News 2016
Generous Asda shoppers fund Rotary projects
Generous Asda shoppers donated £265.66 to the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus on the Saturday before Christmas Eve. The money will be used to part-finance club projects including planting 2,500 crocuses in Abbey Park, Leicester, taking people on a narrowboat trip and creating a Peace Garden at Falcons Primary School in Gipsy Lane. Organiser Jim …
Speaker’s talk on parks contains surprises
Penny Brown, of Leicester City Council’s parks services department, spoke to Leicester Novus Rotary about the work of the department. She revealed that 20 per cent of the land area within the city is managed by the department which she joined in 1985 as a trainee gardener at Evington Park. Now, as the officer …
Youngsters are Rotary Stars
Eleven pupils at Mellor Primary School, Checketts Road, Leicester, have been recognised as Rotary Stars. Nominated by teachers, friends or themselves, all 11 have demonstrated that they have have worked for the benefit of others. All received a certificate and a lapel badge from Pam Spokes, the secretary of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus, and …
Clubs work together on Peace Garden
The Rotary Club of Leicester Novus and the Rotary Club of Oadby Launde are working together to create a Peace Garden at Falcons Primary School, Gipsy Lane, Leicester, whose head is Jasbir Mann, a past president of the Novus club. To further the project, the two clubs held a joint meeting at Launde’s meeting …
2,000 crocus bulbs will mark End Polio Now campaign
More than 2,000 crocus bulbs were planted in Abbey Park, Leicester, by members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus, helped by 18 Chinese business students from De Montfort University. The project is the second collaboration between the club and the city council, the first being the clean-up of the ‘pocket park’ in Walnut Street. …
Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go….
As part of its service to its local community, the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus is to plant about 2,500 purple crocus bulbs near the pond in Abbey Park on Sunday, November 20. The bulbs should provide a colourful foreground to the pond in the early spring. They mark the 30-year campaign of Rotary International …
Artist gives Rotary guided tour
President Gemma Kiddy, who works in arts administration, arranged a visit to the Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester which is currently hosting a touring exhibition of work by Faiza Butt. The Lahore-born artist, now based in London, told Rotary members and guests that she is inspired by the Indian tradition of miniature painting. Using pointillism and …
Canal boat trip in autumn sunshine
Twenty guests of Leicester Novus Rotary enjoyed a canal boat trip with the Peter Le Marchant Trust on the final day of the charity’s season. They set off from the trust’s headquarters in Beeches Road, Loughborough, at 10am and stopped near the Waterside Inn at Mountsorrel for lunch before returning to Loughborough at 3pm. For …
LASS — helping HIV patients
Leicester is the English city sixth in line behind London with the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS. The city has 771 people accessing HIV care — 3.59 people per thousand population — when the national average is about 0.9 people. Most of those are known to LASS which next year celebrates 30 years since it was …
Exploring Islam in modern Britain
Rabiha Hannan, one of the founders of the charity New Horizons in British Islam, was guest speaker at a meeting of Leicester Novus Rotary Club when she outlined its history and objectives. Mother of four Rabiha, a former pharmacist at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said that the national charity was started about four years ago but has …
Donated tablet PCs to help pupils learn
Thirty-nine tablet PCs were presented to Falcons Primary School by the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. The presentation was made by Vice President Deepak Karia to headteacher Jasbir Mann, who is also a member of Novus Rotary, during the first assembly to be held in the school’s brand-new assembly/dining hall. The tablet PCs were donated …
Winners and losers united in fellowship
One of the reasons Rotarians members enjoy being a member of a Rotary Club is the fellowship that it brings, not only within their own club, but between clubs. To engender and enhance that fellowship is the annual Minor Sports competition. Often held in pub skittle alleys and involving all manner of friendly games, neighbouring clubs compete …
DG John – and Teddy – spreads the End Polio Now message
Fresh from a hugely-successful District 1070 Conference, District Governor John Dehnel paid a visit to the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus. Accompanied by one of the teddy bears that all District Governors are using to promote the message that although Rotary’s 30-year campaign has reduced infections of polio from 387,000 a year to 26 so far in …
Rotarians tune in to Takeover Radio
Takeover Radio is one of Leicester’s least-known charities. Its founder, Graham Coley, took time to show a dozen members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus around the office and studio. He explained that he had joined Radio Gwendoline and then Hospital Radio Fox four decades ago and then seized the opportunity when he found …
Tigers mural unveiled. Praise for Novus and student volunteers
The new mural featuring Leicester Tigers legends Martin Johnson and Manu Tuilagi is almost finished. Artist Leigh Drummond has been widely praised for the work, which has greatly improved the ‘pocket park’ on the corner of Walnut Street and Aylestone Road, immediately over the road from the new Robin Hood stand at Leicester Tigers.. Among the first to …
Communicating Rotary… and celebrating another Olympic gold
President Nominee, Jason Chauhan, who this year leads the club on Communications, gave a presentation to the club sharing his thoughts about an effective strategy to help the club provide a good service to its community, to help it promote itself and the Rotary movement generally and to help it increase its membership. Jason’s talk generated a …
Hoops of fun
The competition wasn’t as intense as that going on in Rio, but the fellowship enjoyed during the croquet challenge issued by the Rotary Club of Oadby to the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus was second to none. The result didn’t matter. It wouldn’t have mattered even if Novus had whupped Oadby, instead of it being …
Leicester City of Sanctuary… and simple humanity
Mick Walker, the Lead Co-ordinator for Leicester City of Sanctuary, told Rotarians about the work of Leicester City of Sanctuary, the second city, behind Sheffield, to establish a branch of the charity in 2007. There are now 55 such groups helping asylum seekers and refugees. Mick explained that the Leicester group’s 80 volunteers do not ask refugees …
Even more Rotary Stars at Mellor Primary School
New secretary Pam Spokes visited a celebration assembly at Mellor Primary School, Checketts Road, Leicester, to present certificates to the latest batch of young Rotary Stars. The awards are designed to to encourage children to ,care for others, care for the environment, show initiative and show a good attitude towards schools. Earlier in the school …
Designs on future success
As part of its commitment to youth, the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus supported a team from Sir Jonathan North Community College in the local round of the Rotary Young Designer competition. Four girls won through to the next round, to be held held on Saturday, June 18, at De Montfort University. They are pictured here …
Busy night for President and Speaker Gemma
President Gemma Kiddy had three jobs at our meeting on May 12. Not only did she chair the meeting but she was the speaker, too. Her topic was The Spark Arts For Children. Gemma, who is an arts manager, chose the registered charity as her charity of the year and has been working for it, …
The write way to express creativity
Rotary Young Writer is a well-established and successful competition designed to support the development of writing skills and to encourage young people to write with imagination and creativity. This is the fourth year that the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus has run the competition with St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy and we were delighted …
Refugees and asylum seekers get a new view
Leicester City of Sanctuary is a charity run entirely by volunteers with a range of projects supporting asylum seekers. Seventeen of its members were treated to a boat trip on the Grand Union Canal by the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus, who had collected money from pre-Christmas shoppers in Queens Road, Leicester, to fund the project. In …
Rotary volunteers transform scruffy area
More than a dozen volunteers transformed a ‘pocket park’ at the junction of Aylestone Road and Walnut Street in Leicester on St George’s Day. In June 2015, members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus agreed to undertake a community service project in the local environment. The club asked Leicester City Council to identify a …
Rotary gets update on DMU Square Mile India project
The Rotary Club of Leicester Novus welcomed back Mark Charlton, head of public engagement at De Montfort University, to give an update of the DMU Square Mile India project. Almost a year ago Mark told the club about the university’s commitment to the Leicester community with its Square Mile project and its outreach plans for …
Rotary blood tests reassure shoppers
Two hundred shoppers had their blood pressures taken as part of a Rotary free initiative aimed at reducing the number of heart attacks and strokes. Working together, members of the Rotary Clubs of Bradgate, Leicester De Montfort and Leicester Novus set up stall in Asda, Abbey Lane, Leicester, from 10am to 2pm. Eight medically-qualified volunteers …
We are saving lives
When Roger Neuberg,who leads District 1070’s Jaipur Limb efforts, spoke to Leicester Novus he received a cheque for £2,974.78 from treasurer Maya Vansia with Deepak Karia looking on. The money will provide about 40 limbs for disabled people in Third World countries. The rubber-based prosthetic limb was designed and developed in Jaipur, India, in 1968 by Ram …
Joseph takes on the crème de la crème
Leicester Novus sponsored a candidate in the District 1070 Young Chef competition. This is Joseph Warren (wearing the apron we provided) taken at the start of the District Final North at Samworth Academy on February 6. Sadly, Joseph did not reach the Disatrict-wide finals, but we understand that he enjoyed taking part. To see who was judged …
Rotary rewards the young stars
242424Youth Services lead Pam Spokes has been busy introducing a new (to Novus) project called Rotary Stars, which is designed to encourage children to Care for Others Care for the Environment Show Initiative Show a good attitude towards schools. In asking local schools to collaborate, Pam asked teachers to regard the scheme as An opportunity …
Inspirational speakers visit club
The first quarter of 2016 saw four particularly inspirational speakers engage the attention of Rotarians and their guests. First up, on February 11, was Rik Basra who developed cancer of the blood which very nearly killed him. However, with only weeks to live, a suitable bone marrow donor was found in Germany. After treatment Rik battled his …
Rotary looks back on December and ahead to busy 2016
As 2016 approaches, members of the Rotary Club of Leicester Novus have been reflecting on a busy December. On December 12 – a rainy and windy day – they collected in Queens Road, Leicester. Despite the appalling weather, generous shoppers donated a total of £376.36, enabling the club to send £100 to children’s charity Menphys …
Novus team announced for 2015-2016
President-Elect Gemma Kiddy has been making plans… And she has filled all the positions to run the Rotary Club in her year as president, running from July 2015 to June 2016. Here they are… President Gemma Kiddy Immediate Past President Dipan Bhagalia President Elect Maya Vansia Secretary Frazer Robson Treasurer Channi Riyait …
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.
