C.V. and Job Interview Training at Helsby High School.
Once again our Club delivered 'In School' training sessions on C.V. and Job Interview Techniques to the whole of year 11 (the fifth form in older parlance) at Helsby High School. There were two sessions held, firstly on Wednesday the 4th of October and then two weeks later on the 18th.. We ran 4 sessions on each of the two days, which involved some 220 students and 12 Club members.
These 'In School' training session presentations by Rotarians to the whole year group at Helsby High School, on C.V. preparation and Job Interview Techniques, are a unique Rotary Club of Frodsham & Helsby project, moving the 'Practice Interview' process forward to meet the current needs of the schools
It has met with huge success and now forms part of the schools curricular scheduling.
This initiative started in 1995 and is now the eleventh time that our Club members have given their time for this interesting and rewarding project.
The Presentations are highly interactive, with the first section putting the students in small groups acting as a selection panel. They then use a set of real world applications to select a candidate for a job.
The second part of the process is a brainstorm on what to do when they go for job interview, in terms of preparation, what to wear, how to behave, how to practice and difficult question answering.
A blank CV form is left and each pupil fills in his or her initial C.V.
The material has proved highly useful to the students and is often revisited when the need to apply for a job or a competitive academic place occurs.
Rotary Club - Supporting Round Table
In 2005 five members of Frodsham and District Round Table undertook a Coast to Coast cycle ride to raise funds for their Round Table Children's Wish charity. When their Chairman suggested that they undertake a similar cycle ride for the same worthy cause in 2006 he was amazed, and very pleased, to find that most of the members of their Round Table wanted to take part!
They decided to undertake the arduous Reivers Route which meant riding from Tynemouth on the North East coast to Whitehaven on the North West coast travelling through Kielder Forest, along the Scottish Border, through Carlisle and right across the Lake District - a total of 170 miles, mostly off road. Their aim was to complete the route in three full days of cycling in September.
Whilst it was great to have so many of the Tablers cycling, and great for the team spirit of their Table, it meant they all had to start a gruelling training regime to get fit but also gave them a real headache in terms of how to deliver the support logistics for the riders during the cycle ride.
A call went out to Frodsham and Helsby Rotary for help and support to enable all the Tablers to take part. Rotarians Les Cottrell and Alan Laird volunteered to provide the logistics support during the cycle ride - driving the support vehicles carrying their clothes, bike spares, tools and first aid kit. They also had to arrange to meet the riders every two hours throughout the day to top up water containers and provide food.
The route logistics and meetings arrangements had to be precise - mobile phones did not work for most of the route, and in the event of any problems they always had to be near at hand!
The cycle ride took place
in September and here are pictures of the Tablers at the start at
Tynemouth getting ready to set off in the mist on what started as a
cold damp day but later turned in to a very wet day!
Over the three days they experienced a variety of weather conditions and one or two spills - but fortunately nothing too serious!
The riders got a bit lost in Keilder Forest but they managed to get back on track to meet up with the support team at the Scottish Border as the weather turned glorious!
Their commitment was tested when they all needed up early on day three to undertake essential bike maintenance before breakfast!
However they finally made it to the finish line in Whitehaven - very tired and a bit saddle sore!
Following their exploits their President and Chairman came along to a Rotary meeting to talk about their experience.
Shown here are Round Table President Nigel Hayes (on the right) and Chairman Eddie Cottrell (on the left) accepting a donation cheque from Frodsham and Helsby Rotary President Malcolm Davies at the end of the meeting.
Visit to our Twin Club in the Czech Republic.
It was with great pleasure that our Club accepted an invitation to visit our very own Twin Club in the Czech Republic to join in celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the foundation of the Rotary Club of Hradec Králové .
The President and his wife Maggie, along with Tony & Daniela, Richard & Jean and lastly Rod & Mary travelled to Hradec Králové (North East of Prague) where they were graciously and generously hosted by four families from our Twinned Club.
To all those families, we repain so grateful for all your kindness and hospitality.
The visit included organized outings to the local University Hospital and its Library, the National Equestrian Centre at Kladruby Nad Labem, the Kuks Spa, Hospital, Chapel and Pharmacy located near Dvur Králové, as well as a guided tour of the historic centre of Hradec Králové and finally a visit to the local town of Horice v Podkrkonosi. (Hello to Vera & Jenda Vítek).
The celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Hradec Králové was held on Friday the 24th of November and took the form of a Gala Evening which included entertainment by a local Choral Society and a violin recital by the Leader of the local Philharmonic Orchestra.
Speeches by
President Zdenek Jirousek, District Governor Roman Gronský and four
Presidents from Clubs from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and
the UK then followed, ending with the presentation of a variety of
awards which included the surprise presentation of a Paul Harris
Fellowship to Otmar Köppl, an Honorary Member of their Club.
However, best of all was our own IPP, Tony receiving an award for his work associated with building relations between our two Clubs which culminated in the successful Twinning and the continued links between the Clubs.
Well done Tony, and Congratulations.
The evening began with a Champagne Reception and closed with a sumptuous Buffet Meal of traditional local dishes accompanied by Bohemian wines and Czech beers, which were enjoyed in the wonderful surroundings of the Adalbertinum (the Old Jesuit College), situated in the town's 'Great Square'.
Not satisfied with leaving things at that, the celebrations continued at the nearby Satchmo Club where all our Club members and wives, joined many other Rotarians and their wives for even more wonderful Czech hospitality, beer and wine!
28th Charter Anniversary Dinner.
It was with the greatest of pleasure that on Friday the 8th of December, President Malcolm welcomed some 70 guests to our Club's 28th Charter Anniversary Dinner, which this year was held at Catton Hall Shooting Lodge where we were made most welcome.
It was pleasing to note that on the evening, we had visiting representatives from a total of 9 Rotary Clubs, which involved 4 Districts, one being District 2240 which is in the Czech Republic.
Also represented was Frodsham & District Round Table, along with members of several local Probus Clubs, as well as our very own Town Mayor and several guests of Club members.
Following the official welcome by President Malcolm, our newest Club member, Jeff Mycock, ensured the Dinner proceeded correctly by asking everyone to stand for the reading of the Rotary Grace. This was then followed by The Objects of Rotary which was read by IPP Tony Cervenka, who in true International spirit read the 4th Object in the Czech Language .
As is tradition, the response to the toast 'Rotary International' was provided by our District Governor, who, this year is Shirley Gardiner. As expected, her presentation was appropriate for the event, pertinent in its content and of course concise, hence was naturally very well received by all present.
The evening then continued with our VP2, Adrian Baxter, introducing our Guests but he fell at the first hurdle as he had to rely on the President to introduce Zdenek Jirousek, (who is the President of our Twin Club, the Rotary Club of Hradec Králové), as in his own words he found it difficult to get his tongue around it.
(That must be a first then Adrian!)
Fortunately, President Zdenek did not have the same problem with his tongue and proceeded to give a short presentation in fluent English, with a Czech accent!
Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Rotarian Steve Lander who was, until quite recently, an International Rugby Union Referee and hence was able to keep everyone's attention as he royally entertained us with many stories and anecdotes of his time spent touring the World doing a job he so loved.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so it was left to our MC for the evening, Fred Bishop, to firstly thank all those who had made the evening a wonderful success, particularly the Catering and Bar Staff of Catton Hall Shooting Lodge as well as those Club members who had helped with the organization and running of this successful Charter Anniversary Dinner.
Fred finished by wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and a safe journey home.
See You All Next Year?
Our photographs show firstly, President Zdenek, then District Governor Shirley and finally Steve Lander during their presentations.
