6th June 2026 Guildford in Bloom’s Bloomin Picnic.

Such a lot of work by the Guildford in Bloom committee (GIB), Sallie Barker, Sian Davies and many others, to set up the event in the  Castle grounds on Saturday the 6th June and Rotary Guildford Wey were only too delighted to assist with marshalling on the day.

Unfortunately it turned out to be not quite the Summer’s day the organisers were hoping for ! A grey start turned into a very soggy afternoon so due credit to the musical performers attending in the afternoon and to the Guildford Fringe for organising the entertainment.

An early dry spell allowed our Mayor, Jane Tyson, to open the event and also gave the opportunity for the Mayor and past Mayor Sallie Barker to visit our HexB project which was the brainchild of our Rotary member Andrew Day. The installation has been very well received by members of the public and local councillors who were very impressed and seen nothing like it – all said well-done Rotary for our contribution to the town.

We welcomed people at the entrance, encouraged people to go to see our HexB tiles, helped the flower stilts girl with her visit to Tunsgate, ran various errands, ran the raffle card reader and so helped collect most of the money on the day, plus generally chatting to people from the various organisations and the public.  We also helped with some of the packing up at the close down such as with gazebos for Guildford Fringe and GIB

Managing to brighten the day a little was the lovely flower girl on stilts !

At the opening L-R:

Guildford Mayor Jane Tyson, GIB Committee member Shirley West, GIB Chairman Sallie Barker & Sima Rostami Club Captain of the Castle Green Bowling Club

26th May 2026 Bee Reading week

A little light on children to read to today but it is 32c so perhaps a town centre is not the place to be. We did have some visitors though.

We are at the Bee Aware Week at the Tunsgate Quarter also on Thursday 27th May for the Bee Brave Story for the young and to meet our Brave Bees. Afterwards visit our HexB homes for solitary bees in the Castle Grounds opposite the Tunsgate.

Tunsgate Quarter

Zero Carbon Guildford

https://rotaryinguildford.org/hexb-tiles/

17th May 2026 The Big Charity Walk

We would like to thanks all those Charities that took part in our Big Charity Walk on Sunday 17th May. Our Mayor Jane Tyson set the walk off from Shalford Park, walked with her family and stayed to welcome back the 10 mile walkers and some of those who went at a more leisurely pace. Weather was kind to us also. Overall the Day earned over ÂŁ5,000 for the participating Charities. Thanks also to our Corporate Member Silverbirch House Care Home – Barchester Healthcare.

For more pictures click here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/4wsXn3J7EDMZgEV39.

Jigsaw Trust;#St Johns Ambulance Guildford;# Hard of Hearing;@guildford Guildford Mayoralty; #Age uk Surrey; Learning Space; # MS Society; #Charlie‘s Promise; GASP Motor Project;#RASASCG Guildford; #Burpham Association Supporting Independant Living; #Eczema uk; #NDCS.UK for deaf children;#Lets Read; #Oakleys;

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25th April 2026 Hexb Tiles

Lewes Artist and sculptor Will Nash has defined the relationship between art and ecology with his project, HexB Tiles. Elegant terracotta sculptures that double as homes for beneficial insects. Designed to encourage biodiversity in both urban and rural spaces, HexB Tiles blend beauty, function and environmental purpose.

On the 25th April 2026 The Rotary Club of Guildford Wey bought and placed 20 of these HexB tiles in the wonderful Castle grounds to compliment the wonderful work that the Guildford Borough Council Parks & Gardens team achieve and to add to the Guildford in Bloom initiative.

Small in size but big in impact, each HexB Tile features a network of internal cavities where pollinators and other invertebrates can nest. The tiles can be installed individually or combined in decorative honeycomb arrangements on walls, fences or posts transforming functional insect habitats into striking garden features.

Our team can be seen auguring the holes, placing stakes and fixing the HexB tiles on a warm Saturday morning.

Schools Got Talent 10th March 2026

Our ‘Schools Got Talent’ event on the 10th March once again proved to be an awesome display of the young talent at some of our local Schools. The Finale brought all 4 schools, Glebelands, Duke of Kent, Ash Manor and Prior’s Field, together for an amazing rendition of “Don’t stop believin” from Glee

The packed theatre gave a standing ovation !!

Youth Speaks 19th January 2026

This competition is one of two public speaking competitions for schools designed to encourage young people to develop the creative and presentation skills essential to the art of public speaking.

In teams of three, participants will argue for and against your chosen topic. They present structured arguments and rebuttals before taking a question from the audience.

Participants can select a topic that is important to them, allowing them to delve deep into research, formulate ideas, and expand their knowledge.

Taking part helps build self-confidence and develop public speaking skills, including how to keep an audience engaged.

Entrants can take part in the Intermediate (ages 11-13) or Senior (14-17) categories (ages as of 31st August 2025).

Rotary Club of Guildford Wey arranged a local heat of this national competition at the imposing Guildhall Guildford which used to be the Old Courthouse !

The schools taking part in the Intermediate and Senior Categories were Tormead School, Seaford College, Christ’s College, & Prior’s Field School.

The overall winners of the Intermediate category were Prior’s Field School and in the Senior Category Tormead School. Well done to all teams. A very high standard.

Thanks must also go to the adjudicators Ali Johnson and Martyn Parker who gave excellent feed back to all participants. The winning schools will now progress to the next round of the national Rotary competition.

Schools wishing to participate in next year’s competition should email us at rotaryinguildfordwey@gmail.com

17th January 2026 Repair Café

17th January 2026 Repairs

A good start to the new year with 24 articles brought in for repair.

Summary

Item RepairedClassWeight Kg
Repairs handledTotal87.73kg
*unable to repair, advice given28.62kg
#=in progress10.00kg

Full details of repairs HERE

Those few items that we couldn´t repair on the day were returned to the owners with advice on further action to avoid them being discarded or where bespoke components could be purchased that we could use for repair at a future Repair Café date.

If you feel you would like to join our repairers once a month CLICK HERE