The Rotary Club of Corringham Thameside

Five members of the club volunteered to help with the clear up after the V-Festival event at Chelmsford.  Rotary was there to salvage as many of the tents that they possibly could for use in future disaster appeals.  Oranised by the Rotary Club of Havering East, all of the volunteers, made up of men and women of clubs all over Essex met in the designated car park for their instructions.  There were volunteers from about 15 different clubs.  All would work in teams of five to dismantle and pack up the tents and sleeping bags for collection.  As we walked into the field one could hardly believe the sight that was in front of us, it was just like a hurrican had sped through and reeked its destruction.  We soon got stuck in, having to empty the tents of a wide variety of rubbish and abandoned equipment.  Tents were soon dismantled and packed up, marked as to their size and piled up for the vans to collect.  Some of the tents were unsalvageable due to the state in which the occuants had left them.  Some had been used as toilets and other such unpleasant functions.  Nevertheless we carried on and several lorry loads of equipment were collected for the good causes.  All the Rotarians entered into the work with the usual sense of fun you expect from them, but the work was hard and often unpleasant.  Having worked all Monday afternoon and then a full day on Tuesday we felt as though we had done a worthwhile job.  One couldn’t help thinking of the absolute disregard of those who had attended the festival, there was unbelievable ammounts of food, drink, clothing, chairs, barbecues and sleeping bags just abandoned.  Some of these were expensive items.  It is a sad reflection on todays throw away society, but from the carnage Rotary was able to retrieve sufficient to assist those who may suffer when the next disaster hits the world.  Well done to all who took part.  From our club they were Brian Price, Clive Yallop, Pete Burfoot, Danny Lawrence and David Fenn.

On Thursday 20th August was the night when the lunatics took over the asylum.  Each month during the Rotary year two of the club’s members are expected to organise the entertainment for the evening, this was the first of these events.  Organised by the club’s newest member Danny Lawrence and club, vice-president David Fenn, the members were kept in suspense as to what was on offer.  They only knew that it was to be an evening of Shake, Rattle and Roll.Many a member tried in vane to find out what was the entertainment and it was finally revealed when Danny introduced our guests – “Sitara” – a local belly dancing troupe.  It was quite extraordinary to notice the reactions of the various members as the first of the most attractive young ladies took her place on the floor and began to show off her art.  Concentration levels rose above the norm, and even Eric stayed awake for the whole performance.  In all three dancers showed off their prowess to the delight of their audience and then much to the surprise of those present, the dancers produced a number of “skirts” and proceeded to pluck volunteers from the audience who were then expected to perform.  First up was Andrew Brogan, quickly followed by Brian Price, David St Pier, and John Wallington.  They spared nobody.  Next was vice-president David Fenn, President Rob Waite and finally Clive Yallop.  There they were the bastions of our local society cavorting like idiots to the commands of the Sitari ladies.  It caused much fun and hilarity amongst the “volunteers” as well as the now depleted audience.  It was a fun evening to remember and was enjoyed by all.  David Fenn gave a vote of thanks to the dancers and to Danny Lawrence for organising the event.  We would like to thank “SITARA” for their endeavours and would recommend them to other groups – visit their website here

If you are interested in joining our club or would like some further information you can call us on our new membership number – 0755 494 0765.
There is some further general information available via this site by clicking on the links under ‘Information Pages’ in the right hand column.

On Saturday 1st August, Club President Robert Waite and his wife Mikaila hosted their President’s Garden Party at their home. Every member who attended was asked to provide a plate of food for the event. This meant that there was a wide variety of goodies to eat, ranging from prawns, pakoras, sandwiches, scones, cake and pavlova all washed down with welcoming drinks. The 20 or so guests soon found comfortable seats in the garden to enjoy the fellowship of the club. The weather can only be described as barbecue weather, that’s the met offices version of course. Shortly after the guests had made themselves comfortable and were enjoying the fellowship, the rain began to fall. Undeterred by this the ladies soon found shelter under the gazebo whilst the men huddled together under the large umbrella over the garden table. Very cozy it was too, until one wanted to replenish their drink, as this required one to leave the shelter to return to the house to get their drink only to find that their place under the protection of the brolly was quickly taken by somebody else and you were demoted to the rather damp area on the fringe. Of course this caused much hilarity and some cunning moves to avoid this discomfort. Slowly, but gradually the elements gained the upper hand, with a slow but tactical withdrawal to the house, but as soon as the rain became less heavy the hardier amongst us returned to the garden to find several of the ladies wrapped in blankets to keep warm. You have to be resilient to be a member of this club, we don’t allow such things as a little drop of rain to spoil our enjoyment of the good things in life. All in all we had a very enjoyable afternoon, despite the weather.