All members of the Rotary Club of Melksham found it hard to believe that in just over two years profits of the Art House Café exceeded £20,000.
But this is the reality; with shrewd management and the devoted efforts of Norman and Tessa and the excellent work of the volunteers, the club are now able to hold presentation evenings on which cheques are presented to a whole host of worthy individuals and organisations within Melksham and its surrounds. It is truly a community project.
The AHC has transformed the club, enabling them to meet in their own venue, the walls adorned with pictures by a whole host of local artists with changing exhibitions each month.
The club has seen a marked increase in new members, especially ladies; one of them, Catherine, the club secretary, and others taking on offices such as chairman of a committee and another completely reshaping the club’s website.
Numbers will continue to grow with such a warm, welcoming atmosphere remarked upon immediately by visiting Rotarians.
Rotary changeover takes place at the end of June. Since last July the club has organised a Big Breakfast, a Wine Tasting Evening and, recently, fund raising for the Philippines Disaster Fund. This has provided another community link: the generous support of local supermarkets, Waitrose and ASDA. They provide excellent facilities for fund raising, generously giving of their time and expertise and their goods.
Looking to the future, there are plans for Youth Speaks, for Young Chef and for a concert with Stonar School in May, all of which shows the club’s concern by working with young people and giving them the opportunity to develop their skills in a creative way. Another presentation evening is being planned but the club is also thinking ahead to its 50th anniversary in 2015. Normally, exchanges take place with Guingamp on a yearly basis but the Rotary Twin Club have kindly offered to come here for two years in succession so that the Melksham Club can celebrate such an important event on home ground. There is a vibrant atmosphere in the club, with a clear commitment to helping others, whether it is organisations such as Wiltshire Air Ambulance or Dorothy House, or individuals who are enabled to sort out their lives, as with the Amber Project, or those who are helped to develop outstanding musical or sporting talents.
At the same time, what better illustration of the club’s social conscience than the fact that every third Monday it hosts the Alzheimer Café and provides an opportunity for the group to meet in such congenial surroundings.
Peter King, club press officer
