News 2018
Rewarding and encouraging good citizenship
Rotary Stars is the name of a Rotary project designed to reward and encourage good citizenship. Secretary/Youth Service lead Pam Spokes is the member who runs it for the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. This is her report I was pleased to attend a Celebration Assembly at Mellor Primary School, Checketts Road, on Friday 14 December …
Phew! What a busy month!
Advent is a busy time for Rotarians, just as it is for other folk. In addition to planning and enjoying parties, Rotarians are preoccupied in the weeks leading up to Christmas thinking about the coming Rotary year — which runs from July to June. At its Special General Meeting early in December, Novus confirmed the appointment …
Meeting Royalty one day, Rotary meeting the next!
Irvin Metcalf, the lead figure in the East Midlands for the Rotary Foundation — Rotary’s own charity, and one of the biggest in the world — explained it all to Leicester Novus members and guests. Among the guests was Mai Tsumura, a living example of one of the thousands of projects that the charity encourages and …
A chat with the DG
Although they have ideals in common and shared values, every Rotary member is unique. So it stands to reason that every Rotary Club is different. Inevitably, then, every District Governor is unique. Each year brings a new governor charged with visiting every club in his or her district at least once. Some governors are formal, …
Out with the old… in with the new
President Jason Chauhan finally received his badge of office from past president Pradeep Popat. The two had not been together at a suitable meeting since Jason became Leicester Novus Rotary’s new president at the beginning of July. So the pleasure of witnessing this important moment in the life of the club, and the two men, …
Revealing the secrets of the South Atlantic
One of the joys of Rotary membership is the opportunity to hear excellent speakers and see wonderful presentations. Novus members had that opportunity when Frazer Robson showed fellow members nearly 60 spectacular slides of the South Atlantic island of St Helena. Many people may not be able to find it on a map, but might …
Good news and bad news as Rotary visits LOROS hospice
When members of Leicester Novus Rotary Club visited the LOROS hospice there was good news and bad news. Several of the visitors had watched the bad news on the TV just before the meeting; a brand-new £80,000 LOROS Local vehicle had been attacked by thieves who stole its exhaust system. The vehicle was needed every …
East meets West in Leicester
Two guests — one from the East and one from the West — gave members of Leicester Novus Rotary Club an insight into Rotary far from the UK. Louisa Horne, who is a member of the Halifax Harbourside club, and who next summer will become the leading Rotarian for the 47 clubs, with 1,500 members, in the …
Rotarians celebrate friend’s publishing smash hit
Several members of Leicester Novus Rotary Club attended the Leicester launch of the book I Can.I Will. written by fellow-member Mark Esho. Dozens of people turned up to enjoy Mark’s success in becoming Amazon’s best-selling author. His hard-hitting book tells how Mark contracted polio just before his fifth birthday. He is brutally honest in recounting …
Mai helps Novus support hospice event
Doctoral student Mai Tsumura from Japan is forging strong links with the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. Several weeks before arriving to study English at Leicester University, Mai — sponsored by the Rotary Club of Nishinomiya-Ebusa in Japan — e-mailed the club saying she wanted to get involved with its activities. She had read on this …
“Your club has saved 500 lives”
Novus members and guests were treated to a most moving talk by Roger Neuberg, a member of Oadby Rotary. Among the guests were Mai Tsumura and her mother Yuka, from Japan. Mai arrived two days before the meeting She is a doctoral student from Kobe College, Japan, sponsored by Nishinomiya-Ebisu Rotary Club to study at the …
Novus knocked out in first round
Every autumn Rotary clubs across the East Midlands of England compete in the District 1070 minor sports. Novus were drawn against our old friends Oadby Launde in the first round. And, being the home team. it was up to us to arrange the match. Channi Riyait arranged for us to play skittles. But most importantly …
Sewa, a word which links Sikhism to Rotary
Sewa is a word which lies at the heart of Sikhism and Rotary. The Punjabi word means selfless service to God, the Khalsa and the the wider community. It is a principle tenet of Sikhism. Service Above Self is the creed which drives 1.2 million Rotary members from around the world — people of all faiths …
End Polio Now campaign update
Rotarian Eric Hall, one of three End Polio Now champions in District 1070, visited the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus to give an update on Rotary International’s 30-year campaign to rid the wqorld of polio. Eric is exceptionally well qualified, having gone four times to India to vaccinate children against the disease. Rotary first became …
Banners build bridges
Exceptional fellowship is one of the reasons 1.2 million people around the world belong to Rotary clubs and work together behind the motto Service Above Self. As a member of one club, every one is entitled — encouraged even — to visit any club. It was with great pleasure that President Jason Chauhan and other members …
Sarita reports back from Kenya, as old friends meet
The Friends of Kianjai Kenya was the subject of an illustrated talk by Club member Sarita Shah. It was appropriate, because in the audience was not only Novus members, but visiting Rotarians Diana Esho, of the Rotary Club of Leicester, wife of Novus member Mark. Diana was there, in part to receive further donations of …
Rotarians step back in time
Fourteen members and guests of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus stepped back in time on August 9 when Penny Brown, who is in charge of volunteering efforts in Leicester City Council’s parks, gave them a guided tour of Abbey Park. It’s ten years since Penny last conducted such a tour. She came ‘out of …
He can. He will. He did!
CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Esho, who joined the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus about 18 months ago. At 11am on Thursday, August 9, he posted this video announcing the launch of his autobiography I Can. I Will. It is a motivating and inspiring story. Pulling no punches, Mark tells how he has overcome polio (he must be …
Thousands of visitors at Novus Rotary meeting
Like every Rotary Club, Novus is always pleased to welcome visitors. For our meeting at The Grange Farm pub in Oadby we had thousands… far too many to count. They were brought by Melvyn Dines, who spoke to us about his hobby of beekeeping. All the thousands — there can be as many as 50,000 in …
Cycling is for all… and not just on bikes
Cycling comes in all shapes and sizes, as members and guests of Leicester Novus discovered when two trustees of the charity Leicester Wheels For All spoke to them. Chairman Peter Simmonds and secretary Linda Goddard talked about the charity and its aim of promoting cycling for everyone, regardless of experience or ability. They showed lots …
Digging into county’s world-record history
Fourteen Novus Rotary members and guests explored Glenfield Tunnel which, when it opened in 1832, was the world’s longest steam railway tunnel. The Rotarians did not walk all 1796 yards to the highlight of their trip. That was about 400 yards into the tunnel beneath one of the shafts up which rock and soil would …
Lost and found
A walking treasure hunt around the village of Thurcaston raised £73 for the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. It started and finished at The Wheatsheaf pub, just over the road from the home of Jim and Sally Matthews who devised the quiz. Fourteen of their friends followed clues and all managed to find some answers, …
Young designers show off their skills
Fifty-six young people competed in the final of the Young Designer Competition organised by Colin Derrick on behalf of Leicester Rotary Club. Four of them were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. Rukhsar Kasmani and Juwayriyyah Salim are students at Crown Hills Community College – both entries were textile design. Milan Aryal and …
Providing support for those living with dementia
Novus had two speakers for the price of one when they invited Dementia UK to send a representative to speak about the challenges faced by people living with people with dementia. Gwyn Jones spoke movingly about her husband who was diagnosed with dementia in 2012. “This is a disease… not a natural part of ageing,” …
Seeking treasure will launch charity
There’s treasure in Thurcaston. And on the longest day of the year, June 21, members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus and their guests will be seeking it. Starting at 6.30pm from The Wheatsheaf pub in the centre of the village, they will compete to solve two score cunning clues. The nature of the …
Plans approved: pressure is off
Every June is a busy month for Rotarians all over the world. With less than a month before the current Rotary year ends and the new one begins, some members are dashing around trying to complete projects before July 1, and some are making plans for the new year. Often it’s the same Rotarians feeling …
Rotarians collect for Alzheimer’s Research
Seven members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus, plus four from Leicester Rotary Club and 13 other volunteers gave up the chance of watching either the events at Windsor or Wembley to boost the funds of Alzheimer’s Research UK. They spent a very sunny Saturday morning and afternoon in the centre of Leicester …
Karen scales yet more new heights
Karen Storey, due on July 1 to become president of the Rotary Club of Oadby, has just returned to Leicester Novus Rotary to report on her latest big adventure — undertaking The Grand Canyon trek. She and her daughter Sophie spoke to Novus in August 2014 about their trek through the jungles of Thailand some months …
Ready to be the inspiration
Every year Rotarians meet to plan for the year ahead. In District 1070 (the east Midlands of England) that day-long assembly is held at Loughborough University early in May. Nearly 500 members attend. And every year members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus attend to learn about possible projects to which they can commit. …
Do you Floss?
Even when there’s not much to do, Rotarians can be relied upon to have fun. A week after meeting at Falcons Primary School to see their Peace Garden opened, members of Leicester Novus Rotary met there to discuss membership matters. After the business, members fell to chatting. One thing led to another and before long …
Smiles and songs as Peace Pole is unwrapped
A two-year Rotary project has been officially opened. Frazer Robson, Foundation Officer for the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus and Rotarian Jasbir Mann, who is head teacher at the Falcons Primary School, Gipsy Lane, Leicester, put together the grand design for a Peace Garden at the school. Together they applied for a matching grant from …
Polio volunteers reunited at Commons reception
About 200 people who have taken part in Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign attended a reception on The Terrace of the House of Commons. Over more than a decade, thousands of Rotarians and others have given hundreds of millions of doses of polio vaccine to hundreds of millions of children in India. A small …
How arts help disadvantaged youngsters
Rotary Club of Leicester Novus members visited Soft Touch Arts for their weekly meeting. Business Strategic Director Christina Wigmore gave 10 members an insight into the work of the charity and a tour of its premises, at 50 New Walk, Leicester. She explained that soft Touch was formed in 1986 to benefit disadvantaged young people …
Better than double top… double darts, two in one!
The second weekend in April was busy for Novus members. On Friday Jasbir Mann, headteacher of the Sikh-ethos Falcons Primary School took time out to advise Warning Zone www.warningzone.org.uk on which Sikhs might wear the Kirpaan, the ceremonial knife all baptised Sikhs pledge to carry to defend themselves and their faith. On Saturday, six members …
Busy shopping? No pressure!
Once again, Emeritus Professor Bert Thurston led the way for seven volunteers from the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus helping shoppers stay healthy. Bert, a doctor of medicine, recorded the blood pressure of shoppers at the Asda store in Abbey Lane, Leicester, along with other medical professionals while Pam Spokes, Jason Chauhan, Deepak Karia, Sarita …
Moira’s memories of Maundy Money
Moira Bartlett not only talked about the Maundy Money she was handed by The Queen at Easter 2017, but she passed the coins round so that members of Leicester Novus Rotary and their guests could touch them and see them up close. Moira explained the history of the tradition in which the monarch hands specially-minted …
Sarita in the Big Seat
Four members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus visited the Leicester club to see their friend Diana Esho, wife of Mark, inducted as a member of the Leicester club. While there, Sarita Shah was photographed in the heavily-ornamented wooden seat reserved for presidents of Novus’s ‘mother club’. The photo was taken by past president …
Hollywood/Bollywood: Jollygood
President Pradeep and 13 of his club members welcomed about 150 guests to their Hollywood/Bollywood diner dance at St Martin’s House. Delicious food, good music and great company made the evening a great success. The food, of course, was provided by Mirch Masala, the Belgrave restaurant of Pradeep and his wife Nisha, who were …
Peace Garden completed
Despite forecasts of heavy rain, or even snow, volunteers turned up to help Leicester Novus Rotary Club complete the Peace Garden it is building at Falcons Primary School in the city. Overseen by Frazer Robson, who has led the project from the start, and by Rotarian Jim Matthews, and school premises officer Viren Shah, …
Please help us hit target for disabled competitors
Rotary clubs achieve a lot, but often can do so only because they are helped by members of the public. Leicester Novus is now asking for help… With many other clubs from across the East Midlands, we are contributing to a days of games in April at Stamford. Our task — and we have chosen to …
Trained to save lives
President Pradeep Popat with President Elect Jason Chauhan and past president Frazer Robson with the certificates issued by the charity Heartwize, marking their completion in January of a course which made them feel more confident about trying to save a life by using CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation)
Helping baby feel welcome…and safe
When teacher Laura Hutchinson arrived in Leicester from Bristol in June 2017, she wanted to continue doing some voluntary work. Within weeks she had founded Baby-basics Leicester one of about two dozen branches of a charity which started in Sheffield in 2009. Based in Narborough Road, the registered charity now has half-a-dozen regular volunteers contributing …
Where law meets morality
Novus meetings with guest speakers are often thought-provoking. But when eight students from the University of Leicester Law School asked Rotarians to ponder on several issues where UK law meets ethics and morals, members found themselves properly and rigorously challenged. Firstly, Leah, Gabrielle and Lauren gave some startling facts about the number of homeless people, …
Novus crash out of Minor sports
There are about 32,000 Rotary Clubs in the world. To enable collaboration, neighbouring clubs are assigned to areas, districts and regions. To foster good relations they compete against one another in ‘minor sports.’ They always travel in hope — the hope that they don’t win so many knock-out matches that they have to travel further and …
Flagging up international friendships
Every one of the 1.2 million Rotary Club members are entitled — encouraged even — to visit other clubs, near or far. Traditionally, they will mark their visits by exchanging banners or small flags bearing the name of their clubs. When the visitor next returns to her or his club, they will present the banner to …
The Guildford Rotary Eye Project – Global Sight Solutions
Rotarian John Miles (member of Rotary Club of Leatherhead) presented on the great work the charity Global Sight Solutions have been working on.The charity was founded in 1998 by Dr Sam Da MBE, former eye surgeon and ophthalmic consultant at Guildford’s Royal Surrey Hospital. It is understood that there are an estimated 350-650 million people …
Rainbows: Where parents get to be parents
Community Fundraiser Gary Farnfield returned to update the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus on Rainbows Children’s Hospice since his visit a year or so ago. He reminded members that the hospice opened in 1994 to help the families of young people aged up to 30 with life-limiting illnesses and conditions. When he last spoke to …
Learning how to save lives…
Twenty-one members and invited guests learned from volunteers with the charity Heartwize how to save lives. The meeting was staged in the spacious and airy hall of Falcons Primary School in Leicester whose headteacher, Jasbir Mann, is a member of the Rotary club. President Pradeep Popat welcomed the guests, who included staff from Falcons, two teachers …
Did You Know?
Forty years ago, Rotary launched its campaign to rid the world of polio.
Then, 350,000 people — many of them children — were being disabled and killed by the disease every year.
We started in 1979 with vaccinations for six million children in the Philippines.
Today, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic.
Rotary and other partners stuck at it, raising $1.2 BILLION and immunising more than 2.5 BILLION children.
We have eradicated two of the three strains of the disease.
Wouldn’t you like to be part of such a success story?
You can be, by e-mailing Novus Rotary
Rotary is dedicated to seven areas of focus: to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.
Promoting peace
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
Fighting disease
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.
Saving mothers and children
Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
Supporting education
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
Growing local economies
We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
Supporting the Environment
More than $18USD million in grant funding from the The Rotary Foundation, Rotary’s own charity, has been given to environmental-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
