Stamford Burghley Rotary Club

A local club which supports ‘Good Causes’

Local - Ongoing

The Rotary Club of Stamford Burghley makes a significant contribution to the community of Stamford and the surrounding district. Last year the club supported a wide range of people in need in our community. We supported Primary age children through our close relationship with Bluecoats School, young teenagers through our support for The Shack, families and individuals in crisis through our support for the Stamford Food Bank and its offshoot SHEP, those with mental health issues through our support for Mind Space, the disabled through our ongoing support to Sailability and, finally, the elderly through our work with Christchurch,.

The Club helps Bluecoat School with volunteers for the Pupil Reading Support System.  Through annual funding of about £1,700, we have enabled the school to enlarge its stock of books, provide inspirational competition rewards, a "Dictionary for Life" for all leavers, and a "Kids Day Out" at Wickstead Theme Park for one whole class.

"The Shack" is a project led by Barn Hill Methodist Church Youth Outreach programme to provide a safe place for young teenagers to hang out with their friends and also receive hot food.  The club has supplied a robust mobile outdoor table tennis facility costing £800. 

£2,000 was also donated to the FoodBank's Stamford Housing Essentials Programme (SHEP).  £500 was to fund safety checks and certification of donated white goods, and £1,500 was to fund emergency energy grants to families and individuals in crisis during winter faced with the stark choice between heating or eating.

Over the years our club has supported Christchurch with many projects, including the purchase of a minibus.  Currently, we provide most of the volunteer drivers to take the elderly to and from the day centre and one of our members cooks their lunches on a regular basis.

International

Our international committee is helping fund teacher training in Nepal.  Our club together with Rotarians in Australia have facilitated funds for Quality Education Nepal.  This project provides advanced training of a Nepalese teacher for 3 years.  We are also joining with other Rotary clubs in the East Midlands to fund a new maternity unit in Kenya. 

Fund raising

To continue to support all of these worthwhile causes, and additional ones as needed, Stamford Burghley Rotary undertakes an extensive programme of fund raising activities. The largest fund raising event is the highly successful annual Santa Fun Run. Last year's record breaking Santa Fun Run raised £14,000, the majority of which was shared between 3 favoured charities, Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, Mind in memory of Wendy and Phoebe Research. This left about £3,500, which when added to our other fund raising activities, allowed us to continue to support our other good causes.

Santa Fun Run 2019

Our favoured charities this year are Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, the Stamford FoodBank, Stamford Mind Space and Anna's Hope.  Once again, additional funds raised will help us to continue to support our other good causes. The price of the suit this year will be the same as last year.  On 1st September our runners will be able to take advantage of the Early Bird offer of a discount on the adult suit purchase;   this offer ends on 31st October.  Our usual motto is "Make it social, make it fun, sponsor a charity or just turn up and enjoy!!"

Bob Iveson, President of the Club said "We are hopeful that this year's run will be as successful as last year's record breaking event and we have already received similar levels of sponsorship.  These generous donations will ensure the success of the event.  Organisations can register their own teams to run in the Fun Run and raise funds for their own charity.  As usual the free mince pies and mulled wine add to the atmosphere of the run!"