a proper club meeting last night, please email me or Dan if you would like to join us at any forthcoming event, and the updated social list is attached to the About us page, as is the ball poster! Hopefully see plenty of you very soon, including Duncan who attending Thursday's talk.
NEWS UPDATE - Sun 29th January
A week of Rotaract meetings this week for me, firstly a productive first meeting exclusively about our ball on Friday 29th June on Tuesday at mine, then a catch up with Paul and Kate about the Coventry Rotaract website on Wednesday, and getting them off the ground, and then a board meeting at Nicola Flanagan's on Thursday. I have put together some content and a brief for some new posters and flyers, which I've circulated to the board to review. We are more determined than ever to promote the club to the thousands and thousands of young adults out there who don't know about our club, and how it can help them.
Ball tickets are now ready, and we've sold 3 - if possible we'd like to get all current club members signed up to the ball as quickly as possible! June will soon come round! If you enjoyed last year, this will be better, so forward the poster or facebook event group to anyone who you think might be interested! Contact me or James about tickets! Before then of course, the quiz is only 3 weeks away on Friday, another 1 of our key events! The crown jewells of our club! :-)
This week we have the visit of Zoya Phan from Burma Campaign UK, and don't forget we will be in the Manor House part of Newbold Comyn Arms, not the pub. I'm sure it'll be a very interesting talk!!
News update including our famous skittles victory!
On Thursday 10 of us took on the might on Warwick Rotary at skittles and comfortably beat them. The food again was nice, Phil Harris hosted us fantastically well and Tom again did his bit with the scoring - while wearing our new polo shirt. Deservedly Phil presented him with a bottle of wine for his efforts, and James was presented with a nice trophy for our own efforts! An enjoyable evening!
This week we have the ball committee meeting at 8pm at mine on Tuesday, a proposed cinema night on Wednesday which I'm up for providing it isn't just me and Tom, and then a board meeting at Nicola F's on Thursday - where anyone is welcome! See you soon!
As you will probably know, James is now promoting the talk we have on Thursday 2nd February from the outspoken speaker Zoya Phan who will be telling us about Burma.
Bowling from Thursday 12th Jan plus News Update
4 of us went bowling on Thursday, Dan negotiated a very cheap deal, although turns out whoever Dan spoke to was wrong and we should've paid more. Anyway, it was good fun, although maybe not for me because I was dreadful and was 4th in both with my lowest ever scores and in the 2nd game I descended into a coma of self pity!! Ellen was fantastic with a huge score winning the first, and Dan winning the second! The 4th person, in case you were wondering was Nicola Flanagan, who was desperate to get out and get away from her visiting mum and dad!!
This week we have Helen Ley on Wednesday with Dan as quiz master, and then 9 of us, with possibly James joining, are giving Warwick Rotary a skittles contest at the Wild Boar in Warwick. Phil Harris isn't actually confirming numbers to the pub until Tuesday this week, so there's still time if anyone else fancies it!! I also still need to give a few people their spangly Rotaract branded polo shirts!
PLUS - THE BALL TICKETS ARE READY AND FOR SALE!!
NEWS UPDATE - Wednesday 4th January
Its our first meeting of the year tomorrow! I've just attached our upto date social list in case you can't make it, or would like a sneak preview! We have a couple of guests attending from a Rotaract club in Jamaica, I'm hoping to collect our new polo shirts tomorrow and people will be able to sign up for the skittles evening (please bring a tenner if you are!), amongst other things! Looking forward to seeing a good turnout to kick the year off!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wishing everyone a successful and prosperous 2012!!
Remember, its our first club meeting of 2012 on Thursday, and if you're planning on joining us at the skittles evening on the 19th Jan please bring your tenner for the food so that we can pay in full when we confirm numbers shortly after the meeting!
The Alternative Queen's Speech
Well, as another year draws to a close I wanted to address the Rotaract hordes at Christmas time. Sometimes when the going gets tough we react in certain ways, but as a group who tries to give up some of our time for other causes on a voluntary basis, we all know that its your values that you fall back upon - respect for others, trying to do the right thing, appreciating difference amongst other people. We're not about huge targets, we're about trying to do a bit, but trying to do a bit with a smile on our faces - every little bit counts, small contributions are appreciated, larger contributions are even better, and lets try to have a laugh while doing it. If it becomes a hassle, we lose motivation. We should be as much about creating friendships as raising money, a group is stronger with everyone rowing in the same direction. Sometimes its good to apologise, to listen, to understand, to accept, to move on, and to not lose sight of what's important - the people! 2011 has provided some notable successes, the quiz and ball were huge successes, to raise £3,000 was brilliant, the plight of Rotaract has been communicated well by James, with a bit of support by me. We've got some great new polo shirts on the way, we have a nice new Rotaractor of the Year trophy, our Helen Ley quizzes continue to be a success and should continue when the takeover goes through.
So hopefully in 2012 we can all have a good year, personally and with Rotaract - and we can put on a few good events, but do it with a smile on our faces and with respect for each other, and I'm sure there have been plenty of times I've got it wrong! Lets raise a glass to a great 2012!
Friday 23rd December - NEWS UPDATE
On Thursday evening, Ellen hosted a really productive board meeting, and Tom lead the meeting superbly. Preparations are going on for the quiz, we discussed responses to the survey we sent out - with a key finding being that most people joined Rotaract to meet new people not to fundraise, we have made some changes to how we organise events to minimise some of the issues we've had recently, we talked quite a bit about publicity and the fact that the huge majority of people don't know what Rotaract is, and for those who do it has a bad perception, or suffers from the links with Rotary - we also discussed forming a publicity working group - if anyone is interested in joining me on this, let me know. The polo shirts have now been ordered, and I'm hoping they will be ready for the first meeting in Jan. I will also be arranging a working group for the ball early in the new year, and we'll be inviting people via the ball facebook page early in Jan. The poster is ready, and the ticket has been designed and due to go off to print shortly. Lots of other things discussed - but that gives a good flavour! Oh yeah, Tom also said he's been to a couple of Santa's Sleigh's and they are going well.
If anyone has any "unwanted" christmas presents, i.e. you've had too much wine or chocs, a pair of socks from an aunt - then give Tom a shout, or anyone else on the Quiz committee who are trying to pull together raffle prizes.
Saturday 17th December - Carols in the Castle, Warwick Castle
If you want to feel Christmassy then this is the event for you! We have supported this event every year unfortunately it was cancelled last year due to bad weather (it was awful weather Dan, it was a blizzard all day! MD) so this year we were very much looking forward to it. As we arrived at the grounds of Warwick Castle we were met by Alan Bailey from Warwick Rotary and we were then directed to the soup stand where served hot soup alongside 2 Rotarians . A very much enjoyable experience 1st time I'd done it and very glad I did! We left Warwick Castle feeling like Christmas really was upon us.
Written by Dan.
Wednesday 14th December - Helen Ley Quiz
This was the first quiz I've ran for a while, really enjoyed it even though I was pretty shattered. This was billed as possibly our last quiz at Helen Ley, but a week or so prior we heard that Helen Ley had found a new buyer who were planning to keep it as a care home for MS, combined with other specialisms. They still need to cross the t's and dot the i's but its looking hopeful. My quiz was entirely based around christmas and the past year, so very topical, and I wore my black Bah Humbug hat, but to counter that I did take in some mincepies! It was good to see past president Louise Roberts as well, who is great with the residents, I can't remember which team won, but I do recall the scores being extremely high and very close - I think the scores were like 46 and 44 out of 50!! I need to crank up the difficulty level!!
(Matt D as quizmaster, Louise Roberts, Dan, James, Tom, Ellen, Nicola Wood)
Sunday 11th December - NEWS UPDATE
Wow, I didn't realise I hadn't provided a news update in 2 weeks - maybe also effected by the fact I've been populating the new facebook page, and putting updates on there.
Since my latest update we had a really good club meeting on December 1st, we raised a pleasing £144 from our tinshake in the Royal Priors, and yesterday we had a really enjoyable christmas party at the Holiday Inn in Leamington. There were 10 of us there, so we had our own table. They had a live singer, and a few games to keep us entertained before the disco started. Dan was firstly occupied my the gravy stain on his tie, and then thoughts of a trip to Rio's soon took over - and that was even before the disco started!! A really good night - and thankfully I didn't even feel too rough myself this morning, even managing a 6 mile run at lunchtime (albeit a bit of a slower than normal!). Check out facebook for a really good group shot of us all - just added to the right of this!
Oh yes, we've also had several Santa's Sleigh's - a few people helped on Thursday - where I know over £300 was made, and again having spoken to our very own fundraising maestro Tom Scott last night, the Santa's Sleigh at Warwick Sainsbury's yesterday (Sat 10th Dec) also went really well with lots of very generous donations being made and probably a similar amount made. Scroll down below for a full list of dates and locations, and on Thursday this week we are helping with Santa's Sleigh around Packmores in Warwick before meeting at a pub afterwards (8.30pm - The Zetland), so if you can help please come along.
Sunday 27th November - "Like" our new facebook page
Even if you're not part of the group, click like and follow what we get up to! By using this style page it will help to spread what we do by appearing on people's news feed, unlike our existing group. So hopefully after time once we have a good number of "likes" we will stop using the old group.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Leamington-Warwick-Rotaract-Club/163223897109186
I also handed over the old Phil Harris Rotaractor of the Year trophy to the last person who's name is engraved on it this morning - past president Dewi Williams. A fitting person to keep it I think! Tom Scott/Ellen Mellors hold the new and current trophy.
Saturday 26th November - NEWS UPDATE PLUS HELEN LEY FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHTER!
Hi all. Not too many events happening recently, but there is a bit of news to report. Firstly James and Matt Cluff are back from Egypt and their trip to Interota, you've probably seen the many pictures on James' facebook wall. By all account it was a really good trip, and a very good experience.
The big news of the last week is that Helen Ley have, by the looks of it, secured their future after an initial agreement was signed with Castel Froma, which is a Leamington based specialist care centre for people with brain injuries, MS and other neurological conditions. It appears that they will continue to keep Helen Ley as a residential care facility. So fingers crossed it all goes through.
On Thursday evening 6 of us held a long board meeting to thrash out a few things, over the next few months you may notice 1 or 2 changes! We have lots of potential fundraising opportunities on the horizon, starting with the tinshake at Royal Priors shopping centre next Sunday (4th Dec), Santa's Sleigh and Carols in the Castle, so if fundraising is your bag, please pledge some of your time! The 2nd meeting in December will now be a club social event, where we are hoping everyone can do Santa's Sleigh (6pm) followed by pub after (8.30-9pm, Packmores). If anyone would like to know the precise details of everything discussed, please give any of us on the board a shout - and shortly the minutes will be available via Tom Scott.
Finally, we have also added in a trip to the Birmingham Frankfurt German Christmas Market next Friday evening! There are still 3 places left on our table for the Christmas party on December 10th at Holiday Inn as well, please give me a shout if you're interested. Its club meeting time on Thursday as well. So plenty going on!! Hope to see some of you soon!
Saturday 12th November - NEWS UPDATE
There have been a few things going on in the last few days, here's a whistle stop tour since last Saturday. On Sunday James visited Rugby Rotaract, they invited us to their bowling night on Thursday 24th November which unfortunately clashes with our board meeting. On Tuesday a few people met up at the Burnt Post Quiz night, and I've had no reports back of a famous victory yet - so I guess we didn't win! James, along with Paul and Kate from Coventry ventured over to the Leicester Rotaract interest night meeting, and I've heard really positive things about this. Apparently a core of 15 people interested so its full steam ahead for them - follow them on facebook if you're not already. You may also have noticed that several facebook event groups have been set up for the annual quiz on the 25th Feb and also potentially our last ever quiz at Helen Ley after 25 plus years of hosting them. We are opening this quiz up to anyone - so if you can make it, please come along! The board page has also been updated, subject to a few final tweaks, and there's also a link to our facebook group now from the homepage.
Finally, if anyone can confirm with Santa's Sleigh dates they can do that would be great so we can notify Dave Cooling, the dates are below:
Thursday 24th Nov - Victorian Night
Tuesday 6th Dec - Myton Road, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 8th Dec - Warwick Gates, 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 10th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 10am - 1pm
Saturday 10th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 1pm - 4pm
Tuesday 13th Dec - Woodloes, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 15th Dec - Packmores, 6pm - 9pm ALSO CLUB MEETING NIGHT
Saturday 17th Dec - Tesco Warwick 9 - 12 noon
Saturday 17th Dec - Tesco Warwick 12 - 3pm
Tuesday 20th Dec - Spinney Hill, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 22nd Dec - Stratford Road, 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 24th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 10am - 1pm
Saturday 5th November - D4D Cheque Presentation/Coffee Morning and Bonfire Night Walk
A busy day!! After I had finished footy in Warwick I made my way over to Banbury for another cheque presentation. I joined the other 5 (Courtney, James, Ellen, Tom and Dan) a bit later on so missed out on some of the presentations that Dogs for the Disabled did, but I got to look around the kennels, have a cuppa, then listen to the 2nd lot of talks which also included our cheque presentation where Courtney gave a short talk on Rotaract, they presented us with a certificate which I will attach to the website and put underneath the social list in the next few days. We then finished a good 3 hours at the Banbury based headquarters by getting a really good group picture with 1 of their dogs and volunteers. As these occasions always are - it was extremely rewarding and great to see just what a fantastic charity D4D are. I witnessed and met some people who had benefitted from Dogs for the Disabled at the conference last week. We finished off by having a drink at the nearby Toby Carvery. See our facebook group for quite a few pics from the morning!!
Later on in the day 7 of us walked from Warwick to the Waterman in Hatton to enjoy their fireworks and hospitality before doing the return walk. It felt a bit chilly at times, but compared to the conditions from last year it was almost tropical! As there weren't too many of us in the end we decided to make it a social occasion. There will be plenty more fundraising opportunities over the next few weeks - the first chance being our tinshake on Dec 4th. So please give whatever time you can! I will also put up on our facebook group all the Santa's Sleigh time slots - so look out for that!
Finally, I drove over to Holiday Inn this evening (Sunday) to pay up the final balance for our christmas party and also submit all our menu choices! So that is all sorted now, should be an evening to look forward too!! On other news I know that James made the short trip over to Rugby today to meet Rugby Rotaract - so I'm sure we'll hear something on that very soon. He's putting more in to Rotaract at the moment than his new business as far as I can see!
And Wolves won today - a good weekend hey!! :-)
Rotary 1060 Conference (28-30 Oct) and Board Meeting at Paul & Kates (27 Oct)
A busy few days for me and James. We'd been thinking about how best to put forward our thoughts on the state of Rotaract in the district, and even nationally for a while - we'd planned it all out so that we could do a demo run at our board meeting at Paul and Kates (Cov Rotaract - well, soon to be). It was well received, but a few people expressed caution and maybe concern at our shock tactics suggesting that Rotaract should be scrapped. Thankfully, we stuck to our guns. We used the same presentation - James only tweaked the wording slightly within his sections.
It was certainly a big deal to me presenting at such a large auditorium/theatre, I was pretty nervous - but it went really well. So well, that we spent the rest of the day, indeed weekend with numerous people coming up to us congratulating us on the presentation and message. There was a gasp when we said Rotaract should be scrapped, but people stuck with us. In fact - it was a common theme. Many of the following sessions discussed the need for change - but whether people have the will and the determination to do anything about it remains to be seen. As the end of our presentation went - if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.
There are huge challenges, and it needs all of us to play our part if our club is to survive and if Rotaract is to turn itself around. I know I personally would be absolutely gutted if Leamington & Warwick Rotaract ceased to be - it has been so good to me, and for me.
On a more positive note, on Thursday at Paul and Kate's we discussed numerous things on a club level, which I'm sure you'll hear about on Thursday (where we have 1 of our charities present, along with Dave Cooling and Courtney - our president from last year). The main thing I wanted to say from Thursday was that Paul and Kate are now back and determined to get Coventry Rotaract up and running again. The starting point will be a new website, and we'll be arranging a big launch event, such as a Beetle Drive early next year - and we'll need everyone's help with that one! I'm sure all of you will want to play your part as we work together with Coventry to make both clubs a success.
On Thursday its the club meeting, and Saturday is a busy day for the club. A cheque presentation to Dogs for the Disabled on Saturday morning at 10am - and they gave a hugely fascinating and heart warming session at the conference, with a couple present who have benefitted from having a dog by their side, 1 of whom was a 10 year old girl. So that visit will be really interesting. In the evening - we have our bonfire night walk starting from 6pm. Just about to look at the route now.......
Monday 24th October - NEWS UPDATE - Deposits Paid
The ball deposit has now been paid for our annual event on the 29th June 2012. Posters and tickets to be produced shortly, I also visited a hotel outside Northampton that is part of the same chain as Woodside - and let me tell you, it was first class. The food was fantastic, the room was really nice, the service excellent - I couldn't fault it at all. The cooked breakfast on Sunday morning was probably the best I've ever had!! Absolutely outstanding! :-)
After last Thursday's club meeting I paid the deposit for our Oscars Themed Christmas Party at Holiday Inn, Leamington for Saturday 10th December. Free arrival drink, a live singer, a disco, a nice 3 course meal, it'll be good!! Its been booked for 9, and Courtney is liaising with the venue to add herself to our table to make it 10. There are 2 other spaces on our table if anyone else would like to join us. We need to pay the balance by 1 month prior to the event - so 10th November. I also need menu choices - so see below:
Roast Parsnip and Apple Soup
Chicken Liver Parfait
Honeydew Melon
Traditional Turkey
Sirloin of Beef
Salmon Fishcakes
Rice, Mushroom En Croute
Christmast Pudding
Citron Tarte (don't know why its named after a car! maybe it means its unreliable!)
Chocolate Profiterolls
Finally, its our board meeting on Thursday where we'll be discussing, amongst other things our trip to the Rotary District Conference at the weekend, Coventry Rotaract (who will be joining us), our ball and whether we want a theme, and the possible theatre event, 3 peaks challenge, and organising a joint race for Warwick with Rotary. We've certainly got a busy 2 months before christmas, so I hope everyone is ready to give what they can!!
Sunday 16th October - Night at the Dogs and NEWS UPDATE
On Friday 14th October 9 of us went over to Hall Green for a bit of Greyhound Racing, all of us won at various stages, I think James was the most successful! I was fairly content with my winnings virtually covering my bets for the night! Dan even put a bet on 1 race - and lost!
It was quite chilly by the end of the night and the 13th and final race at 10.35pm. A good night!
We had Helen Ley on Wednesday 12th October, and I've heard good things about Tim's quiz. I think Tom, Nicola and Dan were also there.
This week I have also provisionally booked our christmas party at Holiday Inn in Leamington for Saturday 10th December BUT I do need a £10 deposit (made payable to "Holiday Inn Leamington - Warwick") from everyone at this Thursday's meeting. We have 9 names down at present and can get 12 on our table.
Hopefully see plenty of you at Thursday's club meeting!
Saturday 8th October - NEWS UPDATE
Well, the big news is that Dan now has his iphone back and has full access to facebook again - don't I know it!! The serious side of it all is that people have pledged a terrific £400, just need to get the money in now! At Thursday's meeting we also had Acorns present, and a lovely representative from the Children's Hospice talking about the organisation. We are planning to sort out a date for a visit.
We put forward 2 dates for a christmas party in the marquee at Holiday Inn - so if you weren't present and would like to join us please let me know asap which date you prefer so we can book it all this month - Saturday 10th December - £28.95 or Thursday 22nd December - £21.95.
Next up is Helen Ley on Wednesday, before a trip to Hall Green Dogs on Friday, with lots of names already confirmed. Should be good!!
Bowling, Ask and Other News
On Thursday 29th September we had our first trip to bowling in a while, in the first game I demolished all in front of me with a score of 126, with James finishing 2nd. Dan finished a disappointing 4th, 2nd last!! In the second game Dan came back to win - but he didn't win overall - because I did!! :-)
On Saturday 1st October 6 of us went to Ask, then a drink in Leamington afterwards. A very warm evening, Dan was excited at the prospect of getting his phone back - only a few days now! A nice evening.
Its the club meeting on Thursday, where we'll have Acorns present, 1 of this years charities. Dan will be presented with his iphone, and there will also be the opportunity to sign up for our christmas party and the bonfire night charity walk. Don't forget - any suggestions for events, throw them into the hat.
Sunday 24th September - Plantasia, Atherstone
What am I doing visiting a garden centre?! I wind my mum up because she's always visiting garden centres and now I'm doing it! However, this one is no ordinary garden centre! Lakes, woods, mazes, treetop walks, animals (yep - it has goats Dan!), plenty of learning opportunities - and a restaurant, plenty to keep you entertained for an afternoon! It was a cloudy afternoon which turned to rain later on, but I think we all enjoyed it. We navigated all of the country themed mazes pretty well, only a couple of the 6 did we spend a lot of time wandering around. There were also plenty of bizarre conversations, as you can imagine with the combined effect of Nicola Flanagan and Dan Wearden.
On Thursday its bowling - hopefully there will be a decent turnout. I haven't been bowling for a while now, so I'm looking forward to it - although not thinking I'll win!
Finally - this evening I've fired off a reply email to Woodside to confirm that we would like to book their venue for our 2012 ball on Friday 29th June. I think we were all really impressed with what we saw and heard on Thursday!
(Matt D, Dan, Nicola F and Nicola W)
Friday 23rd September - NEWS UPDATE
Written by Dan.
Wednesday 14th December - Helen Ley Quiz
This was the first quiz I've ran for a while, really enjoyed it even though I was pretty shattered. This was billed as possibly our last quiz at Helen Ley, but a week or so prior we heard that Helen Ley had found a new buyer who were planning to keep it as a care home for MS, combined with other specialisms. They still need to cross the t's and dot the i's but its looking hopeful. My quiz was entirely based around christmas and the past year, so very topical, and I wore my black Bah Humbug hat, but to counter that I did take in some mincepies! It was good to see past president Louise Roberts as well, who is great with the residents, I can't remember which team won, but I do recall the scores being extremely high and very close - I think the scores were like 46 and 44 out of 50!! I need to crank up the difficulty level!!
(Matt D as quizmaster, Louise Roberts, Dan, James, Tom, Ellen, Nicola Wood)
Sunday 11th December - NEWS UPDATE
Wow, I didn't realise I hadn't provided a news update in 2 weeks - maybe also effected by the fact I've been populating the new facebook page, and putting updates on there.
Since my latest update we had a really good club meeting on December 1st, we raised a pleasing £144 from our tinshake in the Royal Priors, and yesterday we had a really enjoyable christmas party at the Holiday Inn in Leamington. There were 10 of us there, so we had our own table. They had a live singer, and a few games to keep us entertained before the disco started. Dan was firstly occupied my the gravy stain on his tie, and then thoughts of a trip to Rio's soon took over - and that was even before the disco started!! A really good night - and thankfully I didn't even feel too rough myself this morning, even managing a 6 mile run at lunchtime (albeit a bit of a slower than normal!). Check out facebook for a really good group shot of us all - just added to the right of this!
Oh yes, we've also had several Santa's Sleigh's - a few people helped on Thursday - where I know over £300 was made, and again having spoken to our very own fundraising maestro Tom Scott last night, the Santa's Sleigh at Warwick Sainsbury's yesterday (Sat 10th Dec) also went really well with lots of very generous donations being made and probably a similar amount made. Scroll down below for a full list of dates and locations, and on Thursday this week we are helping with Santa's Sleigh around Packmores in Warwick before meeting at a pub afterwards (8.30pm - The Zetland), so if you can help please come along.
Sunday 27th November - "Like" our new facebook page
Even if you're not part of the group, click like and follow what we get up to! By using this style page it will help to spread what we do by appearing on people's news feed, unlike our existing group. So hopefully after time once we have a good number of "likes" we will stop using the old group.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Leamington-Warwick-Rotaract-Club/163223897109186
I also handed over the old Phil Harris Rotaractor of the Year trophy to the last person who's name is engraved on it this morning - past president Dewi Williams. A fitting person to keep it I think! Tom Scott/Ellen Mellors hold the new and current trophy.
Saturday 26th November - NEWS UPDATE PLUS HELEN LEY FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHTER!
Hi all. Not too many events happening recently, but there is a bit of news to report. Firstly James and Matt Cluff are back from Egypt and their trip to Interota, you've probably seen the many pictures on James' facebook wall. By all account it was a really good trip, and a very good experience.
The big news of the last week is that Helen Ley have, by the looks of it, secured their future after an initial agreement was signed with Castel Froma, which is a Leamington based specialist care centre for people with brain injuries, MS and other neurological conditions. It appears that they will continue to keep Helen Ley as a residential care facility. So fingers crossed it all goes through.
On Thursday evening 6 of us held a long board meeting to thrash out a few things, over the next few months you may notice 1 or 2 changes! We have lots of potential fundraising opportunities on the horizon, starting with the tinshake at Royal Priors shopping centre next Sunday (4th Dec), Santa's Sleigh and Carols in the Castle, so if fundraising is your bag, please pledge some of your time! The 2nd meeting in December will now be a club social event, where we are hoping everyone can do Santa's Sleigh (6pm) followed by pub after (8.30-9pm, Packmores). If anyone would like to know the precise details of everything discussed, please give any of us on the board a shout - and shortly the minutes will be available via Tom Scott.
Finally, we have also added in a trip to the Birmingham Frankfurt German Christmas Market next Friday evening! There are still 3 places left on our table for the Christmas party on December 10th at Holiday Inn as well, please give me a shout if you're interested. Its club meeting time on Thursday as well. So plenty going on!! Hope to see some of you soon!
Saturday 12th November - NEWS UPDATE
There have been a few things going on in the last few days, here's a whistle stop tour since last Saturday. On Sunday James visited Rugby Rotaract, they invited us to their bowling night on Thursday 24th November which unfortunately clashes with our board meeting. On Tuesday a few people met up at the Burnt Post Quiz night, and I've had no reports back of a famous victory yet - so I guess we didn't win! James, along with Paul and Kate from Coventry ventured over to the Leicester Rotaract interest night meeting, and I've heard really positive things about this. Apparently a core of 15 people interested so its full steam ahead for them - follow them on facebook if you're not already. You may also have noticed that several facebook event groups have been set up for the annual quiz on the 25th Feb and also potentially our last ever quiz at Helen Ley after 25 plus years of hosting them. We are opening this quiz up to anyone - so if you can make it, please come along! The board page has also been updated, subject to a few final tweaks, and there's also a link to our facebook group now from the homepage.
Finally, if anyone can confirm with Santa's Sleigh dates they can do that would be great so we can notify Dave Cooling, the dates are below:
Thursday 24th Nov - Victorian Night
Tuesday 6th Dec - Myton Road, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 8th Dec - Warwick Gates, 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 10th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 10am - 1pm
Saturday 10th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 1pm - 4pm
Tuesday 13th Dec - Woodloes, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 15th Dec - Packmores, 6pm - 9pm ALSO CLUB MEETING NIGHT
Saturday 17th Dec - Tesco Warwick 9 - 12 noon
Saturday 17th Dec - Tesco Warwick 12 - 3pm
Tuesday 20th Dec - Spinney Hill, 6pm - 9pm
Thursday 22nd Dec - Stratford Road, 6pm - 9pm
Saturday 24th Dec - Warwick Sainsburys, 10am - 1pm
Saturday 5th November - D4D Cheque Presentation/Coffee Morning and Bonfire Night Walk
A busy day!! After I had finished footy in Warwick I made my way over to Banbury for another cheque presentation. I joined the other 5 (Courtney, James, Ellen, Tom and Dan) a bit later on so missed out on some of the presentations that Dogs for the Disabled did, but I got to look around the kennels, have a cuppa, then listen to the 2nd lot of talks which also included our cheque presentation where Courtney gave a short talk on Rotaract, they presented us with a certificate which I will attach to the website and put underneath the social list in the next few days. We then finished a good 3 hours at the Banbury based headquarters by getting a really good group picture with 1 of their dogs and volunteers. As these occasions always are - it was extremely rewarding and great to see just what a fantastic charity D4D are. I witnessed and met some people who had benefitted from Dogs for the Disabled at the conference last week. We finished off by having a drink at the nearby Toby Carvery. See our facebook group for quite a few pics from the morning!!
Later on in the day 7 of us walked from Warwick to the Waterman in Hatton to enjoy their fireworks and hospitality before doing the return walk. It felt a bit chilly at times, but compared to the conditions from last year it was almost tropical! As there weren't too many of us in the end we decided to make it a social occasion. There will be plenty more fundraising opportunities over the next few weeks - the first chance being our tinshake on Dec 4th. So please give whatever time you can! I will also put up on our facebook group all the Santa's Sleigh time slots - so look out for that!
Finally, I drove over to Holiday Inn this evening (Sunday) to pay up the final balance for our christmas party and also submit all our menu choices! So that is all sorted now, should be an evening to look forward too!! On other news I know that James made the short trip over to Rugby today to meet Rugby Rotaract - so I'm sure we'll hear something on that very soon. He's putting more in to Rotaract at the moment than his new business as far as I can see!
And Wolves won today - a good weekend hey!! :-)
Rotary 1060 Conference (28-30 Oct) and Board Meeting at Paul & Kates (27 Oct)
A busy few days for me and James. We'd been thinking about how best to put forward our thoughts on the state of Rotaract in the district, and even nationally for a while - we'd planned it all out so that we could do a demo run at our board meeting at Paul and Kates (Cov Rotaract - well, soon to be). It was well received, but a few people expressed caution and maybe concern at our shock tactics suggesting that Rotaract should be scrapped. Thankfully, we stuck to our guns. We used the same presentation - James only tweaked the wording slightly within his sections.
It was certainly a big deal to me presenting at such a large auditorium/theatre, I was pretty nervous - but it went really well. So well, that we spent the rest of the day, indeed weekend with numerous people coming up to us congratulating us on the presentation and message. There was a gasp when we said Rotaract should be scrapped, but people stuck with us. In fact - it was a common theme. Many of the following sessions discussed the need for change - but whether people have the will and the determination to do anything about it remains to be seen. As the end of our presentation went - if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.
There are huge challenges, and it needs all of us to play our part if our club is to survive and if Rotaract is to turn itself around. I know I personally would be absolutely gutted if Leamington & Warwick Rotaract ceased to be - it has been so good to me, and for me.
On a more positive note, on Thursday at Paul and Kate's we discussed numerous things on a club level, which I'm sure you'll hear about on Thursday (where we have 1 of our charities present, along with Dave Cooling and Courtney - our president from last year). The main thing I wanted to say from Thursday was that Paul and Kate are now back and determined to get Coventry Rotaract up and running again. The starting point will be a new website, and we'll be arranging a big launch event, such as a Beetle Drive early next year - and we'll need everyone's help with that one! I'm sure all of you will want to play your part as we work together with Coventry to make both clubs a success.
On Thursday its the club meeting, and Saturday is a busy day for the club. A cheque presentation to Dogs for the Disabled on Saturday morning at 10am - and they gave a hugely fascinating and heart warming session at the conference, with a couple present who have benefitted from having a dog by their side, 1 of whom was a 10 year old girl. So that visit will be really interesting. In the evening - we have our bonfire night walk starting from 6pm. Just about to look at the route now.......
Monday 24th October - NEWS UPDATE - Deposits Paid
The ball deposit has now been paid for our annual event on the 29th June 2012. Posters and tickets to be produced shortly, I also visited a hotel outside Northampton that is part of the same chain as Woodside - and let me tell you, it was first class. The food was fantastic, the room was really nice, the service excellent - I couldn't fault it at all. The cooked breakfast on Sunday morning was probably the best I've ever had!! Absolutely outstanding! :-)
After last Thursday's club meeting I paid the deposit for our Oscars Themed Christmas Party at Holiday Inn, Leamington for Saturday 10th December. Free arrival drink, a live singer, a disco, a nice 3 course meal, it'll be good!! Its been booked for 9, and Courtney is liaising with the venue to add herself to our table to make it 10. There are 2 other spaces on our table if anyone else would like to join us. We need to pay the balance by 1 month prior to the event - so 10th November. I also need menu choices - so see below:
Roast Parsnip and Apple Soup
Chicken Liver Parfait
Honeydew Melon
Traditional Turkey
Sirloin of Beef
Salmon Fishcakes
Rice, Mushroom En Croute
Christmast Pudding
Citron Tarte (don't know why its named after a car! maybe it means its unreliable!)
Chocolate Profiterolls
Finally, its our board meeting on Thursday where we'll be discussing, amongst other things our trip to the Rotary District Conference at the weekend, Coventry Rotaract (who will be joining us), our ball and whether we want a theme, and the possible theatre event, 3 peaks challenge, and organising a joint race for Warwick with Rotary. We've certainly got a busy 2 months before christmas, so I hope everyone is ready to give what they can!!
Sunday 16th October - Night at the Dogs and NEWS UPDATE
On Friday 14th October 9 of us went over to Hall Green for a bit of Greyhound Racing, all of us won at various stages, I think James was the most successful! I was fairly content with my winnings virtually covering my bets for the night! Dan even put a bet on 1 race - and lost!
It was quite chilly by the end of the night and the 13th and final race at 10.35pm. A good night!
We had Helen Ley on Wednesday 12th October, and I've heard good things about Tim's quiz. I think Tom, Nicola and Dan were also there.
This week I have also provisionally booked our christmas party at Holiday Inn in Leamington for Saturday 10th December BUT I do need a £10 deposit (made payable to "Holiday Inn Leamington - Warwick") from everyone at this Thursday's meeting. We have 9 names down at present and can get 12 on our table.
Hopefully see plenty of you at Thursday's club meeting!
Saturday 8th October - NEWS UPDATE
Well, the big news is that Dan now has his iphone back and has full access to facebook again - don't I know it!! The serious side of it all is that people have pledged a terrific £400, just need to get the money in now! At Thursday's meeting we also had Acorns present, and a lovely representative from the Children's Hospice talking about the organisation. We are planning to sort out a date for a visit.
We put forward 2 dates for a christmas party in the marquee at Holiday Inn - so if you weren't present and would like to join us please let me know asap which date you prefer so we can book it all this month - Saturday 10th December - £28.95 or Thursday 22nd December - £21.95.
Next up is Helen Ley on Wednesday, before a trip to Hall Green Dogs on Friday, with lots of names already confirmed. Should be good!!
Bowling, Ask and Other News
On Thursday 29th September we had our first trip to bowling in a while, in the first game I demolished all in front of me with a score of 126, with James finishing 2nd. Dan finished a disappointing 4th, 2nd last!! In the second game Dan came back to win - but he didn't win overall - because I did!! :-)
On Saturday 1st October 6 of us went to Ask, then a drink in Leamington afterwards. A very warm evening, Dan was excited at the prospect of getting his phone back - only a few days now! A nice evening.
Its the club meeting on Thursday, where we'll have Acorns present, 1 of this years charities. Dan will be presented with his iphone, and there will also be the opportunity to sign up for our christmas party and the bonfire night charity walk. Don't forget - any suggestions for events, throw them into the hat.
Sunday 24th September - Plantasia, Atherstone
What am I doing visiting a garden centre?! I wind my mum up because she's always visiting garden centres and now I'm doing it! However, this one is no ordinary garden centre! Lakes, woods, mazes, treetop walks, animals (yep - it has goats Dan!), plenty of learning opportunities - and a restaurant, plenty to keep you entertained for an afternoon! It was a cloudy afternoon which turned to rain later on, but I think we all enjoyed it. We navigated all of the country themed mazes pretty well, only a couple of the 6 did we spend a lot of time wandering around. There were also plenty of bizarre conversations, as you can imagine with the combined effect of Nicola Flanagan and Dan Wearden.
On Thursday its bowling - hopefully there will be a decent turnout. I haven't been bowling for a while now, so I'm looking forward to it - although not thinking I'll win!
Finally - this evening I've fired off a reply email to Woodside to confirm that we would like to book their venue for our 2012 ball on Friday 29th June. I think we were all really impressed with what we saw and heard on Thursday!
(Matt D, Dan, Nicola F and Nicola W)
Friday 23rd September - NEWS UPDATE
Hi all - another long and productive board meeting last night. The top news - our ball venue is all but confirmed - we met at Woodside in Kenilworth, and the costs and location perfectly fits what we're looking for. As good as Newbold Comyn Arms was in June, this will be a really good venue for us!! So watch out for details to follow, and make sure you're not doing anything else on Friday 29th June 2012 - in fact, book the afternoon off now so you can get ready, particularly if your name is Dan and you need several hours to get the hair styling spot on! :-)
Also keep an eye out for today's Courier, I expect a bit in there about our Pimms and Pate afternoon, and hopefully a picture!
Finally, a group are going out into Leamington on Saturday night, so give Hayley a shout if you're interested, and I've just circulated an email with details about our trip to Mazeworld (just outside Atherstone) on Sunday (arrive at 12).
Sunday 18th September - Trip to Thorpe Park
I apologise in advance for the length, quality and any grammatical or typographical errors, this was written by Dan (the one and only!) - I'll leave it exactly as provided just for authenticity!
Also keep an eye out for today's Courier, I expect a bit in there about our Pimms and Pate afternoon, and hopefully a picture!
Finally, a group are going out into Leamington on Saturday night, so give Hayley a shout if you're interested, and I've just circulated an email with details about our trip to Mazeworld (just outside Atherstone) on Sunday (arrive at 12).
Sunday 18th September - Trip to Thorpe Park
I apologise in advance for the length, quality and any grammatical or typographical errors, this was written by Dan (the one and only!) - I'll leave it exactly as provided just for authenticity!
Exciting, Amazing, Quality was some of the words I was saying to my fellow Rotaractors on the way home back down the M40!! The day was simply brilliant with so many talking points, the day started of nice an early I had Tim & Tom in my car whilst the girls(Hayley & Juliette) went together. We got there just as the park opened we all went on Rush 1st which was good, hard to explain if you haven't been on it, we then went on Colossus a fast rollercoaster which was brilliant. SAW the ultimate ride of the Thorpe Park was next again really quick with a massive drop. We then went on some water rides where all got totally drenched!! We were all hungry by then so went to KFC and there was added entertainment whilst we were tucking into our chicken, 2 females aged between 14-16 I'd say, started arguing then that was it there was a full blown catfight in the middle of the restaurant!! nobody seemed to break it up until a lad who was in the group stepped in. It was full on!! We then found a dryer as I was freezing cold from the waterrides, the ladies around me had the luxury of seeing me with no top on as my t-shirt was drenched out. We then went on no way out(Indoor Rollercoaster in the dark) and then Nemesis Inferno which was good another rollercoaster with twists and turns, then it was time for my favourite ride Stealth such an amazing ride all of 30 secs but 0-80pmh in 5 secs it was amazing!!! the speed and height of it is something else I said to Juliette 'That was it' as we got to the bottom. The girls then went home and then this is where it all got interesting!! We decided to go on SAW again little did I know I hadn't zipped my coat pocket up which had Matt's phone in it!! once the ride ended I realised that the phone had left me and now is probably in some gravel somewhere in Surrey!! was very annoyed!!! Such an amazing day with so many highlights! BIG Thanks to Helen K for her contribution!! Once again it certainly didn't disappoint!
(Written by Dan, also Tom, Hayley, Tim and Juliette)
Thursday 16th September - Club Meeting and General Update
A really good meeting and lots and lots covered! The usual past events, where we seemed to talk more about what Dan had been upto, and the moaning he's been doing at various events!! Lots of good past events, the P&P afternoon, Helen Ley where Nic F put together the best quiz ever apparently (and Tom Scott and John Major's team LOST!!!), Dragon Boat race, cheque handover to PHAB. It was mentioned that we raised £510 at the Pimms afternoon, and £330 so far from the iphone challenge. Dates set for the quiz and a provisional date for the ball, our new business cards were handed out, Tom was presented with the brand new engraved trophy - lots of events coming up with lots of names down too. We discussed a Children in Need pub crawl fundraising event in November, and Phil Harris invited us to another joint Skittles night in January, as well as confirming the date for Carols in the Castle. Press Releases went out just after our fundraising event on Sunday, so keep an eye out in the local press just in case we crop up! Our 3 Peaks Challenge was also discussed, we are considering opening this up to all Rotaract clubs across the UK - but its in its early stages!! At our next club meeting we have Acorns attending, and we are lining up similar visits from our other charities. So lots going on, and as always, if you have any ideas, throw them into the pot!
If you're going to Thorpe Park on Sunday in the early hours, have fun!! As we're checking out our potential Ball Venue next Thursday at 7.30pm at the Woodside Conference Centre in Kenilworth, anyone is welcome, not only board members! Have a good weekend!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom, Ellen, Matt C, Tim, Juliette, Nicola F, plus Phil Harris)
Sunday 11th September - Pimms & Pate Afternoon
The sun was shining, and a fair number of people turned out to help raise a fantastic total of £510 to launch our fundraising year. Amongst our guests were some Rotaractors and a Rotarian from who travelled from Cambridgeshire, the MP for Leamington & Warwick Chris White, the Mayor of Leamington - Councillor Alan Wilkinson, the Mayor of Warwick - Councillor Trudy Offer and Councillor Felicity Bunker, the Chairman of Warwick District Council, and no MP or Mayor can upstage Mr Dave Cooling when it comes to supporting our club!! A huge thanks to Hayley and her family for organising the event and allowing us into their lovely home!
Don't forget, its Helen Ley and our club meeting this Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the Thorpe Park trip next weekend!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom, Ellen, Matt C and Tim, plus guests and VIPs)
Friday 9th September - NEWS UPDATE
(Written by Dan, also Tom, Hayley, Tim and Juliette)
Thursday 16th September - Club Meeting and General Update
A really good meeting and lots and lots covered! The usual past events, where we seemed to talk more about what Dan had been upto, and the moaning he's been doing at various events!! Lots of good past events, the P&P afternoon, Helen Ley where Nic F put together the best quiz ever apparently (and Tom Scott and John Major's team LOST!!!), Dragon Boat race, cheque handover to PHAB. It was mentioned that we raised £510 at the Pimms afternoon, and £330 so far from the iphone challenge. Dates set for the quiz and a provisional date for the ball, our new business cards were handed out, Tom was presented with the brand new engraved trophy - lots of events coming up with lots of names down too. We discussed a Children in Need pub crawl fundraising event in November, and Phil Harris invited us to another joint Skittles night in January, as well as confirming the date for Carols in the Castle. Press Releases went out just after our fundraising event on Sunday, so keep an eye out in the local press just in case we crop up! Our 3 Peaks Challenge was also discussed, we are considering opening this up to all Rotaract clubs across the UK - but its in its early stages!! At our next club meeting we have Acorns attending, and we are lining up similar visits from our other charities. So lots going on, and as always, if you have any ideas, throw them into the pot!
If you're going to Thorpe Park on Sunday in the early hours, have fun!! As we're checking out our potential Ball Venue next Thursday at 7.30pm at the Woodside Conference Centre in Kenilworth, anyone is welcome, not only board members! Have a good weekend!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom, Ellen, Matt C, Tim, Juliette, Nicola F, plus Phil Harris)
Sunday 11th September - Pimms & Pate Afternoon
The sun was shining, and a fair number of people turned out to help raise a fantastic total of £510 to launch our fundraising year. Amongst our guests were some Rotaractors and a Rotarian from who travelled from Cambridgeshire, the MP for Leamington & Warwick Chris White, the Mayor of Leamington - Councillor Alan Wilkinson, the Mayor of Warwick - Councillor Trudy Offer and Councillor Felicity Bunker, the Chairman of Warwick District Council, and no MP or Mayor can upstage Mr Dave Cooling when it comes to supporting our club!! A huge thanks to Hayley and her family for organising the event and allowing us into their lovely home!
Don't forget, its Helen Ley and our club meeting this Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the Thorpe Park trip next weekend!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom, Ellen, Matt C and Tim, plus guests and VIPs)
Friday 9th September - NEWS UPDATE
Lots of news to bring people upto date with in this bulletin. As you will have seen from our facebook pages, on Thursday 4 of us presented a cheque worth £1,050 to PHAB at their first social meeting in a month, they were our charity in the club year 2009-2010. It was an enjoyable hour or so, as we chatted to their group, they told us what they get up to, and likewise we said a bit about us. They were hugely appreciative, and Simon was good humoured as always - I'm sure he'll be reading this - he said he's an avid reader of my blog! Hi Simon - hope you're well mate!! In the last couple of days we've set a date for our annual quiz - Saturday 25th February in the Manor House at Newbold Comyn Arms, and provisionally, a date of Friday 29th June for our annual ball in 2012, and the Woodside Conference Centre in Kenilworth! So we're moving quickly to get dates into the diary to ensure everyone can make these great events!
That brings me nicely onto Sunday! Yes, our first big fundraiser of the year! A few of us checked out the venue (Hayley's parents place) last night. Its a really nice house, and a perfect location for an event like this. There will be a nice selection of food and drink, a skittles lane, a raffle, plenty of information about Rotaract (and our new business cards!), all our charities and lots of networking opportunities! We have the MP for Leamington & Warwick Present, and the Lord Mayor of Warwick, and the Lord Mayor of Leamington, plus an estimated 50 people confirmed. The event runs between 12 and 3, and is £10 per head - please if you're free drop along! We'd love to see you! Thanks in particular goes to Hayley for putting on this event!!
That brings me nicely onto Sunday! Yes, our first big fundraiser of the year! A few of us checked out the venue (Hayley's parents place) last night. Its a really nice house, and a perfect location for an event like this. There will be a nice selection of food and drink, a skittles lane, a raffle, plenty of information about Rotaract (and our new business cards!), all our charities and lots of networking opportunities! We have the MP for Leamington & Warwick Present, and the Lord Mayor of Warwick, and the Lord Mayor of Leamington, plus an estimated 50 people confirmed. The event runs between 12 and 3, and is £10 per head - please if you're free drop along! We'd love to see you! Thanks in particular goes to Hayley for putting on this event!!
Tuesday 6th September - Burnt Post Quiz Night
It was an interesting Tuesday night at the Burnt Post we arrived there with hope that the England Vs Wales match would be on, we finally found a screen with the match on we watched that and then the quiz started in the 2nd half, it all seemed to be going well when about mid way through the microphone appeared to break down after a long delay a lady came round to read the questions out the quiz started to draw out a bit because of the 'technical fault' that occurred and we were all getting tired at this point, it finally finished we got a score of 33 and I reckon we must of finished about halfway(We left before they announced who came where). It was a good night purely on the entertainment value!!
Written by Dan
(Dan, Tom, Tim, Matt C and Hayley)
Sunday 4th September - Dragon Boat Racing, Oundle nr Peterborough
Rain rain rain!! It was an early start, leaving mine in Coventry at 8am. When we arrived at the event the skies were grey, so we knew rain was on the cards. Little did we know that by 2pm the torrential rain would actually force the event to be cancelled. We had a lot of fun up until that point anyway. We met a group from Huntingdon Rotaract who had entered a team, they were with us most of the day (they have a ball next month!), and we got to know the nice people of Kettering a bit better too. For the best part of an hour 24 of us were packed together in a tent sheltering from the rain!! What better way to get to know people? What happened in the racing I hear you ask? Well, the plan was for everyone to have 3 races against 3 other teams, and then the fastest teams go on to the semi's and then finals. We won our first heat with a time of around 72 seconds, and then in the 2nd race we slowed down to 73 second - we were badly out of sync with our rowing, and this was also when the torrential rain started. So after waiting for a bit and getting cosey with each other in the tent, the event was cancelled. So we just had to pack away and tackle the very muddy and slippy roads out of the venue! Not as planned - but good nevertheless! We definitely plan to do more of this kind of thing with other clubs! Now onto the next few events!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom and Matt C - plus Kettering Rotaract)
Saturday 3rd September - NEWS UPDATE
We had a good meeting on Thursday with the Rotarian Lorna Beedham present who is the Rotaract Officer for the district. Dan handed over his phone, which is now under my control - in fact, I can see if from here! Already people have pledged around £300 if he can survive a whole month without it! Next Sunday its our first big fundraiser at Hayley's parents place - the Pimms and Pate Afternoon (see poster on about us page) - we have 2 Lord Mayors and the MP for Leamington & Warwick present, hopefully we'll have a good turnout! Thanks kindly to Emmerson Press and good friend George we are getting 500 business cards printed free of charge, ready to use at the Pimms and Pate afternoon. In the meantime though we have the Dragon Boat Race tomorrow morning with Kettering Rotaract which will be interesting! A Burnt Post night on Tuesday and another cheque handover for PHAB on Thursday, before a group of people sample the culinary delights of Leamington when the food festival starts. Plenty to keep everyone interested!! We're also working hard to find a ball venue for next May/June time so we have a date set nice and early. It was confirmed at the meeting that our Annual Quiz will be on Saturday 25th February at Newbold Comyn Arms, but in the manor house where we held our ball back in June.
Me and James also attended the RGBI (Rotaract of Great Britain and Ireland) Council Meeting at the Banbury Camping Rally last Sunday, where James has put his name forward for International Officer, and in 2 years time for Rotaract Chairman. You will have seen that he forwarded minutes around from this meeting - there are lots of issues at a national level, but there's enough enthusiasm to start turning things around, and I'm sure James will play a part in that, as hopefully some of us can as well. We all need to play our part!
Friday 26th August - NEWS UPDATE
It was an interesting Tuesday night at the Burnt Post we arrived there with hope that the England Vs Wales match would be on, we finally found a screen with the match on we watched that and then the quiz started in the 2nd half, it all seemed to be going well when about mid way through the microphone appeared to break down after a long delay a lady came round to read the questions out the quiz started to draw out a bit because of the 'technical fault' that occurred and we were all getting tired at this point, it finally finished we got a score of 33 and I reckon we must of finished about halfway(We left before they announced who came where). It was a good night purely on the entertainment value!!
Written by Dan
(Dan, Tom, Tim, Matt C and Hayley)
Sunday 4th September - Dragon Boat Racing, Oundle nr Peterborough
Rain rain rain!! It was an early start, leaving mine in Coventry at 8am. When we arrived at the event the skies were grey, so we knew rain was on the cards. Little did we know that by 2pm the torrential rain would actually force the event to be cancelled. We had a lot of fun up until that point anyway. We met a group from Huntingdon Rotaract who had entered a team, they were with us most of the day (they have a ball next month!), and we got to know the nice people of Kettering a bit better too. For the best part of an hour 24 of us were packed together in a tent sheltering from the rain!! What better way to get to know people? What happened in the racing I hear you ask? Well, the plan was for everyone to have 3 races against 3 other teams, and then the fastest teams go on to the semi's and then finals. We won our first heat with a time of around 72 seconds, and then in the 2nd race we slowed down to 73 second - we were badly out of sync with our rowing, and this was also when the torrential rain started. So after waiting for a bit and getting cosey with each other in the tent, the event was cancelled. So we just had to pack away and tackle the very muddy and slippy roads out of the venue! Not as planned - but good nevertheless! We definitely plan to do more of this kind of thing with other clubs! Now onto the next few events!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Hayley, Tom and Matt C - plus Kettering Rotaract)
Saturday 3rd September - NEWS UPDATE
We had a good meeting on Thursday with the Rotarian Lorna Beedham present who is the Rotaract Officer for the district. Dan handed over his phone, which is now under my control - in fact, I can see if from here! Already people have pledged around £300 if he can survive a whole month without it! Next Sunday its our first big fundraiser at Hayley's parents place - the Pimms and Pate Afternoon (see poster on about us page) - we have 2 Lord Mayors and the MP for Leamington & Warwick present, hopefully we'll have a good turnout! Thanks kindly to Emmerson Press and good friend George we are getting 500 business cards printed free of charge, ready to use at the Pimms and Pate afternoon. In the meantime though we have the Dragon Boat Race tomorrow morning with Kettering Rotaract which will be interesting! A Burnt Post night on Tuesday and another cheque handover for PHAB on Thursday, before a group of people sample the culinary delights of Leamington when the food festival starts. Plenty to keep everyone interested!! We're also working hard to find a ball venue for next May/June time so we have a date set nice and early. It was confirmed at the meeting that our Annual Quiz will be on Saturday 25th February at Newbold Comyn Arms, but in the manor house where we held our ball back in June.
Me and James also attended the RGBI (Rotaract of Great Britain and Ireland) Council Meeting at the Banbury Camping Rally last Sunday, where James has put his name forward for International Officer, and in 2 years time for Rotaract Chairman. You will have seen that he forwarded minutes around from this meeting - there are lots of issues at a national level, but there's enough enthusiasm to start turning things around, and I'm sure James will play a part in that, as hopefully some of us can as well. We all need to play our part!
Friday 26th August - NEWS UPDATE
We're in the papers!!! Mike sent off some press releases last week, and a piece about Rotaract has been spotted in today's Leamington Courier, go out and buy a copy!!
Some other good news, thanks to two good friends at work, we are getting 500 business cards foc to follow the branding of the website etc, to be available for our Pimms and Pate afternoon! Grab a few, distribute them wisely and spread the word!!
I also received an invite the other day from Rugby Rotaract to join them on their social at the Jolly Abbot in Rugby on Friday 2nd September, let me know if anyone is interested!!
Wednesday 24th August - Go Karting with Kettering Rotaract, Daventry
Our first joint event with Kettering Rotaract since me and James joined them for their meeting back in July. It was hard work, but great fun - the driving was hard work, not spending time with the nice people from Kettering I mean!! We split into 2 groups, Tim was the fastest in our group (the 1st group), edging James to the title of best Rotaract driver!! (I can see James squirming!!) Dan was in the 2nd group, and driving around the track waving at the "crowd", with a cigar on, going for a new slowest lap record! A good night!! Looking forward to the Dragon Boat Race now!!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Tim, Alex and Juliette - plus 5 from Kettering Rotaract)
Monday 21st August - NEWS UPDATE
Some other good news, thanks to two good friends at work, we are getting 500 business cards foc to follow the branding of the website etc, to be available for our Pimms and Pate afternoon! Grab a few, distribute them wisely and spread the word!!
I also received an invite the other day from Rugby Rotaract to join them on their social at the Jolly Abbot in Rugby on Friday 2nd September, let me know if anyone is interested!!
Wednesday 24th August - Go Karting with Kettering Rotaract, Daventry
Our first joint event with Kettering Rotaract since me and James joined them for their meeting back in July. It was hard work, but great fun - the driving was hard work, not spending time with the nice people from Kettering I mean!! We split into 2 groups, Tim was the fastest in our group (the 1st group), edging James to the title of best Rotaract driver!! (I can see James squirming!!) Dan was in the 2nd group, and driving around the track waving at the "crowd", with a cigar on, going for a new slowest lap record! A good night!! Looking forward to the Dragon Boat Race now!!
(Matt D, James, Dan, Tim, Alex and Juliette - plus 5 from Kettering Rotaract)
Monday 21st August - NEWS UPDATE
I've just replaced Dan's boating presentation with a thankyou letter that we received from Zoes's Place following the donation of £1,050. (I'm sure you can live without Dan's great bit of work) You'll also have noticed that I've attached a pdf poster for our forthcoming fundraising event on September 11th, by all means circulate this to anyone you think might be interested.
Don't forget its only a few days now until Dan's iphone challenge begins, if you haven't "liked" the facebook group, what are you waiting for?!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=251890951498276
Tuesday 16th August - NEWS UPDATE, inc Cheque Handover
Don't forget its only a few days now until Dan's iphone challenge begins, if you haven't "liked" the facebook group, what are you waiting for?!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=251890951498276
Tuesday 16th August - NEWS UPDATE, inc Cheque Handover
A few things to bring you up to speed with. As of September 1st Dan has agreed to be without his iphone and facebook for a month in the name of fundraising. So look out for the sponsorship forms and the new facebook group! This was all agreed at last Thursdays board meeting. Hayley is now back and we're discussing a possible "Pimms and Pate" fundraising afternoon at her parents house, watch this space!!! All will be welcome! Yesterday Dan and James visited Zoes Place to handover £1,050 from club year 2009-10. Its club meeting week this week, and Ellen is doing some baking!! I've had no clues at all, so it'll be very interesting! If you haven't paid membership yet, bring it along on Thursday!
Sunday 6th August - NEWS UPDATE INC CLUB MEETING ON THURSDAY
Hi folks! Quite a number of people were on holiday and missing Thursday's meeting, but it was still a good one nevertheless. Tim made a very nice chocolate cake that we all enjoyed, we had a couple of guests join us in Juliette and Alex, and Dan gave us a presentation on his non very eventful canal trip!
You will notice that we've taken the Ask meal off the social list as we only had 4 names down, but we do have a cheque handover with Zoes Place at 6pm on Monday 15th August, and we have pencilled in some go karting with Kettering Rotaract on Wednesday 24th August. We're also looking to put some rounders in sometime in August.
Anyone fancy baking something, or bring some cake to our next meeting? Next up is Helen Ley on Wednesday.
P.S. If you're observant (that rules out half of you!) you'll notice I'm tweaking a few different pages on the website!
Tuesday 2nd August - NEWS UPDATE
Sunday 6th August - NEWS UPDATE INC CLUB MEETING ON THURSDAY
Hi folks! Quite a number of people were on holiday and missing Thursday's meeting, but it was still a good one nevertheless. Tim made a very nice chocolate cake that we all enjoyed, we had a couple of guests join us in Juliette and Alex, and Dan gave us a presentation on his non very eventful canal trip!
You will notice that we've taken the Ask meal off the social list as we only had 4 names down, but we do have a cheque handover with Zoes Place at 6pm on Monday 15th August, and we have pencilled in some go karting with Kettering Rotaract on Wednesday 24th August. We're also looking to put some rounders in sometime in August.
Anyone fancy baking something, or bring some cake to our next meeting? Next up is Helen Ley on Wednesday.
P.S. If you're observant (that rules out half of you!) you'll notice I'm tweaking a few different pages on the website!
Tuesday 2nd August - NEWS UPDATE
Tonight Paul and Kate from Coventry Rotaract cooked a nice meal for me and James before we discussed the future of Coventry Rotaract. The great news is, as of mid October onwards we will all be working together really hard to get the club back up and running, with our club's full support too! We were all really enthusiastic about what can be done. The first ambition is to get a website up and running! Watch this space.... If anyone has any suggestions, or can help with any aspect of this, give either myself or James a shout!
**UPDATED SOCIAL LIST ADDED TO WEBSITE TO DOWNLOAD!!**
Monday 1st August - NEWS UPDATE
**UPDATED SOCIAL LIST ADDED TO WEBSITE TO DOWNLOAD!!**
Monday 1st August - NEWS UPDATE
I can't believe August has arrived already!! Today I handed over the cheque and details for our brand spanking new Rotaractor of the Year Trophy, its going to be big, and it'll look great!! Lead time is 7 days, so the latest handover to Tom and Ellen will be our 2nd meeting of the month! As of yesterday we've been running a £40 facebook advertising campaign aimed at people within a 10 mile radius of Warwick, you may see the advert crop up on your own facebook page! We have also confirmed another date for a Royal Priors tinshake just before christmas to coincide with the Leamington Christmas market - Sunday 4th December. James has met tonight with Charlotte and Dewi to do a district handover, and tomorrow me and James are meeting up with Paul and Kate to see what Cov Rotaract's plans are, and how we can help! Its all happening! We are also in touch with Kettering to formalise a go-karting challenge, and get the details of the Dragon Boat race!
As you have probably seen, we have now unveiled our 3 charities for the 2011-2012 year as Acorns, Burma Campaign UK, and Warwickshire Young Carers. So lets all start thinking of ways of raising even more than last year, and that was a good year! Its looking good folks!
Hope to see many of you at Thursday's club meeting! (and a certain person with the initials DW has hinted at a "surprise" in the meeting!)
Wednesday 27th July - NEWS UPDATE
As you have probably seen, we have now unveiled our 3 charities for the 2011-2012 year as Acorns, Burma Campaign UK, and Warwickshire Young Carers. So lets all start thinking of ways of raising even more than last year, and that was a good year! Its looking good folks!
Hope to see many of you at Thursday's club meeting! (and a certain person with the initials DW has hinted at a "surprise" in the meeting!)
Wednesday 27th July - NEWS UPDATE
On Tuesday a few of us met up at the Burnt Post, and joined Paul and Kate from Coventry, however, a few dropped out over the course of the day - and in particular we had no Tom, so we finished 2nd bottom. Sorry Tom!! We have arranged to meet Kate and Paul again next Tuesday to discuss Rotaract, their plans and ours - watch this space.
Dan today started his Rotary Youth Leadership Award canal boat trip supervising a group of youth's, he's due to finish on Sunday in Rugby, and today the journey started from Stratford! If you're lucky enough you may spot him cruising through Warwick or Leamington!! Keep an eye on his facebook updates! I'm planning to coincide my walk on Sunday with wherever Dan is towards Rugby, so hence a late decision on route - let me know if you're interested in joining us!!
On Thursday I'm hosting our first board meeting of the new club year, again watch this space for any news! We have a club meeting next Thursday, so by all means send over your social suggestions, and some more good news is we already have 3 guests joining us who have made contact with the club recently - so make them feel at home!!
22-24 July - Trip away to Snowdonia inc climbing Snowdon!
It was always going to be tough, its a challenge that no one can ever take lightly, but we did it! Through great strength and perseverance we did it! We actually managed to spend a whole 48 hours in the company of Dan Wearden and survived!!
Its something we as a club haven't done in a long while, but ever since the idea was suggested, the interest has been great, and thankfully James booked it very quickly! We all arrived on Friday at different times, most of us ventured into Betws y Coed for an evening meal (and being served by the oldest waiter ever!) and the evening ended with us all in the games room at Swallow Falls complex having a drink and enjoying the jukebox music. Saturday was an early start, very early, out just after 7am to start our ascent to the highest point in England and Wales. I must confess to almost taking everyone the wrong way, but Tom spotted we had taken a wrong turn. The route (Rhydd Ddu path) was really quiet and very pictureque, after a really clear and sunny start clouds sun started to develop and threaten rain. The last half an hour of the climb were a bit scary at times, at one point there was a sheer drop on both sides as we walked across a narrow ridge, then there was a steep scramble to the summit. Helen Dixon stumbled on the ridge and bashed her knee, so the group split into 2. Thankfully everyone made it, which is a great achievement. We all relaxed at the top before coming back down. When we finally did return, we split into 2 groups - although I would never say our route via the Pyg and Miners tracks were easy - they were certainly tricky at points!! The other group sped down the mountain in 1 hour 20 while our group went at a slower pace. I think we all felt a great sense of achievement, and were pretty exhausted come the evening!
In the evening we had a bite to eat in the complex restaurant - where Dan's "new book" was the focus of conversation (sorry Dan), Dan made friends with a couple of scousers in the games room and somehow won a couple of games of pool, before we returned to our room for an evening of games. There was also an "aftershow party" (ha!) in Dan and Tom's tent after the main event - where drink and women aplenty could be found (they wish!!)!! Sunday was a gorgeous day, sunny with blue sky all day. We visited the pretty awesome Swallow Falls in the morning before after packing up, then went into town, to look in the shops, and mostly either lie on the grass and relax, or sit outside a cafe and eat/drink and relax. At 4pm after a lot of laughs, a couple of stumbles, a lot of walking, and a bit of alcohol we headed home having enjoyed a great weekend, but with the prospect of many more of these kinds of days on the horizon!
I know I've missed plenty of stuff - but its a long write up as it is!!! Hopefully see some of you on Tuesday!
P.S. Visit our facebook group for a few pictures that I took over the weekend!
(Matt Dyer, James, Ellen, Nicola W, Nicola F, Tom, Dan, Tim, Helen D, Helen K and Laura)
Friday 22nd July - NEWS UPDATE
Dan today started his Rotary Youth Leadership Award canal boat trip supervising a group of youth's, he's due to finish on Sunday in Rugby, and today the journey started from Stratford! If you're lucky enough you may spot him cruising through Warwick or Leamington!! Keep an eye on his facebook updates! I'm planning to coincide my walk on Sunday with wherever Dan is towards Rugby, so hence a late decision on route - let me know if you're interested in joining us!!
On Thursday I'm hosting our first board meeting of the new club year, again watch this space for any news! We have a club meeting next Thursday, so by all means send over your social suggestions, and some more good news is we already have 3 guests joining us who have made contact with the club recently - so make them feel at home!!
22-24 July - Trip away to Snowdonia inc climbing Snowdon!
It was always going to be tough, its a challenge that no one can ever take lightly, but we did it! Through great strength and perseverance we did it! We actually managed to spend a whole 48 hours in the company of Dan Wearden and survived!!
Its something we as a club haven't done in a long while, but ever since the idea was suggested, the interest has been great, and thankfully James booked it very quickly! We all arrived on Friday at different times, most of us ventured into Betws y Coed for an evening meal (and being served by the oldest waiter ever!) and the evening ended with us all in the games room at Swallow Falls complex having a drink and enjoying the jukebox music. Saturday was an early start, very early, out just after 7am to start our ascent to the highest point in England and Wales. I must confess to almost taking everyone the wrong way, but Tom spotted we had taken a wrong turn. The route (Rhydd Ddu path) was really quiet and very pictureque, after a really clear and sunny start clouds sun started to develop and threaten rain. The last half an hour of the climb were a bit scary at times, at one point there was a sheer drop on both sides as we walked across a narrow ridge, then there was a steep scramble to the summit. Helen Dixon stumbled on the ridge and bashed her knee, so the group split into 2. Thankfully everyone made it, which is a great achievement. We all relaxed at the top before coming back down. When we finally did return, we split into 2 groups - although I would never say our route via the Pyg and Miners tracks were easy - they were certainly tricky at points!! The other group sped down the mountain in 1 hour 20 while our group went at a slower pace. I think we all felt a great sense of achievement, and were pretty exhausted come the evening!
In the evening we had a bite to eat in the complex restaurant - where Dan's "new book" was the focus of conversation (sorry Dan), Dan made friends with a couple of scousers in the games room and somehow won a couple of games of pool, before we returned to our room for an evening of games. There was also an "aftershow party" (ha!) in Dan and Tom's tent after the main event - where drink and women aplenty could be found (they wish!!)!! Sunday was a gorgeous day, sunny with blue sky all day. We visited the pretty awesome Swallow Falls in the morning before after packing up, then went into town, to look in the shops, and mostly either lie on the grass and relax, or sit outside a cafe and eat/drink and relax. At 4pm after a lot of laughs, a couple of stumbles, a lot of walking, and a bit of alcohol we headed home having enjoyed a great weekend, but with the prospect of many more of these kinds of days on the horizon!
I know I've missed plenty of stuff - but its a long write up as it is!!! Hopefully see some of you on Tuesday!
P.S. Visit our facebook group for a few pictures that I took over the weekend!
(Matt Dyer, James, Ellen, Nicola W, Nicola F, Tom, Dan, Tim, Helen D, Helen K and Laura)
Friday 22nd July - NEWS UPDATE
Well, todays the day! Off up to Wales - a rounders bat is ready, the walking boots and OS map are poised and I can't wait!!
You may notice 1 or 2 from Kettering Rotaract joining our facebook group - make them welcome!! We're hopeful of getting a group together to join them on the dragon boat at Nene Valley!! The response at tonight's meeting was certainly good. On the note of tonights meeting, only 1 female present (not including Dan!) - Ellen! Lots of good stuff discussed, including sponsoring Dan to not use his iphone for a period of time, and to raise money at forthcoming club meetings it looks like several members will be baking/making food! Interesting hey!! For those not present, we raised £78 from last weeks tinshake at the Royal Priors! We're expecting Paul and Kate to join us at next weeks Burnt Post night, and it looks hopeful that we may be able to do something with Rugby Rotaract shortly as well. Watch this space, a lot is happening in the background already!
You haven't heard me say this, but don't ask Dan what book he's reading at the moment! :-)
Wednesday 20th July - Developing links - Rotary and Kettering Rotaract visits
You may notice 1 or 2 from Kettering Rotaract joining our facebook group - make them welcome!! We're hopeful of getting a group together to join them on the dragon boat at Nene Valley!! The response at tonight's meeting was certainly good. On the note of tonights meeting, only 1 female present (not including Dan!) - Ellen! Lots of good stuff discussed, including sponsoring Dan to not use his iphone for a period of time, and to raise money at forthcoming club meetings it looks like several members will be baking/making food! Interesting hey!! For those not present, we raised £78 from last weeks tinshake at the Royal Priors! We're expecting Paul and Kate to join us at next weeks Burnt Post night, and it looks hopeful that we may be able to do something with Rugby Rotaract shortly as well. Watch this space, a lot is happening in the background already!
You haven't heard me say this, but don't ask Dan what book he's reading at the moment! :-)
Wednesday 20th July - Developing links - Rotary and Kettering Rotaract visits
A big part of what me and James would like to do in terms of this club, and the district (in our roles as president and vp) is pull together and share ideas, communicate between ourselves much better, build on what we have, and expand our links outwards. We want to communicate the great things that Rotaract can do, and hopefully start to turn around a struggling district and grow our own club at the same time! So first on Monday we met up with the District Rotary/Rotaract Liaison contact Lorna Beedham at her home in Coventry, a lovely person, who we can definitely work well with. Lorna also herself used to be a Rotaractor so she knows the positive benefits Rotaract can bring. We plan to meet with the other Rotaract clubs (Coventry, Rugby, and Warwick University) and see what we can do and James and likely myself, will be presenting at the District Rotary Conference in October. There are lots of ideas, and lots to get stuck into!
On Wednesday we ventured over to the relatively new (3 years) Kettering Phoenix Rotaract, (check out their facebook group) and joined them at one of their business meetings. They were extremely welcoming and a really friendly group, we explained a bit about our struggling district and our own club, and our desire to support some of their events where possible so that we both benefit. We came away with several dates and certainly many positives signs that we can work together and really link up in future. All in all, its been a really positive couple of evenings - and we're certainly both really committed to following through all that we've discussed. If you have any thoughts on any of this, by all means let either of us know!
Tomorrow is club meeting night, to discuss in particular our Snowdonia trip on Friday, and charities!! Looking forward to it!!
Sunday 17th July - EVENTS ROUND-UP
We've had a few things over the last few days, and unlike me usually, I've been to none of them. Hopefully we'll be able to get a few write-ups (if you're reading this and you don't mind sending me a couple of lines that'd be great! I want to know what happened too!), but in the meantime we had Helen Ley on Wednesday, with Mike as quizmaster, Disc Golf was on the agenda on Thursday - which was actually a lovely sunny evening, and Dan has provided a write up below for yesterdays tinshake. Tom, Matt Cluff and Tim also went to the Beer Festival in Warwick last night, while a few of us are going to Warwick Castle tonight for Soul Sunday. I'll give an update on that! :-)
Next weekend its the big one! Our first weekend away as a club since, erm, 2006 maybe when we went to the New Forest for a long weekend? A group of 10-12 of us are going up to Betws Y Coed, with climbing Snowdon firmly on the agenda. Bring your waterproofs, any games, football, cards, jenga, rounders set etc. I'm looking forward to it!! Don't forget, club meeting on Thursday to discuss arrangements at the new time of 7.30pm (meeting to start promptly at 8pm)! If you were wondering about charities - they are very very close, so you'll hear something shortly. Finally, me and James are visiting Kettering Rotaract on Wednesday, if anyone fancies joining us to see how they work, let either of us know!
BTW - the Soul Sunday Michael Jackson concert at the Castle was fantastic! Me, Matt C and Dan were there, as well as Claire, her boyfriend and sister. It was a bit wet at times, but 1 fantastic song after another, culminating with a brilliant firework display!
Saturday 16th July - Tinshake at the Royal Priors Shopping Centre
On Wednesday we ventured over to the relatively new (3 years) Kettering Phoenix Rotaract, (check out their facebook group) and joined them at one of their business meetings. They were extremely welcoming and a really friendly group, we explained a bit about our struggling district and our own club, and our desire to support some of their events where possible so that we both benefit. We came away with several dates and certainly many positives signs that we can work together and really link up in future. All in all, its been a really positive couple of evenings - and we're certainly both really committed to following through all that we've discussed. If you have any thoughts on any of this, by all means let either of us know!
Tomorrow is club meeting night, to discuss in particular our Snowdonia trip on Friday, and charities!! Looking forward to it!!
Sunday 17th July - EVENTS ROUND-UP
We've had a few things over the last few days, and unlike me usually, I've been to none of them. Hopefully we'll be able to get a few write-ups (if you're reading this and you don't mind sending me a couple of lines that'd be great! I want to know what happened too!), but in the meantime we had Helen Ley on Wednesday, with Mike as quizmaster, Disc Golf was on the agenda on Thursday - which was actually a lovely sunny evening, and Dan has provided a write up below for yesterdays tinshake. Tom, Matt Cluff and Tim also went to the Beer Festival in Warwick last night, while a few of us are going to Warwick Castle tonight for Soul Sunday. I'll give an update on that! :-)
Next weekend its the big one! Our first weekend away as a club since, erm, 2006 maybe when we went to the New Forest for a long weekend? A group of 10-12 of us are going up to Betws Y Coed, with climbing Snowdon firmly on the agenda. Bring your waterproofs, any games, football, cards, jenga, rounders set etc. I'm looking forward to it!! Don't forget, club meeting on Thursday to discuss arrangements at the new time of 7.30pm (meeting to start promptly at 8pm)! If you were wondering about charities - they are very very close, so you'll hear something shortly. Finally, me and James are visiting Kettering Rotaract on Wednesday, if anyone fancies joining us to see how they work, let either of us know!
BTW - the Soul Sunday Michael Jackson concert at the Castle was fantastic! Me, Matt C and Dan were there, as well as Claire, her boyfriend and sister. It was a bit wet at times, but 1 fantastic song after another, culminating with a brilliant firework display!
Saturday 16th July - Tinshake at the Royal Priors Shopping Centre
As always it was great to see how generous the public of Leamington Spa were. We were fortunate to have Ruby a puppy in training from Dogs for the Disabled 1 of the charities that we were raising the money for. As ever we also had the Kung Fu panda present! Mixing in & having loads of pictures with the public, I was also went in to the costume in the afternoon alongside Ellen who guided me around.It was a great day's work as we await to see what the final total is & it was great for Rotaract to have a presence in the shopping centre on a busy Saturday.
(Written by Dan, with Tom, Matt C, Mike, Ellen and James)
Wednesday 13h July - Helen Ley Quiz
(Written by Dan, with Tom, Matt C, Mike, Ellen and James)
Wednesday 13h July - Helen Ley Quiz
We had a great turn out for the Helen ley quiz this week from both rotaracters and the residents alike. The quiz consisted of four rounds of ten with history, sport, music and films among the topics, each
team did really well, with the winning team only pulling ahead by a few points. We also stayed for about 10 minutes afterwards to talk to the residents, who like always were very grateful for our time.
(Written by Mike, with Tim, Anna, Matt Cluff, Ellen and Nicola F)
Saturday 9th July - NEWS UPDATE
We had our first meeting of the new club year on Thursday, a good turnout and several of us pitched charity options for the new year, with a good mix of local and national - a total of 8 thrown into the pot. Speak to James if you haven't voted yet!!! We also discussed our forthcoming trip to Snowdonia with between 10-12 names looking likely! Its a new year, with a large board and lots of great ideas already - so I'm really looking forward to a fantastic year, and definitely my last!
Finally, Helen Dixon and Keenlyside completed their 25 mile walk just after 8pm on Thursday in aid of our charities! A big well done to both of them!
A couple of things coming up this week, Helen Ley on Wednesday with Mike being quizmaster and disc golf on Thursday with 5 names down at the mo. Then next weekend we have a few things going on!
Monday 4th July - NEWS UPDATE
Hi folks! I'm now back from my hols and Dan has kindly provided the below updates of recent events! There's loads going on at the moment with it being the start of the new club year. We've confirmed a weekend away over 22-24 July up in Snowdonia, we're looking to vote on charities at this Thursday's club meeting, we have a tinshake in 2 weeks time, and Helen duo of Dixon and Keenlyside are doing a charity walk for our charities of last year on Thursday. Plus of course a large new board to hopefully cook up a few nice plans for the next 12 months. As soon as I get some details on the walk one of us will let everyone know!
Finally, don't forget the slightly different format of our meetings starting from Thursday. We are planning to start the meeting at 8pm, but arrive at 7.30pm to get a drink etc for those who need to dash off at 9pm. Its an open forum, so bring ideas and lets get those charities sorted!!
Saturday 2nd July - BBQ at Matt Cluff's
team did really well, with the winning team only pulling ahead by a few points. We also stayed for about 10 minutes afterwards to talk to the residents, who like always were very grateful for our time.
(Written by Mike, with Tim, Anna, Matt Cluff, Ellen and Nicola F)
Saturday 9th July - NEWS UPDATE
We had our first meeting of the new club year on Thursday, a good turnout and several of us pitched charity options for the new year, with a good mix of local and national - a total of 8 thrown into the pot. Speak to James if you haven't voted yet!!! We also discussed our forthcoming trip to Snowdonia with between 10-12 names looking likely! Its a new year, with a large board and lots of great ideas already - so I'm really looking forward to a fantastic year, and definitely my last!
Finally, Helen Dixon and Keenlyside completed their 25 mile walk just after 8pm on Thursday in aid of our charities! A big well done to both of them!
A couple of things coming up this week, Helen Ley on Wednesday with Mike being quizmaster and disc golf on Thursday with 5 names down at the mo. Then next weekend we have a few things going on!
Monday 4th July - NEWS UPDATE
Hi folks! I'm now back from my hols and Dan has kindly provided the below updates of recent events! There's loads going on at the moment with it being the start of the new club year. We've confirmed a weekend away over 22-24 July up in Snowdonia, we're looking to vote on charities at this Thursday's club meeting, we have a tinshake in 2 weeks time, and Helen duo of Dixon and Keenlyside are doing a charity walk for our charities of last year on Thursday. Plus of course a large new board to hopefully cook up a few nice plans for the next 12 months. As soon as I get some details on the walk one of us will let everyone know!
Finally, don't forget the slightly different format of our meetings starting from Thursday. We are planning to start the meeting at 8pm, but arrive at 7.30pm to get a drink etc for those who need to dash off at 9pm. Its an open forum, so bring ideas and lets get those charities sorted!!
Saturday 2nd July - BBQ at Matt Cluff's
Big thanks to Matt for organising this, it was an all lads affair we started the evening off by going for a kick about in the park playing Wembley Singles & also headers & volleys, it was a nice summers evening. We then went back into the house to take our places for the big Haye Vs Kilitschko fight which James ordered for us on Sky Box Office it was a great fight loads of talking points & we all in gripped by it!! Kilitschko won the match on points. A nice evening with a bit of football & boxing can't be bad for a Saturday night!
(Written by Dan, with Matt C, Tim, James, Tom and Matt D later on for the boxing)
Saturday 25th June - Friendship Project Funday
Helping our charities is always a very rewarding experience!! This event certainly didn't disappoint. The Friendship Project were holding a funday and our assistance was needed to help out with manning the games and other general duties. It was a beautiful summers afternoon and the atmosphere was great all in aid of the charity. The Friendship Project were extremely grateful of our help. The event really couldn't of gone much better knowing that you have helped out a worthy cause is what being part of rotaract is all about.
(Written by Dan, with Tom, Ellen, James & Nicola F)
Thursday 23rd June - End of Year Meal
That was a pleasant evening, with a good turnout and an, ahem....interesting Dan's eye view of the club year review thing! The meal was at Paprika Club in Leamington, good food as always. Tom attempted to split people up and have boy - girl, didn't quite happen, but almost! So Courtney has now handed over presidency to James, just 1 more event this weekend for this club year. Thanks for all your efforts this year Courtney, the total of around £2,500 is a tremendous effort from everyone - with a bit more to come from Helen Dixon and Helen Keenlyside's walk on July 7th!!
We went to the Willoughby for a drink afterwards before getting off home. We look likely to do a weekend away over the 22-24, probably in a hostel, so watch out for an email with details over the next few days! ALSO, check out the facebook group for a clip of Dan presenting our raffle at the Ball earlier this month - Enjoy!! http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_5550648125
I'm now off website duty until Sunday 3rd July as I'm on my hols on the norfolk broads - so take care of yourselves, and I look forward to getting my teeth into a new Rotaract year as VP in July!! Bring it on!!
(Written by Dan, with Matt C, Tim, James, Tom and Matt D later on for the boxing)
Saturday 25th June - Friendship Project Funday
Helping our charities is always a very rewarding experience!! This event certainly didn't disappoint. The Friendship Project were holding a funday and our assistance was needed to help out with manning the games and other general duties. It was a beautiful summers afternoon and the atmosphere was great all in aid of the charity. The Friendship Project were extremely grateful of our help. The event really couldn't of gone much better knowing that you have helped out a worthy cause is what being part of rotaract is all about.
(Written by Dan, with Tom, Ellen, James & Nicola F)
Thursday 23rd June - End of Year Meal
That was a pleasant evening, with a good turnout and an, ahem....interesting Dan's eye view of the club year review thing! The meal was at Paprika Club in Leamington, good food as always. Tom attempted to split people up and have boy - girl, didn't quite happen, but almost! So Courtney has now handed over presidency to James, just 1 more event this weekend for this club year. Thanks for all your efforts this year Courtney, the total of around £2,500 is a tremendous effort from everyone - with a bit more to come from Helen Dixon and Helen Keenlyside's walk on July 7th!!
We went to the Willoughby for a drink afterwards before getting off home. We look likely to do a weekend away over the 22-24, probably in a hostel, so watch out for an email with details over the next few days! ALSO, check out the facebook group for a clip of Dan presenting our raffle at the Ball earlier this month - Enjoy!! http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_5550648125
I'm now off website duty until Sunday 3rd July as I'm on my hols on the norfolk broads - so take care of yourselves, and I look forward to getting my teeth into a new Rotaract year as VP in July!! Bring it on!!
(Courtney, James, Matt D, Dan, Matt C, Mike, Tim, Nicola F, Claire, Ellen, Hayley and Tom)
Wednesday 15th June - Helen Ley Quiz
A mixture of Sports, General Knowledge, London, Music, & London were the rounds that the Helen Ley residents undertook as another Rotaract quiz night took place. There was also a lucky addition of having a football badges picture round. The London round was interesting as the questions were based around the capital, the Invincibles started 2 lead and kept going strong with the ever impressive Tom Scott they also did well on the music round scoring 10 out 10 beating the champions, the quiz finished with the sports round with the Invincibles taking the crown over quite a lead over the champions. A good evening with some good quiz rounds.
(Written by Dan as quizmaster, with Tom, Ellen, Tim & Nicola F)
Sunday 12th June - Helping with the 2 Castle's Run
Laura Dixon had kindly volunteered her time as well, but unfortunately she was moved to a 7am slot from the original and much more reasonable 8.45am, which none of us were able to help with. As I'm writing this, I think I'm coming down with a cold, it was wet and vey chilly and by the end of my 2 hours of "traffic management" work near the main Abbey Fields car park I was shivering. It was all good work though, and we may get a donation as we have in past years. We all met up afterwards at the Queen and Castle for a hot drink!
Look out in the local papers as I've circulated a press release and group image to the Observer, Courier and Times with regards to our successful Ball on the 4th June!
(Matt D, Dan and Tom)
Thursday 9th June - Dan's Bowling Night
Another great evening of Bowling took place!! The 1st game started off very slow and the scoring was quite low, about halfway through the game picked up and Nicola took the lead with some superb strikes on the 7th go Dan once again proved his credentials by over taking Nicola with a strike and then won the 1st game with 101 points! The 2nd game was just as good as everyone scored higher, full credit has to go Tim who beat Dan who came 2nd to win the game with 3 strikes in a row on the last go!! Really was very well played by Tim!
Written by Dan W
(Dan, Tim, Nicola F, Nicola W and Ellen)
Saturday 4th June - LEAMINGTON & WARWICK ROTARACT ANNUAL BALL
3 years of waiting finally came to end and it was certainly worth waiting for! What was your highlight? Dan's raffle, everyone forming a circle and dancing to New York New York at the end, or maybe the lovely cheesecake, the announcement that we'd raised £2,500 so far, or Tom picking up his well deserved award?!? After months of preparation, a few little concerns, a couple of disagreements and a spoonful of stress - it all came together and everyone seemed to have a great night. Its nights like this that Rotaract should be about if we're to move forward and grow - and I certainly want more now! We don't have a final total for the evening yet, but I would guess its £500-600! Keep an eye out on facebook for pictures of the evening! Plenty were taken including a large group pic!!
I also hear a group continued the night going into the early hours with a trip to Rio's and then Hayley's.
(Too many names to mention - but a huge thanks to all 53 people who bought tickets and made it such a fantastic evening!!)
Saturday 4th June - Kenilworth Show
The Kenilworth show is always a popular event for the start of the summer, this year the weather was great and we were lucky that it didn't rain. Thanks to Helen we had the Hammer Slammer as the morning went on more people used the Hammer Slammer, We also had our promo boards so people could find out about what we do. There were a lot of different stalls there, I left at about lunchtime to start getting ready for our annual ball!!
Written by Dan W - (it takes 6 hours to ready does it?!?!? Matt)
(Helen D, Claire, Tom, James, Mike, Dan and Nicola F)
Thursday 2nd June - NEWS UPDATE
Well, the big day is almost upon us. 3 years of waiting since our movie themed ball at the Glebe in 2008, once again we have a chance to celebrate rotaract, with friends, family and guests from Rotary and just have a good evening. The preparations are almost complete, lots of good raffle prizes, weather forecast looking good and a very pleasing 52 tickets sold. Koko the Clown Dan will be selling raffle tickets and running the raffle! We also have the Kenilworth show on the same day, where Helen Dixon will be setting up our stand from 8am. So its a busy day!!
Tuesday 31st May - Kenilworth Show Prep & Burnt Post Quiz
This was a double header of an evening!! Firstly several people helped out at Stoneleigh to set up the showground for the show on Saturday where we're kindly getting a free stand - and the opportunity to use the hammer slammer again. After this tiring manual work was complete, several of us went to the Burnt Post again in Coventry for their popular quiz night. It was good fun again, with a good turnout, we put in a good showing but it was always going to be tough after winning last time round. This time we finished joint 4th out of 11 or 12 teams!
(Ken Show prep: Helen D, Helen K, Cheryl, Tom, Hayley, James / Burnt Post: Matt D, Dan, Matt C, James, Tom, Tim, Laura and Ellen)
Saturday 28th May - NEWS UPDATE
Hi people!! Only 7 days now until the biggest Rotaract night in 3 years, and 44 tickets have now been sold! On Sunday we're planning a walk, starting at 2pm from the Waterman in Hatton, on Tuesday we have the Kenilworth Festival set up from 7pm, and then its the popular Burnt Post quiz which starts at 9pm and we won on our last visit.
We are also discussing our end of year meal which is likely to be 23rd June. I submitted 4 names to help out with the 2 Castles Run on the 12th June, if anyone else can help with marshalling let me know. Remember we were given an incredible £300 through helping out with the Stratford marathon. Its a busy time at the moment with fundraising events. We raised £120 at last weeks Royal Priors tinshake, and around £50 at the hammer slammer at Kenilworths party in the park. Your contributions are always appreciated as the 2010-2011 club year enters its final month and James prepares to take the reigns.
Saturday 21st May - Royal Priors Tinshake
A good response from the public of Leamington Spa gave us another great amount to give to our chosen charities this year. We had the ever present Kung Fu Panda AKA Tom Scott who did a grand job in mixing with the crowds and having pictures as well. We also had fantastic support from Ellen, Hayley, Laura & Matt who helped out. We also had the Friendship Project there to show their support as we were raising money for their charity, The end total was approx £120 which was great effort by everyone! Well Done!!
Written by Dan Wearden.
(Tom, Ellen, Laura, Hayley, Dan and Matt D)
Sunday 15th May - Kenilworth Show, Party in the Park Hammer Slammer
It was a particularly chilly, blustery and overcast day, where Helen Dixon, Ellen and Tom put in a shift and a half for Rotaract in staying all day- not forgetting the contributions of Mike, myself and also Helen's dad in helping us transport the hammerslammer. Despite the weather, there was still a fair amount of interest - we think over the day after costs that maybe £40-50 has been added to the £300 we were given the other day for supporting the Shakespeare Marathon. I don't know how much we have in our account for the year but we must be approaching £2k now. Great work again guys - absolute stars in my opinion!!
When it comes to our charity events and raising money, Tom and Ellen are usually at the centre of things, and without Helen's contributions none of our Kenilworth events would've happened, not forgetting the incredible skydrive!! Now for the tinshake at the Royal Priors on Saturday.
(Helen D, Tom, Ellen, Mike and Matt D)
Saturday 14th May - NEWS UPDATE
Our stand at the Kenilworth Festival's Party in the Park definitely goes ahead tomorrow between 10.30am and 5pm, the hammer slammer and publicity material is with Helen Dixon who is kindly organising and leading on things. If you can help out, just go along!!! Its a fun afternoon with music, food, drink and lots of entertaining stands and stalls.
Finally - congratulations to past president Dewi Williams and current member Anna Chapman who are getting married in Leamington today!!
Thursday 12th May - Disc Golf
The 1st Disc Golf of the summer started off an interesting event on a light summers evening. Disc Golf is always a popular event so a high turnout is always expected! The night started off with Mike playing really well & looking strong! The talking point of the evening was when Matt lost this disc in the river everyone started looking for the disc in the bushes, Tom did his usual thing of grabbing a long stick to try and locate the disc, we couldn't find it so Matt had to pull out, the game continued and it finished a draw between Matt C & Mike. A good evening on a nice summers night.
Written by Dan Wearden
(Dan W, Tom, Matt D, Matt C, Tim and Mike)
Wednesday 11th May - Helen Ley Quiz
Nicola F put on a thoroughly brilliant quiz at this Helen Ley visit – so much so that even John Major himself was complaining about the lack of the usual rounds! As it was Matt C’s debut and John noticed Matt D was missing my team was called Team Matt. And we won. Well Tom’s team always does. This time even the rounds such as a Eurovision one and a Williams and Kate one couldn’t stop us – in fact Eurovision was our best round! Afterwards Tom gave some pushes back to their rooms for the residents in their wheelchairs whilst conversation remained amongst the remaining attendees.
Written by Tom Scott
(Nicola F - quizmaster, Tom, Ellen, Mike and Matt Cluff)
Monday 9th May - NEWS UPDATE
A quick bulletin on a few things! In addition to this weeks events, Tom, Ellen and probably myself will be in the Prince of Wales Pub on Friday from 9pm if anyone is interested. We are now up to 36 for our ball on June 4th! We are now focusing our efforts on raffle prizes, let me know if anyone has any unwanted gifts, or bottles of wine etc. I also had a call earlier today from Kenilworth Rotary asking for help for the 2 Castles Run on Sunday 12th May - so if anyone is willing to help out just like the magnificent 4 did yesterday, let us know. Finally, it looks like we may well have a stand at the Kenilworth Festival on Sunday 15th May afterall, so keep an eye on your emails for further details later in the week!
With the shakespeare marathon on Sunday kicking off a 4-5 week period also containing our Tinshake in the Royal Priors, Collections at the Kenilworth Show and Kenilworth Festival, 2 Castles Run and of course our Ball - the potential for us to raise a lot of money is huge, so any time or help you can give with these events is much appreciated - as always!!
Sunday 8th May - Shakespeare Marathon
Write up from Dan coming soon - but a great effort from the 4 who helped. Stratford Rotary who were very grateful for our help have suggested possible £200-£250 for our efforts!! Well done all!. Here's the bit below which has just arrived hot off the press from Mr Wearden:
A great team effort was on offer at the 2011 Shakespeare Marathon an event we normally support rotary with. I had the duty of assisting the runners with much needed water & bananas at the finish line,alongside Tom, Ellen & Anna who were detagging the runners. The half marathon was completed 1st at 1 stage it very busy and the runners were coming in thick & fast. After a grabbing a bite to eat was the full marathon this was the biggy 26 miles to be extact,I noticed a lot of runners had collapsed luckily St Johns Ambulance was there for first aid. A great team effort & the runners seemed grateful for our help and a nice donation will be given from Rotary for our charities.
(Dan W, Tom, Ellen and Anna)
Tuesday 3rd May - Dan's Bowling Night
Bowling nights in Leamington & Warwick Rotaract Club is always an interesting event on the social calendar, this 1 was no exception the 1st game started off with Hayley playing well & really showing some force in her bowls. She won the 1st game very deservedly and played well, Dan came runner up. The 2nd game Dan was leading until the last go where a strike sealed the victory for Hayley once again, both Nicola's played well and came 3rd and 4th respectively & we all scored higher in the 2nd game. It was a consistent performance by Dan who came 2nd again but a well deserved victory for Hayley. A nice evening out eventhough it wasn't very busy.
(Dan W - and written by Dan, Nicola W and Nicola F)
Thursday 28th April - Matt Cluff's and Dan W's Bday Night Out
A good group (in size if not quality!!) out to celebrate the birthdays of Mr Cluff and Mr Wearden. It was a fairly tame and uneventful night really, although Dan got his wish and we visited Koko's. Unfortunately there wasn't a club open to properly finish the night, and our intended first venue the Prince of Wales Inn was strangely saving itself for Royal Wedding day on Friday and was closed. However, instead we stayed in the Duke for a couple, and also visited The Loose Box (Mumbai Bluu), Koko's and then Satchwell's, with Dan ending up in Sugar, or Smack or whatever it is these days. It was a student night, none of the rest of us could get in - or to be fair, could even be bothered to try. Then it was the Royal Wedding on Friday - how lovely that was!!
While I'm here - 29 tickets sold for the ball now, and just under 5 weeks to go, its getting ever closer! If anyone would like a ticket, let me know, or even if you can help with raffle prizes. We have our 1st May club meeting on Thursday and a Dan bowling night on Tuesday this week.
(Matt C, Dan W, Matt D, Tom and his pal Julian, James, Ellen, Paul G, Nicola W and Nick Cluff)
Monday 25th April - Matt's Walk, Bubbenhall
A gorgeous warm day, with pure blue skies perfect for a bit of walking! The walk was enjoyable, plenty of conversation and banter with Dan and then finishing at the Three Horseshoes for a drink afterwards. I have to confess I got the instructions in my walk book wrong towards the end, so we missed Bubbenhall Wood - sorry folks -I'm rubbish! However, that meant we went past some water well thingy (we couldn't work out exactly what it was) with a ladder which meant James climbed right to the top and we also saw a dead fox - see our facebook pages for pictures! Hopefully the first walk of many over the summer months!!
While I'm here, exact numbers should be confirmed shortly but we think ball ticket sales are around the 30 plus mark - which is great. Have you got yours? 6 weeks to go!!! We've also got quite a big crowd down for the joint birthday night/royal wedding night out in Leamington on Thursday. We're starting at the Prince of Wales Pub at 8pm! Should be a good night!!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, James, Matt C, Ellen and Hayley)
NEWS UPDATE
I'm planning a walk on Easter Monday, so please let me know if you're interested, it will start at 2pm and it will be local within Warwickshire, although where exactly I don't know yet. I'll look at some walk books and maps in the next few days and send an email out! The weather is looking good for the easter week, so it should be nice. Don't forget, less than 2 months now until the ball and we need to sell some tickets, it'll be a great night, with good food, good music (well, music anyway!), a bar, and money going to charity! Rotaract Balls in my experience have always been great fun, and this is the first one in 3 years!
Wednesday 13th April - Helen Ley Quiz
A bit of a mix up with the quizmaster meant that I had to race back to mine while enroute, to pick up an old quiz. Mike kindly stood in as quizmaster and used the old quiz used previously in 2009. Despite this, the quiz was good and the residents enjoyed it and appreciated us being there. Mike did a fine job! It was very close, mine and Tim's team won on a tie breaker question, although I know that the quizmaster made an error with his scoring and Tom and Dan's team were the real winners by 1 point! Still, a quiz this close can only be good! As always, very rewarding to spend time with these lovely people. Our next quiz is May 11th.
(Matt D, Tim, Mike, Tom and Dan)
Wednesday 30th March - Blood Brothers, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
A big thanks to Ellen for booking the tickets and organising this. A really enjoyable evening at the theatre. It was fantastic, I really recommend it - but as the title suggests, you could probably guess that the end would be quite sad, and it was. There were also a couple of shocks to the system at the end in the shape of police bursting into the auditorium and the gun shot. I actually came away feeling a bit sad. Hopefully we can organise more trips to the theatre though, this was really good! Maybe a more upbeat one though!
(Matt D, Tim, Courtney, Ellen, Nicola W and Nicola F)
Thankyou from Roy Hawkes, Warwick Rotary
We thought we'd share this with everyone:
Dear Courtney
Rotary's and me sincere thanks to Rotaract's help at the District and Regional round of the Rotary Youth Speaks this year. It was great to have 2 judges (Dan W and Dan P) and 2 helpers (Tom and Tim) during events that were very busy for me and all the helpers involved. I would like to think that this event co-operation between Rotaract and Rotary could continue in years to come.
Many many thanks,
Roy
P.S. See you at Rotary Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford on 8th May - I'm on duty near the finish (at the "big tent").
Tuesday 22nd March - Burnt Post Quiz Night, Coventry - WE WON!!!!
Well, few of us turned up thinking we would win the quiz tonight - but that's exactly what we did, out of 13/14 teams, with a score of 46 we tied with another team, and our tie breaker answer which we thought was miles off, actually won it for us. So we donated the £40 winnings to our club charity fund!! We also sold 2 more ball tickets tonight. A really enjoyed night, as all of our trips to the Burnt Post quiz are. It may become a regular source of club money!! It was a team effort, but Mr Tom Scott is a big reason for our win! Another bonus on the night was a new guest Matt Glasgow joining us who had been involved with Coventry Rotaract in the past, hopefully we'll see more of him in future. Remember, only just over a week of a the early bird ball ticket offer remaining! Happy to deliver a ticket to your door if necessary!!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, Matt C, Mike, Ellen, Matt Glasgow, Paul and Kate)
Tuesday 15th March - Matt Cluff's Karting Night, Tamworth
A big thanks to Matt Cluff for finding such a great offer, and sorting this evening out! £10 for 30 mins of high octane petrol fueled fun over in Tamworth. We had to wait until 9.30pm to get on, so plenty of psyching ourselves up while watching the others on the track. Matt Cluff and James were the frontrunners, although Mike was quick! I think Matt C and James have a score to settle over who's the quicker driver - don't you dare to say 1 is quicker than the other while the other person is present! :-) A really enjoyable evening of adrenalin, it was hard, and it was quick!
(Matt D, Matt C, James, Mike, Tim, Ellen and Helen K)
Thursday 10th March - Dan's "Competitive" Bowling Extravaganza, L'Spa Tenpin
Rotaract bowling nights out are always an interesting night out! Once a few technical problems were sorted this 1 was no expectation. The standard appeared to be quite high, the 1st games started off with Matt D doing well & taking the crown in the 1st game (115 odd), he was followed by Ellen who played well. In the 2nd lane was the lane not for the faint hearted, I (Dan) was once again on true form, by about the 7 or 8th go was really looking superb and won the game with 139 points! Very good score!!! The 2nd game was again really close with Matt D taking the victory again and a very good score 135ish, in the other lane surprisingly I wasn't looking a fierce contender for the top spot with Alex this time looking good and taking top spot followed by Mike who played well and with me finishing 3rd despite my awesome score in the 1st game. Once again a truly enjoyable evening.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Matt C, Mike, Ellen, Nicola F, Helen K, Alex and Matt D......I've just spent 5 mins trying to think of the 8th person, it was me! ha!!)
Saturday 5th March - Club Meal out at Ruby, L'Spa
Having eaten there before at a previous Rotaract evening out we always knew the food was going to be nothing but amazing!! We all had the buffet style food where you get 6 starters and 6 mains! We had a variety of dishes including Sweet & Sour Pork, Beef and Black Bean sauce and a very spicy beef dish which was really nice. After the meal we took the short trip up to the Prince of Wales pub where we went to watch a band play! The guys were happy as the bar had an offer on of 3 bottles of Budweiser for £5 which was great, We also listened to Tom telling us about his experience of the Queen visiting the Warwickshire Justice Centre in the week which was interesting and was very enjoyable as well. A nice evening and food was very nice as well.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Matt C, Courtney, Nicola W, Nicola F, Tim, Ellen, Mike and Tom)
Friday 4th March - Rotary Youth Speaks
A fantastic evening was had by all as the Rotary Youth Speaks were fortunate to have the 2 Dans on the judging panel to judge Rotary Youth Speaks which is designed to help young people achieve what is increasingly required in today's world to present confidently their points of view to others. I was judging in the main hall, the standard was fantastic! the subjects were ranging from Animal Rights to Tuition fees not to mention an interesting talk about numbers! After we finished deliberating myself and my 2 fellow adjudicators sent Kenilworth, Edgbaston & Dodderhill schools all through to the next heat. A great experience to have judged such high quality topics and extremely glad I had the opportunity to take part in such a great evening.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Dan P and Tom helping out - written by Dan W)
Friday 25th February - ANNUAL QUIZ AT NEWBOLD COMYN ARMS - £373 RAISED!
A fantastic turnout of 18 teams helped us raise a brilliant total of £373, which has pushed our total past the £1,200 mark for the club year so far. Courtney delivered a great quiz albeit hard, with James pulling things together, Dan was a star delivering the raffle and Tom and Ellen were superstars with the marking. The pub was very warm, and packed to the rafters. A really good evening. Well done to everyone involved!! Thanks also to everyone who supported the event from Rotary, our charities, and everyone else!
(Courtney as quizmaster, with the following helping; Dan, James, Ellen, me. Also attended from our club; Helen D, Helen K, Matt C, Daniel P)
Saturday 19th February - Ryton Pools and NEWS UPDATE
It was a cold, grey and damp day, although the rain had fortunately stopped. 4 of us volunteered to help out at Ryton, the tasks evolved around tidying up the sensory garden near the information centre. Tim went off with Craig (1 of the organisers) first of all to help contruct a hedge, while the rest of us cleared leaves from the garden (although I did get the better task of cutting down a tree!), then we dug the garden up, started a fire - which didn't last too long, and then after a couple of hours of doing this me and the "Cluffster" went over to check out the progress on the hedge. I was actually really fascinated at how involved and time consuming it was to put these "hedges/fences" together, and the way these trees that are chopped down so they are lying horizontally can actually live despite the fact the trunk has been 90% chopped through. Brilliant!!
In other news from the club meeting, we have now sold 6 ball tickets!! So lets get past that first barrier of 10! We have around 30 confirmed already for Friday's big quiz night, but plenty of room for many more! I've also received a letter for Cov Blaze tickets as a raffle Prize. Dave Cooling, friend of the club and former member, who's now involved with Warwick Roundtable also joined us and presented us with a cheque for £350 for helping out with Santa's Sleigh, which is fantastic and goes with the £312 raised from the tinshake and £209 raised from our bonfire night walk, therefore pushing us up towards £900 with our 2 big events still to come, alongside 1 tinshake, the Stratford Marathon and the 2 Castles Run. So realistically £1800 plus can be achieved! Lets keep working together and we can do good things! :-)
(Matt D, Tom, Matt C and Tim)
NEWS UPDATE
We decided to rearrange our bowling night for the more popular Thursday evening on March 10th so that hopefully we'll have a large turnout. We did still have 4 people up for tonight (Sunday 13th) but its so much more fun when there's a large group of us! I also collected the 10 pack of stella for our raffle prize list last night with the girl at Tesco's Customer Services desk saying "don't drink it all at once" or words to that effect! :-)
NEWS UPDATE
After our club meeting last Thursday we have now sold our first 3 ball tickets and there are 2 weeks remaining of the cheaper early bird offer - £22. Its exactly 2 weeks now until our big annual quiz, many of the questions are ready, and a list of raffle prizes is starting to take shape - if anyone has anything to donate, or can send some letters off, please let me know! Amongst the prizes so far; Blaze tickets, pack of 10 cans of stella, tickets for tobogganning, signed poster from Coventry City FC, wine and chocs. Don't forget, if anyone is interested in joining us for bowling on Sunday at 8pm, let me or Dan know. Have a good weekend!!
Thursday 10th February - Live Music at the Punchbowl
A few didn't turn up who's names were down, but it was still enjoyable, even though the majority of the packed out pub were probably over 50 and most of them resembled members of Status Quo!! We enjoyed the old rock music though, had a couple of drinks and a good chat and bit of banter with Dan as always.
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and Matt C)
Wednesday 9th February - Helen Ley Quiz
A pretty good quiz by Mr Scott, he'd clearly put a bit of thought into doing a few different style rounds aimed at the older audience, with a true and false round, a round with a Michael Jackson link running through it and a Monarchy round amongst others. My team lost as I made the basic mistake of not joining the team containing John Major. A good quiz, again well appreciated by the residents! Thanks for writing it Tom!
(Tom as Quizmaster, Dan, Mike, Ellen, Nicola and Matt D)
NEWS UPDATE
Its club meeting week!! I went into Newbold Comyn Arms earlier today after doing a few laps of the golf course and gave Sarah a few of our quiz posters and a batch of tickets. She was very optimistic of being able to shift quite a few tickets and being able to squeeze quite a large number into the pub. I've also been writing a few letters for raffle prizes, if anyone else can help with prizes it would be hugely appreciated! Look forward to seeing people on Thursday!!
Thursday 27th January - Skittles Evening with Warwick Rotary, Wild Boar Inn
A good evening of food and skittles was had in the room at the back of the Wild Boar Inn. New Nicola put in a stunning performance, Matt Cluff was impressive, but unfortunately we lost by 2 overall. Claire was poor - if you're reading this Claire - sorry! Tom was great doing the marking - a typically Tom getting involved kind of thing to do! The food was nice, Mike showed the pace of a gazelle chasing pray having not eaten for weeks to arrive at the dessert table first for his slice of chocolate cake. Our quiz and ball tickets were ready today, so our first 2 quiz tickets were bought by Phil and Claire Harris. Courtney announced to everyone in the group that tickets were now available, and generally a lot of people expressed an interest. Now we've just got to sell them!!! I'll be dropping round a batch of quiz tickets and posters to Newbold Comyn Arms tomorrow night!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Matt C, James, new Daniel, Courtney, Nicola, Claire, Helen D, Helen K, new Nicola)
Monday 24th January - NEWS UPDATE
Hi folks. A good turnout at last weeks meeting, including 3 new faces! This week we have our skittles night on Thursday which I'm really looking forward to. Dan has submitted an application form to lead the Rotary Youth Leadership Award people on the canal boat this summer, which is a great thing to get involved in, and I'm sure he'll take an awful lot from the experience! I had an email from Dave Cooling yesterday and they are currently counting up the total for Santa's Sleigh. Last night we had a board meeting at the Racehorse in Warwick, amongst other things we discussed the quiz (Friday 25th Feb) and have exactly 1 month to get raffle prizes in, so please if you have any possible prizes let me know. James also suggested a possible Rotaract Mini Olympics with Rugby and Coventry Rotaract during Rotaract week. I have put the idea to representatives of each clubs, so the idea is out there. I would love to do it, but its in their court at the moment. Look forward to seeing people on Thursday!! I will attempt to bring you these updates in between the event updates - so keep checking the website every 3 or 4 days!
FINALLY - CHECK OUT THE BOARD PAGE! ITS LIVE AT LAST!
Saturday 15th January - Tobagganing, Tamworth Snowdome
When I went on my only previous trip to the snowdome I had 5 "goes" on the tobaggan in 30 mins, this time they didn't throw us off and we got 9 in over 45 mins!! We really got our money's worth! All of us seemed to master it pretty quickly and no-one came off or went into a wall. I was great fun! Afterwards we had a drink and a snack before heading home! It made a nice change for a Saturday night!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Matt C and Dan)
Over Christmas
Happy New Year all! While we didn't have any proper socials over christmas with so many people going back home, we did have a couple of informal small scale socials. On the 30th me, Anna and Melissa did a bit of bowling, with Anna winning 2 games, and Melissa 1 (I finished 2nd in all, lol), and on New Years Eve me, James (plus his mate) and Matt Cluff went out and had a good night around Leamington to see the new year in. Remember, its our first meeting of 2011 on Thursday, so if you have any ideas of social events - bring them along with you. Look forward to seeing you soon!! Hopefully 2011 can be a great fundraising year for us!!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
As per my weekly email, if anyone fancies joining me from 8pm in the White Horse tonight for a festive drink you're more than welcome. We have decided on Friday 25th February for our annual quiz with details to follow shortly, and I'm still waiting on numbers before deciding whether we're going to visit the Assembly Rooms on NYE. Let me know if you're interested! Have a great christmas and happy new year!
Tuesday 22nd December - Quiz Night and Burnt Post, Coventry
After the snow had claimed our carols in castle event at Warwick Castle, and also our scheduled trip to the Frankfurt market - at last a chance to get out of my flat on an evening!! We had some nice food, a good chat and finished about midway in the quiz - and only a few correct answers off 2nd place and £20! It was also good to catch up with Cov Rotaract's Paul Griffin again. I contributed my usual minimal amount of correct answers, quizzes are Tom's domain. An enjoyable evening!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Ellen, Matt Cluff and Paul Griffin)
Friday 17th December - Rotaract in the News!!
A very pleasing article in the local paper - it also got into the printed version as well as online:
http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/local/charity_tinshake_has_kick_1_2166065
Thursday 16th December - Christmas Meal at Newbold Comyn Arms
A good evening of food, drink and conversation. Courtney kindly distributed gifts in the form of buttons and smarties in those tube things. I think most of the entertainment happened at Dan's end, where he knocked his drink over, and then had a long conversation about CV's - coupled with the standard facebook updates. Entertainment was also provided by one of those fortune fish things that came in one of the crackers. Afterwards we sat by the log fire on a bitterly cold evening and chatted a bit longer before heading off home.
(Matt D, James, Tom, Dan, Mike, Dewi, Anna, Nicola, Courtney, Kate, Helen Dixon, Ellen and Matt Cluff)
Wednesday 15th December - Helen Ley Quiz Night
The last Helen Ley Quiz of 2010 proved to be a close contest as a single point decided the winner of the evening! The Herald Angels took the crown as the rounds included; sport, song titles (with love in them), science and nature and board games - all very good rounds and a very lively quiz. The Herald Angels had a slight advantage with John in the team, and also scored all 10 in the song titles round. A very lively quiz and a nice evening overall to round off some great quizzes we've done for Helen Ley in 2010.
Written by Quizmaster Dan
(Dan, Tom, Anna, Nicola and Mike)
CONGRATULATIONS
Former club presidents Dave and Laura Gibb (formerly Coates) have had their first baby, a daughter - Saskia. Congratulations from me, and all at the club. Laura was president in my first year at the club, and Laura in my second. Hopefully Saskia will join the club in 18 years time!!
Wednesday 8th December - Cinema Night, Harry Potter
Despite it being James second time, Rotaract were live at the Apollo for Harry Potter. It was long and tense, with little in action and a lot in drama. How did I end up in a chick flick! But the cliffhanger at the end made me determined to be there on the first day of the release of the final film.
(Written by Tom, also present; James, Cheryl, Claire and Kate)
NEWS UPDATE - 7th December
Me, Ellen and Tom witnessed one hell of a series of fights at a Cov Blaze game on Saturday night, check out this clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru_DeHbNmDI
World Rotaract Week is March 7th to 13th in 2011, start thinking about interesting ways to raise a bit of money and/or get a bit of PR. I was thinking maybe a sponsored dog walk, or another twilight walk - something dog related?
We're currently talkings to the Royal Priors about possible tinshakes in 2011, definitely May and July, and possibly a date at the end of Feb also.
Finally in the news stakes, over christmas we've got a few socials down to get you out - Birmingham Frankfurt Market on Monday 20th Dec, Burnt Post grill and quiz night on Tuesday 21st, then drinks at the White Horse on 24th Dec, bowling on 30th Dec and if people fancy it, a night out on New Years eve, to either the Assembly Rooms or Cox's Yard!!
Saturday 4th December - Royal Priors Tinshake - a fantastic £312.83 raised!!!
Well done and thanks to everyone who helped and gave their time, not least Tom who was around all day wearing a kung fu panda outfit, and also Alex Green for lending us the outfit. For half the day we also had someone present from Dogs for the Disabled and a lovely dog. The kids loved the panda to bits, and I think Tom loved being a panda!!! The shopping centre was packed and buzzing, and people really gave generously. Helen D also did a couple of her games again. A great day's work - this is what being a Rotaract is all about!!
(Matt D, James, Tom, Mike, Katie, Dan, Courtney, Helen D, Nicola, Ellen and Claire)
Thursday 25th November - Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to the bowling lanes for a while and it was certainly eventful - starting with Ellen and Anna struggling to find their way around some diversions in Leamington, Anna knocking my pint over while the member of staff at the till struggled to work out the maths with us having a £6 voucher for 2 games up to a group size of 6, with us haing 8 in our group! When all that was sorted, we had 2 highly competitive games of bowling. On 1 lane Dan and Mike won the 2 games, and in my lane James won the first game and then Ellen (who was on fire all night) won the 2nd. After Matt beat James a couple of times at pool, and Anna won a couple of celebration chocs on a game we had another drink - I didn't get back until gone 11.40pm! Enjoyable evening! Maybe another bowling experience over christmas!
(Matt D, Matt C, James, Dan, Mike, Anna, Ellen and Nicola)
SANTAS SLEIGH DETAILS
Its that time of the year again! Dave Cooling attended our last meeting and explained how much our support of this event is appreciated, and we've always been given very generous donations off the back of our help. This years timings are as follows:
Sunday 5th December - Tesco Warwick, 10am-1pm & 1pm-4pm
Tuesday 7th December - Myton Road, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 9th December - Warwick Gates, 6pm-9pm
Tuesday 14th December - Woodloes, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 16th December - Packmores, 6pm-9pm
Saturday 18th December - Sainsburys Warwick, 9am-12, 12-3pm
Tuesday 21st December - Spinney Hill, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 23rd December - Stratford Road, 6pm-9pm
Friday 24th December - Sainsbury Warwick, 10am-1pm
For evening shifts MEET AT WARWICK JUNIOR SCHOOL on Myton Road, and aim to leave no later than 6.15pm each night and be back by 9pm. For weekend shifts, arrive at the appropriate supermarket at the times mentioned above. You will be given tabards and collecting tins on arrival. All you need to do is be jolly and festive and say "Merry Christmas, we're Warwick Roundtable and we're collecting for local good causes". If you'd prefer to join the sleigh en route, let Dave know, I have his number if you need it. Please drop me an email if you're able to help and I'll let Dave know. Many thanks! Ho ho ho!
Wednesday 18th November - Helen Ley Quiz
Last night 7 of us from Rotaract braved the harsh weather conditions (a bit of rain) to go and get quizzical at our old hang out of the Helen Ley Centre. I had my debut as quizmaster, and tried to mix it up a bit, with a picture round, a crime round, and a lyrics round where I wowed the teams with my rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. With 2 very competitive teams it did get rowdy at times. However, Rodney helped to quieten down the heckling of the quizmaster with the promise of biscuits! Overall a very enjoyable, with a very good turnout!
(Katie - quizmaster and the above was written by Katie, also Tom, Ellen, James, Helen D, Mike and Anna)
Saturday 13th November - NEWS UPDATE
We can confirm that Phil Harris and Warwick Rotary have sponsored us a further £49.17 for our charity walk, to add to the £160 we'd raised from the night. So that's £209.17 to get us properly off and running! A joint skittles night has also gone onto the social list for Jan 27th. Our next big chance to raise a bit of money comes with our tinshake in 3 weeks time in the Royal Priors.
At Thursday's club meeting we will also be collecting a £5 deposit from everyone towards our christmas meal. We currently have 10 names down. If anyone has any ideas for games, please let us know.
Finally, people will notice that we've now set up a facebook group to so that people can now register their interest in our now confirmed Annual Ball, to be held on June 4th 2011. The cost will be £22 before the end of Feb, and £25 thereafter. Posters and tickets should be ready after Christmas!
Thursday 11th November – Take a Walk on the Darkside, Ghost Walk around Warwick
On one of the windiest and wildest nights I can ever remember, we tried out this ghost walk around Warwick. There was a decent sized group of us and the guide was excellent - a kind of slightly taller and more rugged version of Phil Collins! He said at the start that he wasn't there to preach that ghosts exist, but instead tell some stories and let us more our minds up. It was very interesting, amusing at times, and 'maybe' a little scary at some points too. He told stories about the courts, gallows underneath Warwick Library that used to warn people to behave when entering Warwick, the haunted Warwickshire musuem, the old dolls musuem which is now a tea rooms and the Castle, amongst others.
The walk lasted over an hour, he even charged us a discounted rate of £3 each. After the walk we all went to the Zetland for a drink and a natter. A really enjoyable evening - and I even forgot about the horrible cold that I was carrying all day!
(Matt D, Matt Cluff, Dan, James, Mike, Nicola, Katie, Dewi and Anna)
Friday 5th November – Bonfire Night Charity Walk, from the Waterman
After the drama of trying to find somewhere to park we managed to round up most of the group, although couldn't find Courtney until we were about to set off. It was a seriously wet day and very boggy under foot, it was so wet they couldn't set off all the fireworks at the Waterman! I have no doubts that a lot of people would've had a few games trying to move their cars from the very sodden field where many parked.
Anyway, when everyone was together we headed off along the canal with our torches, paddling through numerous puddles along the toepath. Everyone was brilliant - very little moaning and no one dropping out - or dropping in..........in to the canal! A superb turnout of 16 people. About 2/3's of the way round we stopped at a nice small pub for a drink and chance to dry out a bit - then we set off along the Birmingham Road for the final stretch back to the Waterman - via a stumble from Craig and a potentially high value comedy fall from me involving a dead fox.
A really good evening - and once again, I can't thank people enough for turning out! We raised £160, plus Rotary have said they will give us a donation as sponsorship which is excellent!
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Dan, Matt Cluff, James, Katie, Ellen, Claire, Sina, Nicola, Helen and Cheryl)
Thursday 4th November - Club Meeting
A really good and productive meeting with another excellent turnout, both charities were present including a lovely dog from Dogs for the Disabled. They explained their charities and we threw many questions their way.
Other important news was setting a date of Saturday 4th June for our Annual Ball - make sure you keep this clear in your diary!!
Thursday 4th November - Its club meeting time!
Newbold Comyn Arms, 8pm. On the agenda for our first meeting of November, is a visit from both of our charities for the year - Dogs for the Disabled and the Friendship Project. We will also be voting on dates for the Ball to hopefully include EVERYONE, so we can confirm with Newbold Comyn Arms very shortly. There will be a run through of the plans for Friday's charity walk - our first opportunity to raise money for our two charities. I will also do a show of hands for our christmas meal - 3 courses, £16.50 in the country manor house part of Newbold Comyn Arms on Thu 16th Dec. I'm sure there will be much more discussed besides, and a drink or two consumed by the fire! Hope to see everyone there!!
Saturday 30th October – Halloween Night with live music, Newbold Comyn Arms
I This was just a last minute thing - and what a good decision. The band were fantastic - A Chain of Fools - supposedly the most hardest working band in the world. It was certainly a large band, with all manner of instruments being used. It was a mix of current and past music, with stuff ranging from Amy Winehouse and Duffy to James Brown's I feel good. The pub was packed and the music was fantastic - a good evening!
Don't forget that this week is meeting week, and we hope to have representatives from both charities present. Again at Newbold Comyn Arms.
(Matt D, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Bowling date rearranged
Due to low numbers bowling (scheduled for Tues 26th Oct) has been rearranged for Thursday 25th November when we hope to see most of the club out. Hope to see you there!!
Plan for Charity Bonfire Night Walk on Friday 5th November
I'm planning to arrive at 7pm - to possibly have something to eat as the Waterman (www.thewatermanpub.co.uk/) are putting on a BBQ and hogroast before the fireworks start at 7.30pm. After this our walk will begin, probably around 8pm.
Firstly I would encourage everyone to arrive as early as possible to ensure you can park, otherwise you may have to park by Hatton Locks, or even a bit further along in Hatton. I would encourage everyone to bring a torch, wear comfortable footwear, if not walking boots (as its likely to be a bit muddy in some parts), bring waterproofs and also a drink as we'll be walking for the best part of 3 hours.
In terms of the route - we'll head out onto the Grand Union canal past the numerous locks towards Warwick. We'll come off the canal in Warwick and onto the Birmingham Road, along Saltisford, down The Butts, onto Castle Hill, right into Castle Lane, then right down Leycester Place, then right onto High Street and passing Lord Leycester Hospital, left down Swan Street, past the museum and the Market Place before turning right onto Theatre Street and back onto the Saltisford and Birmingham Road. We'll either conclude the walk along the canal again, or back along the A425 which has streetlights all the way back to the Waterman. Its just under the 7 mile mark, so it'll probably be around 11pm that we'll return and hopefully make around £150 plus for our charities! Please come along - support our charities, get some good exercise and enjoy the fireworks!
Thursday 21st October – Club Meeting & Beetle Drive Practice
A productive and enjoyable evening. I booked out the room at the back of Newbold Comyn Arms so that we could trial a Beetle Drive game for a possible charity event later in the year - all 12 of us were involved split into 3 groups of 4 and it was well received. James was the eventual winner, taking home some chocs and pear cider. Before we started this game noteable news included a discussion on ball venues, and we're almost certainly going to choose Newbold Comyn Arms and their adjacent conferencing room with tickets at around £22, its just subject to finding out a bit of info on 2 other possibilities. We also had a guest from Warwic Rotary, Phil Harris, who will be joining us on our charity bonfire night walk in 2 weeks time along with 2 others from Rotary. Phil then went on to discuss a possible Rotaract/Rotary skittles social night early in 2011. Finally, in terms of major news - we will have both of our new charities at our next club meeting - and we'll have Dogs for the Disabled (including an actual dog!!) at our December tinshake!!
Don't forget the charity walk on November 5th - anyone is welcome! This is our next big club event where we really need everyone to get our fundraising started! Numbers already look promising with 10-12 from Rotaract and 4 from Rotary. Lets get this up to 20!
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Matt C, Katie, Helen D, Cheryl, James, Mike, Nicola, Claire and Helen K - plus guest Phil Harris from Warwick Rotary)
Tuesday 19th October – Evening at Ask entertaining Rotarians from Brazil
See pics on our facebook site! A very successful evening, and a huge thanks to everyone who turned out, and also those who took the extra effort to collect the young exchange Rotarian's from their host families. There were 5 people from Brazil and 13 from our club, we chatted for a good 3 hours, they told us about their clubs and culture back home and we discussed what we get upto. I sat opposite a very interesting Environmental Lawyer called Sheila from North Brazil - who told me of her very busy schedule while over here - hopefully their evening with us was a bit more relaxed.
Next up is our club meeting on Thursday where we plan to discuss ball venues and I've prepared a mini beetle drive practice as a potential fundraising event for the future, and just as a bit of fun. I've got a box of chocs and a bottle of pear cider as the prize! We've also got a visitor from Warwick Rotary - Phil Harris.
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Dan, Matt Cluff, James, Katie, Ellen, Claire, Sina, Nicola, Helen and Cheryl)
Saturday 16th October – Official Receivers Charity gig at Fire Station
I really enjoyed this evening - first of all we had a drink in the Star and Garter before heading over to the fire station for 8.30pm and finding a seat. There was a disco for an hour, with plenty of cheasy disco tunes - just my cup of tea, before the band started. Having seen this band twice before I knew it'd be brilliant, and they didn't disappoint. The audience of a good 200 or 300 lapped it up, the dancefloor was full all night - with most of our group dancing for a lot of the night. Once the band finished at 11.30pm, we had another hour of great tunes and the disco. So all in all, a lot of fun and a lot must have been raised for Myton Hospice!
(Matt D, Tom, Courtney, Matt Cluff, Helen and Dan - and also Craig and Julian)
16th October - NEWS UPDATE
Very much looking forward to a good night tonight at the Fire station's charity gig for Myton Hospice! Some more early news about the next social list - Dave Coolings yearly charity party is this year a Move Night themed affair on Saturday 20th November. Also for anyone who's interested, there's a night out in Coventry in the offing for next Friday(22nd). I've also had some inside info about next month's Warwick Ghost Walk, apparently its much better than the Stratford Ghost Walk, very funny, very scary and a lot of history. Did you know the car park under Warwick Library used to be gallows?!
14th October - NEWS UPDATE
7 tickets have been booked for Saturdays Official Receivers charity gig for Myton Hospice at Leamington Firestation. We'll be meeting just outside the Warwick Street entrance before 7.30pm - for what looks to be a good night. They have a bar and a disco - and what a great cause!! Our charity a few years ago. If anyone else is interested - by all means call and try and get some returns!
At our next club meeting we'll have a vistor from Warwick Rotary - Phil Harris, who will be joining us on our charity walk scheduled for Friday 5th November. Its £10 - all welcome - but please bring a torch, comfortable footwear and clothing and a drink! If you want a poster, let me know.
At our next club meeting we also plan to run a beetle drive game, as a bit of fun, and a potential charity event for the future. It'll be free, but there will be a small prize - probably chocs and drink.
Due to a lack of support, the offer to run a casino on 30th October has been politely declined. Its disappointing, but we have plenty of fundraising opportunities before christmas with the walk, tinshake, carols in the castle and santa's sleigh - so please please all support is hugely appreciated!! We are also at an advanced stage with ball research for next June, after cancelling it in both previous years the board is really committed to making it happen this club year - so we're likely to give people a few choices and then confirm venue very shortly. As always any suggestions or ideas are gratefully received.
Finally, visits by both of our new charities are in the pipeline - expect to hear something shortly. Hopefully at a meeting in November.
Wednesday 13th October – Helen Ley Quiz
Ellen ran her first quiz for us - and did a fantastic job, some very unique rounds, although tough for my small brain! The quiz included a picture round and a proverbs round. Surprise surprise Tom was on John Major's team, and they won by a landslide - but I still enjoyed it! Thanks again to Helen and those who helped.
(Matt D, Tom, Mike and Ellen as quizmaster)
Bonfire Night Charity Walk and Possible Walk tomorrow (Sun 10th) - UPDATE
A great attendance at our club meeting last night! As those of you who attended will know, we have rearranged the charity walk for Friday 5th November (£10, no sponsorship or anything), we will watch the firework display at the Waterman, Hatton, and then walk out towards Warwick and back.
For those of you who like walking, I'm also likely to do a walk tomorrow afternoon (around 6 miles) at 2pm - which will be nice given the forecast and autumnal colours. If you don't have my number, check the contact us tab.
Tom's Football Specials - UPDATE
These aren't on the social list but let me or even better Tom know if you're interested:
Sat 16th Oct - M'boro v Leeds United, live on BBC at Tom's, 5.20pm kick off - drinks and snacks provided by Tom, and then after we have a club night with the Official Receivers charity gig at the fire station!
Sat 6th Nov - the day after our Bonfire Night Charity Walk, Coventry City are playing Tom's team Leeds United at 3pm. Ellen lives very near to the Ricoh Arena so parking and food is available, before taking in what could be quite an entertaining game - if Leed's recent 6-4 defeat is anything to go by. Again, give Tom (or me) a shout!
6th October - UPDATE
Recent regular club member Hannah Earl (formerly Love) became a mother for the first time on Tuesday 5th October - having a baby girl - Martha Ellen Love Earl. A huge contratulations from all at Rotaract!
DON'T FORGET - Thursday's Club Meeting is at the Newbold Comyn Arms while the Moorings remains closed! Hope to see many of you there!
Sunday 26th September – Coventry Blaze v Sheffield
The Ice Hockey is an event that is always popular on the Rotaract social list, Coventry Blaze completed a winning home weekend with a 5-1 success over Sheffield in the Challenge Cup (no fights Dan? Matt). Coventry Blaze always looked in control from the start and finished with a high score to wrap up a good weekend all round. The evening finished off with an interesting conversation in the car on the way home which was mostly about nights out and the amount of pictures I have on facebook with random females! A good evening all round and also well attended as well!
I (Matt) have just had an update from Tom - apparently there was a fight and both players got 2 minutes, he also said a player got sent off for attacking the ref (how can you miss these important facts Dan?) and the Blaze were definitely not in control - it was only because of Sheffields ill discipline!! So in summary - you didn't watch the game at all did you Dan? On your iphone? :-)
(Written by Dan, with input from Tom - also in attendance, Courtney, Claire, Tom, Sina and Ellen)
Monday 20th September – Meal at Prezzo's
Just taking advantage of a voucher for a £1 meal with every full price main course. We enjoyed our food even though it was a very select group!
(Matt D, Dan and Matt C)
Wednesday 15th September – Helen Ley Quiz
Tom made his debut as quizmaster, after being a longtime helen ley quiz regular - and what a natural as quizmaster - they were tough questions but an excellent job done! Unfortunately my team were trashed by 16 points, but we all enjoyed it and had a laugh nevertheless!!
(Matt D, Ellen and Tom as quizmaster)
Sunday 12th September – Guys Cliffe Open Day, and Walk around surrounding area
It was a lovely late summers day and a thoroughly enthralling look around the caves and ruins of Guys Cliffe - who'd think there's a cliffe in landlocked Warwickshire!! A very historic old house - then we did a short 45 minute walk to see the old house from different angles going out towards Old Miverton and returning along the river - and Tom didn't fall in this time!! An enjoyable couple of hours!
(Matt D, Tom and Ellen)
Thursday 9th September – Disc Golf - Last vist of the summer!
The last disc golf of 2010 didn't let us down! For the last disc golf of the year we started as earlier to allow as much light as possible, we started off in sunshine and finished in near darkness. We started off well and it was Matt Cluff who started the strongest, followed by Tom. The highlight of the evening was when Tom accidently fell into the stream after trying to find Anna's disc. The evening closed when darkness started to fall, an enjoyable evening all round and have thoroughly enjoyed disc golf this year!
(Tom, Matt Cluff, Anna and Dan - and written by Dan)
Saturday 4th September - Alton Towers
Well, there isn't a write up coming from Tom. All had a great day - see pics on our facebook pages!
(Tom, Courtney, Louise, Helen Dixon and Helen K)
Wednesday 25th August – The Expendables, Toms Cinema Night
Lots of shooting, lots of action and some comedy to boot, with many legendary names. A really good fun film - good suggestion Tom!
(Matt D, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Sunday 14th August – Rock n Roll Exhibition at Pump Rooms
My first ever trip to the pump rooms (apart from the library next door) despite living in the area all my life. A really good historic look at pop photography in the 50's and 60's - particularly if you like Cliff Richard, the Beetles, Buddy Holly or anyone from that era. They didn't have the camera's we have today!
(Matt D, Tom and Laura)
Wednesday 11th August – Helen Ley Quiz
Time for our monthly trip to Helen Ley to run our quiz and entertain the residents. This time we had a debutant quizmaster in Laura - and what a fine job she did too, despite the toughest ever round - geography, and my team got 1 and a half! The turnout was good, 7 of 8 on my side which was completely female apart from me (some would say including me) and the other team was completely male apart from Anna (I won't say anything Anna!), which the same numbers again. Plus John and a few other familiar faces were there. An enjoyable evening - and well worth missing the England game for!
(Matt D, Tom, Anna and Laura as quizmaster)
Thursday 5th August – CHARITIES FOR 2010/11 ANNOUNCED AT CLUB MEETING
Courtney announced that the Friendship Project won the voting as club charity and she selected Dogs for the Disabled as President's charity. Our first opportunity to raise money for these 2 worthwhile causes is the Moonlit Walk on Saturday 21st August which is open to anyone. Speak to Matt for a poster and further details.
Saturday 31st July – Bon Giovi at Cox's Yard, Stratford
Bon Jovi tributes don't get any better than this lot, at a venue I really like. Lots of good music, and then we went to Chicago Rock to continue the celebration of good music. A good night, and thanks to Dan for driving! Lots of energy from Tom in the dancing stakes, and lots of facebook updates from Dan!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Wednesday 28th July – Leamington Town Walk & Drinks
Well - what a fascinating insight into Leamington's past this was - elephants, the 2nd world war, Leamington's connections with the likes of Brunel, Frank Whittle, Dickens, Churchill, numerous members of the royal family, the reality behind the stunning white frontages of many of Leamingtons buildings, and so on! Sadly the karoake wasn't happening at Willoughby, so instead we had to make do with good old fashioned conversation! An enjoyable evening.
(Matt D, Dan, James, Tom, Courtney, Craig, Claire, Anna, Alex and partner Jess, Paul and Kate from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 22nd July – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to Leamington Tenpin for a few months and Dan was on decent form with 2 wins and 2 scores of 127 - I won't inflate his already large ego by saying it was anything other than decent. In the other game, Matt Cluff won first time round, and then I had a rare win in a low scoring contest. Much good banter was had, we then played around on the games afterwards. A good night. I won't do a blog for James birthday night - what happen's on these nights can stay out of the public domain! :-)
(Matt D, Dan, Matt Cluff, James and Lucy his girlfriend, Laura, Anna and Alex)
Sunday 18th July – Warwick Rotary Thai Festival
The Rotaract lads put a shift in again in the name of charity! The 5 strong group all adorning the new Rotaract t-shirts met up at 5.30pm to help clear away, at the end of what appeared a really successful day where Warwick celebrated Thai food and culture. We collected litter, and helped move chairs, tables and barriers. We then headed to the Zetland, sat outside and had a pint while torturing a wasp in a jar - it had a happy ending as the wasp was released. Warwick Rotary were appreciative of our efforts and their president said they would visit one of our meetings very soon, and that a cheque was on its way to us for £200 for our support of their events. Hopefully in the next 12 months we can do even more as our club gets stronger! I was then home just in time to watch Top Gear - happy days!
(Matt D, Tom, James, Dan and Matt C)
Saturday 17th July – Warwick Lions Beer Festival
After paying £4 for the bus, £5 to get into the beer tent and then £5 for the drink tokens, we finally got our first beer and sat down in the centre of the drafty racecourse. To drafty for us, so we went inside - sampled various beers and witnessed 1 or 2 people in the marquee getting a bit rowdy, then Dan dropped us into Leam. We had a sharp drink with Paul before he headed back to Coventry, and me and Tom went to koko's for a couple.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan and Paul Griffin from Cov Rotaract)
Wednesday 13th July – Helen Ley Quiz
Anna volunteered to be quizmaster this time, in partnership with Dan who prepared the questions. Very good questions too, although a few of us really struggled with the Sherlock Holmes round. It was really tight throughout and tied going into the final round. Despite the other team losing John Major for the last round which was sport, against all odds the team with only 4 people beat the team of 7 by 1 point! It was the first time Tom had lost for a long time, probably not helped by the presence of me on his team!!
(Matt D, Tom, Ellen, Laura and Anna as quizmaster)
*NEWS* - Tuesday 13th July - James announces new Rotaract forum for all members to discuss ideas etc - http://lwrotaract.freeforums.org
Friday 9th - Saturday 10th July – 24 hour Football Marathon for Charity
While this wasn't a club event I'm giving it a quick write up because it was organised by 3 former club members in Dave Gibb, Neil Collins and Mark Constable, and it was supported fantastically by our own James Lovatt who played 7 hours on Saturday morning. What a star! Former club president, welshman and allround top man Dewi Williams also made an appearance between 2am and 10am. Dave Cooling made an appearance too, although only to support the lads. 1 or 2 others with links to the club were involved. At the last count well over £1,000 was raised for the homeless word cup charity. For more info see:
http://www.warwickathletic.co.uk/
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/
Warwick Athletic was originally started by Rotaract back 7 or 8 years ago!
Thursday 8rd July – 2nd visit to Disc Golf of summer 2010
Another fine warm evening at Quarry Park where this time we had a guest from Coventry, who basically showed us how its done. Paul ended up winning by a few shots, closely followed by Tom, James, Matt, me, and then a long way back Dan and Anna. The entertainment was again provided by Dan who seemed to have some magnetic thing going on between the disc and his head. It was one of those classic comedy moments when James caught him on the back of the head from distance and Dan shouts "James!" in a semi aggressive retort. There were numerous other near misses, but then he did keep getting in the way and was often found on his iphone instead of concentrating on the game. Other incidents included Matt Cluff walking on an upturned boat, which then collapsed and he fell in, and quite a long break as one of James typically powerful yet mega wild shots flew into some undergrowth - so we all had to find it. Check out facebook for some pics from the evenings entertainment!!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=5550648125
(Matt D, Matt C, Tom, James, Dan, Anna and Paul Griffin from Cov)
Email circulated on charities, vote to take place at next meeting on Thursday 15th July. For those not present you will be able to submit votes via email. Charities to be unveiled at meeting on August 5th.
Saturday 3rd July – Riding for the Disabled Cheque Presentation
A few of us drove over to Shrewley on the other side of Warwick to present a cheque of £940 from last years fundraising to Riding for the Disabled. Like the WNAA presentation last month, it was very satisfying to hand the money over - we took a few snaps and headed off. Check out our facebook pages for pictures!
(Matt D, Matt C, Helen D and Courtney)
Tuesday 29th June – Burnt Post Grill and Quiz Night, Coventry
On a very warm evening we met up with the Cov Rotaract clan to try our hands at the Burnt Post Quiz. We didn't quiz get up to the heights of 4th place like last time, but we got a very similar score again thanks to the quiz brilliance of Tom - I think we were about 6th out of 12. I know I'm poor at quizzes, but it was good fun, and the food and atmosphere is always good in here. I'm sure we'll be back for more.
(Matt D, Matt C, Ellen, Tom, James, plus 4 from Cov Rotaract)
Sunday 27th June – Picnic at Mill Gardens and Eng v Ger at Pub
Well, I enjoyed the picnic and sun - and making 2 new friends in Matt Cluff's kids, who seems to liked me, ha - but the trip afterwards to Robbins Well to watch England was depressing even by England's standards. A 4-1 defeat, urggh!
At least the sun shining on what was the hottest day of the year helped to get me over the loss! Next up a trip to the Burnt Post in Coventry on Tuesday for a quiz and a chance to catch up with that nice bunch from Coventry Rotaract.
(Matt D, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Matt C, Claire & Ellen)
Sunday 20th June – World Cup Night at Matt D's
A good game, some snacks, a drink and a bit of conversation - more importantly, an excellent host!
(Matt D, Tom and Matt C)
Saturday 19th June – End of Year Meal, Bistro Pierre
Nice food indeed! Courtney arranged for some free giveaways for everyone, Helen and Dan were recognised for their contributions over the year, and I did a quick run through of some of the things we've been upto over the year. Afterwards Dan left us for a night out in Northampton - boo, and the rest of us went to Sozzled Sausage, Voodoo and then Mumbai.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the year, however much - it all counts!! We continue to do good work, and have a bit of fun at the same time!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Louise, Courtney, Matt C, Nick, Helen D, Claire & Ellen)
Wednesday 16th June – Helen Ley Quiz
This time I did the questions, and after a seriously mad rush - including some speedy driving and wolfing some food down I picked Tom up and we did our latest quiz at Helen Ley. A decent turn out of 4 or 5 of of the residents on each team and 1 from Rotaract. We did rounds involving; History, 1980 (as it was my b'day last week), South Africa and Famous Quotes - my world cup round wasn't used. The quotes proved particularly difficult - I thought the residents were going to revolt! Surprise surprise Tom and John Major's team was victorious! Another enjoyable evening.
I also discovered on the news tonight that there is a serious risk of Helen Ley closing down after MS Society declared they would be withdrawing their funding in 12 months. Lets hope they find a backer!!
(Matt D, Tom and Laura)
Monday 14th June – World Cup Night at Tom's
We visited Tom's new place for a bit of footy and general chat. Beer and pizza was also on offer. The game (Italy v Paraguay) was okay, with Italy just about scraping a draw.
(Matt D, Tom and Matt C)
Thursday 10th June – Coventry Rotaract Beetle Drive Event
Another really good fundraising event organised by Coventry Rotaract at the cricket club down Binley Road, Coventry. This time the name of the game was passing a dice around a table of 4, and needing different numbers on the dice to draw a beetle, i.e. first you need a 6 to draw the body, then 5 for a head, 4 for a wing, 3 for a leg and so - the loser would move one way, and the winner the opposite way. So you'd get the chance to network with different people. The first person to draw a complete beetle shouts out "beetle". A fairly simple game once you get into it, but great fun. Coventry Rotaract raised £175 on the night, and again we got to find out a bit more about the new Rugby Rotaract.
(Matt D, Matt C, Tom, Dan, Ellen)
Sunday 6th June – 2 Castles Run Marshalling
After their all dayer yesterday, Tom and Helen were at it again today helping support this event. Matt Cluff and Tom were stationed at Kenilworth Castle and Helen at Woodloes Island near Saxon Mill. Great work again guys, I'm sure we'll get another donation for our charities.
(Tom, Matt C and Helen Dixon)
Saturday 5th June – Coventry Rotaract BBQ
A group of us headed over to Canley in Coventry as Paul Griffin of Coventry Rotaract invited us to their BBQ. We arrived at 6.30pm and stayed until gone midnight, including much conversation, some fun and games with the barbeque and some action on his wii. Had a really good night and discussed doing a few things together in the near future, we also got to meet the young group from Rugby Rotaract who were present. We've also invited them to any of our events/meetings and given them our details and social list.
(Matt D, Tom, James, Matt C and Dan)
Saturday 5th June – Kenilworth Agricultural Show, 9am until 5.30pm
Again we used the hammer slammer like last month at the Kenilworth Festival, yet this time we also had our own white Rotaract t-shirts, a gazibo, and a couple of other competitions - all thanks to the fantastic work of Helen Dixon and her family. Helen was at the stand all day, as was Tom - what stars they are!! From the 3 hours I was there, it seemed really good with a steady flow of "business". We raised £76 for our funds. See our facebook pages for many pictures from the day.
(Helen D & Tom all day, with Dan, Matt D, Claire and James)
Sunday 30th May – Helping St Mary's Immaculate Church Celebrations
On a sunny but very blustery day me, Tom, James and Courtney helped this local catholic church with their 150th anniversary celebrations, I was serving local beer at the bar, Courtney serving tea and coffee and Tom and James helping with the skittles game. A really enjoyable afternoon, with some nice complimentary food thrown in and an extremely generous £200 donation given towards our two charities. Very pleasing! Me, Tom and James then went to a pub to reward our efforts.
Earlier in the week I also took a cheque for £50 round to former member Ian Grime's as a club donation from our admin account for his charity canoe "adventure" from Leamington to Stratford, going to the worthy cause of Birmingham Childrens Hospital. His fundraising efforts have now passed the £400 mark, so a big well done from all of us at Rotaract!
(Matt D, Tom, James and Courtney)
Thursday 27th May – Quarry Park Disc Golf
It was a fine evening with plenty of blue sky and fairly warm as we set off, it quickly became clear that despite not playing before both James and Matt Cluff were actually pretty good at this frisbee throwing lark. A sign of the later drama was quickly beginning to develop as I consistently threw my frisbee off at angles into nearby, and distant trees and foliage. Yep, I found the River Avon, then shortly after James did the same - although at least I paid for mine! We had several instances of throwing our discs into trees, while Ellen was holding up the tail, Matt Cluff went on to win the night. Dan didn't feature in the top 3 - he was saving himself for his trip to Oslo for Saturdays "event of the year" - Eurovision! Hands up if anyone else agrees that a) we shouldn't enter anymore and b) it should be relegated to BBC4! All in all a good laugh and an enjoyable evening - and damn chilly by the end!!
Check out our facebook group for plenty of pictures from the evenings entertainment!
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, James, Tom, Ellen and Claire)
Sunday 23rd May – NEW PICS ADDED TO OUR FACEBOOK GROUP!
Sunday 23rd May – WNAA Cheque Presentation
On a real pearler of a Sunday afternoon with only the occasional fluffy white cloud breaking up the pure blue sky - we presented the Air Ambulance (our charity from last year) with a cheque for £940. It was after the annual Air Ambulance 5k that we presentated our cheque near the helicopter itself - visit our facebook pages for many pictures, along with some good shots from last weeks Kenilworth festival. It does give you a nice sense of achievement to hand over some money that concludes quite a bit of time and effort in fundraising - very rewarding!
As it was such a nice day after the cheque presentation me and Tom went for an enjoyable walk starting from Kenilworth castle, taking in a lot of history (including King Henry V's pleasure palace set 1km away from castle), before meeting Matt C for a refreshing drink at the Queen and Castle where we stayed for almost 2 hours soaking up the sun.
(Matt D, Matt C, Louise and Dan)
Saturday 22nd May – Banbury/Leamington Night out
We jumped on the train and headed down to Banbury for Courtney's local Toby Carvery where she also works 1 day a week - had a large meal before hitting a few bars in the lively nightspot of Banbury!! We found Dan a nice nickname that he rather liked, finished in a bar/club called Fever playing loads of cheesy songs, but we had to leave to catch the last train back. Once in Leamington we headed for Rios, my first trip of 2010! My personal highlight - the way Dan enjoyed and danced to an Ndubz song! Classic! We didn't stay right until the end, left at 2.30am.
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, Tom, Lucy P - for meal only, Courtney and Craig)
Sunday 16th May – Kenilworth Festival, Hammer Slammer
A glorious day of sunshine and a fantastic team effort was on offer at a packed Kenilworth Festival in the heart of Warwickshire! Much appreciation must go to Helen and her dad an ex rotary member who brought a Hammer Slammer to the festival this provided great fun during the day and we raised £75 for our chosen charities through giving people the opportunity to have a hit to see how high they could score! We were also fortunate to have a promo stand there as well so people could read about all the different social & charity events we do. Next to us was a live stage where live music was provided, what more could we ask for? Sunshine, Music, and a great event to top it all off!!!
Written by Dan.
(Dan, Tom, Louise, Helen D, James, Ellen, Matt C, Matt D and Anna)
Wednesday 12th May – Helen Ley Quiz
No write up - but I hear it went well!
(Helen D, James, Ellen)
Sunday 9th May – Ian Grimes Charity Canoe paddle
Well done to former club member Ian Grime who completed the course from Warwick to Stratford in a canoe, raising over £300 in the process for Birmingham Childrens Hospice.
Wednesday 5th May – Charity Skydive
Nick and Helen Dixon went over to Cambridgeshire to do their charity skydive in aid of Phab and Zoes Place - our 2 charities for this year. Apparently there were a few nerves, but overall it sounds like they really enjoyed the experience - plus they've raised around £700 - loads of bottle and an allround great experience. Well done to both from everyone at Leamington & Warwick Rotaract!
(Nick and Helen Dixon with Matt C watching)
Thursday 29th April – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
I didn't actually go to this, but apparently Matt won both games and a good evening was had.
(Matt C, Nick, Rachel, James, Anna and Ellen)
Sunday 25th April – Harbury Walk
Originally my hangover cure was to do a walk organised by Pooley Country Park over by Tamworth, but that was cancelled by the park due to lack of numbers. Instead we sampled some lovely countryside around the nice village of Harbury, just south of Leamington on a sunny and warm April afternoon. A bit of history was added to the melting pot, finishing with a cold drink at an old fashioned country pub.
(Matt D, Tom and Dan)
Saturday 24th April – Matt's Birthday Night out
This was all about celebrating Matt's 30th birthday, and I think he enjoyed his night. We took in numerous bars around Leamington before hitting the launch night of the Assembly Room's Classics Night - with music from the 90's and 00's. I think Tom and Matt in particular burnt quite a few calories on that dancefloor! We also bumped into Louise with her hen party in fancy dress in the assembly.
(Matt C, Matt D, Claire, Tom, James, Nick and Rachel)
Tuesday 20th April – Grill Night and Quiz at the Burnt Post, Coventry
A good turnout and an enjoyable evening. Some decent food (and cheap) followed by a Tom inspired quiz performance, ably supported by the rest of us. We ended up finishing 3rd or 4th out of 12 teams! Tom - I still don't believe Yorkshire folk have roast dinners every day of the week!
(Matt D, Tom, James, Matt C, Nick, Rachel, Ellen, Katie and Ant)
Friday 16th April – Night at the Dogs, Hall Green
A smaller turn out than our previous two visits, but great fun again on a clear but chilly evening. I won on 4 out of 10 races again using the experts tip from the racecard - my wins only paid for my other bets mindyou. Tom also had a flutter on a tip from one of Dan's mates on facebook - making use of his iphone! As last time, the journey there and back featured a lot of cheesy tunes from a £2 CD that Tom brought specifically for this trip! Do we know how to live!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and James)
Saturday 10th April – Royal Priors Tinshake for Zoes Place
A lovely sunny and warm day, although a poor turn out after the £110 we raised when we were last here in January. Still waiting to find out how much we raised, but while there were many generous people I don't think we got close to that figure. All counts though and our stand covered in Zoes place material was good promotion for Zoe's Place which is a fairly new charity. We also wore nice yellow Zoe's Place tshirts.
(Dan, Matt D, Tom and Louise)
Sunday 28th March – Matt's Walk, 1st of the year, nr Offchurch
Come on, where were you all?! A nice Sunday afternoon - a nice walk in the country that costs nothing! We started off by walking up the Offchurch Greenway, which used to be part of the Leamington to Rugby line, walking along the Grand Union Canal for a good distance, before turning onto an extremely muddy track with lots of puddles. The last leg of the walk involved returning along the disused railway, however, first we had to get down from the track to the railway - and believe me, it was a very high steel bridge, Tom was keen to slide down the high almost vertical drop - thankfully he didn't. I had visions of accidents happening! We were further down a field and go onto it that way. We encountered quite a few more huge puddles and mud before returning to a dryer path. Some pleasant views of the Warwickshire countryside were enjoyed before arriving back at my car. Next time I want more of you to join me!! :-(
(Matt D and Tom)
Thursday 25th March – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Usually a well attended regular event and a particularly impressive turnout this time. We split across 3 lanes with groups of 5. I was on the middle lane and we were the highest scoring lane over the 2 games, helped by some dynamite-like bowling from Dave Cooling - making a guest appearance. We witnessed yet more spectacular competitiveness from Dan - where glory was dramatically pinched from his grasp right at the death in the second game to the joy of the watching hoards - well, not hoards, just the rest of us! I finished last in our second game - even beaten by Louise! Oh well!!
(Matt D, Dan, Claire, Louise, Katie, Ant, Nick, Anna, Courtney, Ellen, James, plus guests Dave Cooling, Rachel, another Matt and Craig)
Thursday 25th March – £100 awarded to club
The Coventry University charity committee (where I work) have topped up the money raised from our recent quiz night by an extra £100.
Saturday 20th March – Cox's Yard, Stratford
When we went to see the Official Receivers back in September I absolutely loved it, and again it was fantastic this time round, a really good night. Some great music at a great venue. I think judging by the dancing and numerous photo's being taken all the others enjoyed it too. Me, Dan and Tom rounded the night off by going to Chicago Rock - and yet more music and dancing!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Louise, Katie and Ant)
Friday 19th March – Dave Coolings Charity Ball, The Glebe, Barford
Dave C’s Heart Foundation Balls offers an opportunity for us Rotarackis to put on our best frocks and dance the night away, all in a good cause. Tom, Matt C and Nick appeared like a triumvirate of James Bonds whilst Helen D + Claire added the glamour with stunnin black dresses. Whilst the dance floor was taken up with older couples doing energetic seroc dancing, eventually the rock came on and Tom led the group in full blown air guitar “handbag” dancing which had the serocers stunned. They didn’t join in, merely waited until Tom had finished his craziness. One lesson to learn is always plan your journey in advance – getting a bus to the Longbridge island and then running in the pouring rain to Barford in a tuxedo is a very stupid thing to do…!!!!
Written by Tom.
(Matt C, Nick, Helen D, Claire and Tom)
Wednesday 17th March – Helen Ley Quiz
Its that time of the month again - Helen Ley Quiz time! This was my turn to do the questions - and having realised last night that today was St Patricks day I quickly rattled up a St Patricks day round, well, you've got to haven't you - so hopefully the residents learnt a bit about Ireland from tonight. From Rotaract we had the regular Tom and Ellen making her debut appearance. Unlike most visits we only had 3 residents on each team, they and I still really enjoyed the night. John was again there, and on the winning side captained by Tom. I also did a Comedians and Clowns round, and an interesting general knowledge round where every answer ended with "o" and was 4 letters long!! I think it was enjoyed by all - but I won't count my chickens!
(Matt D, Tom and Ellen)
Saturday 13th March – Trip to Cadbury World & Live Music at the Moorings
Using some discount vouchers we had we went to Cadbury World to have a nose, sample some chocolate and find out about the history of chocolate and one of the most famous British brands of all. Nick was on fine form, doing a handstand on the camera where your image is covered in chocolate, while Matt was trying to pinch additional chocolate from the factory. Both of them bought half of the cadbury's shop!
In the evening we went to the Moorings and enjoyed some fine music - mostly covers were played, including songs from Van Morrison, Elton John and many many others. Some of the talk was a little x rated, but that's often the consequence of having Louise around on a night out! A really enjoyable afternoon and evening!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Claire and Louise during the evening)
Thursday 11th March – Prezzo's Meal
That was a good shout! For 10 quid we had a drink, a starter and a main course - and nice food too! Sitting on a roundtable so no avoiding people - I always try to avoid that Dan Wearden! Then after the meal we went to Satchwells for a drink!
(Matt D, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Hannah, Lucy and James)
Monday 1st March – Slug & Lettuce Meal
Not the incidents we had on our last trip here (me dropping my plate on the floor!), really enjoyed the food again and had a good chat - although quite a bit of a wait for the food! Excellent value for money (50% off all food), and a good way to start the week/month - even despite the company of Dan and his phone.
(Matt D, Dan, Nick, Matt C and Louise)
Sunday 28th February – Haiti Fundraising Day, Ricoh Arena
I thought I'd put this on even though only me and Dan went. It actually turned out to be a really enjoyable afternoon with some good music and dancing on the main stage, interspersed with celebrity spotting - numerous stars from soaps like Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Casualty. All in aid of the recent Haiti Earthquake.
(Matt D and Dan)
Saturday 27th February – Leamington & Warwick Rotaract Annual Quiz
What a successful night! A big thanks and well done to Louise, and all those who helped and came along and enabled us to raise in the region of £450. This includes a donation of £135 from The Moorings from their new years eve pyjama party. A very nice and surprising bonus. There were around 70 people who attended and a staggering 22 teams! No surprise that the winning team contained Dave Gibb (twice past president of the club) and former member and good friend of the club Dave Cooling! One of the most successful quizzes of recent years and taking our yearly fundraising total past £1,100 with a lot still to come!!
A big thanks also to Coventry Rotaract who brought 2 teams along, and all the Rotarians who supported us!!
(Louise quizmaster, Tom, Nick, Helen, Matt D and Anna helping - Courtney and Matt C on teams)
Friday 12th February – Comedy at the Glee Club in Birmingham
We all made our separate way to Birmingham and met up at New Street before heading to the Glee Club. We made it harder than it should've been, but once we were there - what a good night it was!! It was my first trip there, it was quite a small intimate venue, with lots of tables and chairs closely packed in. The 3 acts and compere were all very different but hilariously funny - although some of them probably not for the easily offended! One vocal girl in the audience was thrown out for being too rowdy after the 3rd act of the evening absolutely laid into her, but she still wouldn't shut up. I had to leave early to catch my train, so snook out and moved quickly - I don't think he noticed me! On leaving the club, the rowdy drunken girl was loudly arguing with the bouncer - I wanted to stick around, but knew I had a train to catch. To anyone who hasn't been - I strongly recommend it! Hopefully we can do it again sometime!
(Matt, Nick, Matt C and Hannah B)
Thursday 11th February – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our monthly visit to bowling, and the usual mix of competitiveness, particularly from Dan, and the general thrills and spills - plus a visit from Melissa. There was a good turnout so we split across 2 lanes. On one side all the girls and Matt C, and the other side the rest of us plus Melissa. Dan started off pretty well and won, then Ant won the next game by a country mile and I snook into second. Dan finished a disappointing 4th! Overall, Ant winning, that's right isn't it Dan? I think Matt C won both games on the less interesting other lane! (sorry if you were on that lane, I'm sure it was great!) Then afterwards I had to trek down the road to the Mothercare car park as the Tenpin car park was pull, beats parking where you shouldn't park, like Dan! Disabled - pah!
(Matt, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Katie, Anna, Melissa, Ruth and Ant)
Wednesday 10th February – Helen Ley Quiz
Nick took a turn at being the "hostess with the mostess" of the Helen Ley Quiz for this month. He also included one of the rarities which is a picture round, and in colour too! (I'm impressed Nick - Matt) Pity it was a "I'm a Celebrity Get me out of here" round rendering Tom useless. Tom's "Simply the Best(ish)" team wiped the floor with Claire + Dan's "3 girls plus 2" and gave them one hell of a hiding with an impressive 33 out of 40. Afterwards Dan and Claire got a guided tour whilst Tom and Nick chatted with the teams about Ancient Greece Architecture and drinking games/pub crawls.
Written by Tom.
(Nick - quizmaster, Tom, Dan and Claire)
Saturday 6th February – Ryton Pools Volunteering
This Saturday a group of Rotaracters gave up our afternoon to volunteer at Ryton Pools Country Park near Ryton. The weather was cold, but with joy in our hearts, we boldly marched on together up a hill where hedge laying was in progress. This involved bashing in of stakes and weaving branches in between them. Sounded like girls work so Tom and the park ranger Craig left to drive about in the buggy, chainsaw up logs and manually chop firewood - yes Tom learned an important manly skill and was very macho for a limited time! Events took a surreal twist when Craig and Tom had to stop the chopping and go and plant a memorial tree for a family who had suffered a bereavement, but the family were very appreciative, even though Tom was wearing a hoody. We then met the others and decided it was time to end and so if was back to the visitor centre for tea and biscuits.
Written by Tom.
(Dan, Tom and Helen K)
Friday 5th February – Taybarns Meal & Lazerquest
Going to an all you can eat venue is always very appealing but going to Taybarns (not Tayburns Dan!) added a new dimension to food. A great evening was had by all as we started by helping ourselves to all kinds of food which was available, this included a carvery, fast food, salad and some nice desserts. We were lucky enough to have some free drinks vouchers which Nick had. We then went across to Quasar and had a great game of lazerquest with Coventry Rotaract. We had a team of 9 and it was action packed. The game went at a fast pace, we won the game so we were happy. All in all a very good night was had by all, some tasty food followed by a good game of lazerquest can't be bad at all.
Written by Dan!
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, Nick, plus 3 from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 4th February – Club Meeting - £600 cheque presented to club!
As a general rule I don't tend to include write ups from club meetings, unless something interesting happens, so this is an exception. Once again we were pleased to welcome former member Dave Cooling to our meeting to promote his forthcoming charity ball at the Glebe, but to our surprise he presented us with a cheque for £600 for our help with Roundtable's Santa's Sleigh. So a big thanks to Dave and everyone at Roundtable, and a big thanks to everyone at the club who gave up some of their time to help with what is now a very popular event. We also discussed the £107 raised at the tinshake, as well as forthcoming planned events such as a camping weekend away between 29th-31st May and a skydive by Nick, Helen D and possibly Ant in aid of our charities.
Saturday 30th January – Tinshake at Royal Priors in aid of PHAB
A successful day was spent raising money for Phab in the Royal Priors. As well as a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of the club in the local area, we were joined by Simon La Barbera who is Chairman of Warwick and Leamington Phab. Simon helped throughout the day to support us with our charity collection and it was a great opportunity for us to work closely together, whilst getting a much better idea of what Phab provide for their members and the valuable work that they do. We have invited Simon to come and visit the club so we look forward to seeing him at one of our meetings in the near future. We raised over £100, so well done to all involved!
Written by Charlotte
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, Louise, Claire and Charlotte)
Monday 25th January – Half Price Meal at Slug & Lettuce
This was an eventful trip - food was lovely, service was poor and I dropped my plate!! Ruth had finished her main course before Louise had even started her main course, and while Louise was giving the waitress some polite "feedback" she was informed that it wasn't her problem, while this was going on I somehow skillfully dropped my plate of food on the floor in such a way that all that I lost was some of the many leaves/garnish on my tasty tostada that I didn't really want, and a few tomatos that would later appear in the vicinity of my seat! Enjoyable though, despite the setbacks, you have to laugh!
(Matt D, Louise, Matt C, Anna, Claire and Ruth)
Friday 22nd January – Hall Green Dogs
Our second trip to the dogs didn't disappoint, although Dan's driving and musical tastes left a lot to be desired. In fact, I've never had a journey quite like it - never have I quite feared for my life so much, and I can't believe I still have my hearing in tact. On the night, I won 3 of the 11 or 12 races I betted on, which wasn't bad, got a few quid back. The others won a few races too, it was a fairly mild evening by recent standards and it stayed dry. The return journey was just as action packed as the outward trip, except this time Dan and Tom decided to sing as well - and don't spend 10 mins looking to your right when you're driving past an airport, keep your eyes on the road mate!!
(Matt D, Nick, Dan, Tom, Louise and Helen D)
Saturday 16th January – Leamington Pub Night
We gatecrashed Louises' mate - Jo's birthday drinks. Starting at the Jug and Jester, before having a quick drink at Satchwells and spending most of the evening in Mumbai Blu. A good night, although no nightclub!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Louise, albeit unofficially and her mate Jo and Lucy and her partner)
Wednesday 13th January – Helen Ley Quiz/Pub Night
I'd prepared my questions, I was ready for a quiz, but instead we ended up having an evening at the pub watching Liverpool lose to Reading in the cup! It was a freezing evening, with a lot of snow around and sadly Helen Ley only had 12 residents of which only 3 were up for a quiz, so instead it was cancelled and we went to the Copperpot in Leamington. My questions won't be wasted though, I'll use them for the March quiz.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Ant and Katie)
Tuesday 5th January – Burnt Post Grill Night with Coventry Rotaract
Despite the large amounts of snow and difficult driving conditions quite a big crowd made it out. 5 from L&W Rotaract and 5 from Coventry Rotaract. Some nice food (and very cheap given all their offers) and good conversation, with a quiz thrown in for good measure. Everyone seems keen to carry on doing events together in future - and they are a great bunch - despite Paul Griffin's consistent micky taking out of the fact that me and Dan were both wearing a shirt and tank top! (yeah, as well as clothes covering up the lower half) I owe you one Paul, I won't forget! An enjoyable night!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Dan, Helen D and 5 from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 31st December – Assembly Rooms, New Years Party!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Sometime New Year can be a bit of a damp squib (nice word that!) but this was great, so thanks to everyone who came along! It was packed, the music was brilliant, and the company was pretty good too! Started off in the Jug and Jester, although I did join a bit later than the others who met up very early on. Louise was hassling the manager of the Jug and Jester, getting pictures of them both together - no one is safe when Louise is around. Shy is certainly not a word to describe our Louise! Then at about 9.30pm we headed to the Assembly Rooms. It wasn't long before we were dancing the night away - but where oh where was Auld Lang Syne?!?!
(Matt D, Nick, Helen D, Louise and Claire)
Sunday 27th December – Bowling, Leamington Tenpin
Another competitive dual thanks to the likes of Nick and Ant. On Sundays they have a 3 games for £5 offer, so we got a bonus game thrown in. We split into groups of 3 and 4, with Matt C, Nick and Helen D on 1 side for the first games, which I think Matt won (or maybe Nick). On the other game Ant won convincingly, beating Ruth - with me and Melissa contesting last place. For the 2nd game we swapped things around slightly so that Ant could test himself against Nick and Matt in an all male contest. Nick won the 2nd and then Ant won the 3rd. In our game Ruth easily won the 2nd game - an all girls game, with me being an honoury girl (say nothing!). I won the final game when everyone else was too tired, and a seriously low scoring game with a record number of gutter balls!! I think Ant is probably the unofficial Rotaract bowling and betting champion - although I intend to challenge the betting crown next month at Hall Green, and I'm sure Nick and Dan will take issue with the bowling tag!! I think Helen and Melissa are the unofficial Gutter Queens - that sounds nice doesn't it! :-)
(Matt D, Matt C, Nick, Melissa, Helen D, Ruth and Ant)
Friday 25th December – HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!
Wednesday 23rd December – Pre-Christmas Drinks, White Horse
I'd been out with the family, so only joined the fun towards the end of the evening, but it was fairly late by that point yet no one had left and everyone seemed in good spirits - so I think a good night was had. Dan was full of excitement after getting an early christmas present - an iplayer. I can't believe I managed to slide my way back to my mum's without hitting the deck - it was skiddier than your average ice skating rink!!
(Matt - later on, Louise, Katie G, Claire, Helen D, Ant and Ruth, Dan, Nick and Matt C)
Tuesday 22nd December – Santa's Sleigh
While many others have helped out on different dates during the last couple of weeks, I thought I'd do a write up for my first appearance helping with this. It was an absolutely freezing evening and the roads were very slippy, but it was worthwhile to see kids getting excited at the visit of santa - even though it was Louise! She passes off well as santa, could be a future in it for you Louise!! Very satisfying collecting a bit of money for Warwick Roundtable and all the local causes that they support.
A big thanks to all the others who have helped this year, probably forgotten a few but Louise, Nick, Helen D, Helen K, Tom, Melissa, Ruth, Courtney and I think Claire and the other Matt have all given some of their time to help raise money! Great work folks!!
(Matt, Louise and Helen D)
Saturday 19th December – Carols in the Castle
Oh come ye oh faithful, joyful and triumphant...........what an enjoyable evening!! Damn freezing, but good fun. Our group of 7 was split between the jacket potato, tea/coffee and soup stalls - with most of us serving soup - although the tasty tomato and basil soup wasn't as popular as it should've been, with a bit of singing to boot! After 3 hours of standing outside in sub zero temperatures we went to the Moorings and sat by the fire while a really good band provided the entertainment, and quite a lot of snow fell outside!! All in all - very good!
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Claire, Helen D, Ant and Ruth)
Wednesday 16th December – Helen Ley Quiz
The last quiz for 2009 was certainly interesting. The Tiny's v The Xmas Plonkers was the line up for the evening. The rounds included general knowledge, geography, 2009, nouns and fruit connections. The 1st round was very close and a particular question about Cluedo really had both teams guessing. The next round was about geography, a very interesting topic and the Tiny's did well on this round as they had John on their team, a living legend who is particularly strong on this round. 2009 was always a year to remember and both teams did well on this round. The evening finished with the Tiny's winning on 35 points and the Xmas Plonkers on 27. A very enjoyable night was had by all.
Written by Dan.
(Dan - quizmaster, Claire, Ruth, Helen D and Nick)
Saturday 5th December – Christmas Meal at Paprika Club, L'Spa
5 or 6 of us met up at Voodoo for a pre meal drink. There was then a crowd of 9 for the meal, and we had the nice room upstairs - although the gents were a little on the tropical side, some kind of heating problem I think! The food was great but we had to wait quite a while for our main course - getting a free Baileys for our trouble. After Paprika we went to Willoughby, stayed in there for quite a while where Nick took quite a number of pictures for facebook as well as breaking a glass. Half of us moved on to Mumbai Blu and some went to Rios. An enjoyable evening - although on this occasion I was too tired for Rios so gave it a miss! *shock news*
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Helen D, Courtney, Tim and Lucy P)
Tuesday 1st December – Bowling Night at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to bowling since early October - how long ago does that seem now? Once again another great turnout for this social event. Ant won both games in his group of 4, also featuring Matt C, Claire and Helen D. My group had Dan, Anna and Nick. Dan won the first and Nick the second. I was generally rubbish, finishing last and 3rd. I've lost it - if I ever had it! After bowling at around 10ish Louise and Katie joined us and we went to the White Horse for a drink where we found a nice sofa to home in on, some board games and Dan's facebook pictures to entertain us!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Claire, Anna, Helen D, Louise and Katie G)
Monday 30th November - SANTA'S SLEIGH 2009
Once again Leamington and Warwick Rotaract is looking to support Warwick Roundtable and our former member Dave Cooling, aka Santa (shhhhh) with this fantastic event, which always raises a lot of money for good local causes. We need to drum up as much interest as possible by the end of next weekend - Dec 6th, as their first outing is shortly after this date. I've excluded those dates where they already have plenty of support. Its more enjoyable if there's a decent group of us on a few dates. The slots are as follows (people currently interested in brackets):
Wed 9th Dec - Chase Meadow - 6pm-9pm (Matt D?)
Thu 10th Dec - Spinney Hill - 6pm-9pm (Katie G)
Sat 12th Dec - Shires Retail Park - 9am-1pm (Tom)
Sat 12th Dec - Shires Retail Park - 1pm-4pm
Thu 17th Dec - Myton Road - 6pm-9pm CLUB MEETING NIGHT (Katie G)
Sat 19th Dec - Sainsbury's, Leamington Spa - 9am-1pm
Sat 19th Dec - Sainsbury's, Leamington Spa - 1pm-4pm (Helen D)
Sun 20th Dec - Lidl, Leamington Spa - 9am-1pm
Sun 20th Dec - Lidl, Leamington Spa - 1pm-4pm
Mon 21st Dec - Woodloes - 6pm-9pm (Claire, Matt C, Nick)
Tue 22nd Dec - Warwick Gates - 6pm-9pm (Helen D, Matt D?)
Wed 23rd Dec - Packmores - 6pm-9pm
Thu 24th Dec - Sainsbury's, Warwick - TBC
(Please note that night collections leave from Warwick School, Junior school car park in the tennis court area at 6pm and return by 9pm latest)
Saturday 28th November – Leamington Pub Night
On a dismal wet and cold evening we started off at the Star and Garter and then Tom's cunning plan of drawing the next pub out of a hat came into fruition, so on we moved to Willoughby's. Me and t'other Matt sat in rather grand thrown like seats, and I certainly wasn't the queen. On we went to Satchwell's, then we went to the Assembly Rooms, unfortunately while Tom had a ticket, they weren't selling them on the door, so Tom managed to sell his own ticket and we went and joined the others in the Duke (formerly Yates). Shortly after we moved on to Koko's, and after Tom consumed a couple of shots we soon closed in on the dancefloor on the 1st floor. Dan's coat was pinched and hidden, and Tom continued to knock back the drink, including numerous shots! If he didn't have a very sore head, I'd be very surprised. I left shortly before the others (unlike me) as I had an early start on Sunday - an interesting night, but a good one in the end!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan - albeit quite a bit later, Nick, Matt C and Helen D)
Thursday 26th November – Victorian Evening
This didn't quite go to plan, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. By the time our group was together and we found our contact from Rotary they didn't need our help. However, we had a fantastic turnout, so a big thankyou if you're reading this. It was still a good chance to look around, because I'd never been to this evening before. We bumped into Mr Dave Cooling AKA Santa Claus and we had a drink in the Rose Crown. I didn't realise how big this event was.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Claire, Anna, Helen D, Courtney, Louise and Katie G)
Monday 23rd November – Coventry/L&W Rotaract joint pub night
A good night was had in Lloyds in Coventry city centre. A decent sized group from our club met up with about 8 or so from Coventry Rotaract for a few drinks and a chat on a Monday night. For them it was also a new members night and they had a few new faces so was a successful evening, plus we chatted again about doing plenty of other stuff together in the future. We'll both be stronger if we join forces as often as possible - its win win for both I think!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Nick. Matt C, Claire and a large group from Cov Rotaract)
Saturday 21st November – Wii Night at Toms
Cheers Tom for putting this on! Makes a change to do something a bit different on a Saturday night. There were an assortment of games including bowling, mario kart and golf, some booze, some snacks and some pizza! I won the bowling, I had a go at mario kart but finished last in every race and had a lot of Pringles and Strongbow. I also recall the momentary panic when I thought I was trapped in the bathroom, at least I managed to free myself, unlike t'other Matt!
I've also just booked a table for between 10 and 12 at Paprika Club for 8pm on Saturday 5th December, I will call back a day or two before to confirm exact numbers, so there's still time for people to join us!!
(Matt, Tom, Nick, Matt, Lucy, Helen D, Tom's mate)
Thursday 19th November - Thanks to all who attended the club meeting on Thursday, it was a very pleasing turnout. Lots of good events coming up, with lots of names down!!
Friday 13th November – Lazerquest, Coventry Tenpin
A very enjoyable night was had by all as we joined forces with Coventry Rotaract for a great night doing lazerquest. We had 2 games, the first was us versus another group. If you have never tried doing lazerquest I would strongly recommend it, its in the dark and great fun. We were hiding in all sorts of places and shooting the other team in all directions. It was very energetic and being tactful was key, when the game finished we were pleased that we won. The 2nd game consisted of myself and both Matt's against Paul, Lauren and Nick. Again this game was at a fast pace and we got hit quite a few times and had to recharge our lazer at the energizer point. We were unfortunate to lose the game but it was very enjoyable playing against each other. We finished the night by having a drink to discuss the nights games and a planned night out in Coventry.
Written by Dan
(Matt, Dan, Nick and t'other Matt and Paul and Lauren from Cov Rotaract)
Wednesday 11th November – Helen Ley Quiz
I was back as quizmaster tonight, having just about shaken off my flu bug! Nick, who came to his first club meeting last week also joined us and was on "Team CCC" - a team which included John (a Helen Ley regular and quiz supremo!) and Tom's team was Magnificent 7. After 5 long rounds Tom's team won by 4 points, although there were only 1 or 2 marks in it up until the last round and Team CCC did lose John and another member for the last round. Another enjoyable quiz, and the residents were again very appreciative. Next time round both myself and Tom are unavailable, so Dan has kindly volunteered as quizmaster already - don't miss it!!
(Matt, Tom and Nick)
Tuesday 3rd November – Cinema, This is it
I was really keen to see this, being a big MJ fan so only sent out an email a day or so before, thankfully someone did come forward. He may have had his problems, but this film showed that he had lost none of his genuis and talent. He may have keeled over and died trying to do 50 live performances of that kind of energy - but they surely would've been awesome to witness. In my opinion, the greatest performer we'll ever witness!
(Matt and Helen D)
Sunday 1st November – Coventry Blaze v Cardiff Devils
The last couple of Blaze games I've been to now have ended in disappointing defeats. They were kitted out wearing their Haloween strip, but nothing was scarier than their performance on the ice. There weren't even many goals (finished 2-1) or fights - apart from a scuffle at the end. Lucy made a surprise late appearance and was taking numerous pictures with her professional looking camera.
(Matt, Dan, Tom, Lucy, Helen D, Courtney and Craig)
Saturday 31st October – Haloween night out in Coventry
As no one came forward for the original plan of a pub night in Stratford we thought we'd move it to Coventry - which kinda suited me as I was late back from Wolves' game at Stoke. It was a really busy evening, with lots of fancy dress. We finished the evening in Lava/Ignite on their great dancefloor that lights up.
(Matt, Dan and Tom)
Wednesday 28th October – Goodbye Michael Jackson
We had to wait quite a while before he emerged, although there were some decent acts before him, but when he did emerge he looked ridiculously like the real thing. He moved like him, sounded like him and had even had quite a lot of plastic surgery to look more like him. It was just a pity he wasn't on for longer than 1 hour. I think Dan and Helen also enjoyed it.
(Matt, Dan and Helen D)
Saturday 24th October – Meal out at Ruby, L'Spa
We'd been to Ruby before and really enjoyed it, I hadn't been for a few months and hadn't eaten much all day so was very much looking forward to this. It didn't disappoint. We had 2 rounds of starters - so even before the main course we were all bordering on full. A quick mention also to a new face joining us in Helen Dixon. Ant wasn't feeling too well to begin with and was adamant he wouldn't be eating much - after our first round of starters his plate resembled the leftovers from a lion enclosure after feeding time on a particularly hungry day - a huge pile of bones! I also came in for particular ridicule (mostly from Ant and Louise!) for firstly using my hands to eat the seaweed and then asking for cutlery when everyone else were using the chopsticks. After the meal me and Dan met up with Tom and hit a few pubs, before ending up dancing the night away in Koko's -NO RIOS may I just add!! A good night - with a bonus hour in bed! The payback is we now have very dark evenings - booooooo!
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Helen D, Ant, Ruth and Tom afterwards)
Friday 23rd October – Warwick Pub night/Mop
We billed this as a trip to the Warwick mop, but we met at Lloyds on the market square, had a couple of drinks - then when we all fancied a go on some of the rides just after 10pm they were all shutting down - very frustrating! So it was a pub night around the mop - for anyone who might be reading this wondering what this mop thing is, its a long tradition in these parts where there's a large fair in the streets of Warwick over 2 weekends. I used to go to this as a young child many many moons ago - brings back memories! After missing out on the rides we went to the Zetland down the road for a couple of drinks before calling it a night.
(Matt, Tom S, Dan, Tim, Dewi, Anna and Katie G)
Friday 16th October – Night at the Dogs, Hall Green
What a great night this was! We got in for 1p thanks to a voucher downloaded from their website, this also included food. It was a slightly chilly evening, but dry and not too cold. I didn't place my first bet until race 5 of the 13 scheduled, I won my first two races, then lost every other race until the final race - although 3 wins out of 9 isn't bad. The real Mr Smug of the night was Ant - I don't know how much he won, but its fair to say he drove away from Hall Green with more money than he had when he arrived!! My winnings covered my drink, so I was more than happy. Everyone seemed to have a good night - whether they were winning or not. Hopefully we can have a return visit in the not too distant future!
(Matt, Tom S, Dan, Louise, Claire, Ruth, Ant, Courtney, Craig, Lucy and Tom)
IMPORTANT DIARY DATES ANNOUNCED
Annual Quiz - Saturday 27th February
Casino Night - Saturday 27th March
Salsa Night - Saturday 24th April
Annual Ball - Saturday 19th June
Wednesday 14th October – Helen Ley Quiz
We ran a slightly different quiz for the residents and guests of Helen Ley last night. Louise was our question-master and her 5 rounds included guess the chocolate bar, guess the advert from the tagline, find the girls name that 2 artists sing about and the lethal killer final "fish or fowl" round where the answer was either fish or fowl. A 50-50 guess. Unless you know the answers! Tom's team (called "Tom's team") slowly gained a slender lead of 1 point by the final round - including a full 10 points on the chocolate round, but Kate's team (called "Kate's team") knew their fowl from fishes to win the quiz by 2 points.
Pretty much fowled up there - damn - bit of fishy business I would say.
Written by Tom.
(Tom, Kate M and Louise - Quizmaster)
Sunday 11th October – Matt's walk, Wootton Wawen
The morning was grey and wet and it looked like being the worst weather yet for one of my walks this year, but by lunchtime the weather had brightened up and for much of the walk it was blue sky and sun - a really nice autumnal afternoon with a large sprinkling of golden brown and yellow leaves under foot! Don't you just love the changing seasons - or is that just me?!? Probably just me! An enjoyable walk - even if it was just me and Tom (not that Tom is bad company!). I very almost caught a steam train passing under the aquaduct at Edstone, but despite a 200 metre sprint, I only caught the back end of it. We went up 1 or 2 steep hills, almost went the wrong way around a farm, trespassed along a private road and walked through a really nice wood before returning to the Stratford canal and a cold drink at the pub.
(Matt and Tom)
Saturday 10th October – Horse of the Year Show (RDA) - NEC
Having been set up by Courtney, a few of us went over to the NEC to support our charity from last year Riding for the Disabled. They had a stand at the leading horse show for people to leave their items and collect them later in the day. Our shift started at 1.30pm. Dan was out the front using his natural charm on the public (yep, mostly female!) collecting and bagging up people's belongings, Tom was out the back putting together a system so we knew where each of the bags were. I was doing a bit of both - a kind of free role! At times it was manic, the amount of bags being dropped off, and the size of the bags - many people buying virtually life size horse toys and dropping them off. Me and Dan left at 6.30pm, while Tom stayed until his last train at 9.15pm because he was keen to see the job through and his numbering system. Before catching our train we had a quick and well deserved pint at the station. Dan was gutted because we heard that Katie Price had been around earlier in the day and we just missed out on seeing her. What's he like?!?! :-)
(Matt, Dan and Tom)
Thursday 8th October – Leamington Tenpin Bowling Night
Time for our monthly visit to the bowling alley! Once again some very fiercly contested games and another good turnout. In my group of 5 both of our games were very tight, the first being a draw between me and Lucy, and the second being won outright by Lucy. In the other game Adrian won the first game with some powerful bowling and Anthony won the second - no win for the off form Dan! He was secretly disguising his disappointment I know he was. After this a few of us went over to the Moorings for a drink.
(Matt, Dan, Tom S, Louise, Ruth and Anthony, Adrian, Lucy and Tom)
Saturday 3rd October – Leamington Pub Night
We started off as just 3, me, Dan and Lucy in the Star and Garter but it wasn't long before Tom made a surprise appearance at our next stop Voodoo - showing off a new very close cut hairstyle (even shorter than mine!), and Helen also joined us. Suddenly the night picked up pace, we went to Satchwell's for a drink before all of us except Helen somehow ended up in..........yep, Rios!! It wasn't my choice - it was mostly Tom's. We danced away until 2.30am before heading back. I'd been feeling pretty under the weather all day, not half as bad as how I've felt all day today (Sunday!). A good night - thanks guys!
(Matt, Dan, Lucy, Helen and Tom)
Monday 28th September – Mel's leaving meal, Slug & Lettuce
Melissa - wax crayons and getting lost - the themes of the night! I've lived in this area all my life, yet I still proceeded to drive up and down the wrong road when offering to pick Louise up. Idiot! After eventually realising my error and finding Louise, we had our tasty half priced meal and Dewi, to my utter delight discovered some wax crayons and childrens fun sheets on the table, good times!! However, the night was about Melissa - moving on to pastures new after some sterling service at Leamington & Warwick Rotaract - but she'll be back, of that I'm sure!! All the very best from me and the rest of the club Mel, and Happy Birthday for next Monday!!
(Matt, Melissa, Louise, Lucy, Anthony, Ruth, Dewi and Anna)
Thursday 24th September – Coventry Rotaract Annual Quiz
A very enjoyable evening was had as we went up the road to support Coventry Rotaract's quiz night!! A few months ago we were lucky enough to attend their race night which was a great evening and we knew that we weren't going to be disappointed again. In our team were myself, Kate and Melissa.
Before the quiz got underway Kate was lucky enough to win £15 on the Irish Bingo, a game where the last person standing wins! The quiz got underway and we had 10 rounds to get through so we knew it was going to be a long night! The rounds included General Knowledge, Sport, Picture round and anything James Bond related.
Just over the half way mark we were kindly given some food, which I must add was very nice. At the end of the quiz we all bought raffle tickets and again Kate was lucky enough to win a bottle of wine! As the results were read out, we came in the bottom 3 with 43 points which I didn't think was too bad (Matt - it is bad Dan - but its not all about that!). A very nice evening and was worth supporting our fellow Rotaractors as well as their chosen charity (Air Ambulance).
Written by Dan
(Dan, Katie G and Melissa)
Saturday 19th September – Official Receivers Soul Band, Cox's Yard
I've had some great club nights this year, and this one was right up there for me personally. We set of at 7.20pm catching the bus into Stratford, picking up Kate en route and having to listen to some annoying drunken bloke for most of the journey. Once we got into Cox's Yard, I was ID'd again upon buying a drink (and Dan wasn't!) - as is usually the case these days! We found a nice cosey room with sofa's in to have a pre-band drink - nasty Tom decided to scare the girls with a large spider that was climbing the wall. Once the band started - I loved every second of it, okay, its music from an era before my time, but so many classics (including music by Otis Redding, Stevie W, Sam and Dave, James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner and many more) and such a good band. I couldn't help but dance to the rhythm! To be fair, most people in the packed out room were dancing away. It finished at around 11.15pm, after a long bus journey back which seemingly toured around every village in Warwickshire me, Tom and Dan had a drink in Koko's before calling it a night. I wouldn't mind going back to Stratford when they return in December/January time.
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Ruth and Katie G)
Wednesday 16th September – Helen Ley Quiz
I was greeted at the door by quiz regular John - what a quiz and Helen Ley legend this man is! I'm not great with names, and don't know any other residents (or my own name!), but fortunately I'm always on John's team, and we always win. He's the loveliest and sharpest man around! Dan put together an excellent and very well received quiz on his debut as quizmaster - he also showed his authority on a couple of occasions despite fierce challenges from each team. My team was actually coasting home with a lead of 5 going in to the last round, but John (as he always does) left 1 round before the end and we squeezed home by 2 points beating Tom's team. What have I learnt from the night? - Anna is a big David Beckham and Backstreet Boys fan - you know what I mean Anna! After the quiz me, Tom and Dan went for a quick drink to catch the end of the football. A very enjoyable evening!
(Matt, Tom, Melissa, Anna and Dan - Quizmaster)
Thursday 10th September – Bowling Night at Leamington Tenpin
We split into two groups as there was a large group of nine of us playing - Tom only joined us later on for a drink or two. In my group I had the overly competitive Dan, Louise and Ruth. Louise won the first game and Dan finished last, and then in the second game the tables were turned with Dan fluking a win - no, to be fair it was a good score of 127 or something like that. I had a shocker and had quite a few gutter balls - I think I may retire from this bowling lark! In the other game I think Kate won both games! After the bowling a few of us went back to the Moorings - look out for the revealing Rotaract Calendar and the sponsored cycle using Bertie! :-P An enjoyable night despite my own performance!
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Melissa, Jo, Anthony, Ruth, Anna, Katie G and Tom)
Monday 7th September – Meal out at Slug & Lettuce
After the last successful trip to Slug and Lettuce we went back again for more good value food with the half price offer that they have on Monday's. So good conversation was had, and we also had the company of Bertie the bike, who was parked on the other side of the window next to our table. We also stood around and watched/helped as Louise tried to cram quite a bit of shopping into the baskets and sort out her rear light.
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Lucy, Ruth and Anthony)
Saturday 5th September – Day out at Thorpe Park
On a Sunny September Saturday we were all lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Thorpe Park via complimentary tickets from Helen. We set off in 2 cars early in the morning so we would have enough time to do all the rides.
Once we got to the park and met the others we went straight on the rides, the 1st is always meant to be the easiest but this ride set us of to a good start! Slammer is a ride where you are propelled 105 feet into the sky then slammed back to earth!! I knew it was going to be to a rough afternoon ahead!!
Next was Colossus, a ride which I thought was excellent, 10 vertical loops, being taken upside down. Can't be bad!! If you thought this was bad then you haven't seen anything yet! We then went on Nemesis Inferno which was good followed by Tidal Wave, a ride where we all got completely soaked I think girls came off the worse!!
After our lunch had settled some members decided they wanted to go to the pub for a drink (including me - Matt), this left myself, Louise, Anna, Melissa and Craig. The next ride on the menu was the Detonator a 45mph drop that pulls 5.5Gs - was very quick and the view across Surrey was quite amazing! (Surrey - amazing?!?! Matt) This was nothing compared to Stealth which was next, the FASTEST rollercoaster in Europe 0-80mph in under 2 seconds (yes you heard that right)!!!
We did have to queue for quite a while, an hour and half I think but it was worth it!! An amazing experience which I could do again. There was no time for any analysis of this whilst you were on there as it was over in 30 secs, this was so far the highlight of the day!! However there was 1 final ride to go - SAW: the newest ride for 2009. Again this lived up to expectation, this was a vertical drop of 100º from a terrifying height of 100ft, this was once again quite amazing!! (mad mad mad - exactly why I didn't go on it! I did do a few though! Matt)
We left Thorpe Park with the delights of knowing we all had a great day with the theme tune of the event Savage Garden (Animals) and a bit of the late Michael Jackson in the car, it rounded of a superb day and not 1 for the faint hearted either!! It was then topped off with a drink at The Moorings when we got back to Leamington.
Written by Dan
(Matt, Dan, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Craig, Jo, Helen, Kate M, Melissa, Anna)
Tuesday 25th August - Breaking News!
I've set up a fan site on Facebook for Louises' new bike, its already got several fans and includes pictures of several club members posing on the bike. Its titled "Bertie the Bike" (Louise Roberts vintage 18th century bicycle) - and can be found somewhere on my facebook page, and there's a link at the bottom of the L&W Rotaract facebook group! Are you a fan?!!?
Sunday 23rd August – Matt's Walk - Berkswell
I can't believe how lucky I've been this summer with all the walks I've been on. Once again, a lovely sunny Sunday. I'd done this walk a few weeks previously and really enjoyed it so was keen to do it again, and I don't usually do the same walk twice. Very peaceful and some nice Warwickshire countryside - plus Berkswell is a pretty little village. Not to mention some good conversation! (and no mention of sport!!)
(Matt, Jo and Rhiannon)
Friday 21st August – Interact / Southam Rotary Bands Night
We went to Grange Hall in Southam to lend a hand with this fundraising event. We kept an eye on the youngsters and helped with clearing up at the end, but in truth, there wasn't too much to do, so we enjoyed the music - and there were some really good groups on show! Me and Tom also both won bottles of the same wine on the raffle. Well done to the organisers though as I enjoyed it, and I'm sure a decent amount of money was raised.
(Matt, Tom and Courtney)
Wednesday 19th August – Helen Ley Quiz
Good night at Helen Ley quiz and for once we weren't the ones who were late! A few residents were late back from their day cinema trip but we didn't wait for them and got started. Tom and Anna's "Do Gooders" were only 1 point ahead of Dan and Kate's "ASDA" team going into the last round but then the last round was revealed to be history and so a thrashing ensued as the "Do Gooders" stormed ahead to win by 6 points. So yes, Tom's team won which is not the point of the evening, but the residents do enjoy my competitiveness (and mine! - Matt). Thanks to Melissa, the quizmaster, for 5 quick rounds of quite hard questions.
(Tom - written by Tom, and Kate, Dan, Anna and Melissa - Quizmaster)
Sunday 16th August – Picnic, Cricket and Riding Louises Bike!
We again used the fantastic green plastic bat and ball that were recently purchased for what 99p and had a high quality game of cricket in the sun at the Mill Gardens, played out with loud Indian music booming away in the background thanks to some festival at the Pump Rooms. Stars of the show? No one really, although Rhiannon showed great skill at moving away from the ball even when it was coming straight towards her for a catch! Melissa provided a frisbie, so we invented a new game where you had to throw the frisbie from where it landed! What innovators we are?! Finally we all posed for pictures on Louises bike, and most of us took it for a spin too - what a bike!
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Dewi, Anna, Jo and Rhiannon)
Saturday 15th August – Pub Night (with a difference)
Yes, we didn't go to our usual places!! Instead we stayed in the New Inn down Leam Terrace, played pool and chatted for most of the night, and then later on a few of us went into town and Koko's for a drink. Once again poor Dan was the centre of attention! Dan "Safe and Secure" Weirden - those who were there will know what I mean. If there was an award for receiving stick on a major scale with a smile - Dan would get it.
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Melissa, Dewi, Anna and Helen)
Thursday 13th August – Bowling
Well bowled Dan! He was on tremendous form tonight, winning both games with scores of 117 and 127 (or something like that). I personally was pretty poor, finishing last and then finishing second with a score of 100.
After the bowling we went to the Moorings for a drink, where Dan was pretty much picked on by Louise - but he took it well! We're a nice bunch really!
(Matt, Dan, Louise and Anna)
Sunday 9th August – Cotswold 9 mile walk, near Winchcombe
We set off at 10am with a car full on a really nice Sunday morning. We stopped at various points around the route, to break it down and make it more leisurely. There were some nice views to begin with looking out over Winchcombe and Sudeley Castle, then we looked around a neolithic tomb/buriel at Belas Knap, we stopped to eat in the tiny and peaceful village Sevenhampton and then visited a pub in Brockhampton and sat outside for a bit in their nice beer garden. We took a slight diversion to check out a lovely 13th century church before heading for the final climb to the end, via a brief stop to harrass some horses! We finished off at another pub right next to a steam railway to round off a perfect relaxing Sunday. We were back just before 7pm.
Check out our facebook pages for plenty of pics from the day!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Helen and Courtney)
Friday 7th August – Toby Carvery, Banbury
Good food, good conversation and then back to Leamington for a few drinks! I don't know how I ended up in Rios, I'm not going there again this year! Honest!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Courtney and Craig)
Monday 3rd August – Slug and Lettuce Half Price Meal
A good chat, with some great value food, I'll definitely be back for more while this offer lasts! A nice evening - plus they've changed the parking in Leamington from the ridiculous 8pm to 6pm!!
(Matt, Louise and Melissa)
Sunday 2nd August – Tom o the Wood Pub Walk
A lovely Sunday morning with a bit of cloud cover and a bit of sun. A slightly shorter walk this time, probably around 4 miles. We went off the opposite way down the canal but didn't take in even 1 stile! We were surprised to learn that the pub is closing next weekend because of finance problems, but the group will organise their own walks and they have my details. As always, enjoyed it!
(Matt and Tom)
Wednesday 29th July – Rotaract Fantasy Football launched
I've set up a private mini league at the link below, its free to join, a lot of fun and easy to use. I'm going to ask for £2 from people, just so that we have a prize pot - anyone can join, even non members - the more the merrier, its great fun - so get your team in! The season starts on August 15th so there's plenty of time. Once you've set up a team, to join the Rotaract Superleague click "Mini Leagues" on the bar at the top, then "Join" and then enter the league reference - 8004026.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fantasyfootball/index.html
Tuesday 28th July – Disc Golf
We did all 18 holes/baskets! How good is that?! As we started it was trying to rain, so it could've gone either way, it was also very windy, but as the evening progressed the rain stopped, it brightened up and even the wind died down. Tom was on great form all night, I kept pace with him up until the 4th or 5th basket, then I dropped back badly - put off by the close presence of trees! The first interesting basket was the one near the river which was surrounded by around 20-30 fiesty looking geese! Thankfully they all jumped back into the river as we got closer. Never mess with geese!! A couple of baskets later we had one really tricky one where the basket was situated at the top of a steep hill. I was already doing quite badly but managed to hit the side of the basket from long range, and it rebounded all the way back down the hill and into a wooded area - very frustrating! This was one of 2 successive baskets where I scored 10! I managed to recover a bit and beat Tom on a few towards the end. Tom still won comfortably with 99, then me on 108, Louise with 119, and Melissa on 135 or something similar! Another enjoyable evening at Quarry Park! Hopefully fit one more in before the end of the summer!
(Matt, Louise, Tom and Melissa)
Sunday 26th July – Rotaract Crazy Golf Championships, St Nics
18 holes of drama! Sky Sports put in a late bid to secure coverage of this event, but we had to decline - a comedy channel had already won the contract! Dewi set off an early pace with a hole in 1, where I got an 8. I slowly improved a bit, while Dewi and Anna consistently picked up 2's. One of the best holes featured water - unsurprisingly I found myself in there, so did Dewi. I think I managed to save some respectability with a 5. While it was overcast the weather held up until the end. By the 18th hole we didn't know the scores but we had a pretty good idea that it was Dewi and Anna fighting it out for the ultimate prize. It had to go to a play off for Anna to finally win. Louise was third, then me with Lucy picking up the wooden spoon. Now onto disc golf on Tuesday, anything could happen.............
(Matt, Dewi, Anna, Louise and Lucy)
Wednesday 22nd July – Helen Ley Quiz
Another highly enjoyable quiz, this time quizmastered expertly by Louise. Some excellent questions selected from a book, they were well received and appreciated as always by the residents. I had the legendary John on my team (The A Team) so we were always going to beat Anna's not so Magnificent 7. We won by 8 or so marks in the end, but hey, thats not what its all about!
(Matt, Louise and Anna)
Saturday 18th July – Warwick Lions Beer Festival, Racecourse
By the time me and Tom arrived they were literally scraping the barrel, but there was just about enough to go around. A couple of different ales and a cider remained, we helped finish these off at 50p for half a pint! Fill your boots time, and we did! We also got free hot dogs, lucky us. We then visited Lloyds for a couple and the Rose and Crown before heading back - needless to say, I had a headache the following day!
(Matt and Tom)
Sunday 12th July – Cricket style Rounders, Picnic and Boating
We met up at the Mill Gardens by the river Leam, just off Willes Road - but we didn't have a rounders bat, so off went Louise and Anna on a quest to find a bargain bat. Louise, who has a head for bargains after her recent bicycle purchase came up trumps again with a great £1 bat and ball that will no doubt make another appearance this summer. As there were 7 of us we thought we'd play more of an individual rather than team game - and it was more cricket than rounders. Helen, who could probably play womens cricket professionally judging by her performance smashed everybody. I had a few big hits, but Helen was the star. After playing rounders for a while, the girls took a trip down the Leam on a motor boat, although the motor conked out so they had to use the oars - unlucky!! The rest of us kicked a football around for a bit. Earlier in the morning there was a lot of heavy rain, and this was almost cancelled, thankfully we had faith in the English weather as it was great fun!! We'll be looking to do something similar again in the next couple of months!!
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Helen, Anna, Melissa and Lucy)
Thursday 9th July – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
As there were 6 of us we managed to squeeze onto 1 lane. The first game was incredibly competitive with not much separating anyone. However, it was Courtney who came through to win in the end, just beating Dan (by 1 I think!) and he was 5th going into his last throw, but managed a strike and a spare. In the second game again it was very close - I was leading but threw it away when I failed to get anything on my last go (not even 1 - my worst all night), and that was after getting a strike before and the possibility of getting double points on whatever I got. Next to bowl was Dan who only needed 2 or 3 to go past me, he couldn't manage that. Next up was Kate, her first throw was straight into the gutter - rubbish, and then her next was truly superb - getting 9 to clinch a dramatic win under pressure! 3 of us getting 100 or more! Dan and Kate were disappointed not to get a print out of the scores at the end as their printer wasn't working - oh well!! I was quite happy not to see it. Me, Dan and Kate then made the short journey over to the Moorings to discuss the night's drama over a pint!
(Matt, Dan, Kate, Anna, Courtney and Craig)
Sunday 5th July – Walk organised by Tom o the Wood pub in Rowington
This was a walk organised by the Tom o the Wood pub in Rowington on the other side of Warwick going towards Solihull. It started at 11am on a nice bright morning, without being too warm. There was probably a group of around 20, it included a stretch of canal, a record number of stiles and kissing gates and lots of rolling fields and hills. A nice walk! We were back shortly after 1pm. We then sat outside at the pub and had a very refreshing cold drink before heading off. They do these free walks on the first Sunday of every month, look out for this on future social lists!
(Matt and Tom)
Thursday 2nd July – End of year handover meal at The Moorings
A good night had by all I think. Louise came up with the fun idea of everyone contributing an interesting fact about themselves and we had to guess which fact belonged to which club member - some interesting things learnt about some people!! (Dan in particular - won't mention what he said, and Rhiannon and her stones - and not forgetting Kate with her love of Rupert the bear) Tom deservedly won the Phil Harris award for his fantastic attendance at events throughout the year - and I won the club award for my contributions over the year. After the meal we had a few group pictures before going outside into the canalside beer garden and having another drink. A successful night - well done to Louise!
On a personal note - thanks to everyone who voted for me, the club means a lot to me, its been a tower of strength when I've had my troubles over the last year, I've got a lot from the club so its nice to give a little back. Here's to a great club year in 2009 - 2010!
(Matt, Louise, Tom, Dan, Tim, Charlotte, Helen, Anna, Melissa, Courtney, Jo, Rhiannon and Kate)
Wednesday 1st July – Cinema Night (Hangover......)
..................well, that was the plan. It was a boiling hot day that reached 30 odd degrees, who'd want to go to the cinema on an evening like this? Well, half of Leamington seemingly!! The good news was that we managed to get cheaper tickets because we had the Orange Wednesday discounts, the bad news was that we had to watch another film because Hangover was full. We ended up watching "My Sisters Keeper" in an audience of almost entirely females, I was after an upbeat comedy to give me a lift, but instead this was one of the saddest films ever about a girl with cancer who's sister was born with the intention of being a donor to save her older sister. A really good film, but a very sad one!
(Matt, Anna and Kate)
Sunday 28th June – Matt's walk, part 4
This almost didn't happen due to a serious petrol leak in my car, but thankfully, as always - but mum helped out and lent me her car!! The walk started from the Blue Lias near Stockton on a very warm Sunday afternoon, we first of all headed off the wrong way down the canal - completely my fault!! So half an hour after we started we got back to the start point to start properly and head in the right direction. Again it was a circular route with a good couple of miles of it along the Grand Union Canal heading out towards Napton, we then came off and headed through some fields. We had a very close encounter with a farmer who was landing his light aircraft in his field (I thought farmers were hard up!!). We walked through Stockton where hopes were high that we'd find an ice cream, but we didn't!! Thankfully we didn't have long to wait until we returned back to the Blue Lias and we all enjoyed a nice Magnum and a cold drink. The walk lasted just over 2 hours, which was about right given the warmth. Conversation at the pub centred around theme parks and in particular Tom's formative years spent working at a theme park up north! Another enjoyable afternoon I thought.
(Matt, Tom, Jo and Rhiannon)
Thursday 25th June – Disc Golf
What a good evening this was! The weather was really nice and warm, we even tried a few new baskets down towards the river avon, with the sun going down. Thankfully no-one found the river. Highlights of the evening were Dan losing his disc in a densely wooded area, so we were all digging around in the undergrowth for what felt like ages before Tom came up trumps and found it. Tom also produced shot of the century to find the basket from extremely long range and get it in 3. Tom won overall with 46 from 10 basket, then me on 52 and Kate on 57. Poor Anna was struggling seriously from hayfever so had to wear some sunglasses which meant she could barely see.
After the golf 4 of us went back to the Moorings and sat outside and had a drink. I think many of us will remember this night though as being the night when Michael Jackson died. It was when I was driving through Bubbenhall on the way back to Coventry that I first heard the news, absolutely couldn't believe it. The kind of pop is dead, long live the king!! So a great night, but a really sad one too.
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Louise, Anna and Kate)
Helen Ley Quiz dates confirmed for next 12 months
Get these dates into your diaries, 7.30pm start as usual:
- Wednesday 22nd July
- Wednesday 19th August
- Wednesday 16th September
- Wednesday 14th October
- Wednesday 11th November
- Wednesday 16th December
- Wednesday 13th January
- Wednesday 10th February
- Wednesday 17th March
- Wednesday 14th April
- Wednesday 12th May
- Wednesday 16th June
Saturday 20th June – Broad St Pub Crawl, Rotaract Preconvention
On a night where International presence was upon us it was all about showing our fellow Rotaractors what Broad Street had to offer. We had to 2 groups that started the pub crawl I was lucky to be with Dave Gibb a fellow Rotaractor who had been in our group previously. We started in the Pitcher & Piano a reasonably busy pub but fairly lively.
Wednesday 15th June - Helen Ley Quiz
A mixture of Sports, General Knowledge, London, Music, & London were the rounds that the Helen Ley residents undertook as another Rotaract quiz night took place. There was also a lucky addition of having a football badges picture round. The London round was interesting as the questions were based around the capital, the Invincibles started 2 lead and kept going strong with the ever impressive Tom Scott they also did well on the music round scoring 10 out 10 beating the champions, the quiz finished with the sports round with the Invincibles taking the crown over quite a lead over the champions. A good evening with some good quiz rounds.
(Written by Dan as quizmaster, with Tom, Ellen, Tim & Nicola F)
Sunday 12th June - Helping with the 2 Castle's Run
Laura Dixon had kindly volunteered her time as well, but unfortunately she was moved to a 7am slot from the original and much more reasonable 8.45am, which none of us were able to help with. As I'm writing this, I think I'm coming down with a cold, it was wet and vey chilly and by the end of my 2 hours of "traffic management" work near the main Abbey Fields car park I was shivering. It was all good work though, and we may get a donation as we have in past years. We all met up afterwards at the Queen and Castle for a hot drink!
Look out in the local papers as I've circulated a press release and group image to the Observer, Courier and Times with regards to our successful Ball on the 4th June!
(Matt D, Dan and Tom)
Thursday 9th June - Dan's Bowling Night
Another great evening of Bowling took place!! The 1st game started off very slow and the scoring was quite low, about halfway through the game picked up and Nicola took the lead with some superb strikes on the 7th go Dan once again proved his credentials by over taking Nicola with a strike and then won the 1st game with 101 points! The 2nd game was just as good as everyone scored higher, full credit has to go Tim who beat Dan who came 2nd to win the game with 3 strikes in a row on the last go!! Really was very well played by Tim!
Written by Dan W
(Dan, Tim, Nicola F, Nicola W and Ellen)
Saturday 4th June - LEAMINGTON & WARWICK ROTARACT ANNUAL BALL
3 years of waiting finally came to end and it was certainly worth waiting for! What was your highlight? Dan's raffle, everyone forming a circle and dancing to New York New York at the end, or maybe the lovely cheesecake, the announcement that we'd raised £2,500 so far, or Tom picking up his well deserved award?!? After months of preparation, a few little concerns, a couple of disagreements and a spoonful of stress - it all came together and everyone seemed to have a great night. Its nights like this that Rotaract should be about if we're to move forward and grow - and I certainly want more now! We don't have a final total for the evening yet, but I would guess its £500-600! Keep an eye out on facebook for pictures of the evening! Plenty were taken including a large group pic!!
I also hear a group continued the night going into the early hours with a trip to Rio's and then Hayley's.
(Too many names to mention - but a huge thanks to all 53 people who bought tickets and made it such a fantastic evening!!)
Saturday 4th June - Kenilworth Show
The Kenilworth show is always a popular event for the start of the summer, this year the weather was great and we were lucky that it didn't rain. Thanks to Helen we had the Hammer Slammer as the morning went on more people used the Hammer Slammer, We also had our promo boards so people could find out about what we do. There were a lot of different stalls there, I left at about lunchtime to start getting ready for our annual ball!!
Written by Dan W - (it takes 6 hours to ready does it?!?!? Matt)
(Helen D, Claire, Tom, James, Mike, Dan and Nicola F)
Thursday 2nd June - NEWS UPDATE
Well, the big day is almost upon us. 3 years of waiting since our movie themed ball at the Glebe in 2008, once again we have a chance to celebrate rotaract, with friends, family and guests from Rotary and just have a good evening. The preparations are almost complete, lots of good raffle prizes, weather forecast looking good and a very pleasing 52 tickets sold. Koko the Clown Dan will be selling raffle tickets and running the raffle! We also have the Kenilworth show on the same day, where Helen Dixon will be setting up our stand from 8am. So its a busy day!!
Tuesday 31st May - Kenilworth Show Prep & Burnt Post Quiz
This was a double header of an evening!! Firstly several people helped out at Stoneleigh to set up the showground for the show on Saturday where we're kindly getting a free stand - and the opportunity to use the hammer slammer again. After this tiring manual work was complete, several of us went to the Burnt Post again in Coventry for their popular quiz night. It was good fun again, with a good turnout, we put in a good showing but it was always going to be tough after winning last time round. This time we finished joint 4th out of 11 or 12 teams!
(Ken Show prep: Helen D, Helen K, Cheryl, Tom, Hayley, James / Burnt Post: Matt D, Dan, Matt C, James, Tom, Tim, Laura and Ellen)
Saturday 28th May - NEWS UPDATE
Hi people!! Only 7 days now until the biggest Rotaract night in 3 years, and 44 tickets have now been sold! On Sunday we're planning a walk, starting at 2pm from the Waterman in Hatton, on Tuesday we have the Kenilworth Festival set up from 7pm, and then its the popular Burnt Post quiz which starts at 9pm and we won on our last visit.
We are also discussing our end of year meal which is likely to be 23rd June. I submitted 4 names to help out with the 2 Castles Run on the 12th June, if anyone else can help with marshalling let me know. Remember we were given an incredible £300 through helping out with the Stratford marathon. Its a busy time at the moment with fundraising events. We raised £120 at last weeks Royal Priors tinshake, and around £50 at the hammer slammer at Kenilworths party in the park. Your contributions are always appreciated as the 2010-2011 club year enters its final month and James prepares to take the reigns.
Saturday 21st May - Royal Priors Tinshake
A good response from the public of Leamington Spa gave us another great amount to give to our chosen charities this year. We had the ever present Kung Fu Panda AKA Tom Scott who did a grand job in mixing with the crowds and having pictures as well. We also had fantastic support from Ellen, Hayley, Laura & Matt who helped out. We also had the Friendship Project there to show their support as we were raising money for their charity, The end total was approx £120 which was great effort by everyone! Well Done!!
Written by Dan Wearden.
(Tom, Ellen, Laura, Hayley, Dan and Matt D)
Sunday 15th May - Kenilworth Show, Party in the Park Hammer Slammer
It was a particularly chilly, blustery and overcast day, where Helen Dixon, Ellen and Tom put in a shift and a half for Rotaract in staying all day- not forgetting the contributions of Mike, myself and also Helen's dad in helping us transport the hammerslammer. Despite the weather, there was still a fair amount of interest - we think over the day after costs that maybe £40-50 has been added to the £300 we were given the other day for supporting the Shakespeare Marathon. I don't know how much we have in our account for the year but we must be approaching £2k now. Great work again guys - absolute stars in my opinion!!
When it comes to our charity events and raising money, Tom and Ellen are usually at the centre of things, and without Helen's contributions none of our Kenilworth events would've happened, not forgetting the incredible skydrive!! Now for the tinshake at the Royal Priors on Saturday.
(Helen D, Tom, Ellen, Mike and Matt D)
Saturday 14th May - NEWS UPDATE
Our stand at the Kenilworth Festival's Party in the Park definitely goes ahead tomorrow between 10.30am and 5pm, the hammer slammer and publicity material is with Helen Dixon who is kindly organising and leading on things. If you can help out, just go along!!! Its a fun afternoon with music, food, drink and lots of entertaining stands and stalls.
Finally - congratulations to past president Dewi Williams and current member Anna Chapman who are getting married in Leamington today!!
Thursday 12th May - Disc Golf
The 1st Disc Golf of the summer started off an interesting event on a light summers evening. Disc Golf is always a popular event so a high turnout is always expected! The night started off with Mike playing really well & looking strong! The talking point of the evening was when Matt lost this disc in the river everyone started looking for the disc in the bushes, Tom did his usual thing of grabbing a long stick to try and locate the disc, we couldn't find it so Matt had to pull out, the game continued and it finished a draw between Matt C & Mike. A good evening on a nice summers night.
Written by Dan Wearden
(Dan W, Tom, Matt D, Matt C, Tim and Mike)
Wednesday 11th May - Helen Ley Quiz
Nicola F put on a thoroughly brilliant quiz at this Helen Ley visit – so much so that even John Major himself was complaining about the lack of the usual rounds! As it was Matt C’s debut and John noticed Matt D was missing my team was called Team Matt. And we won. Well Tom’s team always does. This time even the rounds such as a Eurovision one and a Williams and Kate one couldn’t stop us – in fact Eurovision was our best round! Afterwards Tom gave some pushes back to their rooms for the residents in their wheelchairs whilst conversation remained amongst the remaining attendees.
Written by Tom Scott
(Nicola F - quizmaster, Tom, Ellen, Mike and Matt Cluff)
Monday 9th May - NEWS UPDATE
A quick bulletin on a few things! In addition to this weeks events, Tom, Ellen and probably myself will be in the Prince of Wales Pub on Friday from 9pm if anyone is interested. We are now up to 36 for our ball on June 4th! We are now focusing our efforts on raffle prizes, let me know if anyone has any unwanted gifts, or bottles of wine etc. I also had a call earlier today from Kenilworth Rotary asking for help for the 2 Castles Run on Sunday 12th May - so if anyone is willing to help out just like the magnificent 4 did yesterday, let us know. Finally, it looks like we may well have a stand at the Kenilworth Festival on Sunday 15th May afterall, so keep an eye on your emails for further details later in the week!
With the shakespeare marathon on Sunday kicking off a 4-5 week period also containing our Tinshake in the Royal Priors, Collections at the Kenilworth Show and Kenilworth Festival, 2 Castles Run and of course our Ball - the potential for us to raise a lot of money is huge, so any time or help you can give with these events is much appreciated - as always!!
Sunday 8th May - Shakespeare Marathon
Write up from Dan coming soon - but a great effort from the 4 who helped. Stratford Rotary who were very grateful for our help have suggested possible £200-£250 for our efforts!! Well done all!. Here's the bit below which has just arrived hot off the press from Mr Wearden:
A great team effort was on offer at the 2011 Shakespeare Marathon an event we normally support rotary with. I had the duty of assisting the runners with much needed water & bananas at the finish line,alongside Tom, Ellen & Anna who were detagging the runners. The half marathon was completed 1st at 1 stage it very busy and the runners were coming in thick & fast. After a grabbing a bite to eat was the full marathon this was the biggy 26 miles to be extact,I noticed a lot of runners had collapsed luckily St Johns Ambulance was there for first aid. A great team effort & the runners seemed grateful for our help and a nice donation will be given from Rotary for our charities.
(Dan W, Tom, Ellen and Anna)
Tuesday 3rd May - Dan's Bowling Night
Bowling nights in Leamington & Warwick Rotaract Club is always an interesting event on the social calendar, this 1 was no exception the 1st game started off with Hayley playing well & really showing some force in her bowls. She won the 1st game very deservedly and played well, Dan came runner up. The 2nd game Dan was leading until the last go where a strike sealed the victory for Hayley once again, both Nicola's played well and came 3rd and 4th respectively & we all scored higher in the 2nd game. It was a consistent performance by Dan who came 2nd again but a well deserved victory for Hayley. A nice evening out eventhough it wasn't very busy.
(Dan W - and written by Dan, Nicola W and Nicola F)
Thursday 28th April - Matt Cluff's and Dan W's Bday Night Out
A good group (in size if not quality!!) out to celebrate the birthdays of Mr Cluff and Mr Wearden. It was a fairly tame and uneventful night really, although Dan got his wish and we visited Koko's. Unfortunately there wasn't a club open to properly finish the night, and our intended first venue the Prince of Wales Inn was strangely saving itself for Royal Wedding day on Friday and was closed. However, instead we stayed in the Duke for a couple, and also visited The Loose Box (Mumbai Bluu), Koko's and then Satchwell's, with Dan ending up in Sugar, or Smack or whatever it is these days. It was a student night, none of the rest of us could get in - or to be fair, could even be bothered to try. Then it was the Royal Wedding on Friday - how lovely that was!!
While I'm here - 29 tickets sold for the ball now, and just under 5 weeks to go, its getting ever closer! If anyone would like a ticket, let me know, or even if you can help with raffle prizes. We have our 1st May club meeting on Thursday and a Dan bowling night on Tuesday this week.
(Matt C, Dan W, Matt D, Tom and his pal Julian, James, Ellen, Paul G, Nicola W and Nick Cluff)
Monday 25th April - Matt's Walk, Bubbenhall
A gorgeous warm day, with pure blue skies perfect for a bit of walking! The walk was enjoyable, plenty of conversation and banter with Dan and then finishing at the Three Horseshoes for a drink afterwards. I have to confess I got the instructions in my walk book wrong towards the end, so we missed Bubbenhall Wood - sorry folks -I'm rubbish! However, that meant we went past some water well thingy (we couldn't work out exactly what it was) with a ladder which meant James climbed right to the top and we also saw a dead fox - see our facebook pages for pictures! Hopefully the first walk of many over the summer months!!
While I'm here, exact numbers should be confirmed shortly but we think ball ticket sales are around the 30 plus mark - which is great. Have you got yours? 6 weeks to go!!! We've also got quite a big crowd down for the joint birthday night/royal wedding night out in Leamington on Thursday. We're starting at the Prince of Wales Pub at 8pm! Should be a good night!!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, James, Matt C, Ellen and Hayley)
NEWS UPDATE
I'm planning a walk on Easter Monday, so please let me know if you're interested, it will start at 2pm and it will be local within Warwickshire, although where exactly I don't know yet. I'll look at some walk books and maps in the next few days and send an email out! The weather is looking good for the easter week, so it should be nice. Don't forget, less than 2 months now until the ball and we need to sell some tickets, it'll be a great night, with good food, good music (well, music anyway!), a bar, and money going to charity! Rotaract Balls in my experience have always been great fun, and this is the first one in 3 years!
Wednesday 13th April - Helen Ley Quiz
A bit of a mix up with the quizmaster meant that I had to race back to mine while enroute, to pick up an old quiz. Mike kindly stood in as quizmaster and used the old quiz used previously in 2009. Despite this, the quiz was good and the residents enjoyed it and appreciated us being there. Mike did a fine job! It was very close, mine and Tim's team won on a tie breaker question, although I know that the quizmaster made an error with his scoring and Tom and Dan's team were the real winners by 1 point! Still, a quiz this close can only be good! As always, very rewarding to spend time with these lovely people. Our next quiz is May 11th.
(Matt D, Tim, Mike, Tom and Dan)
Wednesday 30th March - Blood Brothers, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
A big thanks to Ellen for booking the tickets and organising this. A really enjoyable evening at the theatre. It was fantastic, I really recommend it - but as the title suggests, you could probably guess that the end would be quite sad, and it was. There were also a couple of shocks to the system at the end in the shape of police bursting into the auditorium and the gun shot. I actually came away feeling a bit sad. Hopefully we can organise more trips to the theatre though, this was really good! Maybe a more upbeat one though!
(Matt D, Tim, Courtney, Ellen, Nicola W and Nicola F)
Thankyou from Roy Hawkes, Warwick Rotary
We thought we'd share this with everyone:
Dear Courtney
Rotary's and me sincere thanks to Rotaract's help at the District and Regional round of the Rotary Youth Speaks this year. It was great to have 2 judges (Dan W and Dan P) and 2 helpers (Tom and Tim) during events that were very busy for me and all the helpers involved. I would like to think that this event co-operation between Rotaract and Rotary could continue in years to come.
Many many thanks,
Roy
P.S. See you at Rotary Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford on 8th May - I'm on duty near the finish (at the "big tent").
Tuesday 22nd March - Burnt Post Quiz Night, Coventry - WE WON!!!!
Well, few of us turned up thinking we would win the quiz tonight - but that's exactly what we did, out of 13/14 teams, with a score of 46 we tied with another team, and our tie breaker answer which we thought was miles off, actually won it for us. So we donated the £40 winnings to our club charity fund!! We also sold 2 more ball tickets tonight. A really enjoyed night, as all of our trips to the Burnt Post quiz are. It may become a regular source of club money!! It was a team effort, but Mr Tom Scott is a big reason for our win! Another bonus on the night was a new guest Matt Glasgow joining us who had been involved with Coventry Rotaract in the past, hopefully we'll see more of him in future. Remember, only just over a week of a the early bird ball ticket offer remaining! Happy to deliver a ticket to your door if necessary!!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, Matt C, Mike, Ellen, Matt Glasgow, Paul and Kate)
Tuesday 15th March - Matt Cluff's Karting Night, Tamworth
A big thanks to Matt Cluff for finding such a great offer, and sorting this evening out! £10 for 30 mins of high octane petrol fueled fun over in Tamworth. We had to wait until 9.30pm to get on, so plenty of psyching ourselves up while watching the others on the track. Matt Cluff and James were the frontrunners, although Mike was quick! I think Matt C and James have a score to settle over who's the quicker driver - don't you dare to say 1 is quicker than the other while the other person is present! :-) A really enjoyable evening of adrenalin, it was hard, and it was quick!
(Matt D, Matt C, James, Mike, Tim, Ellen and Helen K)
Thursday 10th March - Dan's "Competitive" Bowling Extravaganza, L'Spa Tenpin
Rotaract bowling nights out are always an interesting night out! Once a few technical problems were sorted this 1 was no expectation. The standard appeared to be quite high, the 1st games started off with Matt D doing well & taking the crown in the 1st game (115 odd), he was followed by Ellen who played well. In the 2nd lane was the lane not for the faint hearted, I (Dan) was once again on true form, by about the 7 or 8th go was really looking superb and won the game with 139 points! Very good score!!! The 2nd game was again really close with Matt D taking the victory again and a very good score 135ish, in the other lane surprisingly I wasn't looking a fierce contender for the top spot with Alex this time looking good and taking top spot followed by Mike who played well and with me finishing 3rd despite my awesome score in the 1st game. Once again a truly enjoyable evening.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Matt C, Mike, Ellen, Nicola F, Helen K, Alex and Matt D......I've just spent 5 mins trying to think of the 8th person, it was me! ha!!)
Saturday 5th March - Club Meal out at Ruby, L'Spa
Having eaten there before at a previous Rotaract evening out we always knew the food was going to be nothing but amazing!! We all had the buffet style food where you get 6 starters and 6 mains! We had a variety of dishes including Sweet & Sour Pork, Beef and Black Bean sauce and a very spicy beef dish which was really nice. After the meal we took the short trip up to the Prince of Wales pub where we went to watch a band play! The guys were happy as the bar had an offer on of 3 bottles of Budweiser for £5 which was great, We also listened to Tom telling us about his experience of the Queen visiting the Warwickshire Justice Centre in the week which was interesting and was very enjoyable as well. A nice evening and food was very nice as well.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Matt C, Courtney, Nicola W, Nicola F, Tim, Ellen, Mike and Tom)
Friday 4th March - Rotary Youth Speaks
A fantastic evening was had by all as the Rotary Youth Speaks were fortunate to have the 2 Dans on the judging panel to judge Rotary Youth Speaks which is designed to help young people achieve what is increasingly required in today's world to present confidently their points of view to others. I was judging in the main hall, the standard was fantastic! the subjects were ranging from Animal Rights to Tuition fees not to mention an interesting talk about numbers! After we finished deliberating myself and my 2 fellow adjudicators sent Kenilworth, Edgbaston & Dodderhill schools all through to the next heat. A great experience to have judged such high quality topics and extremely glad I had the opportunity to take part in such a great evening.
Written by Dan W.
(Dan W, Dan P and Tom helping out - written by Dan W)
Friday 25th February - ANNUAL QUIZ AT NEWBOLD COMYN ARMS - £373 RAISED!
A fantastic turnout of 18 teams helped us raise a brilliant total of £373, which has pushed our total past the £1,200 mark for the club year so far. Courtney delivered a great quiz albeit hard, with James pulling things together, Dan was a star delivering the raffle and Tom and Ellen were superstars with the marking. The pub was very warm, and packed to the rafters. A really good evening. Well done to everyone involved!! Thanks also to everyone who supported the event from Rotary, our charities, and everyone else!
(Courtney as quizmaster, with the following helping; Dan, James, Ellen, me. Also attended from our club; Helen D, Helen K, Matt C, Daniel P)
Saturday 19th February - Ryton Pools and NEWS UPDATE
It was a cold, grey and damp day, although the rain had fortunately stopped. 4 of us volunteered to help out at Ryton, the tasks evolved around tidying up the sensory garden near the information centre. Tim went off with Craig (1 of the organisers) first of all to help contruct a hedge, while the rest of us cleared leaves from the garden (although I did get the better task of cutting down a tree!), then we dug the garden up, started a fire - which didn't last too long, and then after a couple of hours of doing this me and the "Cluffster" went over to check out the progress on the hedge. I was actually really fascinated at how involved and time consuming it was to put these "hedges/fences" together, and the way these trees that are chopped down so they are lying horizontally can actually live despite the fact the trunk has been 90% chopped through. Brilliant!!
In other news from the club meeting, we have now sold 6 ball tickets!! So lets get past that first barrier of 10! We have around 30 confirmed already for Friday's big quiz night, but plenty of room for many more! I've also received a letter for Cov Blaze tickets as a raffle Prize. Dave Cooling, friend of the club and former member, who's now involved with Warwick Roundtable also joined us and presented us with a cheque for £350 for helping out with Santa's Sleigh, which is fantastic and goes with the £312 raised from the tinshake and £209 raised from our bonfire night walk, therefore pushing us up towards £900 with our 2 big events still to come, alongside 1 tinshake, the Stratford Marathon and the 2 Castles Run. So realistically £1800 plus can be achieved! Lets keep working together and we can do good things! :-)
(Matt D, Tom, Matt C and Tim)
NEWS UPDATE
We decided to rearrange our bowling night for the more popular Thursday evening on March 10th so that hopefully we'll have a large turnout. We did still have 4 people up for tonight (Sunday 13th) but its so much more fun when there's a large group of us! I also collected the 10 pack of stella for our raffle prize list last night with the girl at Tesco's Customer Services desk saying "don't drink it all at once" or words to that effect! :-)
NEWS UPDATE
After our club meeting last Thursday we have now sold our first 3 ball tickets and there are 2 weeks remaining of the cheaper early bird offer - £22. Its exactly 2 weeks now until our big annual quiz, many of the questions are ready, and a list of raffle prizes is starting to take shape - if anyone has anything to donate, or can send some letters off, please let me know! Amongst the prizes so far; Blaze tickets, pack of 10 cans of stella, tickets for tobogganning, signed poster from Coventry City FC, wine and chocs. Don't forget, if anyone is interested in joining us for bowling on Sunday at 8pm, let me or Dan know. Have a good weekend!!
Thursday 10th February - Live Music at the Punchbowl
A few didn't turn up who's names were down, but it was still enjoyable, even though the majority of the packed out pub were probably over 50 and most of them resembled members of Status Quo!! We enjoyed the old rock music though, had a couple of drinks and a good chat and bit of banter with Dan as always.
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and Matt C)
Wednesday 9th February - Helen Ley Quiz
A pretty good quiz by Mr Scott, he'd clearly put a bit of thought into doing a few different style rounds aimed at the older audience, with a true and false round, a round with a Michael Jackson link running through it and a Monarchy round amongst others. My team lost as I made the basic mistake of not joining the team containing John Major. A good quiz, again well appreciated by the residents! Thanks for writing it Tom!
(Tom as Quizmaster, Dan, Mike, Ellen, Nicola and Matt D)
NEWS UPDATE
Its club meeting week!! I went into Newbold Comyn Arms earlier today after doing a few laps of the golf course and gave Sarah a few of our quiz posters and a batch of tickets. She was very optimistic of being able to shift quite a few tickets and being able to squeeze quite a large number into the pub. I've also been writing a few letters for raffle prizes, if anyone else can help with prizes it would be hugely appreciated! Look forward to seeing people on Thursday!!
Thursday 27th January - Skittles Evening with Warwick Rotary, Wild Boar Inn
A good evening of food and skittles was had in the room at the back of the Wild Boar Inn. New Nicola put in a stunning performance, Matt Cluff was impressive, but unfortunately we lost by 2 overall. Claire was poor - if you're reading this Claire - sorry! Tom was great doing the marking - a typically Tom getting involved kind of thing to do! The food was nice, Mike showed the pace of a gazelle chasing pray having not eaten for weeks to arrive at the dessert table first for his slice of chocolate cake. Our quiz and ball tickets were ready today, so our first 2 quiz tickets were bought by Phil and Claire Harris. Courtney announced to everyone in the group that tickets were now available, and generally a lot of people expressed an interest. Now we've just got to sell them!!! I'll be dropping round a batch of quiz tickets and posters to Newbold Comyn Arms tomorrow night!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Matt C, James, new Daniel, Courtney, Nicola, Claire, Helen D, Helen K, new Nicola)
Monday 24th January - NEWS UPDATE
Hi folks. A good turnout at last weeks meeting, including 3 new faces! This week we have our skittles night on Thursday which I'm really looking forward to. Dan has submitted an application form to lead the Rotary Youth Leadership Award people on the canal boat this summer, which is a great thing to get involved in, and I'm sure he'll take an awful lot from the experience! I had an email from Dave Cooling yesterday and they are currently counting up the total for Santa's Sleigh. Last night we had a board meeting at the Racehorse in Warwick, amongst other things we discussed the quiz (Friday 25th Feb) and have exactly 1 month to get raffle prizes in, so please if you have any possible prizes let me know. James also suggested a possible Rotaract Mini Olympics with Rugby and Coventry Rotaract during Rotaract week. I have put the idea to representatives of each clubs, so the idea is out there. I would love to do it, but its in their court at the moment. Look forward to seeing people on Thursday!! I will attempt to bring you these updates in between the event updates - so keep checking the website every 3 or 4 days!
FINALLY - CHECK OUT THE BOARD PAGE! ITS LIVE AT LAST!
Saturday 15th January - Tobagganing, Tamworth Snowdome
When I went on my only previous trip to the snowdome I had 5 "goes" on the tobaggan in 30 mins, this time they didn't throw us off and we got 9 in over 45 mins!! We really got our money's worth! All of us seemed to master it pretty quickly and no-one came off or went into a wall. I was great fun! Afterwards we had a drink and a snack before heading home! It made a nice change for a Saturday night!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Matt C and Dan)
Over Christmas
Happy New Year all! While we didn't have any proper socials over christmas with so many people going back home, we did have a couple of informal small scale socials. On the 30th me, Anna and Melissa did a bit of bowling, with Anna winning 2 games, and Melissa 1 (I finished 2nd in all, lol), and on New Years Eve me, James (plus his mate) and Matt Cluff went out and had a good night around Leamington to see the new year in. Remember, its our first meeting of 2011 on Thursday, so if you have any ideas of social events - bring them along with you. Look forward to seeing you soon!! Hopefully 2011 can be a great fundraising year for us!!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
As per my weekly email, if anyone fancies joining me from 8pm in the White Horse tonight for a festive drink you're more than welcome. We have decided on Friday 25th February for our annual quiz with details to follow shortly, and I'm still waiting on numbers before deciding whether we're going to visit the Assembly Rooms on NYE. Let me know if you're interested! Have a great christmas and happy new year!
Tuesday 22nd December - Quiz Night and Burnt Post, Coventry
After the snow had claimed our carols in castle event at Warwick Castle, and also our scheduled trip to the Frankfurt market - at last a chance to get out of my flat on an evening!! We had some nice food, a good chat and finished about midway in the quiz - and only a few correct answers off 2nd place and £20! It was also good to catch up with Cov Rotaract's Paul Griffin again. I contributed my usual minimal amount of correct answers, quizzes are Tom's domain. An enjoyable evening!
(Matt D, Tom, Mike, Ellen, Matt Cluff and Paul Griffin)
Friday 17th December - Rotaract in the News!!
A very pleasing article in the local paper - it also got into the printed version as well as online:
http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/local/charity_tinshake_has_kick_1_2166065
Thursday 16th December - Christmas Meal at Newbold Comyn Arms
A good evening of food, drink and conversation. Courtney kindly distributed gifts in the form of buttons and smarties in those tube things. I think most of the entertainment happened at Dan's end, where he knocked his drink over, and then had a long conversation about CV's - coupled with the standard facebook updates. Entertainment was also provided by one of those fortune fish things that came in one of the crackers. Afterwards we sat by the log fire on a bitterly cold evening and chatted a bit longer before heading off home.
(Matt D, James, Tom, Dan, Mike, Dewi, Anna, Nicola, Courtney, Kate, Helen Dixon, Ellen and Matt Cluff)
Wednesday 15th December - Helen Ley Quiz Night
The last Helen Ley Quiz of 2010 proved to be a close contest as a single point decided the winner of the evening! The Herald Angels took the crown as the rounds included; sport, song titles (with love in them), science and nature and board games - all very good rounds and a very lively quiz. The Herald Angels had a slight advantage with John in the team, and also scored all 10 in the song titles round. A very lively quiz and a nice evening overall to round off some great quizzes we've done for Helen Ley in 2010.
Written by Quizmaster Dan
(Dan, Tom, Anna, Nicola and Mike)
CONGRATULATIONS
Former club presidents Dave and Laura Gibb (formerly Coates) have had their first baby, a daughter - Saskia. Congratulations from me, and all at the club. Laura was president in my first year at the club, and Laura in my second. Hopefully Saskia will join the club in 18 years time!!
Wednesday 8th December - Cinema Night, Harry Potter
Despite it being James second time, Rotaract were live at the Apollo for Harry Potter. It was long and tense, with little in action and a lot in drama. How did I end up in a chick flick! But the cliffhanger at the end made me determined to be there on the first day of the release of the final film.
(Written by Tom, also present; James, Cheryl, Claire and Kate)
NEWS UPDATE - 7th December
Me, Ellen and Tom witnessed one hell of a series of fights at a Cov Blaze game on Saturday night, check out this clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru_DeHbNmDI
World Rotaract Week is March 7th to 13th in 2011, start thinking about interesting ways to raise a bit of money and/or get a bit of PR. I was thinking maybe a sponsored dog walk, or another twilight walk - something dog related?
We're currently talkings to the Royal Priors about possible tinshakes in 2011, definitely May and July, and possibly a date at the end of Feb also.
Finally in the news stakes, over christmas we've got a few socials down to get you out - Birmingham Frankfurt Market on Monday 20th Dec, Burnt Post grill and quiz night on Tuesday 21st, then drinks at the White Horse on 24th Dec, bowling on 30th Dec and if people fancy it, a night out on New Years eve, to either the Assembly Rooms or Cox's Yard!!
Saturday 4th December - Royal Priors Tinshake - a fantastic £312.83 raised!!!
Well done and thanks to everyone who helped and gave their time, not least Tom who was around all day wearing a kung fu panda outfit, and also Alex Green for lending us the outfit. For half the day we also had someone present from Dogs for the Disabled and a lovely dog. The kids loved the panda to bits, and I think Tom loved being a panda!!! The shopping centre was packed and buzzing, and people really gave generously. Helen D also did a couple of her games again. A great day's work - this is what being a Rotaract is all about!!
(Matt D, James, Tom, Mike, Katie, Dan, Courtney, Helen D, Nicola, Ellen and Claire)
Thursday 25th November - Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to the bowling lanes for a while and it was certainly eventful - starting with Ellen and Anna struggling to find their way around some diversions in Leamington, Anna knocking my pint over while the member of staff at the till struggled to work out the maths with us having a £6 voucher for 2 games up to a group size of 6, with us haing 8 in our group! When all that was sorted, we had 2 highly competitive games of bowling. On 1 lane Dan and Mike won the 2 games, and in my lane James won the first game and then Ellen (who was on fire all night) won the 2nd. After Matt beat James a couple of times at pool, and Anna won a couple of celebration chocs on a game we had another drink - I didn't get back until gone 11.40pm! Enjoyable evening! Maybe another bowling experience over christmas!
(Matt D, Matt C, James, Dan, Mike, Anna, Ellen and Nicola)
SANTAS SLEIGH DETAILS
Its that time of the year again! Dave Cooling attended our last meeting and explained how much our support of this event is appreciated, and we've always been given very generous donations off the back of our help. This years timings are as follows:
Sunday 5th December - Tesco Warwick, 10am-1pm & 1pm-4pm
Tuesday 7th December - Myton Road, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 9th December - Warwick Gates, 6pm-9pm
Tuesday 14th December - Woodloes, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 16th December - Packmores, 6pm-9pm
Saturday 18th December - Sainsburys Warwick, 9am-12, 12-3pm
Tuesday 21st December - Spinney Hill, 6pm-9pm
Thursday 23rd December - Stratford Road, 6pm-9pm
Friday 24th December - Sainsbury Warwick, 10am-1pm
For evening shifts MEET AT WARWICK JUNIOR SCHOOL on Myton Road, and aim to leave no later than 6.15pm each night and be back by 9pm. For weekend shifts, arrive at the appropriate supermarket at the times mentioned above. You will be given tabards and collecting tins on arrival. All you need to do is be jolly and festive and say "Merry Christmas, we're Warwick Roundtable and we're collecting for local good causes". If you'd prefer to join the sleigh en route, let Dave know, I have his number if you need it. Please drop me an email if you're able to help and I'll let Dave know. Many thanks! Ho ho ho!
Wednesday 18th November - Helen Ley Quiz
Last night 7 of us from Rotaract braved the harsh weather conditions (a bit of rain) to go and get quizzical at our old hang out of the Helen Ley Centre. I had my debut as quizmaster, and tried to mix it up a bit, with a picture round, a crime round, and a lyrics round where I wowed the teams with my rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. With 2 very competitive teams it did get rowdy at times. However, Rodney helped to quieten down the heckling of the quizmaster with the promise of biscuits! Overall a very enjoyable, with a very good turnout!
(Katie - quizmaster and the above was written by Katie, also Tom, Ellen, James, Helen D, Mike and Anna)
Saturday 13th November - NEWS UPDATE
We can confirm that Phil Harris and Warwick Rotary have sponsored us a further £49.17 for our charity walk, to add to the £160 we'd raised from the night. So that's £209.17 to get us properly off and running! A joint skittles night has also gone onto the social list for Jan 27th. Our next big chance to raise a bit of money comes with our tinshake in 3 weeks time in the Royal Priors.
At Thursday's club meeting we will also be collecting a £5 deposit from everyone towards our christmas meal. We currently have 10 names down. If anyone has any ideas for games, please let us know.
Finally, people will notice that we've now set up a facebook group to so that people can now register their interest in our now confirmed Annual Ball, to be held on June 4th 2011. The cost will be £22 before the end of Feb, and £25 thereafter. Posters and tickets should be ready after Christmas!
Thursday 11th November – Take a Walk on the Darkside, Ghost Walk around Warwick
On one of the windiest and wildest nights I can ever remember, we tried out this ghost walk around Warwick. There was a decent sized group of us and the guide was excellent - a kind of slightly taller and more rugged version of Phil Collins! He said at the start that he wasn't there to preach that ghosts exist, but instead tell some stories and let us more our minds up. It was very interesting, amusing at times, and 'maybe' a little scary at some points too. He told stories about the courts, gallows underneath Warwick Library that used to warn people to behave when entering Warwick, the haunted Warwickshire musuem, the old dolls musuem which is now a tea rooms and the Castle, amongst others.
The walk lasted over an hour, he even charged us a discounted rate of £3 each. After the walk we all went to the Zetland for a drink and a natter. A really enjoyable evening - and I even forgot about the horrible cold that I was carrying all day!
(Matt D, Matt Cluff, Dan, James, Mike, Nicola, Katie, Dewi and Anna)
Friday 5th November – Bonfire Night Charity Walk, from the Waterman
After the drama of trying to find somewhere to park we managed to round up most of the group, although couldn't find Courtney until we were about to set off. It was a seriously wet day and very boggy under foot, it was so wet they couldn't set off all the fireworks at the Waterman! I have no doubts that a lot of people would've had a few games trying to move their cars from the very sodden field where many parked.
Anyway, when everyone was together we headed off along the canal with our torches, paddling through numerous puddles along the toepath. Everyone was brilliant - very little moaning and no one dropping out - or dropping in..........in to the canal! A superb turnout of 16 people. About 2/3's of the way round we stopped at a nice small pub for a drink and chance to dry out a bit - then we set off along the Birmingham Road for the final stretch back to the Waterman - via a stumble from Craig and a potentially high value comedy fall from me involving a dead fox.
A really good evening - and once again, I can't thank people enough for turning out! We raised £160, plus Rotary have said they will give us a donation as sponsorship which is excellent!
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Dan, Matt Cluff, James, Katie, Ellen, Claire, Sina, Nicola, Helen and Cheryl)
Thursday 4th November - Club Meeting
A really good and productive meeting with another excellent turnout, both charities were present including a lovely dog from Dogs for the Disabled. They explained their charities and we threw many questions their way.
Other important news was setting a date of Saturday 4th June for our Annual Ball - make sure you keep this clear in your diary!!
Thursday 4th November - Its club meeting time!
Newbold Comyn Arms, 8pm. On the agenda for our first meeting of November, is a visit from both of our charities for the year - Dogs for the Disabled and the Friendship Project. We will also be voting on dates for the Ball to hopefully include EVERYONE, so we can confirm with Newbold Comyn Arms very shortly. There will be a run through of the plans for Friday's charity walk - our first opportunity to raise money for our two charities. I will also do a show of hands for our christmas meal - 3 courses, £16.50 in the country manor house part of Newbold Comyn Arms on Thu 16th Dec. I'm sure there will be much more discussed besides, and a drink or two consumed by the fire! Hope to see everyone there!!
Saturday 30th October – Halloween Night with live music, Newbold Comyn Arms
I This was just a last minute thing - and what a good decision. The band were fantastic - A Chain of Fools - supposedly the most hardest working band in the world. It was certainly a large band, with all manner of instruments being used. It was a mix of current and past music, with stuff ranging from Amy Winehouse and Duffy to James Brown's I feel good. The pub was packed and the music was fantastic - a good evening!
Don't forget that this week is meeting week, and we hope to have representatives from both charities present. Again at Newbold Comyn Arms.
(Matt D, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Bowling date rearranged
Due to low numbers bowling (scheduled for Tues 26th Oct) has been rearranged for Thursday 25th November when we hope to see most of the club out. Hope to see you there!!
Plan for Charity Bonfire Night Walk on Friday 5th November
I'm planning to arrive at 7pm - to possibly have something to eat as the Waterman (www.thewatermanpub.co.uk/) are putting on a BBQ and hogroast before the fireworks start at 7.30pm. After this our walk will begin, probably around 8pm.
Firstly I would encourage everyone to arrive as early as possible to ensure you can park, otherwise you may have to park by Hatton Locks, or even a bit further along in Hatton. I would encourage everyone to bring a torch, wear comfortable footwear, if not walking boots (as its likely to be a bit muddy in some parts), bring waterproofs and also a drink as we'll be walking for the best part of 3 hours.
In terms of the route - we'll head out onto the Grand Union canal past the numerous locks towards Warwick. We'll come off the canal in Warwick and onto the Birmingham Road, along Saltisford, down The Butts, onto Castle Hill, right into Castle Lane, then right down Leycester Place, then right onto High Street and passing Lord Leycester Hospital, left down Swan Street, past the museum and the Market Place before turning right onto Theatre Street and back onto the Saltisford and Birmingham Road. We'll either conclude the walk along the canal again, or back along the A425 which has streetlights all the way back to the Waterman. Its just under the 7 mile mark, so it'll probably be around 11pm that we'll return and hopefully make around £150 plus for our charities! Please come along - support our charities, get some good exercise and enjoy the fireworks!
Thursday 21st October – Club Meeting & Beetle Drive Practice
A productive and enjoyable evening. I booked out the room at the back of Newbold Comyn Arms so that we could trial a Beetle Drive game for a possible charity event later in the year - all 12 of us were involved split into 3 groups of 4 and it was well received. James was the eventual winner, taking home some chocs and pear cider. Before we started this game noteable news included a discussion on ball venues, and we're almost certainly going to choose Newbold Comyn Arms and their adjacent conferencing room with tickets at around £22, its just subject to finding out a bit of info on 2 other possibilities. We also had a guest from Warwic Rotary, Phil Harris, who will be joining us on our charity bonfire night walk in 2 weeks time along with 2 others from Rotary. Phil then went on to discuss a possible Rotaract/Rotary skittles social night early in 2011. Finally, in terms of major news - we will have both of our new charities at our next club meeting - and we'll have Dogs for the Disabled (including an actual dog!!) at our December tinshake!!
Don't forget the charity walk on November 5th - anyone is welcome! This is our next big club event where we really need everyone to get our fundraising started! Numbers already look promising with 10-12 from Rotaract and 4 from Rotary. Lets get this up to 20!
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Matt C, Katie, Helen D, Cheryl, James, Mike, Nicola, Claire and Helen K - plus guest Phil Harris from Warwick Rotary)
Tuesday 19th October – Evening at Ask entertaining Rotarians from Brazil
See pics on our facebook site! A very successful evening, and a huge thanks to everyone who turned out, and also those who took the extra effort to collect the young exchange Rotarian's from their host families. There were 5 people from Brazil and 13 from our club, we chatted for a good 3 hours, they told us about their clubs and culture back home and we discussed what we get upto. I sat opposite a very interesting Environmental Lawyer called Sheila from North Brazil - who told me of her very busy schedule while over here - hopefully their evening with us was a bit more relaxed.
Next up is our club meeting on Thursday where we plan to discuss ball venues and I've prepared a mini beetle drive practice as a potential fundraising event for the future, and just as a bit of fun. I've got a box of chocs and a bottle of pear cider as the prize! We've also got a visitor from Warwick Rotary - Phil Harris.
(Matt D, Courtney, Tom, Dan, Matt Cluff, James, Katie, Ellen, Claire, Sina, Nicola, Helen and Cheryl)
Saturday 16th October – Official Receivers Charity gig at Fire Station
I really enjoyed this evening - first of all we had a drink in the Star and Garter before heading over to the fire station for 8.30pm and finding a seat. There was a disco for an hour, with plenty of cheasy disco tunes - just my cup of tea, before the band started. Having seen this band twice before I knew it'd be brilliant, and they didn't disappoint. The audience of a good 200 or 300 lapped it up, the dancefloor was full all night - with most of our group dancing for a lot of the night. Once the band finished at 11.30pm, we had another hour of great tunes and the disco. So all in all, a lot of fun and a lot must have been raised for Myton Hospice!
(Matt D, Tom, Courtney, Matt Cluff, Helen and Dan - and also Craig and Julian)
16th October - NEWS UPDATE
Very much looking forward to a good night tonight at the Fire station's charity gig for Myton Hospice! Some more early news about the next social list - Dave Coolings yearly charity party is this year a Move Night themed affair on Saturday 20th November. Also for anyone who's interested, there's a night out in Coventry in the offing for next Friday(22nd). I've also had some inside info about next month's Warwick Ghost Walk, apparently its much better than the Stratford Ghost Walk, very funny, very scary and a lot of history. Did you know the car park under Warwick Library used to be gallows?!
14th October - NEWS UPDATE
7 tickets have been booked for Saturdays Official Receivers charity gig for Myton Hospice at Leamington Firestation. We'll be meeting just outside the Warwick Street entrance before 7.30pm - for what looks to be a good night. They have a bar and a disco - and what a great cause!! Our charity a few years ago. If anyone else is interested - by all means call and try and get some returns!
At our next club meeting we'll have a vistor from Warwick Rotary - Phil Harris, who will be joining us on our charity walk scheduled for Friday 5th November. Its £10 - all welcome - but please bring a torch, comfortable footwear and clothing and a drink! If you want a poster, let me know.
At our next club meeting we also plan to run a beetle drive game, as a bit of fun, and a potential charity event for the future. It'll be free, but there will be a small prize - probably chocs and drink.
Due to a lack of support, the offer to run a casino on 30th October has been politely declined. Its disappointing, but we have plenty of fundraising opportunities before christmas with the walk, tinshake, carols in the castle and santa's sleigh - so please please all support is hugely appreciated!! We are also at an advanced stage with ball research for next June, after cancelling it in both previous years the board is really committed to making it happen this club year - so we're likely to give people a few choices and then confirm venue very shortly. As always any suggestions or ideas are gratefully received.
Finally, visits by both of our new charities are in the pipeline - expect to hear something shortly. Hopefully at a meeting in November.
Wednesday 13th October – Helen Ley Quiz
Ellen ran her first quiz for us - and did a fantastic job, some very unique rounds, although tough for my small brain! The quiz included a picture round and a proverbs round. Surprise surprise Tom was on John Major's team, and they won by a landslide - but I still enjoyed it! Thanks again to Helen and those who helped.
(Matt D, Tom, Mike and Ellen as quizmaster)
Bonfire Night Charity Walk and Possible Walk tomorrow (Sun 10th) - UPDATE
A great attendance at our club meeting last night! As those of you who attended will know, we have rearranged the charity walk for Friday 5th November (£10, no sponsorship or anything), we will watch the firework display at the Waterman, Hatton, and then walk out towards Warwick and back.
For those of you who like walking, I'm also likely to do a walk tomorrow afternoon (around 6 miles) at 2pm - which will be nice given the forecast and autumnal colours. If you don't have my number, check the contact us tab.
Tom's Football Specials - UPDATE
These aren't on the social list but let me or even better Tom know if you're interested:
Sat 16th Oct - M'boro v Leeds United, live on BBC at Tom's, 5.20pm kick off - drinks and snacks provided by Tom, and then after we have a club night with the Official Receivers charity gig at the fire station!
Sat 6th Nov - the day after our Bonfire Night Charity Walk, Coventry City are playing Tom's team Leeds United at 3pm. Ellen lives very near to the Ricoh Arena so parking and food is available, before taking in what could be quite an entertaining game - if Leed's recent 6-4 defeat is anything to go by. Again, give Tom (or me) a shout!
6th October - UPDATE
Recent regular club member Hannah Earl (formerly Love) became a mother for the first time on Tuesday 5th October - having a baby girl - Martha Ellen Love Earl. A huge contratulations from all at Rotaract!
DON'T FORGET - Thursday's Club Meeting is at the Newbold Comyn Arms while the Moorings remains closed! Hope to see many of you there!
Sunday 26th September – Coventry Blaze v Sheffield
The Ice Hockey is an event that is always popular on the Rotaract social list, Coventry Blaze completed a winning home weekend with a 5-1 success over Sheffield in the Challenge Cup (no fights Dan? Matt). Coventry Blaze always looked in control from the start and finished with a high score to wrap up a good weekend all round. The evening finished off with an interesting conversation in the car on the way home which was mostly about nights out and the amount of pictures I have on facebook with random females! A good evening all round and also well attended as well!
I (Matt) have just had an update from Tom - apparently there was a fight and both players got 2 minutes, he also said a player got sent off for attacking the ref (how can you miss these important facts Dan?) and the Blaze were definitely not in control - it was only because of Sheffields ill discipline!! So in summary - you didn't watch the game at all did you Dan? On your iphone? :-)
(Written by Dan, with input from Tom - also in attendance, Courtney, Claire, Tom, Sina and Ellen)
Monday 20th September – Meal at Prezzo's
Just taking advantage of a voucher for a £1 meal with every full price main course. We enjoyed our food even though it was a very select group!
(Matt D, Dan and Matt C)
Wednesday 15th September – Helen Ley Quiz
Tom made his debut as quizmaster, after being a longtime helen ley quiz regular - and what a natural as quizmaster - they were tough questions but an excellent job done! Unfortunately my team were trashed by 16 points, but we all enjoyed it and had a laugh nevertheless!!
(Matt D, Ellen and Tom as quizmaster)
Sunday 12th September – Guys Cliffe Open Day, and Walk around surrounding area
It was a lovely late summers day and a thoroughly enthralling look around the caves and ruins of Guys Cliffe - who'd think there's a cliffe in landlocked Warwickshire!! A very historic old house - then we did a short 45 minute walk to see the old house from different angles going out towards Old Miverton and returning along the river - and Tom didn't fall in this time!! An enjoyable couple of hours!
(Matt D, Tom and Ellen)
Thursday 9th September – Disc Golf - Last vist of the summer!
The last disc golf of 2010 didn't let us down! For the last disc golf of the year we started as earlier to allow as much light as possible, we started off in sunshine and finished in near darkness. We started off well and it was Matt Cluff who started the strongest, followed by Tom. The highlight of the evening was when Tom accidently fell into the stream after trying to find Anna's disc. The evening closed when darkness started to fall, an enjoyable evening all round and have thoroughly enjoyed disc golf this year!
(Tom, Matt Cluff, Anna and Dan - and written by Dan)
Saturday 4th September - Alton Towers
Well, there isn't a write up coming from Tom. All had a great day - see pics on our facebook pages!
(Tom, Courtney, Louise, Helen Dixon and Helen K)
Wednesday 25th August – The Expendables, Toms Cinema Night
Lots of shooting, lots of action and some comedy to boot, with many legendary names. A really good fun film - good suggestion Tom!
(Matt D, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Sunday 14th August – Rock n Roll Exhibition at Pump Rooms
My first ever trip to the pump rooms (apart from the library next door) despite living in the area all my life. A really good historic look at pop photography in the 50's and 60's - particularly if you like Cliff Richard, the Beetles, Buddy Holly or anyone from that era. They didn't have the camera's we have today!
(Matt D, Tom and Laura)
Wednesday 11th August – Helen Ley Quiz
Time for our monthly trip to Helen Ley to run our quiz and entertain the residents. This time we had a debutant quizmaster in Laura - and what a fine job she did too, despite the toughest ever round - geography, and my team got 1 and a half! The turnout was good, 7 of 8 on my side which was completely female apart from me (some would say including me) and the other team was completely male apart from Anna (I won't say anything Anna!), which the same numbers again. Plus John and a few other familiar faces were there. An enjoyable evening - and well worth missing the England game for!
(Matt D, Tom, Anna and Laura as quizmaster)
Thursday 5th August – CHARITIES FOR 2010/11 ANNOUNCED AT CLUB MEETING
Courtney announced that the Friendship Project won the voting as club charity and she selected Dogs for the Disabled as President's charity. Our first opportunity to raise money for these 2 worthwhile causes is the Moonlit Walk on Saturday 21st August which is open to anyone. Speak to Matt for a poster and further details.
Saturday 31st July – Bon Giovi at Cox's Yard, Stratford
Bon Jovi tributes don't get any better than this lot, at a venue I really like. Lots of good music, and then we went to Chicago Rock to continue the celebration of good music. A good night, and thanks to Dan for driving! Lots of energy from Tom in the dancing stakes, and lots of facebook updates from Dan!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and Matt Cluff)
Wednesday 28th July – Leamington Town Walk & Drinks
Well - what a fascinating insight into Leamington's past this was - elephants, the 2nd world war, Leamington's connections with the likes of Brunel, Frank Whittle, Dickens, Churchill, numerous members of the royal family, the reality behind the stunning white frontages of many of Leamingtons buildings, and so on! Sadly the karoake wasn't happening at Willoughby, so instead we had to make do with good old fashioned conversation! An enjoyable evening.
(Matt D, Dan, James, Tom, Courtney, Craig, Claire, Anna, Alex and partner Jess, Paul and Kate from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 22nd July – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to Leamington Tenpin for a few months and Dan was on decent form with 2 wins and 2 scores of 127 - I won't inflate his already large ego by saying it was anything other than decent. In the other game, Matt Cluff won first time round, and then I had a rare win in a low scoring contest. Much good banter was had, we then played around on the games afterwards. A good night. I won't do a blog for James birthday night - what happen's on these nights can stay out of the public domain! :-)
(Matt D, Dan, Matt Cluff, James and Lucy his girlfriend, Laura, Anna and Alex)
Sunday 18th July – Warwick Rotary Thai Festival
The Rotaract lads put a shift in again in the name of charity! The 5 strong group all adorning the new Rotaract t-shirts met up at 5.30pm to help clear away, at the end of what appeared a really successful day where Warwick celebrated Thai food and culture. We collected litter, and helped move chairs, tables and barriers. We then headed to the Zetland, sat outside and had a pint while torturing a wasp in a jar - it had a happy ending as the wasp was released. Warwick Rotary were appreciative of our efforts and their president said they would visit one of our meetings very soon, and that a cheque was on its way to us for £200 for our support of their events. Hopefully in the next 12 months we can do even more as our club gets stronger! I was then home just in time to watch Top Gear - happy days!
(Matt D, Tom, James, Dan and Matt C)
Saturday 17th July – Warwick Lions Beer Festival
After paying £4 for the bus, £5 to get into the beer tent and then £5 for the drink tokens, we finally got our first beer and sat down in the centre of the drafty racecourse. To drafty for us, so we went inside - sampled various beers and witnessed 1 or 2 people in the marquee getting a bit rowdy, then Dan dropped us into Leam. We had a sharp drink with Paul before he headed back to Coventry, and me and Tom went to koko's for a couple.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan and Paul Griffin from Cov Rotaract)
Wednesday 13th July – Helen Ley Quiz
Anna volunteered to be quizmaster this time, in partnership with Dan who prepared the questions. Very good questions too, although a few of us really struggled with the Sherlock Holmes round. It was really tight throughout and tied going into the final round. Despite the other team losing John Major for the last round which was sport, against all odds the team with only 4 people beat the team of 7 by 1 point! It was the first time Tom had lost for a long time, probably not helped by the presence of me on his team!!
(Matt D, Tom, Ellen, Laura and Anna as quizmaster)
*NEWS* - Tuesday 13th July - James announces new Rotaract forum for all members to discuss ideas etc - http://lwrotaract.freeforums.org
Friday 9th - Saturday 10th July – 24 hour Football Marathon for Charity
While this wasn't a club event I'm giving it a quick write up because it was organised by 3 former club members in Dave Gibb, Neil Collins and Mark Constable, and it was supported fantastically by our own James Lovatt who played 7 hours on Saturday morning. What a star! Former club president, welshman and allround top man Dewi Williams also made an appearance between 2am and 10am. Dave Cooling made an appearance too, although only to support the lads. 1 or 2 others with links to the club were involved. At the last count well over £1,000 was raised for the homeless word cup charity. For more info see:
http://www.warwickathletic.co.uk/
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/
Warwick Athletic was originally started by Rotaract back 7 or 8 years ago!
Thursday 8rd July – 2nd visit to Disc Golf of summer 2010
Another fine warm evening at Quarry Park where this time we had a guest from Coventry, who basically showed us how its done. Paul ended up winning by a few shots, closely followed by Tom, James, Matt, me, and then a long way back Dan and Anna. The entertainment was again provided by Dan who seemed to have some magnetic thing going on between the disc and his head. It was one of those classic comedy moments when James caught him on the back of the head from distance and Dan shouts "James!" in a semi aggressive retort. There were numerous other near misses, but then he did keep getting in the way and was often found on his iphone instead of concentrating on the game. Other incidents included Matt Cluff walking on an upturned boat, which then collapsed and he fell in, and quite a long break as one of James typically powerful yet mega wild shots flew into some undergrowth - so we all had to find it. Check out facebook for some pics from the evenings entertainment!!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=5550648125
(Matt D, Matt C, Tom, James, Dan, Anna and Paul Griffin from Cov)
Email circulated on charities, vote to take place at next meeting on Thursday 15th July. For those not present you will be able to submit votes via email. Charities to be unveiled at meeting on August 5th.
Saturday 3rd July – Riding for the Disabled Cheque Presentation
A few of us drove over to Shrewley on the other side of Warwick to present a cheque of £940 from last years fundraising to Riding for the Disabled. Like the WNAA presentation last month, it was very satisfying to hand the money over - we took a few snaps and headed off. Check out our facebook pages for pictures!
(Matt D, Matt C, Helen D and Courtney)
Tuesday 29th June – Burnt Post Grill and Quiz Night, Coventry
On a very warm evening we met up with the Cov Rotaract clan to try our hands at the Burnt Post Quiz. We didn't quiz get up to the heights of 4th place like last time, but we got a very similar score again thanks to the quiz brilliance of Tom - I think we were about 6th out of 12. I know I'm poor at quizzes, but it was good fun, and the food and atmosphere is always good in here. I'm sure we'll be back for more.
(Matt D, Matt C, Ellen, Tom, James, plus 4 from Cov Rotaract)
Sunday 27th June – Picnic at Mill Gardens and Eng v Ger at Pub
Well, I enjoyed the picnic and sun - and making 2 new friends in Matt Cluff's kids, who seems to liked me, ha - but the trip afterwards to Robbins Well to watch England was depressing even by England's standards. A 4-1 defeat, urggh!
At least the sun shining on what was the hottest day of the year helped to get me over the loss! Next up a trip to the Burnt Post in Coventry on Tuesday for a quiz and a chance to catch up with that nice bunch from Coventry Rotaract.
(Matt D, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Matt C, Claire & Ellen)
Sunday 20th June – World Cup Night at Matt D's
A good game, some snacks, a drink and a bit of conversation - more importantly, an excellent host!
(Matt D, Tom and Matt C)
Saturday 19th June – End of Year Meal, Bistro Pierre
Nice food indeed! Courtney arranged for some free giveaways for everyone, Helen and Dan were recognised for their contributions over the year, and I did a quick run through of some of the things we've been upto over the year. Afterwards Dan left us for a night out in Northampton - boo, and the rest of us went to Sozzled Sausage, Voodoo and then Mumbai.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the year, however much - it all counts!! We continue to do good work, and have a bit of fun at the same time!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Louise, Courtney, Matt C, Nick, Helen D, Claire & Ellen)
Wednesday 16th June – Helen Ley Quiz
This time I did the questions, and after a seriously mad rush - including some speedy driving and wolfing some food down I picked Tom up and we did our latest quiz at Helen Ley. A decent turn out of 4 or 5 of of the residents on each team and 1 from Rotaract. We did rounds involving; History, 1980 (as it was my b'day last week), South Africa and Famous Quotes - my world cup round wasn't used. The quotes proved particularly difficult - I thought the residents were going to revolt! Surprise surprise Tom and John Major's team was victorious! Another enjoyable evening.
I also discovered on the news tonight that there is a serious risk of Helen Ley closing down after MS Society declared they would be withdrawing their funding in 12 months. Lets hope they find a backer!!
(Matt D, Tom and Laura)
Monday 14th June – World Cup Night at Tom's
We visited Tom's new place for a bit of footy and general chat. Beer and pizza was also on offer. The game (Italy v Paraguay) was okay, with Italy just about scraping a draw.
(Matt D, Tom and Matt C)
Thursday 10th June – Coventry Rotaract Beetle Drive Event
Another really good fundraising event organised by Coventry Rotaract at the cricket club down Binley Road, Coventry. This time the name of the game was passing a dice around a table of 4, and needing different numbers on the dice to draw a beetle, i.e. first you need a 6 to draw the body, then 5 for a head, 4 for a wing, 3 for a leg and so - the loser would move one way, and the winner the opposite way. So you'd get the chance to network with different people. The first person to draw a complete beetle shouts out "beetle". A fairly simple game once you get into it, but great fun. Coventry Rotaract raised £175 on the night, and again we got to find out a bit more about the new Rugby Rotaract.
(Matt D, Matt C, Tom, Dan, Ellen)
Sunday 6th June – 2 Castles Run Marshalling
After their all dayer yesterday, Tom and Helen were at it again today helping support this event. Matt Cluff and Tom were stationed at Kenilworth Castle and Helen at Woodloes Island near Saxon Mill. Great work again guys, I'm sure we'll get another donation for our charities.
(Tom, Matt C and Helen Dixon)
Saturday 5th June – Coventry Rotaract BBQ
A group of us headed over to Canley in Coventry as Paul Griffin of Coventry Rotaract invited us to their BBQ. We arrived at 6.30pm and stayed until gone midnight, including much conversation, some fun and games with the barbeque and some action on his wii. Had a really good night and discussed doing a few things together in the near future, we also got to meet the young group from Rugby Rotaract who were present. We've also invited them to any of our events/meetings and given them our details and social list.
(Matt D, Tom, James, Matt C and Dan)
Saturday 5th June – Kenilworth Agricultural Show, 9am until 5.30pm
Again we used the hammer slammer like last month at the Kenilworth Festival, yet this time we also had our own white Rotaract t-shirts, a gazibo, and a couple of other competitions - all thanks to the fantastic work of Helen Dixon and her family. Helen was at the stand all day, as was Tom - what stars they are!! From the 3 hours I was there, it seemed really good with a steady flow of "business". We raised £76 for our funds. See our facebook pages for many pictures from the day.
(Helen D & Tom all day, with Dan, Matt D, Claire and James)
Sunday 30th May – Helping St Mary's Immaculate Church Celebrations
On a sunny but very blustery day me, Tom, James and Courtney helped this local catholic church with their 150th anniversary celebrations, I was serving local beer at the bar, Courtney serving tea and coffee and Tom and James helping with the skittles game. A really enjoyable afternoon, with some nice complimentary food thrown in and an extremely generous £200 donation given towards our two charities. Very pleasing! Me, Tom and James then went to a pub to reward our efforts.
Earlier in the week I also took a cheque for £50 round to former member Ian Grime's as a club donation from our admin account for his charity canoe "adventure" from Leamington to Stratford, going to the worthy cause of Birmingham Childrens Hospital. His fundraising efforts have now passed the £400 mark, so a big well done from all of us at Rotaract!
(Matt D, Tom, James and Courtney)
Thursday 27th May – Quarry Park Disc Golf
It was a fine evening with plenty of blue sky and fairly warm as we set off, it quickly became clear that despite not playing before both James and Matt Cluff were actually pretty good at this frisbee throwing lark. A sign of the later drama was quickly beginning to develop as I consistently threw my frisbee off at angles into nearby, and distant trees and foliage. Yep, I found the River Avon, then shortly after James did the same - although at least I paid for mine! We had several instances of throwing our discs into trees, while Ellen was holding up the tail, Matt Cluff went on to win the night. Dan didn't feature in the top 3 - he was saving himself for his trip to Oslo for Saturdays "event of the year" - Eurovision! Hands up if anyone else agrees that a) we shouldn't enter anymore and b) it should be relegated to BBC4! All in all a good laugh and an enjoyable evening - and damn chilly by the end!!
Check out our facebook group for plenty of pictures from the evenings entertainment!
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, James, Tom, Ellen and Claire)
Sunday 23rd May – NEW PICS ADDED TO OUR FACEBOOK GROUP!
Sunday 23rd May – WNAA Cheque Presentation
On a real pearler of a Sunday afternoon with only the occasional fluffy white cloud breaking up the pure blue sky - we presented the Air Ambulance (our charity from last year) with a cheque for £940. It was after the annual Air Ambulance 5k that we presentated our cheque near the helicopter itself - visit our facebook pages for many pictures, along with some good shots from last weeks Kenilworth festival. It does give you a nice sense of achievement to hand over some money that concludes quite a bit of time and effort in fundraising - very rewarding!
As it was such a nice day after the cheque presentation me and Tom went for an enjoyable walk starting from Kenilworth castle, taking in a lot of history (including King Henry V's pleasure palace set 1km away from castle), before meeting Matt C for a refreshing drink at the Queen and Castle where we stayed for almost 2 hours soaking up the sun.
(Matt D, Matt C, Louise and Dan)
Saturday 22nd May – Banbury/Leamington Night out
We jumped on the train and headed down to Banbury for Courtney's local Toby Carvery where she also works 1 day a week - had a large meal before hitting a few bars in the lively nightspot of Banbury!! We found Dan a nice nickname that he rather liked, finished in a bar/club called Fever playing loads of cheesy songs, but we had to leave to catch the last train back. Once in Leamington we headed for Rios, my first trip of 2010! My personal highlight - the way Dan enjoyed and danced to an Ndubz song! Classic! We didn't stay right until the end, left at 2.30am.
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, Tom, Lucy P - for meal only, Courtney and Craig)
Sunday 16th May – Kenilworth Festival, Hammer Slammer
A glorious day of sunshine and a fantastic team effort was on offer at a packed Kenilworth Festival in the heart of Warwickshire! Much appreciation must go to Helen and her dad an ex rotary member who brought a Hammer Slammer to the festival this provided great fun during the day and we raised £75 for our chosen charities through giving people the opportunity to have a hit to see how high they could score! We were also fortunate to have a promo stand there as well so people could read about all the different social & charity events we do. Next to us was a live stage where live music was provided, what more could we ask for? Sunshine, Music, and a great event to top it all off!!!
Written by Dan.
(Dan, Tom, Louise, Helen D, James, Ellen, Matt C, Matt D and Anna)
Wednesday 12th May – Helen Ley Quiz
No write up - but I hear it went well!
(Helen D, James, Ellen)
Sunday 9th May – Ian Grimes Charity Canoe paddle
Well done to former club member Ian Grime who completed the course from Warwick to Stratford in a canoe, raising over £300 in the process for Birmingham Childrens Hospice.
Wednesday 5th May – Charity Skydive
Nick and Helen Dixon went over to Cambridgeshire to do their charity skydive in aid of Phab and Zoes Place - our 2 charities for this year. Apparently there were a few nerves, but overall it sounds like they really enjoyed the experience - plus they've raised around £700 - loads of bottle and an allround great experience. Well done to both from everyone at Leamington & Warwick Rotaract!
(Nick and Helen Dixon with Matt C watching)
Thursday 29th April – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
I didn't actually go to this, but apparently Matt won both games and a good evening was had.
(Matt C, Nick, Rachel, James, Anna and Ellen)
Sunday 25th April – Harbury Walk
Originally my hangover cure was to do a walk organised by Pooley Country Park over by Tamworth, but that was cancelled by the park due to lack of numbers. Instead we sampled some lovely countryside around the nice village of Harbury, just south of Leamington on a sunny and warm April afternoon. A bit of history was added to the melting pot, finishing with a cold drink at an old fashioned country pub.
(Matt D, Tom and Dan)
Saturday 24th April – Matt's Birthday Night out
This was all about celebrating Matt's 30th birthday, and I think he enjoyed his night. We took in numerous bars around Leamington before hitting the launch night of the Assembly Room's Classics Night - with music from the 90's and 00's. I think Tom and Matt in particular burnt quite a few calories on that dancefloor! We also bumped into Louise with her hen party in fancy dress in the assembly.
(Matt C, Matt D, Claire, Tom, James, Nick and Rachel)
Tuesday 20th April – Grill Night and Quiz at the Burnt Post, Coventry
A good turnout and an enjoyable evening. Some decent food (and cheap) followed by a Tom inspired quiz performance, ably supported by the rest of us. We ended up finishing 3rd or 4th out of 12 teams! Tom - I still don't believe Yorkshire folk have roast dinners every day of the week!
(Matt D, Tom, James, Matt C, Nick, Rachel, Ellen, Katie and Ant)
Friday 16th April – Night at the Dogs, Hall Green
A smaller turn out than our previous two visits, but great fun again on a clear but chilly evening. I won on 4 out of 10 races again using the experts tip from the racecard - my wins only paid for my other bets mindyou. Tom also had a flutter on a tip from one of Dan's mates on facebook - making use of his iphone! As last time, the journey there and back featured a lot of cheesy tunes from a £2 CD that Tom brought specifically for this trip! Do we know how to live!
(Matt D, Dan, Tom and James)
Saturday 10th April – Royal Priors Tinshake for Zoes Place
A lovely sunny and warm day, although a poor turn out after the £110 we raised when we were last here in January. Still waiting to find out how much we raised, but while there were many generous people I don't think we got close to that figure. All counts though and our stand covered in Zoes place material was good promotion for Zoe's Place which is a fairly new charity. We also wore nice yellow Zoe's Place tshirts.
(Dan, Matt D, Tom and Louise)
Sunday 28th March – Matt's Walk, 1st of the year, nr Offchurch
Come on, where were you all?! A nice Sunday afternoon - a nice walk in the country that costs nothing! We started off by walking up the Offchurch Greenway, which used to be part of the Leamington to Rugby line, walking along the Grand Union Canal for a good distance, before turning onto an extremely muddy track with lots of puddles. The last leg of the walk involved returning along the disused railway, however, first we had to get down from the track to the railway - and believe me, it was a very high steel bridge, Tom was keen to slide down the high almost vertical drop - thankfully he didn't. I had visions of accidents happening! We were further down a field and go onto it that way. We encountered quite a few more huge puddles and mud before returning to a dryer path. Some pleasant views of the Warwickshire countryside were enjoyed before arriving back at my car. Next time I want more of you to join me!! :-(
(Matt D and Tom)
Thursday 25th March – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Usually a well attended regular event and a particularly impressive turnout this time. We split across 3 lanes with groups of 5. I was on the middle lane and we were the highest scoring lane over the 2 games, helped by some dynamite-like bowling from Dave Cooling - making a guest appearance. We witnessed yet more spectacular competitiveness from Dan - where glory was dramatically pinched from his grasp right at the death in the second game to the joy of the watching hoards - well, not hoards, just the rest of us! I finished last in our second game - even beaten by Louise! Oh well!!
(Matt D, Dan, Claire, Louise, Katie, Ant, Nick, Anna, Courtney, Ellen, James, plus guests Dave Cooling, Rachel, another Matt and Craig)
Thursday 25th March – £100 awarded to club
The Coventry University charity committee (where I work) have topped up the money raised from our recent quiz night by an extra £100.
Saturday 20th March – Cox's Yard, Stratford
When we went to see the Official Receivers back in September I absolutely loved it, and again it was fantastic this time round, a really good night. Some great music at a great venue. I think judging by the dancing and numerous photo's being taken all the others enjoyed it too. Me, Dan and Tom rounded the night off by going to Chicago Rock - and yet more music and dancing!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Louise, Katie and Ant)
Friday 19th March – Dave Coolings Charity Ball, The Glebe, Barford
Dave C’s Heart Foundation Balls offers an opportunity for us Rotarackis to put on our best frocks and dance the night away, all in a good cause. Tom, Matt C and Nick appeared like a triumvirate of James Bonds whilst Helen D + Claire added the glamour with stunnin black dresses. Whilst the dance floor was taken up with older couples doing energetic seroc dancing, eventually the rock came on and Tom led the group in full blown air guitar “handbag” dancing which had the serocers stunned. They didn’t join in, merely waited until Tom had finished his craziness. One lesson to learn is always plan your journey in advance – getting a bus to the Longbridge island and then running in the pouring rain to Barford in a tuxedo is a very stupid thing to do…!!!!
Written by Tom.
(Matt C, Nick, Helen D, Claire and Tom)
Wednesday 17th March – Helen Ley Quiz
Its that time of the month again - Helen Ley Quiz time! This was my turn to do the questions - and having realised last night that today was St Patricks day I quickly rattled up a St Patricks day round, well, you've got to haven't you - so hopefully the residents learnt a bit about Ireland from tonight. From Rotaract we had the regular Tom and Ellen making her debut appearance. Unlike most visits we only had 3 residents on each team, they and I still really enjoyed the night. John was again there, and on the winning side captained by Tom. I also did a Comedians and Clowns round, and an interesting general knowledge round where every answer ended with "o" and was 4 letters long!! I think it was enjoyed by all - but I won't count my chickens!
(Matt D, Tom and Ellen)
Saturday 13th March – Trip to Cadbury World & Live Music at the Moorings
Using some discount vouchers we had we went to Cadbury World to have a nose, sample some chocolate and find out about the history of chocolate and one of the most famous British brands of all. Nick was on fine form, doing a handstand on the camera where your image is covered in chocolate, while Matt was trying to pinch additional chocolate from the factory. Both of them bought half of the cadbury's shop!
In the evening we went to the Moorings and enjoyed some fine music - mostly covers were played, including songs from Van Morrison, Elton John and many many others. Some of the talk was a little x rated, but that's often the consequence of having Louise around on a night out! A really enjoyable afternoon and evening!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Claire and Louise during the evening)
Thursday 11th March – Prezzo's Meal
That was a good shout! For 10 quid we had a drink, a starter and a main course - and nice food too! Sitting on a roundtable so no avoiding people - I always try to avoid that Dan Wearden! Then after the meal we went to Satchwells for a drink!
(Matt D, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Hannah, Lucy and James)
Monday 1st March – Slug & Lettuce Meal
Not the incidents we had on our last trip here (me dropping my plate on the floor!), really enjoyed the food again and had a good chat - although quite a bit of a wait for the food! Excellent value for money (50% off all food), and a good way to start the week/month - even despite the company of Dan and his phone.
(Matt D, Dan, Nick, Matt C and Louise)
Sunday 28th February – Haiti Fundraising Day, Ricoh Arena
I thought I'd put this on even though only me and Dan went. It actually turned out to be a really enjoyable afternoon with some good music and dancing on the main stage, interspersed with celebrity spotting - numerous stars from soaps like Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Casualty. All in aid of the recent Haiti Earthquake.
(Matt D and Dan)
Saturday 27th February – Leamington & Warwick Rotaract Annual Quiz
What a successful night! A big thanks and well done to Louise, and all those who helped and came along and enabled us to raise in the region of £450. This includes a donation of £135 from The Moorings from their new years eve pyjama party. A very nice and surprising bonus. There were around 70 people who attended and a staggering 22 teams! No surprise that the winning team contained Dave Gibb (twice past president of the club) and former member and good friend of the club Dave Cooling! One of the most successful quizzes of recent years and taking our yearly fundraising total past £1,100 with a lot still to come!!
A big thanks also to Coventry Rotaract who brought 2 teams along, and all the Rotarians who supported us!!
(Louise quizmaster, Tom, Nick, Helen, Matt D and Anna helping - Courtney and Matt C on teams)
Friday 12th February – Comedy at the Glee Club in Birmingham
We all made our separate way to Birmingham and met up at New Street before heading to the Glee Club. We made it harder than it should've been, but once we were there - what a good night it was!! It was my first trip there, it was quite a small intimate venue, with lots of tables and chairs closely packed in. The 3 acts and compere were all very different but hilariously funny - although some of them probably not for the easily offended! One vocal girl in the audience was thrown out for being too rowdy after the 3rd act of the evening absolutely laid into her, but she still wouldn't shut up. I had to leave early to catch my train, so snook out and moved quickly - I don't think he noticed me! On leaving the club, the rowdy drunken girl was loudly arguing with the bouncer - I wanted to stick around, but knew I had a train to catch. To anyone who hasn't been - I strongly recommend it! Hopefully we can do it again sometime!
(Matt, Nick, Matt C and Hannah B)
Thursday 11th February – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
Our monthly visit to bowling, and the usual mix of competitiveness, particularly from Dan, and the general thrills and spills - plus a visit from Melissa. There was a good turnout so we split across 2 lanes. On one side all the girls and Matt C, and the other side the rest of us plus Melissa. Dan started off pretty well and won, then Ant won the next game by a country mile and I snook into second. Dan finished a disappointing 4th! Overall, Ant winning, that's right isn't it Dan? I think Matt C won both games on the less interesting other lane! (sorry if you were on that lane, I'm sure it was great!) Then afterwards I had to trek down the road to the Mothercare car park as the Tenpin car park was pull, beats parking where you shouldn't park, like Dan! Disabled - pah!
(Matt, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Katie, Anna, Melissa, Ruth and Ant)
Wednesday 10th February – Helen Ley Quiz
Nick took a turn at being the "hostess with the mostess" of the Helen Ley Quiz for this month. He also included one of the rarities which is a picture round, and in colour too! (I'm impressed Nick - Matt) Pity it was a "I'm a Celebrity Get me out of here" round rendering Tom useless. Tom's "Simply the Best(ish)" team wiped the floor with Claire + Dan's "3 girls plus 2" and gave them one hell of a hiding with an impressive 33 out of 40. Afterwards Dan and Claire got a guided tour whilst Tom and Nick chatted with the teams about Ancient Greece Architecture and drinking games/pub crawls.
Written by Tom.
(Nick - quizmaster, Tom, Dan and Claire)
Saturday 6th February – Ryton Pools Volunteering
This Saturday a group of Rotaracters gave up our afternoon to volunteer at Ryton Pools Country Park near Ryton. The weather was cold, but with joy in our hearts, we boldly marched on together up a hill where hedge laying was in progress. This involved bashing in of stakes and weaving branches in between them. Sounded like girls work so Tom and the park ranger Craig left to drive about in the buggy, chainsaw up logs and manually chop firewood - yes Tom learned an important manly skill and was very macho for a limited time! Events took a surreal twist when Craig and Tom had to stop the chopping and go and plant a memorial tree for a family who had suffered a bereavement, but the family were very appreciative, even though Tom was wearing a hoody. We then met the others and decided it was time to end and so if was back to the visitor centre for tea and biscuits.
Written by Tom.
(Dan, Tom and Helen K)
Friday 5th February – Taybarns Meal & Lazerquest
Going to an all you can eat venue is always very appealing but going to Taybarns (not Tayburns Dan!) added a new dimension to food. A great evening was had by all as we started by helping ourselves to all kinds of food which was available, this included a carvery, fast food, salad and some nice desserts. We were lucky enough to have some free drinks vouchers which Nick had. We then went across to Quasar and had a great game of lazerquest with Coventry Rotaract. We had a team of 9 and it was action packed. The game went at a fast pace, we won the game so we were happy. All in all a very good night was had by all, some tasty food followed by a good game of lazerquest can't be bad at all.
Written by Dan!
(Matt D, Matt C, Dan, Nick, plus 3 from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 4th February – Club Meeting - £600 cheque presented to club!
As a general rule I don't tend to include write ups from club meetings, unless something interesting happens, so this is an exception. Once again we were pleased to welcome former member Dave Cooling to our meeting to promote his forthcoming charity ball at the Glebe, but to our surprise he presented us with a cheque for £600 for our help with Roundtable's Santa's Sleigh. So a big thanks to Dave and everyone at Roundtable, and a big thanks to everyone at the club who gave up some of their time to help with what is now a very popular event. We also discussed the £107 raised at the tinshake, as well as forthcoming planned events such as a camping weekend away between 29th-31st May and a skydive by Nick, Helen D and possibly Ant in aid of our charities.
Saturday 30th January – Tinshake at Royal Priors in aid of PHAB
A successful day was spent raising money for Phab in the Royal Priors. As well as a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of the club in the local area, we were joined by Simon La Barbera who is Chairman of Warwick and Leamington Phab. Simon helped throughout the day to support us with our charity collection and it was a great opportunity for us to work closely together, whilst getting a much better idea of what Phab provide for their members and the valuable work that they do. We have invited Simon to come and visit the club so we look forward to seeing him at one of our meetings in the near future. We raised over £100, so well done to all involved!
Written by Charlotte
(Matt D, Dan, Tom, Louise, Claire and Charlotte)
Monday 25th January – Half Price Meal at Slug & Lettuce
This was an eventful trip - food was lovely, service was poor and I dropped my plate!! Ruth had finished her main course before Louise had even started her main course, and while Louise was giving the waitress some polite "feedback" she was informed that it wasn't her problem, while this was going on I somehow skillfully dropped my plate of food on the floor in such a way that all that I lost was some of the many leaves/garnish on my tasty tostada that I didn't really want, and a few tomatos that would later appear in the vicinity of my seat! Enjoyable though, despite the setbacks, you have to laugh!
(Matt D, Louise, Matt C, Anna, Claire and Ruth)
Friday 22nd January – Hall Green Dogs
Our second trip to the dogs didn't disappoint, although Dan's driving and musical tastes left a lot to be desired. In fact, I've never had a journey quite like it - never have I quite feared for my life so much, and I can't believe I still have my hearing in tact. On the night, I won 3 of the 11 or 12 races I betted on, which wasn't bad, got a few quid back. The others won a few races too, it was a fairly mild evening by recent standards and it stayed dry. The return journey was just as action packed as the outward trip, except this time Dan and Tom decided to sing as well - and don't spend 10 mins looking to your right when you're driving past an airport, keep your eyes on the road mate!!
(Matt D, Nick, Dan, Tom, Louise and Helen D)
Saturday 16th January – Leamington Pub Night
We gatecrashed Louises' mate - Jo's birthday drinks. Starting at the Jug and Jester, before having a quick drink at Satchwells and spending most of the evening in Mumbai Blu. A good night, although no nightclub!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Louise, albeit unofficially and her mate Jo and Lucy and her partner)
Wednesday 13th January – Helen Ley Quiz/Pub Night
I'd prepared my questions, I was ready for a quiz, but instead we ended up having an evening at the pub watching Liverpool lose to Reading in the cup! It was a freezing evening, with a lot of snow around and sadly Helen Ley only had 12 residents of which only 3 were up for a quiz, so instead it was cancelled and we went to the Copperpot in Leamington. My questions won't be wasted though, I'll use them for the March quiz.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Ant and Katie)
Tuesday 5th January – Burnt Post Grill Night with Coventry Rotaract
Despite the large amounts of snow and difficult driving conditions quite a big crowd made it out. 5 from L&W Rotaract and 5 from Coventry Rotaract. Some nice food (and very cheap given all their offers) and good conversation, with a quiz thrown in for good measure. Everyone seems keen to carry on doing events together in future - and they are a great bunch - despite Paul Griffin's consistent micky taking out of the fact that me and Dan were both wearing a shirt and tank top! (yeah, as well as clothes covering up the lower half) I owe you one Paul, I won't forget! An enjoyable night!
(Matt D, Nick, Matt C, Dan, Helen D and 5 from Coventry Rotaract)
Thursday 31st December – Assembly Rooms, New Years Party!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Sometime New Year can be a bit of a damp squib (nice word that!) but this was great, so thanks to everyone who came along! It was packed, the music was brilliant, and the company was pretty good too! Started off in the Jug and Jester, although I did join a bit later than the others who met up very early on. Louise was hassling the manager of the Jug and Jester, getting pictures of them both together - no one is safe when Louise is around. Shy is certainly not a word to describe our Louise! Then at about 9.30pm we headed to the Assembly Rooms. It wasn't long before we were dancing the night away - but where oh where was Auld Lang Syne?!?!
(Matt D, Nick, Helen D, Louise and Claire)
Sunday 27th December – Bowling, Leamington Tenpin
Another competitive dual thanks to the likes of Nick and Ant. On Sundays they have a 3 games for £5 offer, so we got a bonus game thrown in. We split into groups of 3 and 4, with Matt C, Nick and Helen D on 1 side for the first games, which I think Matt won (or maybe Nick). On the other game Ant won convincingly, beating Ruth - with me and Melissa contesting last place. For the 2nd game we swapped things around slightly so that Ant could test himself against Nick and Matt in an all male contest. Nick won the 2nd and then Ant won the 3rd. In our game Ruth easily won the 2nd game - an all girls game, with me being an honoury girl (say nothing!). I won the final game when everyone else was too tired, and a seriously low scoring game with a record number of gutter balls!! I think Ant is probably the unofficial Rotaract bowling and betting champion - although I intend to challenge the betting crown next month at Hall Green, and I'm sure Nick and Dan will take issue with the bowling tag!! I think Helen and Melissa are the unofficial Gutter Queens - that sounds nice doesn't it! :-)
(Matt D, Matt C, Nick, Melissa, Helen D, Ruth and Ant)
Friday 25th December – HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!
Wednesday 23rd December – Pre-Christmas Drinks, White Horse
I'd been out with the family, so only joined the fun towards the end of the evening, but it was fairly late by that point yet no one had left and everyone seemed in good spirits - so I think a good night was had. Dan was full of excitement after getting an early christmas present - an iplayer. I can't believe I managed to slide my way back to my mum's without hitting the deck - it was skiddier than your average ice skating rink!!
(Matt - later on, Louise, Katie G, Claire, Helen D, Ant and Ruth, Dan, Nick and Matt C)
Tuesday 22nd December – Santa's Sleigh
While many others have helped out on different dates during the last couple of weeks, I thought I'd do a write up for my first appearance helping with this. It was an absolutely freezing evening and the roads were very slippy, but it was worthwhile to see kids getting excited at the visit of santa - even though it was Louise! She passes off well as santa, could be a future in it for you Louise!! Very satisfying collecting a bit of money for Warwick Roundtable and all the local causes that they support.
A big thanks to all the others who have helped this year, probably forgotten a few but Louise, Nick, Helen D, Helen K, Tom, Melissa, Ruth, Courtney and I think Claire and the other Matt have all given some of their time to help raise money! Great work folks!!
(Matt, Louise and Helen D)
Saturday 19th December – Carols in the Castle
Oh come ye oh faithful, joyful and triumphant...........what an enjoyable evening!! Damn freezing, but good fun. Our group of 7 was split between the jacket potato, tea/coffee and soup stalls - with most of us serving soup - although the tasty tomato and basil soup wasn't as popular as it should've been, with a bit of singing to boot! After 3 hours of standing outside in sub zero temperatures we went to the Moorings and sat by the fire while a really good band provided the entertainment, and quite a lot of snow fell outside!! All in all - very good!
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Claire, Helen D, Ant and Ruth)
Wednesday 16th December – Helen Ley Quiz
The last quiz for 2009 was certainly interesting. The Tiny's v The Xmas Plonkers was the line up for the evening. The rounds included general knowledge, geography, 2009, nouns and fruit connections. The 1st round was very close and a particular question about Cluedo really had both teams guessing. The next round was about geography, a very interesting topic and the Tiny's did well on this round as they had John on their team, a living legend who is particularly strong on this round. 2009 was always a year to remember and both teams did well on this round. The evening finished with the Tiny's winning on 35 points and the Xmas Plonkers on 27. A very enjoyable night was had by all.
Written by Dan.
(Dan - quizmaster, Claire, Ruth, Helen D and Nick)
Saturday 5th December – Christmas Meal at Paprika Club, L'Spa
5 or 6 of us met up at Voodoo for a pre meal drink. There was then a crowd of 9 for the meal, and we had the nice room upstairs - although the gents were a little on the tropical side, some kind of heating problem I think! The food was great but we had to wait quite a while for our main course - getting a free Baileys for our trouble. After Paprika we went to Willoughby, stayed in there for quite a while where Nick took quite a number of pictures for facebook as well as breaking a glass. Half of us moved on to Mumbai Blu and some went to Rios. An enjoyable evening - although on this occasion I was too tired for Rios so gave it a miss! *shock news*
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Helen D, Courtney, Tim and Lucy P)
Tuesday 1st December – Bowling Night at Leamington Tenpin
Our first trip to bowling since early October - how long ago does that seem now? Once again another great turnout for this social event. Ant won both games in his group of 4, also featuring Matt C, Claire and Helen D. My group had Dan, Anna and Nick. Dan won the first and Nick the second. I was generally rubbish, finishing last and 3rd. I've lost it - if I ever had it! After bowling at around 10ish Louise and Katie joined us and we went to the White Horse for a drink where we found a nice sofa to home in on, some board games and Dan's facebook pictures to entertain us!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Claire, Anna, Helen D, Louise and Katie G)
Monday 30th November - SANTA'S SLEIGH 2009
Once again Leamington and Warwick Rotaract is looking to support Warwick Roundtable and our former member Dave Cooling, aka Santa (shhhhh) with this fantastic event, which always raises a lot of money for good local causes. We need to drum up as much interest as possible by the end of next weekend - Dec 6th, as their first outing is shortly after this date. I've excluded those dates where they already have plenty of support. Its more enjoyable if there's a decent group of us on a few dates. The slots are as follows (people currently interested in brackets):
Wed 9th Dec - Chase Meadow - 6pm-9pm (Matt D?)
Thu 10th Dec - Spinney Hill - 6pm-9pm (Katie G)
Sat 12th Dec - Shires Retail Park - 9am-1pm (Tom)
Sat 12th Dec - Shires Retail Park - 1pm-4pm
Thu 17th Dec - Myton Road - 6pm-9pm CLUB MEETING NIGHT (Katie G)
Sat 19th Dec - Sainsbury's, Leamington Spa - 9am-1pm
Sat 19th Dec - Sainsbury's, Leamington Spa - 1pm-4pm (Helen D)
Sun 20th Dec - Lidl, Leamington Spa - 9am-1pm
Sun 20th Dec - Lidl, Leamington Spa - 1pm-4pm
Mon 21st Dec - Woodloes - 6pm-9pm (Claire, Matt C, Nick)
Tue 22nd Dec - Warwick Gates - 6pm-9pm (Helen D, Matt D?)
Wed 23rd Dec - Packmores - 6pm-9pm
Thu 24th Dec - Sainsbury's, Warwick - TBC
(Please note that night collections leave from Warwick School, Junior school car park in the tennis court area at 6pm and return by 9pm latest)
Saturday 28th November – Leamington Pub Night
On a dismal wet and cold evening we started off at the Star and Garter and then Tom's cunning plan of drawing the next pub out of a hat came into fruition, so on we moved to Willoughby's. Me and t'other Matt sat in rather grand thrown like seats, and I certainly wasn't the queen. On we went to Satchwell's, then we went to the Assembly Rooms, unfortunately while Tom had a ticket, they weren't selling them on the door, so Tom managed to sell his own ticket and we went and joined the others in the Duke (formerly Yates). Shortly after we moved on to Koko's, and after Tom consumed a couple of shots we soon closed in on the dancefloor on the 1st floor. Dan's coat was pinched and hidden, and Tom continued to knock back the drink, including numerous shots! If he didn't have a very sore head, I'd be very surprised. I left shortly before the others (unlike me) as I had an early start on Sunday - an interesting night, but a good one in the end!
(Matt D, Tom, Dan - albeit quite a bit later, Nick, Matt C and Helen D)
Thursday 26th November – Victorian Evening
This didn't quite go to plan, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. By the time our group was together and we found our contact from Rotary they didn't need our help. However, we had a fantastic turnout, so a big thankyou if you're reading this. It was still a good chance to look around, because I'd never been to this evening before. We bumped into Mr Dave Cooling AKA Santa Claus and we had a drink in the Rose Crown. I didn't realise how big this event was.
(Matt D, Tom, Dan, Nick, Matt C, Claire, Anna, Helen D, Courtney, Louise and Katie G)
Monday 23rd November – Coventry/L&W Rotaract joint pub night
A good night was had in Lloyds in Coventry city centre. A decent sized group from our club met up with about 8 or so from Coventry Rotaract for a few drinks and a chat on a Monday night. For them it was also a new members night and they had a few new faces so was a successful evening, plus we chatted again about doing plenty of other stuff together in the future. We'll both be stronger if we join forces as often as possible - its win win for both I think!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Nick. Matt C, Claire and a large group from Cov Rotaract)
Saturday 21st November – Wii Night at Toms
Cheers Tom for putting this on! Makes a change to do something a bit different on a Saturday night. There were an assortment of games including bowling, mario kart and golf, some booze, some snacks and some pizza! I won the bowling, I had a go at mario kart but finished last in every race and had a lot of Pringles and Strongbow. I also recall the momentary panic when I thought I was trapped in the bathroom, at least I managed to free myself, unlike t'other Matt!
I've also just booked a table for between 10 and 12 at Paprika Club for 8pm on Saturday 5th December, I will call back a day or two before to confirm exact numbers, so there's still time for people to join us!!
(Matt, Tom, Nick, Matt, Lucy, Helen D, Tom's mate)
Thursday 19th November - Thanks to all who attended the club meeting on Thursday, it was a very pleasing turnout. Lots of good events coming up, with lots of names down!!
Friday 13th November – Lazerquest, Coventry Tenpin
A very enjoyable night was had by all as we joined forces with Coventry Rotaract for a great night doing lazerquest. We had 2 games, the first was us versus another group. If you have never tried doing lazerquest I would strongly recommend it, its in the dark and great fun. We were hiding in all sorts of places and shooting the other team in all directions. It was very energetic and being tactful was key, when the game finished we were pleased that we won. The 2nd game consisted of myself and both Matt's against Paul, Lauren and Nick. Again this game was at a fast pace and we got hit quite a few times and had to recharge our lazer at the energizer point. We were unfortunate to lose the game but it was very enjoyable playing against each other. We finished the night by having a drink to discuss the nights games and a planned night out in Coventry.
Written by Dan
(Matt, Dan, Nick and t'other Matt and Paul and Lauren from Cov Rotaract)
Wednesday 11th November – Helen Ley Quiz
I was back as quizmaster tonight, having just about shaken off my flu bug! Nick, who came to his first club meeting last week also joined us and was on "Team CCC" - a team which included John (a Helen Ley regular and quiz supremo!) and Tom's team was Magnificent 7. After 5 long rounds Tom's team won by 4 points, although there were only 1 or 2 marks in it up until the last round and Team CCC did lose John and another member for the last round. Another enjoyable quiz, and the residents were again very appreciative. Next time round both myself and Tom are unavailable, so Dan has kindly volunteered as quizmaster already - don't miss it!!
(Matt, Tom and Nick)
Tuesday 3rd November – Cinema, This is it
I was really keen to see this, being a big MJ fan so only sent out an email a day or so before, thankfully someone did come forward. He may have had his problems, but this film showed that he had lost none of his genuis and talent. He may have keeled over and died trying to do 50 live performances of that kind of energy - but they surely would've been awesome to witness. In my opinion, the greatest performer we'll ever witness!
(Matt and Helen D)
Sunday 1st November – Coventry Blaze v Cardiff Devils
The last couple of Blaze games I've been to now have ended in disappointing defeats. They were kitted out wearing their Haloween strip, but nothing was scarier than their performance on the ice. There weren't even many goals (finished 2-1) or fights - apart from a scuffle at the end. Lucy made a surprise late appearance and was taking numerous pictures with her professional looking camera.
(Matt, Dan, Tom, Lucy, Helen D, Courtney and Craig)
Saturday 31st October – Haloween night out in Coventry
As no one came forward for the original plan of a pub night in Stratford we thought we'd move it to Coventry - which kinda suited me as I was late back from Wolves' game at Stoke. It was a really busy evening, with lots of fancy dress. We finished the evening in Lava/Ignite on their great dancefloor that lights up.
(Matt, Dan and Tom)
Wednesday 28th October – Goodbye Michael Jackson
We had to wait quite a while before he emerged, although there were some decent acts before him, but when he did emerge he looked ridiculously like the real thing. He moved like him, sounded like him and had even had quite a lot of plastic surgery to look more like him. It was just a pity he wasn't on for longer than 1 hour. I think Dan and Helen also enjoyed it.
(Matt, Dan and Helen D)
Saturday 24th October – Meal out at Ruby, L'Spa
We'd been to Ruby before and really enjoyed it, I hadn't been for a few months and hadn't eaten much all day so was very much looking forward to this. It didn't disappoint. We had 2 rounds of starters - so even before the main course we were all bordering on full. A quick mention also to a new face joining us in Helen Dixon. Ant wasn't feeling too well to begin with and was adamant he wouldn't be eating much - after our first round of starters his plate resembled the leftovers from a lion enclosure after feeding time on a particularly hungry day - a huge pile of bones! I also came in for particular ridicule (mostly from Ant and Louise!) for firstly using my hands to eat the seaweed and then asking for cutlery when everyone else were using the chopsticks. After the meal me and Dan met up with Tom and hit a few pubs, before ending up dancing the night away in Koko's -NO RIOS may I just add!! A good night - with a bonus hour in bed! The payback is we now have very dark evenings - booooooo!
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Helen D, Ant, Ruth and Tom afterwards)
Friday 23rd October – Warwick Pub night/Mop
We billed this as a trip to the Warwick mop, but we met at Lloyds on the market square, had a couple of drinks - then when we all fancied a go on some of the rides just after 10pm they were all shutting down - very frustrating! So it was a pub night around the mop - for anyone who might be reading this wondering what this mop thing is, its a long tradition in these parts where there's a large fair in the streets of Warwick over 2 weekends. I used to go to this as a young child many many moons ago - brings back memories! After missing out on the rides we went to the Zetland down the road for a couple of drinks before calling it a night.
(Matt, Tom S, Dan, Tim, Dewi, Anna and Katie G)
Friday 16th October – Night at the Dogs, Hall Green
What a great night this was! We got in for 1p thanks to a voucher downloaded from their website, this also included food. It was a slightly chilly evening, but dry and not too cold. I didn't place my first bet until race 5 of the 13 scheduled, I won my first two races, then lost every other race until the final race - although 3 wins out of 9 isn't bad. The real Mr Smug of the night was Ant - I don't know how much he won, but its fair to say he drove away from Hall Green with more money than he had when he arrived!! My winnings covered my drink, so I was more than happy. Everyone seemed to have a good night - whether they were winning or not. Hopefully we can have a return visit in the not too distant future!
(Matt, Tom S, Dan, Louise, Claire, Ruth, Ant, Courtney, Craig, Lucy and Tom)
IMPORTANT DIARY DATES ANNOUNCED
Annual Quiz - Saturday 27th February
Casino Night - Saturday 27th March
Salsa Night - Saturday 24th April
Annual Ball - Saturday 19th June
Wednesday 14th October – Helen Ley Quiz
We ran a slightly different quiz for the residents and guests of Helen Ley last night. Louise was our question-master and her 5 rounds included guess the chocolate bar, guess the advert from the tagline, find the girls name that 2 artists sing about and the lethal killer final "fish or fowl" round where the answer was either fish or fowl. A 50-50 guess. Unless you know the answers! Tom's team (called "Tom's team") slowly gained a slender lead of 1 point by the final round - including a full 10 points on the chocolate round, but Kate's team (called "Kate's team") knew their fowl from fishes to win the quiz by 2 points.
Pretty much fowled up there - damn - bit of fishy business I would say.
Written by Tom.
(Tom, Kate M and Louise - Quizmaster)
Sunday 11th October – Matt's walk, Wootton Wawen
The morning was grey and wet and it looked like being the worst weather yet for one of my walks this year, but by lunchtime the weather had brightened up and for much of the walk it was blue sky and sun - a really nice autumnal afternoon with a large sprinkling of golden brown and yellow leaves under foot! Don't you just love the changing seasons - or is that just me?!? Probably just me! An enjoyable walk - even if it was just me and Tom (not that Tom is bad company!). I very almost caught a steam train passing under the aquaduct at Edstone, but despite a 200 metre sprint, I only caught the back end of it. We went up 1 or 2 steep hills, almost went the wrong way around a farm, trespassed along a private road and walked through a really nice wood before returning to the Stratford canal and a cold drink at the pub.
(Matt and Tom)
Saturday 10th October – Horse of the Year Show (RDA) - NEC
Having been set up by Courtney, a few of us went over to the NEC to support our charity from last year Riding for the Disabled. They had a stand at the leading horse show for people to leave their items and collect them later in the day. Our shift started at 1.30pm. Dan was out the front using his natural charm on the public (yep, mostly female!) collecting and bagging up people's belongings, Tom was out the back putting together a system so we knew where each of the bags were. I was doing a bit of both - a kind of free role! At times it was manic, the amount of bags being dropped off, and the size of the bags - many people buying virtually life size horse toys and dropping them off. Me and Dan left at 6.30pm, while Tom stayed until his last train at 9.15pm because he was keen to see the job through and his numbering system. Before catching our train we had a quick and well deserved pint at the station. Dan was gutted because we heard that Katie Price had been around earlier in the day and we just missed out on seeing her. What's he like?!?! :-)
(Matt, Dan and Tom)
Thursday 8th October – Leamington Tenpin Bowling Night
Time for our monthly visit to the bowling alley! Once again some very fiercly contested games and another good turnout. In my group of 5 both of our games were very tight, the first being a draw between me and Lucy, and the second being won outright by Lucy. In the other game Adrian won the first game with some powerful bowling and Anthony won the second - no win for the off form Dan! He was secretly disguising his disappointment I know he was. After this a few of us went over to the Moorings for a drink.
(Matt, Dan, Tom S, Louise, Ruth and Anthony, Adrian, Lucy and Tom)
Saturday 3rd October – Leamington Pub Night
We started off as just 3, me, Dan and Lucy in the Star and Garter but it wasn't long before Tom made a surprise appearance at our next stop Voodoo - showing off a new very close cut hairstyle (even shorter than mine!), and Helen also joined us. Suddenly the night picked up pace, we went to Satchwell's for a drink before all of us except Helen somehow ended up in..........yep, Rios!! It wasn't my choice - it was mostly Tom's. We danced away until 2.30am before heading back. I'd been feeling pretty under the weather all day, not half as bad as how I've felt all day today (Sunday!). A good night - thanks guys!
(Matt, Dan, Lucy, Helen and Tom)
Monday 28th September – Mel's leaving meal, Slug & Lettuce
Melissa - wax crayons and getting lost - the themes of the night! I've lived in this area all my life, yet I still proceeded to drive up and down the wrong road when offering to pick Louise up. Idiot! After eventually realising my error and finding Louise, we had our tasty half priced meal and Dewi, to my utter delight discovered some wax crayons and childrens fun sheets on the table, good times!! However, the night was about Melissa - moving on to pastures new after some sterling service at Leamington & Warwick Rotaract - but she'll be back, of that I'm sure!! All the very best from me and the rest of the club Mel, and Happy Birthday for next Monday!!
(Matt, Melissa, Louise, Lucy, Anthony, Ruth, Dewi and Anna)
Thursday 24th September – Coventry Rotaract Annual Quiz
A very enjoyable evening was had as we went up the road to support Coventry Rotaract's quiz night!! A few months ago we were lucky enough to attend their race night which was a great evening and we knew that we weren't going to be disappointed again. In our team were myself, Kate and Melissa.
Before the quiz got underway Kate was lucky enough to win £15 on the Irish Bingo, a game where the last person standing wins! The quiz got underway and we had 10 rounds to get through so we knew it was going to be a long night! The rounds included General Knowledge, Sport, Picture round and anything James Bond related.
Just over the half way mark we were kindly given some food, which I must add was very nice. At the end of the quiz we all bought raffle tickets and again Kate was lucky enough to win a bottle of wine! As the results were read out, we came in the bottom 3 with 43 points which I didn't think was too bad (Matt - it is bad Dan - but its not all about that!). A very nice evening and was worth supporting our fellow Rotaractors as well as their chosen charity (Air Ambulance).
Written by Dan
(Dan, Katie G and Melissa)
Saturday 19th September – Official Receivers Soul Band, Cox's Yard
I've had some great club nights this year, and this one was right up there for me personally. We set of at 7.20pm catching the bus into Stratford, picking up Kate en route and having to listen to some annoying drunken bloke for most of the journey. Once we got into Cox's Yard, I was ID'd again upon buying a drink (and Dan wasn't!) - as is usually the case these days! We found a nice cosey room with sofa's in to have a pre-band drink - nasty Tom decided to scare the girls with a large spider that was climbing the wall. Once the band started - I loved every second of it, okay, its music from an era before my time, but so many classics (including music by Otis Redding, Stevie W, Sam and Dave, James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner and many more) and such a good band. I couldn't help but dance to the rhythm! To be fair, most people in the packed out room were dancing away. It finished at around 11.15pm, after a long bus journey back which seemingly toured around every village in Warwickshire me, Tom and Dan had a drink in Koko's before calling it a night. I wouldn't mind going back to Stratford when they return in December/January time.
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Ruth and Katie G)
Wednesday 16th September – Helen Ley Quiz
I was greeted at the door by quiz regular John - what a quiz and Helen Ley legend this man is! I'm not great with names, and don't know any other residents (or my own name!), but fortunately I'm always on John's team, and we always win. He's the loveliest and sharpest man around! Dan put together an excellent and very well received quiz on his debut as quizmaster - he also showed his authority on a couple of occasions despite fierce challenges from each team. My team was actually coasting home with a lead of 5 going in to the last round, but John (as he always does) left 1 round before the end and we squeezed home by 2 points beating Tom's team. What have I learnt from the night? - Anna is a big David Beckham and Backstreet Boys fan - you know what I mean Anna! After the quiz me, Tom and Dan went for a quick drink to catch the end of the football. A very enjoyable evening!
(Matt, Tom, Melissa, Anna and Dan - Quizmaster)
Thursday 10th September – Bowling Night at Leamington Tenpin
We split into two groups as there was a large group of nine of us playing - Tom only joined us later on for a drink or two. In my group I had the overly competitive Dan, Louise and Ruth. Louise won the first game and Dan finished last, and then in the second game the tables were turned with Dan fluking a win - no, to be fair it was a good score of 127 or something like that. I had a shocker and had quite a few gutter balls - I think I may retire from this bowling lark! In the other game I think Kate won both games! After the bowling a few of us went back to the Moorings - look out for the revealing Rotaract Calendar and the sponsored cycle using Bertie! :-P An enjoyable night despite my own performance!
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Melissa, Jo, Anthony, Ruth, Anna, Katie G and Tom)
Monday 7th September – Meal out at Slug & Lettuce
After the last successful trip to Slug and Lettuce we went back again for more good value food with the half price offer that they have on Monday's. So good conversation was had, and we also had the company of Bertie the bike, who was parked on the other side of the window next to our table. We also stood around and watched/helped as Louise tried to cram quite a bit of shopping into the baskets and sort out her rear light.
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Lucy, Ruth and Anthony)
Saturday 5th September – Day out at Thorpe Park
On a Sunny September Saturday we were all lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Thorpe Park via complimentary tickets from Helen. We set off in 2 cars early in the morning so we would have enough time to do all the rides.
Once we got to the park and met the others we went straight on the rides, the 1st is always meant to be the easiest but this ride set us of to a good start! Slammer is a ride where you are propelled 105 feet into the sky then slammed back to earth!! I knew it was going to be to a rough afternoon ahead!!
Next was Colossus, a ride which I thought was excellent, 10 vertical loops, being taken upside down. Can't be bad!! If you thought this was bad then you haven't seen anything yet! We then went on Nemesis Inferno which was good followed by Tidal Wave, a ride where we all got completely soaked I think girls came off the worse!!
After our lunch had settled some members decided they wanted to go to the pub for a drink (including me - Matt), this left myself, Louise, Anna, Melissa and Craig. The next ride on the menu was the Detonator a 45mph drop that pulls 5.5Gs - was very quick and the view across Surrey was quite amazing! (Surrey - amazing?!?! Matt) This was nothing compared to Stealth which was next, the FASTEST rollercoaster in Europe 0-80mph in under 2 seconds (yes you heard that right)!!!
We did have to queue for quite a while, an hour and half I think but it was worth it!! An amazing experience which I could do again. There was no time for any analysis of this whilst you were on there as it was over in 30 secs, this was so far the highlight of the day!! However there was 1 final ride to go - SAW: the newest ride for 2009. Again this lived up to expectation, this was a vertical drop of 100º from a terrifying height of 100ft, this was once again quite amazing!! (mad mad mad - exactly why I didn't go on it! I did do a few though! Matt)
We left Thorpe Park with the delights of knowing we all had a great day with the theme tune of the event Savage Garden (Animals) and a bit of the late Michael Jackson in the car, it rounded of a superb day and not 1 for the faint hearted either!! It was then topped off with a drink at The Moorings when we got back to Leamington.
Written by Dan
(Matt, Dan, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Craig, Jo, Helen, Kate M, Melissa, Anna)
Tuesday 25th August - Breaking News!
I've set up a fan site on Facebook for Louises' new bike, its already got several fans and includes pictures of several club members posing on the bike. Its titled "Bertie the Bike" (Louise Roberts vintage 18th century bicycle) - and can be found somewhere on my facebook page, and there's a link at the bottom of the L&W Rotaract facebook group! Are you a fan?!!?
Sunday 23rd August – Matt's Walk - Berkswell
I can't believe how lucky I've been this summer with all the walks I've been on. Once again, a lovely sunny Sunday. I'd done this walk a few weeks previously and really enjoyed it so was keen to do it again, and I don't usually do the same walk twice. Very peaceful and some nice Warwickshire countryside - plus Berkswell is a pretty little village. Not to mention some good conversation! (and no mention of sport!!)
(Matt, Jo and Rhiannon)
Friday 21st August – Interact / Southam Rotary Bands Night
We went to Grange Hall in Southam to lend a hand with this fundraising event. We kept an eye on the youngsters and helped with clearing up at the end, but in truth, there wasn't too much to do, so we enjoyed the music - and there were some really good groups on show! Me and Tom also both won bottles of the same wine on the raffle. Well done to the organisers though as I enjoyed it, and I'm sure a decent amount of money was raised.
(Matt, Tom and Courtney)
Wednesday 19th August – Helen Ley Quiz
Good night at Helen Ley quiz and for once we weren't the ones who were late! A few residents were late back from their day cinema trip but we didn't wait for them and got started. Tom and Anna's "Do Gooders" were only 1 point ahead of Dan and Kate's "ASDA" team going into the last round but then the last round was revealed to be history and so a thrashing ensued as the "Do Gooders" stormed ahead to win by 6 points. So yes, Tom's team won which is not the point of the evening, but the residents do enjoy my competitiveness (and mine! - Matt). Thanks to Melissa, the quizmaster, for 5 quick rounds of quite hard questions.
(Tom - written by Tom, and Kate, Dan, Anna and Melissa - Quizmaster)
Sunday 16th August – Picnic, Cricket and Riding Louises Bike!
We again used the fantastic green plastic bat and ball that were recently purchased for what 99p and had a high quality game of cricket in the sun at the Mill Gardens, played out with loud Indian music booming away in the background thanks to some festival at the Pump Rooms. Stars of the show? No one really, although Rhiannon showed great skill at moving away from the ball even when it was coming straight towards her for a catch! Melissa provided a frisbie, so we invented a new game where you had to throw the frisbie from where it landed! What innovators we are?! Finally we all posed for pictures on Louises bike, and most of us took it for a spin too - what a bike!
(Matt, Louise, Melissa, Dewi, Anna, Jo and Rhiannon)
Saturday 15th August – Pub Night (with a difference)
Yes, we didn't go to our usual places!! Instead we stayed in the New Inn down Leam Terrace, played pool and chatted for most of the night, and then later on a few of us went into town and Koko's for a drink. Once again poor Dan was the centre of attention! Dan "Safe and Secure" Weirden - those who were there will know what I mean. If there was an award for receiving stick on a major scale with a smile - Dan would get it.
(Matt, Dan, Louise, Melissa, Dewi, Anna and Helen)
Thursday 13th August – Bowling
Well bowled Dan! He was on tremendous form tonight, winning both games with scores of 117 and 127 (or something like that). I personally was pretty poor, finishing last and then finishing second with a score of 100.
After the bowling we went to the Moorings for a drink, where Dan was pretty much picked on by Louise - but he took it well! We're a nice bunch really!
(Matt, Dan, Louise and Anna)
Sunday 9th August – Cotswold 9 mile walk, near Winchcombe
We set off at 10am with a car full on a really nice Sunday morning. We stopped at various points around the route, to break it down and make it more leisurely. There were some nice views to begin with looking out over Winchcombe and Sudeley Castle, then we looked around a neolithic tomb/buriel at Belas Knap, we stopped to eat in the tiny and peaceful village Sevenhampton and then visited a pub in Brockhampton and sat outside for a bit in their nice beer garden. We took a slight diversion to check out a lovely 13th century church before heading for the final climb to the end, via a brief stop to harrass some horses! We finished off at another pub right next to a steam railway to round off a perfect relaxing Sunday. We were back just before 7pm.
Check out our facebook pages for plenty of pics from the day!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Helen and Courtney)
Friday 7th August – Toby Carvery, Banbury
Good food, good conversation and then back to Leamington for a few drinks! I don't know how I ended up in Rios, I'm not going there again this year! Honest!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Courtney and Craig)
Monday 3rd August – Slug and Lettuce Half Price Meal
A good chat, with some great value food, I'll definitely be back for more while this offer lasts! A nice evening - plus they've changed the parking in Leamington from the ridiculous 8pm to 6pm!!
(Matt, Louise and Melissa)
Sunday 2nd August – Tom o the Wood Pub Walk
A lovely Sunday morning with a bit of cloud cover and a bit of sun. A slightly shorter walk this time, probably around 4 miles. We went off the opposite way down the canal but didn't take in even 1 stile! We were surprised to learn that the pub is closing next weekend because of finance problems, but the group will organise their own walks and they have my details. As always, enjoyed it!
(Matt and Tom)
Wednesday 29th July – Rotaract Fantasy Football launched
I've set up a private mini league at the link below, its free to join, a lot of fun and easy to use. I'm going to ask for £2 from people, just so that we have a prize pot - anyone can join, even non members - the more the merrier, its great fun - so get your team in! The season starts on August 15th so there's plenty of time. Once you've set up a team, to join the Rotaract Superleague click "Mini Leagues" on the bar at the top, then "Join" and then enter the league reference - 8004026.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fantasyfootball/index.html
Tuesday 28th July – Disc Golf
We did all 18 holes/baskets! How good is that?! As we started it was trying to rain, so it could've gone either way, it was also very windy, but as the evening progressed the rain stopped, it brightened up and even the wind died down. Tom was on great form all night, I kept pace with him up until the 4th or 5th basket, then I dropped back badly - put off by the close presence of trees! The first interesting basket was the one near the river which was surrounded by around 20-30 fiesty looking geese! Thankfully they all jumped back into the river as we got closer. Never mess with geese!! A couple of baskets later we had one really tricky one where the basket was situated at the top of a steep hill. I was already doing quite badly but managed to hit the side of the basket from long range, and it rebounded all the way back down the hill and into a wooded area - very frustrating! This was one of 2 successive baskets where I scored 10! I managed to recover a bit and beat Tom on a few towards the end. Tom still won comfortably with 99, then me on 108, Louise with 119, and Melissa on 135 or something similar! Another enjoyable evening at Quarry Park! Hopefully fit one more in before the end of the summer!
(Matt, Louise, Tom and Melissa)
Sunday 26th July – Rotaract Crazy Golf Championships, St Nics
18 holes of drama! Sky Sports put in a late bid to secure coverage of this event, but we had to decline - a comedy channel had already won the contract! Dewi set off an early pace with a hole in 1, where I got an 8. I slowly improved a bit, while Dewi and Anna consistently picked up 2's. One of the best holes featured water - unsurprisingly I found myself in there, so did Dewi. I think I managed to save some respectability with a 5. While it was overcast the weather held up until the end. By the 18th hole we didn't know the scores but we had a pretty good idea that it was Dewi and Anna fighting it out for the ultimate prize. It had to go to a play off for Anna to finally win. Louise was third, then me with Lucy picking up the wooden spoon. Now onto disc golf on Tuesday, anything could happen.............
(Matt, Dewi, Anna, Louise and Lucy)
Wednesday 22nd July – Helen Ley Quiz
Another highly enjoyable quiz, this time quizmastered expertly by Louise. Some excellent questions selected from a book, they were well received and appreciated as always by the residents. I had the legendary John on my team (The A Team) so we were always going to beat Anna's not so Magnificent 7. We won by 8 or so marks in the end, but hey, thats not what its all about!
(Matt, Louise and Anna)
Saturday 18th July – Warwick Lions Beer Festival, Racecourse
By the time me and Tom arrived they were literally scraping the barrel, but there was just about enough to go around. A couple of different ales and a cider remained, we helped finish these off at 50p for half a pint! Fill your boots time, and we did! We also got free hot dogs, lucky us. We then visited Lloyds for a couple and the Rose and Crown before heading back - needless to say, I had a headache the following day!
(Matt and Tom)
Sunday 12th July – Cricket style Rounders, Picnic and Boating
We met up at the Mill Gardens by the river Leam, just off Willes Road - but we didn't have a rounders bat, so off went Louise and Anna on a quest to find a bargain bat. Louise, who has a head for bargains after her recent bicycle purchase came up trumps again with a great £1 bat and ball that will no doubt make another appearance this summer. As there were 7 of us we thought we'd play more of an individual rather than team game - and it was more cricket than rounders. Helen, who could probably play womens cricket professionally judging by her performance smashed everybody. I had a few big hits, but Helen was the star. After playing rounders for a while, the girls took a trip down the Leam on a motor boat, although the motor conked out so they had to use the oars - unlucky!! The rest of us kicked a football around for a bit. Earlier in the morning there was a lot of heavy rain, and this was almost cancelled, thankfully we had faith in the English weather as it was great fun!! We'll be looking to do something similar again in the next couple of months!!
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Helen, Anna, Melissa and Lucy)
Thursday 9th July – Bowling at Leamington Tenpin
As there were 6 of us we managed to squeeze onto 1 lane. The first game was incredibly competitive with not much separating anyone. However, it was Courtney who came through to win in the end, just beating Dan (by 1 I think!) and he was 5th going into his last throw, but managed a strike and a spare. In the second game again it was very close - I was leading but threw it away when I failed to get anything on my last go (not even 1 - my worst all night), and that was after getting a strike before and the possibility of getting double points on whatever I got. Next to bowl was Dan who only needed 2 or 3 to go past me, he couldn't manage that. Next up was Kate, her first throw was straight into the gutter - rubbish, and then her next was truly superb - getting 9 to clinch a dramatic win under pressure! 3 of us getting 100 or more! Dan and Kate were disappointed not to get a print out of the scores at the end as their printer wasn't working - oh well!! I was quite happy not to see it. Me, Dan and Kate then made the short journey over to the Moorings to discuss the night's drama over a pint!
(Matt, Dan, Kate, Anna, Courtney and Craig)
Sunday 5th July – Walk organised by Tom o the Wood pub in Rowington
This was a walk organised by the Tom o the Wood pub in Rowington on the other side of Warwick going towards Solihull. It started at 11am on a nice bright morning, without being too warm. There was probably a group of around 20, it included a stretch of canal, a record number of stiles and kissing gates and lots of rolling fields and hills. A nice walk! We were back shortly after 1pm. We then sat outside at the pub and had a very refreshing cold drink before heading off. They do these free walks on the first Sunday of every month, look out for this on future social lists!
(Matt and Tom)
Thursday 2nd July – End of year handover meal at The Moorings
A good night had by all I think. Louise came up with the fun idea of everyone contributing an interesting fact about themselves and we had to guess which fact belonged to which club member - some interesting things learnt about some people!! (Dan in particular - won't mention what he said, and Rhiannon and her stones - and not forgetting Kate with her love of Rupert the bear) Tom deservedly won the Phil Harris award for his fantastic attendance at events throughout the year - and I won the club award for my contributions over the year. After the meal we had a few group pictures before going outside into the canalside beer garden and having another drink. A successful night - well done to Louise!
On a personal note - thanks to everyone who voted for me, the club means a lot to me, its been a tower of strength when I've had my troubles over the last year, I've got a lot from the club so its nice to give a little back. Here's to a great club year in 2009 - 2010!
(Matt, Louise, Tom, Dan, Tim, Charlotte, Helen, Anna, Melissa, Courtney, Jo, Rhiannon and Kate)
Wednesday 1st July – Cinema Night (Hangover......)
..................well, that was the plan. It was a boiling hot day that reached 30 odd degrees, who'd want to go to the cinema on an evening like this? Well, half of Leamington seemingly!! The good news was that we managed to get cheaper tickets because we had the Orange Wednesday discounts, the bad news was that we had to watch another film because Hangover was full. We ended up watching "My Sisters Keeper" in an audience of almost entirely females, I was after an upbeat comedy to give me a lift, but instead this was one of the saddest films ever about a girl with cancer who's sister was born with the intention of being a donor to save her older sister. A really good film, but a very sad one!
(Matt, Anna and Kate)
Sunday 28th June – Matt's walk, part 4
This almost didn't happen due to a serious petrol leak in my car, but thankfully, as always - but mum helped out and lent me her car!! The walk started from the Blue Lias near Stockton on a very warm Sunday afternoon, we first of all headed off the wrong way down the canal - completely my fault!! So half an hour after we started we got back to the start point to start properly and head in the right direction. Again it was a circular route with a good couple of miles of it along the Grand Union Canal heading out towards Napton, we then came off and headed through some fields. We had a very close encounter with a farmer who was landing his light aircraft in his field (I thought farmers were hard up!!). We walked through Stockton where hopes were high that we'd find an ice cream, but we didn't!! Thankfully we didn't have long to wait until we returned back to the Blue Lias and we all enjoyed a nice Magnum and a cold drink. The walk lasted just over 2 hours, which was about right given the warmth. Conversation at the pub centred around theme parks and in particular Tom's formative years spent working at a theme park up north! Another enjoyable afternoon I thought.
(Matt, Tom, Jo and Rhiannon)
Thursday 25th June – Disc Golf
What a good evening this was! The weather was really nice and warm, we even tried a few new baskets down towards the river avon, with the sun going down. Thankfully no-one found the river. Highlights of the evening were Dan losing his disc in a densely wooded area, so we were all digging around in the undergrowth for what felt like ages before Tom came up trumps and found it. Tom also produced shot of the century to find the basket from extremely long range and get it in 3. Tom won overall with 46 from 10 basket, then me on 52 and Kate on 57. Poor Anna was struggling seriously from hayfever so had to wear some sunglasses which meant she could barely see.
After the golf 4 of us went back to the Moorings and sat outside and had a drink. I think many of us will remember this night though as being the night when Michael Jackson died. It was when I was driving through Bubbenhall on the way back to Coventry that I first heard the news, absolutely couldn't believe it. The kind of pop is dead, long live the king!! So a great night, but a really sad one too.
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Louise, Anna and Kate)
Helen Ley Quiz dates confirmed for next 12 months
Get these dates into your diaries, 7.30pm start as usual:
- Wednesday 22nd July
- Wednesday 19th August
- Wednesday 16th September
- Wednesday 14th October
- Wednesday 11th November
- Wednesday 16th December
- Wednesday 13th January
- Wednesday 10th February
- Wednesday 17th March
- Wednesday 14th April
- Wednesday 12th May
- Wednesday 16th June
Saturday 20th June – Broad St Pub Crawl, Rotaract Preconvention
On a night where International presence was upon us it was all about showing our fellow Rotaractors what Broad Street had to offer. We had to 2 groups that started the pub crawl I was lucky to be with Dave Gibb a fellow Rotaractor who had been in our group previously. We started in the Pitcher & Piano a reasonably busy pub but fairly lively.
We then moved to the Slug & Lettuce where we met Matt & Melissa's group we were lucky as we spoke to many people during the evening who came from all over the world including France, Germany, Peru, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. Our final stop had to be the best bar of the night this was the Walkabout a very lively bar with some cracking music, everybody was on the dancefloor including myself, Matt and Dave, we also had some nice pictures and did all those party dances you can possibly imagine!!. In the end very good night a good time was had by all.
(Matt, Melissa, Dan and Dave Gibb - written by Dan)
Saturday 20th June – WNAA Charity Cricket Day
An idyllic countryside setting next to a (fishing) lake was the setting for Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulances charity cricket match. A team from the air ambulance took on a Heathcote Fishery Lakes XI and included men of all shapes and sizes (no future England cricketers then? - Matt). Me and my friends sat in the glorious sunshine with our beers watching some suspect bowling (most were wide) and some big hitting/slogging. There were some excellent first class catches to get excited about as Heathcote Lakes made 144-8 off 25 overs. The air ambulance team managed to win by 2 wickets. I quite enjoyed the cakes on offer as well, but then I would (Tom, you could play for Heathcote Lakes next year at this rate?!- Matt).
Apparently Ian Beale from Eastenders was there. I didn't see him but I was very drunk by then!
Click Here
(Tom - written by Tom)
Wednesday 17th June – Helen Ley Quiz
A really good turn out this month. We had 3 Rotaractors on each team, and Louise's team narrowly lost out to Melissa's team by only 1 mark. Louise's team were particularly vocal.....and not just because they had Louise, they had a team member who just loved singing! Fair play! I thoroughly enjoyed being quizmaster again, including sport, film, gen knowledge, geography and music rounds. Afterwards all of us except Tom went back to the Moorings for a drink before going back home! A good evening!
(Matt - quizmaster, Tom, Dan, Anna, Louise, Melissa and Kate - Louises mate from her work!)
Saturday 13th June – Meal at Ask and drinks
This was billed as my birthday meal and drinks, although my birthday was on the previous Tuesday, but hey, every day is a celebration! We enjoyed the meal at Ask, chatted about a multitude of subjects including Louise's new purchase - a bargain bike for only £25! Then we moved on to the White Horse across the road where they had a cider festival on - I sampled my usual (Hogans), then a couple of different ciders including one that was 7.3% alcohol. Tom had a couple of these which set him up well for the evening!! We stayed in the White Horse for a while as we secured 2 nice comfy sofa's. The other 2 destinations where Helen joined us were............you know the rest (Voodoo and Rios!)!!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Tim, Dewi and Anna, Louise and then later on Helen)
Sunday 7th June – 2 Castles Run Marshalling (10k)
Leamington and Warwick Rotaract is proud to support Kenilworth Rotary Club’s annual staging of the Warwick Castle to Kenilworth Castle 10km (6 miles) run and this year the honour of volunteering fell to me. I was required to be a marshal and my station was in the suburbs of Kenilworth approx 7.5km along the route. The race is run early in the morning (SUNDAY morning), so I had to there by 9am. Great, except the buses aren’t brilliant at that time! Also the hot weather we had been having was suddenly replaced by torrential rain and I didn’t bring an umbrella. Luckily a fellow marshal from another Rotary Club gave me a spare as we conversed in the rain about 1940s cricket and Leeds United. Suddenly there was a great procession of cars to accompany the lone race leader who was 1 minute ahead of the other front-runners. Then a trickle of runners turned into an almighty surge of people until approx 2000 people passed me. I had to master the art of holding an umbrella whilst clapping manically as I was unable to pick out the Rotaract members who were running. To stop the cars I just stood in the middle of the road doing my best Gandalf impression – “you will not pass”!! 2 hours later at 11am the last runners (or should that be walkers) passed and I went on to Kenilworth Castle and helped the Scouts (people my own age perhaps?) pack away the stages, guardrails, tables and gazebos, still in the pouring rain.
(Tom - written by Tom)
Friday 5th June – Coventry Rotaract Race Night
On a miserably wet Friday night a few of us made the short (very short for me as I live in Cov) to Cov and North Warwickshire's cricket ground for Coventry Rotaract's Race Night, and what a fantastically well organised and enjoyable evening it was. Well done Coventry Rotaract!! I spent a little more than I planned, but hey, I was having fun and its for charity. There were something like 8 or 9 races, a coin rolling competition, hot food, some nice desserts and a bar! The last race was a football team race, so I managed to get Arsenal changed for Wolves, and Leicester City came in first. £541 was raised in total! We all enjoyed the night - although on returning to my flat several big spiders were out! I accept no liability for Tom's write up below.
Tom's take on the evening...........
Fast cars, glamorous women and high rollers were all in abundance as the guys descended on the Monte-Carlo of the Midlands – Coventry . Coventry Rotaract’s Race Night consisted of pre-recorded horse races where we were encouraged to sponsor races, jockeys, horses and place bets of each of the 8 horses in each race – some of us needed less encouraging than others (how much did you lose/ “donate to charity” Matt?). I was pleasantly surprised with scooping the jackpot of £8 on race 6 as usually I have rotten luck! Hot food in the form of burgers and hot dogs and a generous and tempting spread of desserts were provided for the ravenous lads. The glamorous women came in the form of potential new members for Coventry Rotaract but unfortunately our charm could not poach them over to the Leamington side. And for fast cars – well have you been in a car with Dan when the petrol light was on and it is past midnight!!!
(Matt, Tom and Dan)
Sunday 31st May - Matt's Country Walk, part 3
............and this is what a summers day should be all about! Pure blue skies, a bit of a breeze, lovely green countryside and a nice pub! Happy days! We started from the pretty village of Flecknoe, near Daventry and followed a circular route from a leaflet. This was after several mini dramas in finding somewhere to park in the village. The walk itself was around 5.5 miles, mostly fairly flat but not a busy road in site, it featured a few narrow farm tracks, a lot of stiles, a canal, some horses and a multipack of ready salted crisps supplied by Helen - thanks for those by the way!! Then afterwards we went to the Blue Lias just down the road (a personal favourite of mine!) and sat in the garden next to the canal for the best part of an hour with a cold drink - entertainment was provided by a group of lads trying desperately to moor their canal boat near the pub - surely it can't be that hard?!? They're probably still trying now as I write this - 6 hours after we left the pub! Helen's generousity also extended to her treating everyone to a magnum icecream - how nice!! An enjoyable afternoon! :-)
Interesting fact of the day: Dan is part Dutch!
(Matt, Tom, Daniel, Helen, Melissa, Jo and Rhiannon)
Thursday 28th May – Bowling Night
Well well well - a great turnout and some highly competitive games, although I dont know whether I should bother going through the scores seen as I didn't win either of our games. Overall it was good fun, and I think everyone had an enjoyable evening. The winners on the night were Anna, Daniel, Craig and Louise (yep - you read that correctly - Louise!!). Daniel and Courtney even requested score sheets, I think Dan is going to frame his such was his delight at winning a game. If I was to do this after a win, I wouldn't have any wall space left after a few trips to bowling!! :-) (only joking!!)
Next up.......my walk on Sunday, with the forecast good, I'm looking forward to it!!
(Matt, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Courtney, Craig, Anna, Helen Miller plus guest, Leah and Kate)
Thursday 21st May – Club Meeting, the Moorings
As a general rule I don't usually include club meetings on here, but as this was such a good and well attended meeting I thought I'd give it a mention. After we ran through our past and present events and discussed other club business, we were grateful to be joined by 3 guests from one of our charities for the year - Riding for the Disabled. They discussed the work that they do, and how we can get involved, as well as them finding out about us. We left the pub well after 10pm, so it was a fairly long evening given the 8pm start. We hope to continue our relationship with RDA beyond the club year 08/09. A very interesting and productive meeting.
(Matt - chaired meeting, Melissa, Courtney, Daniel, Tom, Kate, Helen, Louise F and 3 guests from Riding for the Disabled)
Ball/Prom Cancelled
We regret to announce that due to a lack of interest this years Annual Ball/Prom at Dockers Diner on Saturday 6th June has been cancelled.
Thursday 14th May – Disc Golf, Quarry Park
Our first trip to disc golf of the summer on a grey and drizzly evening, but a strangely nice one nevertheless. We were the only people on the course, and it was a really enjoyable evening. My own game was all over the place, I think I found a tree or bush with every throw - in fact so consistently it was almost as though it was deliberate. I was shocking, but hey, it was good fun and it makes it more interesting!! Hannah and Craig have clearly been practicing disc golf after a show of dominance from start to finish with Craig winning and Hannah finishing second. We'll definitely be back again very soon! (and I'm soon the newly weds Hannah and Craig will be back even sooner!)
(Matt, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Hannah and Craig)
Wednesday 13th May – Helen Ley Quiz
This month I took over the quizmastering duties. Tom's team convincingly beat Louise's, although they did have a much larger team. Two personal highlights included Tom saving the day by removing a large spider called Boris and despatching him outside through a window, and seeing all the little duckings in the pond outside the centre. As always, another very enjoyable evening at Helen Ley.
(Tom, Louise and Matt - quizmaster)
Sunday 10th May - Rotary Water Carrying Event
Me and Tom supported Leamington Spa Rotary in their Water Carrying Event at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington. Basically numerous school kids had to carry water around the pump rooms, and the person who carried the most won. All money raised went towards buying school water purifying equipment in India. Me and Tom helped with the marshalling on a lovely Sunday afternoon - although I was a bit tired and hungover after the previous night!!
(Matt & Tom)
Saturday 9th May (8pm) – Leamington Pub Night
Yep, another pub night!! Need I say what course this night took, yep, White Horse -> Voodoo -> Rios. I enjoyed it though!!
(Matt, Tom, Lucy, Daniel, Dewi, plus others)
Tuesday 5th May - Leamington & Warwick Rotaract win national award for best website in Great Britain!!
Monday 4th May - Website winner due to be announced this weekend!
As well as the website winner set to be announced anytime soon, we also have a guest speaker visiting our club meeting on Thursday from WNAA, one of our 2 charities for 2008-09.
Thursday 30th April – Bowling, Leamington Tenpin
An enjoyable evening - helped by the surprise winner of the night being me!! Despite the presence of former professional bowling duo Craig and Courtney, who couldn't quite get into their stride. In the first game I scored 109 and beat Courtney on 101, and the in the 2nd game I scored 95 beating Craig who finished with 86 (I think). Anna beat Courtney to finish 3rd. Its not all about winning - but its nice nevertheless! I still would've enjoyed it even if I'd finished last, honest!! :-)
(Matt, Anna, Melissa, Courtney and Craig)
Wednesday 22nd April – Cinema Night
Our second trip to Leamington's Apollo cinema, this time to take in The Boat that Rocked about 60's music on pirate radio, a very lighthearted amusing film! Thanks to Louise for bringing a large bag of sweets and drink, although I did foolishly decide to buy my own expensive cinema drink (I could've had a nice meal with that!). I'm still basking in the glow of Wolves' promotion to the Premier League by the way! :-)
(Matt, Anna, Louise and Melissa)
Sunday 19th April – Matt's Country Walk, episode 2
A perfect day for walking, with barely a cloud in the sky. This time I made the walk up from an ordnance survey map, although I had a bit of knowledge of the area. We started from the Two Boats Inn, in Long Itchington and headed along the Grand Union canal towards Leamington, we then hit the Centenery Way towards Ufton, walked around some woods, and past the large Polo club outside Southam before returning via Bascote to the pub. Around 7 miles in total, with some lovely views. As it was such a nice day, we sat outside for an hour or so and soaked up the sun at the canalside pub with a nice cold drink. We also caught the end of the Everton v Man U semi final. A really enjoyable afternoon - and it capped off a perfect weekend for me personally with Wolves going up on Saturday! Happy days! Dan - next time wear different footwear though!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Helen and Louise Fitzgerald)
Saturday 18th April (8pm) – Leamington Pub Night
A very factual informative write up by Tom there! Sounds good - I would've liked to have visited Hook Norton Brewery myself. Instead I was doing my very own beer tasting celebrating Wolves promotion to the Premier League. I joined the rest of the group at 9.30pm in the White Horse in an already very jolly state - oh what a day! They don't come much better! We left the White Horse at 11.30pm and me and Tom hit our regular jaunt - Rios - and danced the rest of the night away!
(Matt, Tom, Louise Fitzgerald, Dewi and Anna)
Saturday 18th April (11am) – Hook Norton Brewery Tour
An early morning start was required as the latest Rotaract outing was to the Hook Norton Brewery. We were given a guided tour around the famous small independent brewery with so many unique features that were put in back in 1850 and still used today. All areas of the beer making process were shown and fully explained except the fermentation vats in case I sneezed and ruined the casks of Old Hooky! The highlight of the tour was the tasting section where 6 different beers were available to sample, ranging from 3.2% Hook Dark to 6% Haymaker. I HAD (of course you did Tom! MD) to try them all to find out which one I liked the most, then another round just to be sure! (So you got your money's worth then?! MD). The tour certainly set the rest of the day up for football and dancing later, albeit rather tipsy! (thats understating it Tom! MD)
(Tom, Louise, Tim, Courtney and Craig - and the above was provided by Tom)
Thursday 16th April – Club Meeting, The Moorings
I don't always include club meetings on here, but I thought I would this time. In Louise's absence, I stepped into the gap - surprisingly it lasted over an hour with some good contributions from other people. Some good contact made by Courtney with our 2 charities, so expect talks from both WNAA and RDA in future meetings. Saturday's trip to Hook Norton Brewery is set to go ahead, and plenty of names down for future events!
(Matt, Hannah, Courtney, Melissa, Anna, Tom, Daniel and Tim)
Wednesday 15th April – WEBSITE SHORTLISTED FOR NATIONAL AWARD!
Today our new-look website was shortlisted along with Maidenhead, Woking, Camberley and Cambridge to win the RGBI Rotaract of the Year Award which is announced at the RGBI Conference in Cardiff over the weekend of 1-4 May. The deadline for voting is April 28th. Votes can be made from www.rotaract.org.uk.
Wednesday 15th April – Helen Ley Quiz
Anna put together a fantastic quiz, and my team (Matt's Marvels - I didn't choose it! Honest!) won narrowly by JUST half a mark (beating Tom's team)! Quite a few regular residents were around (inc. the legendary John!). We ended up leaving quite late at 9.30pm after quite a few residents decided to start realing off every joke they've ever heard - a really good night, despite the jokes.
(Matt, Tom and Anna - quizmaster)
Sunday 12th April – WNAA Easter Egg Hunt - Jephson Gardens
This was a great fundraising event for a worthwhile cause, a lovely summers day brought families out around Leamington to hunt around the lovely scenary of Jephson Gardens - Leamington Spa. It was a £1 a go to the charity and the clues were located around the park! The children got an Easter Egg when they finished and also the sense of pride that they achieved the task. There was also the opportunity to 'Guess how many Chocolate eggs' were in a glass jar on the table - again loads of people entered! A great response from all and a good afternoon out.
(Daniel - and the above was written by Daniel)
Wednesday 9th April – Cinema Night - The Damned United
A really good film. Highly recommended! What a legend Cloughie was. After the film we caught the end of the Liverpool and Chelsea game in the Copper Pot.
(Matt, Tom and Anna)
Sunday 29th March – Southam Rotary Coffee Morning and Vintage Car Display
A really good couple of hours, at a successful event on a beautiful morning overlooking Draycote Water at Bourton Hall. We set up a Rotaract display stand with pictures, information and handouts and chatted and networked with our friends from Southam Rotary. Look out for future events with Southam Rotary in future where we’ll hopefully be able to support them.
(Matt, Louise and Courtney)
Thursday 26th March – Eat as much as you like at Ruby in Leamington
How nice was this?!!? Answer – very! Thankfully I didn’t leave feeling totally stuffed, unlike some people, although I was pretty full – some really good food. I’m sure we’ll be back there again in the not too distant future! Totally unlike me (I’m normally a tidy eater!), I made a bit of a mess with my food, leaving some of the floor, and some on the table!
(Matt, Louise, Anna and Daniel)
Sunday 22nd March – Matt’s 1st walk of the year
A lovely day for a walk, sunny and a nice temperature. We walked about 6 miles around Ettington and Loxley near Stratford, some great views en route, although I think 1 or 2 people were struggling come the end. Louise, Jo and Rhiannon then went into Wellesbourne and had a nice pub lunch. I saved myself for a mothers day meal later in the day.
(Matt, Tom, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Jo and Rhiannon)
Tuesday 17th March – Grill Night at Greenman
You can’t argue with £5.99 for a main course and a drink can you? Enough said! My bank balance likes these evenings, my stomach has probably enjoyed better mind you.
(Matt, Melissa and Anna)
Sunday 15th March – Ice Hockey –
Coventry Blaze v Edinburgh Capitals
Unfortunately Coventry Blaze greeted my first appearance at the Skydome of the season with a 4-2 defeat after being 2 nil up. So that was rubbish, but there were a few skirmishes and fights that partially made up for it. Thankfully I managed to get £8 discounted tickets through Coventry University, so the tickets were really good value for money.
(Matt, Tom, Melissa, Courtney and Craig)
Saturday 14th March – Pub Night in Leamington
A great day personally as Wolves won and another great club pub night! We did kind of start somewhere else as we went to Wildes Wine Bar, but there was nowhere to sit so we found ourselves at the White Horse for a few before then going to Voodoo for a couple more. I seem to remember getting very frustrated here as people continually knocked my pint, I think I lost half of it before I found our group. The hard core clan then found themselves at Rios, I won’t mention who they were – and I won’t mention what we got up to! Now that would be confidential!
(Matt, Dewi, Tom, Anna, Louise, Lucy and Louise F)
Wednesday 11th March – Helen Ley Quiz (hosted by us)
I hosted my first quiz for well over a year, and really enjoyed it. The residents were again really appreciative of us giving up our time, although one team (Melissa’s team) strolled home with double the score of Anna’s team.
(Matt, Anna and Melissa)
Friday 6th March – Helen Ley Quiz and light supper
(hosted by Helen Ley)
The less said about this the better, we finished last!! It was good to support Helen Ley though, there were quite a number of teams present and I’m sure they raised a lot from the night.
(Matt, Louise and Tom)
Wednesday 4th March – The Moorings Charity Quiz
A few people bailed out late on, so me and Tom had a tough task on our hands – and we didn’t disappoint with a particularly low score achieved! Another enjoyable night. All proceeds from the night went to Oxfam.
(Matt and Tom)
Saturday 28th February – Annual Quiz at Leek Wootton Village Hall
Well done to all concerned – particularly Louise who was a fantastic host, and Charlotte who worked hard to encourage so many people from local Rotary clubs to attend. Something like 14 teams there, a great night had by all, AND OVER £200 RAISED FOR OUR CHARITIES!!!
Friday 27th February – Hearterbreaker, Paul Rogers and Queen Tribute at Cox’s Yard
A really enjoyable night. Somehow me and Tom were given free tickets to get in which was nice, we enjoyed some great music and then afterwards went on to Chicago Rock and danced the night away until 2am, or at least me and Tom did.
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Helen, Jo and Rhiannon)
Sunday 22nd February – Bowling Night
It's Sunday but it should be Twosday – Wolves draw 2-2, and I finish 2nd 3 times, but not with scores of 22 or 220! Courtney was on fire tonight, she’d be a real match for Ian (pity he couldn’t make it this time) – with one score of 148! Courtney won all 3. We had 3 games and had a great evening. There was also some very strange dancing going on......thanks to Tom Travolta and Courtney.
(Matt, Tom, Louise and Courtney)
Thursday 19th February – Club Meeting at The Moorings
ODave Cooling and Roundtable donate £500 to our charities for our help with the Santa’s Sleigh in December.
Wednesday 18th February – Moorings Quiz Night
Once again really good fun. Tom is rapidly establishing a reputation for being awesome at quizzes – while I was pleased to get my one football question! We didn’t win but we didn’t finish last either! A really enjoyable evening.
(Matt, Tom, Dewi, Anna, Louise, Lucy, Helen and Melissa)
Saturday 14th February – Leamington Pub Night
On valentines day we ventured out into Leamington again for one of our famed pub nights. We threw caution to the wind and once again started at the White Horse (I love the Hogans Cider there!), then we visited Mumbai Bluu for a drink. This sticks in my mind for the smashed glass in front of us, the sticking of straws into my coat and the hiding of my scarf. Voodoo was next up. After some escapades by Louise with a lot balloons and some funny business with putting stuff (small hearts I think?!) into my pockets and not forgetting the fantastic old guy who was dancing away, the usual suspects went on to Rios. Me and Tom literally churned up the dancefloor – while Louise was particularly intoxicated. Another great night!
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Lucy and Louise F)
Wednesday 4th February – Mooring Quiz Night
Another great social night out at the Moorings. We had myself, Tom, Louise, Helen, Anna, Courtney and Melissa. It was a mix of quiz, play your cards right and deal or no deal. The quizmaster was very entertaining so say the least, and there were also plates of biscuits doing the rounds. Our team finished 2nd overall, out of probably 6 or 7 large teams. I think our team name was “5 girls, 1 guy and it” – I just hope the “it” wasn’t aimed at me! We hope to go to this quiz again! (where we’ll probably finish last!).
Saturday 31st January – Steve’s b’day drinks
Me, Ian, Steve and Doranna, Louise and Lucy were out to celebrates Steve’s imminent birthday as he nudges closer to that landmark age! We stayed in the White Horse most of the evening, where the highlight (certainly for Louise anyway) was someone being sick not too far from where we were sitting – nice hey?!? We also visited Voodoo for a couple, before an unnamed member of the group then decided to visit that unique establishment called Rios!
26th January
Another good turn out for a cheap night of food at the Greenman in Kenilworth exploiting their 2 for 1 offers. Me, Louise, Craig and Hannah, Dewi and Anna and Rhiannon and Jo were all there. There were also some very interesting discussions on cats mating with fox's, cats mating with snakes and other cross fertilisation of species (mice and giraffe) - Louise thought it was possible for a fox to mate with a cat (Puma) but Craig was providing the experts view on the subject pointing out that its very unlikely to happen. This subject came to the fore as Craig was in the paper recently as a large cat was sighted at his place of work (no, he doesn't work in an office - Ryton Pools).
21st January
Coventry Rotaract Quiz
A big thanks to Charlotte for putting on another excellent and well received quiz at Coventry University and to Melissa for supporting her with marking. Around £60 was raised.
January 2009
2008 finished with a few good events like trips to Ice Hockey, Halloween Ghost walk, several pub nights and a tin shake in the Royal Priors in December.
2009 has got off to a good start with two well attended Saturday events both ending in trips to Rios. Firstly we started at the White Horse with a group of 7 or 8 of us on Saturday 3rd January, before moving on to Voodoo and then Rios. I think everyone had a good night, I certainly did with some energetic dancing. Then on Saturday 10th January another great group of around 7 or 8 went to see Role Models at Leamington’s Apollo Cinema before going to Voodoo afterwards and then strangely ending up in Rios again – I certainly didn’t anticipate that when I planned a cinema trip! A really really funny film and another good trip to Rios – once again ending with some dancing to my favourite blend of cheesy music!
On Wednesday 14th January I went to my first Helen Ley Quiz in around 1 year, Melissa was a fantastic quizmaster and there were 4 others split between the 2 teams of residents. Thankfully my team won comfortably by about 4 or 5. The residents again really enjoyed it and were extremely grateful for us being there! An enjoyable evening.
On Sunday 18th January a group of 7 (Matt, Dewi, Ian, Tom, Anna, Faye, Louise F) went to Tenpin. It was great fun, and highly competitive at times thanks to the late appearance of Ian. Ian who usually shreds all opponents apart in a trail of devastation actually finished second to me in the first game and then the Welsh maestro Dewi won the next 2 games leaving Ian having to be content with 3 second place finishes. Dewi had 2 impressive scores of 142 and 129! A really good night!
I think 2009 will have more good nights like these!
As always, if anyone has any events they’d like to see on the social list, please let us know!
Matt Dyer
Website & Publicity Officer
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December 2008
The last couple of months have been busy for the Rotaract Club of Leamington and Warwick and it doesn't look like it will quieten down with the festive season upon us.
(Matt, Melissa, Dan and Dave Gibb - written by Dan)
Saturday 20th June – WNAA Charity Cricket Day
An idyllic countryside setting next to a (fishing) lake was the setting for Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulances charity cricket match. A team from the air ambulance took on a Heathcote Fishery Lakes XI and included men of all shapes and sizes (no future England cricketers then? - Matt). Me and my friends sat in the glorious sunshine with our beers watching some suspect bowling (most were wide) and some big hitting/slogging. There were some excellent first class catches to get excited about as Heathcote Lakes made 144-8 off 25 overs. The air ambulance team managed to win by 2 wickets. I quite enjoyed the cakes on offer as well, but then I would (Tom, you could play for Heathcote Lakes next year at this rate?!- Matt).
Apparently Ian Beale from Eastenders was there. I didn't see him but I was very drunk by then!
Click Here
(Tom - written by Tom)
Wednesday 17th June – Helen Ley Quiz
A really good turn out this month. We had 3 Rotaractors on each team, and Louise's team narrowly lost out to Melissa's team by only 1 mark. Louise's team were particularly vocal.....and not just because they had Louise, they had a team member who just loved singing! Fair play! I thoroughly enjoyed being quizmaster again, including sport, film, gen knowledge, geography and music rounds. Afterwards all of us except Tom went back to the Moorings for a drink before going back home! A good evening!
(Matt - quizmaster, Tom, Dan, Anna, Louise, Melissa and Kate - Louises mate from her work!)
Saturday 13th June – Meal at Ask and drinks
This was billed as my birthday meal and drinks, although my birthday was on the previous Tuesday, but hey, every day is a celebration! We enjoyed the meal at Ask, chatted about a multitude of subjects including Louise's new purchase - a bargain bike for only £25! Then we moved on to the White Horse across the road where they had a cider festival on - I sampled my usual (Hogans), then a couple of different ciders including one that was 7.3% alcohol. Tom had a couple of these which set him up well for the evening!! We stayed in the White Horse for a while as we secured 2 nice comfy sofa's. The other 2 destinations where Helen joined us were............you know the rest (Voodoo and Rios!)!!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Tim, Dewi and Anna, Louise and then later on Helen)
Sunday 7th June – 2 Castles Run Marshalling (10k)
Leamington and Warwick Rotaract is proud to support Kenilworth Rotary Club’s annual staging of the Warwick Castle to Kenilworth Castle 10km (6 miles) run and this year the honour of volunteering fell to me. I was required to be a marshal and my station was in the suburbs of Kenilworth approx 7.5km along the route. The race is run early in the morning (SUNDAY morning), so I had to there by 9am. Great, except the buses aren’t brilliant at that time! Also the hot weather we had been having was suddenly replaced by torrential rain and I didn’t bring an umbrella. Luckily a fellow marshal from another Rotary Club gave me a spare as we conversed in the rain about 1940s cricket and Leeds United. Suddenly there was a great procession of cars to accompany the lone race leader who was 1 minute ahead of the other front-runners. Then a trickle of runners turned into an almighty surge of people until approx 2000 people passed me. I had to master the art of holding an umbrella whilst clapping manically as I was unable to pick out the Rotaract members who were running. To stop the cars I just stood in the middle of the road doing my best Gandalf impression – “you will not pass”!! 2 hours later at 11am the last runners (or should that be walkers) passed and I went on to Kenilworth Castle and helped the Scouts (people my own age perhaps?) pack away the stages, guardrails, tables and gazebos, still in the pouring rain.
(Tom - written by Tom)
Friday 5th June – Coventry Rotaract Race Night
On a miserably wet Friday night a few of us made the short (very short for me as I live in Cov) to Cov and North Warwickshire's cricket ground for Coventry Rotaract's Race Night, and what a fantastically well organised and enjoyable evening it was. Well done Coventry Rotaract!! I spent a little more than I planned, but hey, I was having fun and its for charity. There were something like 8 or 9 races, a coin rolling competition, hot food, some nice desserts and a bar! The last race was a football team race, so I managed to get Arsenal changed for Wolves, and Leicester City came in first. £541 was raised in total! We all enjoyed the night - although on returning to my flat several big spiders were out! I accept no liability for Tom's write up below.
Tom's take on the evening...........
Fast cars, glamorous women and high rollers were all in abundance as the guys descended on the Monte-Carlo of the Midlands – Coventry . Coventry Rotaract’s Race Night consisted of pre-recorded horse races where we were encouraged to sponsor races, jockeys, horses and place bets of each of the 8 horses in each race – some of us needed less encouraging than others (how much did you lose/ “donate to charity” Matt?). I was pleasantly surprised with scooping the jackpot of £8 on race 6 as usually I have rotten luck! Hot food in the form of burgers and hot dogs and a generous and tempting spread of desserts were provided for the ravenous lads. The glamorous women came in the form of potential new members for Coventry Rotaract but unfortunately our charm could not poach them over to the Leamington side. And for fast cars – well have you been in a car with Dan when the petrol light was on and it is past midnight!!!
(Matt, Tom and Dan)
Sunday 31st May - Matt's Country Walk, part 3
............and this is what a summers day should be all about! Pure blue skies, a bit of a breeze, lovely green countryside and a nice pub! Happy days! We started from the pretty village of Flecknoe, near Daventry and followed a circular route from a leaflet. This was after several mini dramas in finding somewhere to park in the village. The walk itself was around 5.5 miles, mostly fairly flat but not a busy road in site, it featured a few narrow farm tracks, a lot of stiles, a canal, some horses and a multipack of ready salted crisps supplied by Helen - thanks for those by the way!! Then afterwards we went to the Blue Lias just down the road (a personal favourite of mine!) and sat in the garden next to the canal for the best part of an hour with a cold drink - entertainment was provided by a group of lads trying desperately to moor their canal boat near the pub - surely it can't be that hard?!? They're probably still trying now as I write this - 6 hours after we left the pub! Helen's generousity also extended to her treating everyone to a magnum icecream - how nice!! An enjoyable afternoon! :-)
Interesting fact of the day: Dan is part Dutch!
(Matt, Tom, Daniel, Helen, Melissa, Jo and Rhiannon)
Thursday 28th May – Bowling Night
Well well well - a great turnout and some highly competitive games, although I dont know whether I should bother going through the scores seen as I didn't win either of our games. Overall it was good fun, and I think everyone had an enjoyable evening. The winners on the night were Anna, Daniel, Craig and Louise (yep - you read that correctly - Louise!!). Daniel and Courtney even requested score sheets, I think Dan is going to frame his such was his delight at winning a game. If I was to do this after a win, I wouldn't have any wall space left after a few trips to bowling!! :-) (only joking!!)
Next up.......my walk on Sunday, with the forecast good, I'm looking forward to it!!
(Matt, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Courtney, Craig, Anna, Helen Miller plus guest, Leah and Kate)
Thursday 21st May – Club Meeting, the Moorings
As a general rule I don't usually include club meetings on here, but as this was such a good and well attended meeting I thought I'd give it a mention. After we ran through our past and present events and discussed other club business, we were grateful to be joined by 3 guests from one of our charities for the year - Riding for the Disabled. They discussed the work that they do, and how we can get involved, as well as them finding out about us. We left the pub well after 10pm, so it was a fairly long evening given the 8pm start. We hope to continue our relationship with RDA beyond the club year 08/09. A very interesting and productive meeting.
(Matt - chaired meeting, Melissa, Courtney, Daniel, Tom, Kate, Helen, Louise F and 3 guests from Riding for the Disabled)
Ball/Prom Cancelled
We regret to announce that due to a lack of interest this years Annual Ball/Prom at Dockers Diner on Saturday 6th June has been cancelled.
Thursday 14th May – Disc Golf, Quarry Park
Our first trip to disc golf of the summer on a grey and drizzly evening, but a strangely nice one nevertheless. We were the only people on the course, and it was a really enjoyable evening. My own game was all over the place, I think I found a tree or bush with every throw - in fact so consistently it was almost as though it was deliberate. I was shocking, but hey, it was good fun and it makes it more interesting!! Hannah and Craig have clearly been practicing disc golf after a show of dominance from start to finish with Craig winning and Hannah finishing second. We'll definitely be back again very soon! (and I'm soon the newly weds Hannah and Craig will be back even sooner!)
(Matt, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Hannah and Craig)
Wednesday 13th May – Helen Ley Quiz
This month I took over the quizmastering duties. Tom's team convincingly beat Louise's, although they did have a much larger team. Two personal highlights included Tom saving the day by removing a large spider called Boris and despatching him outside through a window, and seeing all the little duckings in the pond outside the centre. As always, another very enjoyable evening at Helen Ley.
(Tom, Louise and Matt - quizmaster)
Sunday 10th May - Rotary Water Carrying Event
Me and Tom supported Leamington Spa Rotary in their Water Carrying Event at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington. Basically numerous school kids had to carry water around the pump rooms, and the person who carried the most won. All money raised went towards buying school water purifying equipment in India. Me and Tom helped with the marshalling on a lovely Sunday afternoon - although I was a bit tired and hungover after the previous night!!
(Matt & Tom)
Saturday 9th May (8pm) – Leamington Pub Night
Yep, another pub night!! Need I say what course this night took, yep, White Horse -> Voodoo -> Rios. I enjoyed it though!!
(Matt, Tom, Lucy, Daniel, Dewi, plus others)
Tuesday 5th May - Leamington & Warwick Rotaract win national award for best website in Great Britain!!
Monday 4th May - Website winner due to be announced this weekend!
As well as the website winner set to be announced anytime soon, we also have a guest speaker visiting our club meeting on Thursday from WNAA, one of our 2 charities for 2008-09.
Thursday 30th April – Bowling, Leamington Tenpin
An enjoyable evening - helped by the surprise winner of the night being me!! Despite the presence of former professional bowling duo Craig and Courtney, who couldn't quite get into their stride. In the first game I scored 109 and beat Courtney on 101, and the in the 2nd game I scored 95 beating Craig who finished with 86 (I think). Anna beat Courtney to finish 3rd. Its not all about winning - but its nice nevertheless! I still would've enjoyed it even if I'd finished last, honest!! :-)
(Matt, Anna, Melissa, Courtney and Craig)
Wednesday 22nd April – Cinema Night
Our second trip to Leamington's Apollo cinema, this time to take in The Boat that Rocked about 60's music on pirate radio, a very lighthearted amusing film! Thanks to Louise for bringing a large bag of sweets and drink, although I did foolishly decide to buy my own expensive cinema drink (I could've had a nice meal with that!). I'm still basking in the glow of Wolves' promotion to the Premier League by the way! :-)
(Matt, Anna, Louise and Melissa)
Sunday 19th April – Matt's Country Walk, episode 2
A perfect day for walking, with barely a cloud in the sky. This time I made the walk up from an ordnance survey map, although I had a bit of knowledge of the area. We started from the Two Boats Inn, in Long Itchington and headed along the Grand Union canal towards Leamington, we then hit the Centenery Way towards Ufton, walked around some woods, and past the large Polo club outside Southam before returning via Bascote to the pub. Around 7 miles in total, with some lovely views. As it was such a nice day, we sat outside for an hour or so and soaked up the sun at the canalside pub with a nice cold drink. We also caught the end of the Everton v Man U semi final. A really enjoyable afternoon - and it capped off a perfect weekend for me personally with Wolves going up on Saturday! Happy days! Dan - next time wear different footwear though!
(Matt, Tom, Dan, Helen and Louise Fitzgerald)
Saturday 18th April (8pm) – Leamington Pub Night
A very factual informative write up by Tom there! Sounds good - I would've liked to have visited Hook Norton Brewery myself. Instead I was doing my very own beer tasting celebrating Wolves promotion to the Premier League. I joined the rest of the group at 9.30pm in the White Horse in an already very jolly state - oh what a day! They don't come much better! We left the White Horse at 11.30pm and me and Tom hit our regular jaunt - Rios - and danced the rest of the night away!
(Matt, Tom, Louise Fitzgerald, Dewi and Anna)
Saturday 18th April (11am) – Hook Norton Brewery Tour
An early morning start was required as the latest Rotaract outing was to the Hook Norton Brewery. We were given a guided tour around the famous small independent brewery with so many unique features that were put in back in 1850 and still used today. All areas of the beer making process were shown and fully explained except the fermentation vats in case I sneezed and ruined the casks of Old Hooky! The highlight of the tour was the tasting section where 6 different beers were available to sample, ranging from 3.2% Hook Dark to 6% Haymaker. I HAD (of course you did Tom! MD) to try them all to find out which one I liked the most, then another round just to be sure! (So you got your money's worth then?! MD). The tour certainly set the rest of the day up for football and dancing later, albeit rather tipsy! (thats understating it Tom! MD)
(Tom, Louise, Tim, Courtney and Craig - and the above was provided by Tom)
Thursday 16th April – Club Meeting, The Moorings
I don't always include club meetings on here, but I thought I would this time. In Louise's absence, I stepped into the gap - surprisingly it lasted over an hour with some good contributions from other people. Some good contact made by Courtney with our 2 charities, so expect talks from both WNAA and RDA in future meetings. Saturday's trip to Hook Norton Brewery is set to go ahead, and plenty of names down for future events!
(Matt, Hannah, Courtney, Melissa, Anna, Tom, Daniel and Tim)
Wednesday 15th April – WEBSITE SHORTLISTED FOR NATIONAL AWARD!
Today our new-look website was shortlisted along with Maidenhead, Woking, Camberley and Cambridge to win the RGBI Rotaract of the Year Award which is announced at the RGBI Conference in Cardiff over the weekend of 1-4 May. The deadline for voting is April 28th. Votes can be made from www.rotaract.org.uk.
Wednesday 15th April – Helen Ley Quiz
Anna put together a fantastic quiz, and my team (Matt's Marvels - I didn't choose it! Honest!) won narrowly by JUST half a mark (beating Tom's team)! Quite a few regular residents were around (inc. the legendary John!). We ended up leaving quite late at 9.30pm after quite a few residents decided to start realing off every joke they've ever heard - a really good night, despite the jokes.
(Matt, Tom and Anna - quizmaster)
Sunday 12th April – WNAA Easter Egg Hunt - Jephson Gardens
This was a great fundraising event for a worthwhile cause, a lovely summers day brought families out around Leamington to hunt around the lovely scenary of Jephson Gardens - Leamington Spa. It was a £1 a go to the charity and the clues were located around the park! The children got an Easter Egg when they finished and also the sense of pride that they achieved the task. There was also the opportunity to 'Guess how many Chocolate eggs' were in a glass jar on the table - again loads of people entered! A great response from all and a good afternoon out.
(Daniel - and the above was written by Daniel)
Wednesday 9th April – Cinema Night - The Damned United
A really good film. Highly recommended! What a legend Cloughie was. After the film we caught the end of the Liverpool and Chelsea game in the Copper Pot.
(Matt, Tom and Anna)
Sunday 29th March – Southam Rotary Coffee Morning and Vintage Car Display
A really good couple of hours, at a successful event on a beautiful morning overlooking Draycote Water at Bourton Hall. We set up a Rotaract display stand with pictures, information and handouts and chatted and networked with our friends from Southam Rotary. Look out for future events with Southam Rotary in future where we’ll hopefully be able to support them.
(Matt, Louise and Courtney)
Thursday 26th March – Eat as much as you like at Ruby in Leamington
How nice was this?!!? Answer – very! Thankfully I didn’t leave feeling totally stuffed, unlike some people, although I was pretty full – some really good food. I’m sure we’ll be back there again in the not too distant future! Totally unlike me (I’m normally a tidy eater!), I made a bit of a mess with my food, leaving some of the floor, and some on the table!
(Matt, Louise, Anna and Daniel)
Sunday 22nd March – Matt’s 1st walk of the year
A lovely day for a walk, sunny and a nice temperature. We walked about 6 miles around Ettington and Loxley near Stratford, some great views en route, although I think 1 or 2 people were struggling come the end. Louise, Jo and Rhiannon then went into Wellesbourne and had a nice pub lunch. I saved myself for a mothers day meal later in the day.
(Matt, Tom, Daniel, Louise, Melissa, Jo and Rhiannon)
Tuesday 17th March – Grill Night at Greenman
You can’t argue with £5.99 for a main course and a drink can you? Enough said! My bank balance likes these evenings, my stomach has probably enjoyed better mind you.
(Matt, Melissa and Anna)
Sunday 15th March – Ice Hockey –
Coventry Blaze v Edinburgh Capitals
Unfortunately Coventry Blaze greeted my first appearance at the Skydome of the season with a 4-2 defeat after being 2 nil up. So that was rubbish, but there were a few skirmishes and fights that partially made up for it. Thankfully I managed to get £8 discounted tickets through Coventry University, so the tickets were really good value for money.
(Matt, Tom, Melissa, Courtney and Craig)
Saturday 14th March – Pub Night in Leamington
A great day personally as Wolves won and another great club pub night! We did kind of start somewhere else as we went to Wildes Wine Bar, but there was nowhere to sit so we found ourselves at the White Horse for a few before then going to Voodoo for a couple more. I seem to remember getting very frustrated here as people continually knocked my pint, I think I lost half of it before I found our group. The hard core clan then found themselves at Rios, I won’t mention who they were – and I won’t mention what we got up to! Now that would be confidential!
(Matt, Dewi, Tom, Anna, Louise, Lucy and Louise F)
Wednesday 11th March – Helen Ley Quiz (hosted by us)
I hosted my first quiz for well over a year, and really enjoyed it. The residents were again really appreciative of us giving up our time, although one team (Melissa’s team) strolled home with double the score of Anna’s team.
(Matt, Anna and Melissa)
Friday 6th March – Helen Ley Quiz and light supper
(hosted by Helen Ley)
The less said about this the better, we finished last!! It was good to support Helen Ley though, there were quite a number of teams present and I’m sure they raised a lot from the night.
(Matt, Louise and Tom)
Wednesday 4th March – The Moorings Charity Quiz
A few people bailed out late on, so me and Tom had a tough task on our hands – and we didn’t disappoint with a particularly low score achieved! Another enjoyable night. All proceeds from the night went to Oxfam.
(Matt and Tom)
Saturday 28th February – Annual Quiz at Leek Wootton Village Hall
Well done to all concerned – particularly Louise who was a fantastic host, and Charlotte who worked hard to encourage so many people from local Rotary clubs to attend. Something like 14 teams there, a great night had by all, AND OVER £200 RAISED FOR OUR CHARITIES!!!
Friday 27th February – Hearterbreaker, Paul Rogers and Queen Tribute at Cox’s Yard
A really enjoyable night. Somehow me and Tom were given free tickets to get in which was nice, we enjoyed some great music and then afterwards went on to Chicago Rock and danced the night away until 2am, or at least me and Tom did.
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Helen, Jo and Rhiannon)
Sunday 22nd February – Bowling Night
It's Sunday but it should be Twosday – Wolves draw 2-2, and I finish 2nd 3 times, but not with scores of 22 or 220! Courtney was on fire tonight, she’d be a real match for Ian (pity he couldn’t make it this time) – with one score of 148! Courtney won all 3. We had 3 games and had a great evening. There was also some very strange dancing going on......thanks to Tom Travolta and Courtney.
(Matt, Tom, Louise and Courtney)
Thursday 19th February – Club Meeting at The Moorings
ODave Cooling and Roundtable donate £500 to our charities for our help with the Santa’s Sleigh in December.
Wednesday 18th February – Moorings Quiz Night
Once again really good fun. Tom is rapidly establishing a reputation for being awesome at quizzes – while I was pleased to get my one football question! We didn’t win but we didn’t finish last either! A really enjoyable evening.
(Matt, Tom, Dewi, Anna, Louise, Lucy, Helen and Melissa)
Saturday 14th February – Leamington Pub Night
On valentines day we ventured out into Leamington again for one of our famed pub nights. We threw caution to the wind and once again started at the White Horse (I love the Hogans Cider there!), then we visited Mumbai Bluu for a drink. This sticks in my mind for the smashed glass in front of us, the sticking of straws into my coat and the hiding of my scarf. Voodoo was next up. After some escapades by Louise with a lot balloons and some funny business with putting stuff (small hearts I think?!) into my pockets and not forgetting the fantastic old guy who was dancing away, the usual suspects went on to Rios. Me and Tom literally churned up the dancefloor – while Louise was particularly intoxicated. Another great night!
(Matt, Tom, Louise, Courtney, Lucy and Louise F)
Wednesday 4th February – Mooring Quiz Night
Another great social night out at the Moorings. We had myself, Tom, Louise, Helen, Anna, Courtney and Melissa. It was a mix of quiz, play your cards right and deal or no deal. The quizmaster was very entertaining so say the least, and there were also plates of biscuits doing the rounds. Our team finished 2nd overall, out of probably 6 or 7 large teams. I think our team name was “5 girls, 1 guy and it” – I just hope the “it” wasn’t aimed at me! We hope to go to this quiz again! (where we’ll probably finish last!).
Saturday 31st January – Steve’s b’day drinks
Me, Ian, Steve and Doranna, Louise and Lucy were out to celebrates Steve’s imminent birthday as he nudges closer to that landmark age! We stayed in the White Horse most of the evening, where the highlight (certainly for Louise anyway) was someone being sick not too far from where we were sitting – nice hey?!? We also visited Voodoo for a couple, before an unnamed member of the group then decided to visit that unique establishment called Rios!
26th January
Another good turn out for a cheap night of food at the Greenman in Kenilworth exploiting their 2 for 1 offers. Me, Louise, Craig and Hannah, Dewi and Anna and Rhiannon and Jo were all there. There were also some very interesting discussions on cats mating with fox's, cats mating with snakes and other cross fertilisation of species (mice and giraffe) - Louise thought it was possible for a fox to mate with a cat (Puma) but Craig was providing the experts view on the subject pointing out that its very unlikely to happen. This subject came to the fore as Craig was in the paper recently as a large cat was sighted at his place of work (no, he doesn't work in an office - Ryton Pools).
21st January
Coventry Rotaract Quiz
A big thanks to Charlotte for putting on another excellent and well received quiz at Coventry University and to Melissa for supporting her with marking. Around £60 was raised.
January 2009
2008 finished with a few good events like trips to Ice Hockey, Halloween Ghost walk, several pub nights and a tin shake in the Royal Priors in December.
2009 has got off to a good start with two well attended Saturday events both ending in trips to Rios. Firstly we started at the White Horse with a group of 7 or 8 of us on Saturday 3rd January, before moving on to Voodoo and then Rios. I think everyone had a good night, I certainly did with some energetic dancing. Then on Saturday 10th January another great group of around 7 or 8 went to see Role Models at Leamington’s Apollo Cinema before going to Voodoo afterwards and then strangely ending up in Rios again – I certainly didn’t anticipate that when I planned a cinema trip! A really really funny film and another good trip to Rios – once again ending with some dancing to my favourite blend of cheesy music!
On Wednesday 14th January I went to my first Helen Ley Quiz in around 1 year, Melissa was a fantastic quizmaster and there were 4 others split between the 2 teams of residents. Thankfully my team won comfortably by about 4 or 5. The residents again really enjoyed it and were extremely grateful for us being there! An enjoyable evening.
On Sunday 18th January a group of 7 (Matt, Dewi, Ian, Tom, Anna, Faye, Louise F) went to Tenpin. It was great fun, and highly competitive at times thanks to the late appearance of Ian. Ian who usually shreds all opponents apart in a trail of devastation actually finished second to me in the first game and then the Welsh maestro Dewi won the next 2 games leaving Ian having to be content with 3 second place finishes. Dewi had 2 impressive scores of 142 and 129! A really good night!
I think 2009 will have more good nights like these!
As always, if anyone has any events they’d like to see on the social list, please let us know!
Matt Dyer
Website & Publicity Officer
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December 2008
The last couple of months have been busy for the Rotaract Club of Leamington and Warwick and it doesn't look like it will quieten down with the festive season upon us.
Our regular monthly quiz at Helen Ley is still as popular as ever with increasing numbers of residents participating. Some of the recent social events that we have had include:
Halloween Ghost walk in Stratford, which everyone enjoyed despite the freezing weather
Trip to watch the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey team play after which i managed to loose my voice a little due to the screaming
Numerous nights out in Leamington (need I say more!)
Tapas night at La Tasca where you can eat as much as you like (and we did)
Fundraising collection at the M40 services to raise money for our 2 selected charities for this year
Boating on the river Leam
We are always after new ideas for events and trips so if you have any suggestions or if there is something you would like us to organise, then please let me know.
Louise Roberts
President & Social Secretary
