A good start to the new year with 24 articles brought in for repair.
Booking in at THE HIVETextile repairersCranes & rads in progressFoot massager back in actionOur lovely seamstress BarbaraThe crane was soon lifting againOne Dyson was soon cleaning againSoon to be pedalling againOne Teddy soon to be cuddled again with leg reattached
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
Merrow Junior School (formerly Bushy Hill) is proud to be a sporty and outdoors-loving school. They are lucky to have extensive facilities that enable this, including a large playing field, a trim trail, climbing areas and an all-weather MUGA pitch ( Multi use Games Area)
However, the all weather pitch was over 20 years old. It has been shut for the last 12 months as it has been too slippery to use. The consequences to the school have been dramatic – it meant the lunchtimes, break times and PE lessons have been restricted to the much smaller tarmac areas, which has caused significant disruption.
Costing of the project to renew the pitch is expected to total £133,000. Through the amazing efforts of the school, they have managed to secure over £125,000 from ‘Your Fund Surrey’, PTA fund raising, The Football Foundation, Governors’ Fund and Corporate sponsorship. Recognising the efforts already made, and to help get the project to its completion, Rotary Club of Guildford Wey were pleased to be able to help with a donation of £500 towards the completion of the new all weather pitch.
Ancillary facilities are yet to be completed, however it has been possible to get the actual pitch installed in advance of the next phase which is to install toilets and portable floodlights. It will be open for use for local community hire and access as well as for school use.
Rotary Club of Guildford Wey President, Andy Bowen-Ashwin, was pleased to be able to present the Club’s cheque of £500 to the Executive Head Teacher of the Merrow Federation, Mrs Louisa Dormer
They are both standing on the new sand-dressed artificial turf surface.
Mrs Dormer has written to the Club to express her “… heartfelt thanks for your extremely generous donation of £500 towards our All Weather Pitch project. It is very much appreciated and has helped enormously with our fundraising. “
The pitch before repairThe newly laid sand dressed artificial grass on a new shock padThe newly laid sand dressed artificial grass on a new shock pad
Bank Holiday Monday 25th August was an amazing day for a British Bank Holiday. 26°C under sunny skies. This of course brought its own problem which required shade. Fortunately our members came to the rescue with numerous gazebos and the extensive walled garden of Gosden House School offering its own shady areas for picnics under the trees.
Four hours of a variety of music was thoroughly enjoyed by all those that attended with refreshment by way of Rotary cream teas and a Pimm’s bar run by the School’s Parent Association.
A great deal of thanks goes to the School for allowing us to use the Grounds, the Parents’ Association, all the members of “Rotary Club of Guildford Wey” and Guildford’s Mayor, Howard Smith, for opening the event
Proceeds for the Raffle went to the Mayor’s charity for the year, The Cheryl King Trust, Pimm’s Bar to the Parents’ Association, and Rotary donated sums to the Schools and their local charities fund.
UkeRhymics kicked off the afternoon with memorable 20s-80s numbersTicket scannersL-R Clive Grant of The Cheryl King Trust, Mayor of Guildford Howard Smith, Event organiser Rotarian Michael RamcharanPopular PA Pimm’s BarPicnic shade in the walled gardenMen in Sheds got eveyone foot tappingCream teas
On Sunday the 10th August we were pleased to able to help the Guildford Fringe Festival with marshalling duties in Guildford High St. The Guildford Fringe Co. had given invaluable help to facilitate the Diversity Concert held earlier in the year so we were pleased to be able to assist them on this occasion.
During a 4.5 hour stint up and down Guildford High Street one needs a break !!!
Rotary Club of Guildford Wey has donated £250 to the Shelterbox initiative supported by Rotary international. The monies were specifically to be used for relief required as a result of the Myanmar earthquakes of the 28th March & the 13th April
People stand past the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. A powerful earthquake killed more than 20 people across Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
That the process for importing material aid into Myanmar has its challenges. There are few organisations set up to do it, and those that are don’t necessarily have the capacity or experience to cover large volumes.
It appears that most organisations here are in a similar position. There is a great deal of collaboration, and information sharing taking place to enable all actors to implement projects.
On a glorious sunny afternoon our secretary Peter O’Keefe and wife Pat kindly hosted the presidential handover for the coming year 2025-2026.
President of The Rotary Club of Guildford Wey for 2024-2025, Michael Ramcharan handed over the presidential collar to the incoming President for 2026-2027, Andrew(Andy) Bowen-Ashwin.
Andy thanked Michael for an outstanding year and outlined his targets for the coming year.
In attendance also were the ex Guildford Mayor, Sallie Barker, who supported so many of our events during her past year in office, together with the current Mayor Howard Smith.
Outgoing President Michael Ramcharan Thanks everyone for their support during the yearThanking our hosts Peter & PatPresentation of a Paul Harris Fellowship award to photographer Jonathan Constant who has provided his services to Rotary over many yearsMichael thanks his grandson Ruben for his gardening help at Gosden House SchoolMichael hands over the Presidential collar to incoming President Andy Bowen-AshwinPresident Andy outlining his plans for the coming year
Schools Got Talent Was held this year on the 13th March 2025
This year’s schools were Christ’s College, Prior’s Field School Duke of Kent School and for the first time Ash Manor School joined us,
It was a great evening of musical entertainment provided by the extremely talented young people from all four schools. The schools rehearsed during the day and then each performed for half an hour in the evening.
This was a brilliant event of which we are very proud and if you would like to be involved in any way, in our next event on 10th March 2026, including advertising in the programme, please contact: Jane Hindley on 07979933363 or janesjh@hotmail.com.
Now that final accounting has taken place the schools are receiving the monies resulting from their ticket sales as noted below
President Michael Ramcharan presents a cheque to Head of music at Christ’s College, Liam Forrister. Toby & Layla represented the pupils
President Michael Ramcharan presents a cheque to the Head of performing arts at Prior’s Field School,Ian Maynard together with L-R Zoe Ireland (Head Teacher), Zhanna and Bibi
FB extract : We were delighted to welcome Michael Ramcharan, President of the Rotary Club of Guildford Wey, to School so he could officially hand over the cheque for the proceeds from last term’s GLive concert. Michael was hosted by our head girl Daisy R and head boy Isaac P and caught up with Mr Rye about next year’s concert! #TheDoKWay#GLive#RotaryClubofGuildfordWey#SurreySchool
The Rotary Children’s Fun Day is a National annual event aimed at providing disadvantaged children with a day of joy and adventure. Rotary Clubs representing the towns and villages covering Aldershot, Camberley, Farnborough, Farnham, Fleet, Guildford, Hook, Odiham and Woking entertain over 850 disadvantaged children and approximately 680 teachers, carers and parents. This year’s event was held on 11 June 2025 at the Army Rugby Football Stadium, Aldershot. Attractions free to attendees included a fairground, birds of prey, face painting and transfers, animal petting zoo, inflatable slides, circus activities, a balloon race plus burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and snacks followed by the visit of three ice cream vans. Rotary Club of Guildford Wey are part of the team helping to run the event. This included running the “splat the rat” sideshow. A great time was had by all!
Just to make it all worthwhile this is an extract from a Parent of one of the children who enjoyed the day. ” I would like to share my appreciation and to say thankyou for giving Luke, Benji and I the opportunity to go to the children’s fun day.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with just the boys and a nice experience to be with parents and children all unique in their own way with m a safe space full of people alike who “get it”.
The group who organise and help were all amazing, kind, tolerant and accommodating. We met tinkerbel, peppa pig and a funny clown- who Luke really took a dislike to, HA!
We spent lots of time with a petting farm please take a look at the photos attached where Benji was very zen with a ginormous cockerel – who knew big birds like the fuss?! Luke spent alot of time with the goats which was lovely to see him so comfortable with them and seeking them the best blades of grass and happily fed them. I have to say my favourite were the five week old piglets – super cute and grunty! They also had ducks, chickens and donkeys. We have been to a farm many a times however yesterday really sat differently.
The boys had so much fun but the highlight has to be seeing them both hold an OWL called Luke.
Wouldn’t have ever imagined I would see the day and I am so proud of them that they did. Luke the owl even allowed us to stroke him, he was very soft.
There was so much to do, fair rides, inflatables, activities, circus acts, Punch and Judy, disco, sensory play, crockery smash, crazy gold, tattoos and a team of fire fighters brought their fire engine to show off.
Squash stations were all around, picnic bags or bbq were the lunch options with 2 ice cream vans for the afternoon, smashing day, very grateful to have the opportunity for a 2nd year and as a family we experienced crossing new boundaries and having a fabulous day together so thankyou very much. ….“
The Rotary Club of Guidford Wey Team ready for the offOur first Rat Catcher !
Once again the weather was kind and we had a good representation from local and national Charities who entered sponsored teams for our annual Big Charity Walk.
President Michael Ramcharan invited Guildford Mayor, Howard Smith, to start the enthusiastic walkers on a warm and sunny day.
All monies raised went to the Charities involved.
Should you have a Charity that you would like to raise funds for, please look out for our event in 2026 and register you interest now. To do this now please contact peterj.okeefe@btinternet.com
Rotary Members setting early to mark the coursesEczema Society Ready for the offGuildford ‘Hard of Hearing Society’ en route” Home Care Members” ready for the off“Lets Read” Members preparingRotary in Guildford President Michael Ramcharan and Guildford Mayor Howard Smith getting ready to start The Big WalkRegistrationGuildford Mayor Howard Smith starts the walk …and they are awayAlways a great start to the walk along the River Wey
