last edited April 18, 2011

Chairman - Paul Finch
Committee members - Bryn Button, Hugh Davies, Phillip Evans, Lisa Francis, Don Griffiths, Iori Jones, Mike Price, Alun Rees

The committee's function is to raise the awareness and effectiveness of international and world community service provided by districts and clubs. It's aim is to identify and suitable causes and projects and take the responsibility for raising the supporting funding.

Committee meeting 29 March 2011
St David’s Day event at the Marine Hotel - This was judged to have been very successful, both in the numbers attending and the reaction to the entertainment. Thanks were expressed to Past President Maldwyn James for arranging the entertainment and to all those who had assisted in other ways and had donated prizes for the raffle, in particular to Rotarian James Carter and Karen who had donated a television to be the main prize. The raffle produced almost £500 which was shared equally with Inner Wheel.
The total proceeds from the evening went a long way towards covering the cost of purchasing the backpacks for the Mary’s Meals project and it is hoped that some of  the proceeds from the summer pig-roast can also be used to enable us to donate a worthwhile sum to this very worthy charity.
Backpack project - Three schools had been approached to support the backpack project and to date the response has been very positive. The pupils of Rhydypennau School have donated enough items to fill approximately 20 backpacks and a similar response is expected from Penrhyncoch School. St Padarn’s School has been approached by Past President Ian Rees and they have promised to support us next term. A number of Rotarians have also promised their contributions and some have already arrived. In addition members of Inner Wheel have expressed an interest and it is understood that they will be in a position to fill a significant number of backpacks.

Committee meeting 25 January 2011
Marys Meals - Arrangements for the Welsh Night on Tuesday March 1st were well in hand. The meal will consist of cawl followed by apple tart, at a cost of £7.50 per head. It is proposed to sell tickets at £10 per head. The raffle tickets were at the printers and should be available for selling by Tuesday February 1st. It is proposed to offer 500 tickets for sale at a cost of £1 each. The proceeds of the evening will be shared with Inner Wheel.
Backpack Scheme - We are approaching several primary schools in the area with a view to distributing the backpacks that have been purchased  and asking the pupils to supply some or all of the articles that are suggested by the Charity.

Committee meeting 16 November 2010
Backpack project - Past President Ian Rees had negotiated with Charlies stores for the purchase of 100 backpacks at 50% of the normal retail price totalling £475. Treasurer Robin had advised that our commitment of £1500 had now been reached and therefore some of the proceeds of the August Pig Roast could be utilised for this project.
Marys Meals - It is also proposed to support the Mary's Meals charity financially and a fund raising event is therefore required. Subject to Council's approval, it is proposed to alter the lunchtime meeting on March 1st to an evening meeting. Past President Maldwyn volunteered to resurrect the Welsh evening that had been organised in the past using young local musical talent and possibly the winners of our Young Singer and Young Musician competitions. The venue is available although details of  the menu and pricing of tickets are  yet to be confirmed.
Raffle - Karen and James Cameron have kindly donated a new television to be the main prize in a raffle to be organised jointly  with Inner Wheel. It is proposed to  draw the prizewinners at the March 1st event.

Committee meeting 14 September 2010
Pig Roast - This event had passed off well and we were extremely fortunate with the weather. Brynamlwg had proved to be an excellent venue and thanks have been expressed to their management committee for allowing us to use their facilities.
The event produced a profit of £1070 which will be shared with Inner Wheel.
Together with proceeds of the Wishing Well and the carry over of approximately £400 from last year, this should ensure that our commitment of £1500 to Polio Plus will be met this year. Thanks to all who contributed to the success of the event.
Mary’s Meals - This was discussed by the few members of the committee that were present. It was agreed that approaches be made to retailers in the town to supply a number of backpacks at  an advantageous price. It was also agreed to appeal to club members for any suitable used backpacks. It was then proposed to approach a number of local schools to assist with the filling of these backpacks. A presentation for this charity is being made at the District Conference in Plymouth next week end and the Chairman is hoping to obtain more information then. It is also hoped to invite a representative of the Charity to address the Club at a later date.
Chidzulu Project - This was again discussed and again it was felt that without Bryn Button’s direct input it would be very difficult to proceed, However future involvement has not been ruled out.

Committee meeting 20 July 2010
Pig Roast – Most arrangements are now in hand and the chairman had arranged to meet with Sue Davies, President of Inner Wheel to discuss various matters relating to the food etc. It was proposed that they meet at the venue , namely Brynamlwg Sports and Social Club to liaise with the Steward Mr Aled Lloyd Jones to finalise arrangements. .
Car parking would be available at Penglais School, opposite the entrance to Brynamlwg, by kind permission of the Headmaster.
Trestle tables and chairs were being lent by the Rhydypennau Community Hall (as in previous years)
Mary’s Meals - Participation in the Backpack scheme was discussed. Local schools would be approached to fill backpacks with schooltime requirements such as pencils, erasers, exercise books etc. Tony Landeg suggested that local stores such as Milletts and Sports Direct be approached to supply the backpacks at a discounted price or indeed for free.
Chidzulu Project - The Chairman had been in contact with District regarding Matching Grants and an application form had been received. As the total cost of the project is in the region of £10000, Club would need to raise in excess of £3000 as its contribution. The feasibility of raising such an amount would be discussed at the next meeting.

Committee meeting 15 June 2010
Polio Eradication - The Club is committed to contributing a minimum of £1500 to the above project. It was decided 2 years ago that the proceeds of the Wishing Well should be earmarked for this, and since the sign was put on the Well highlighting this, the public’s response has improved significantly. It is hoped therefore that approximately half of our commitment will come from this source. We aim to achieve the balance from the annual Pig Roast which, in conjunction with Inner Wheel, will be held on Sunday August 8th at the Brynamlwg Social Club.
The necessary arrangements are underway and it is hoped that the usual support from Rotarians and friends will be forthcoming.
Chiradzulu Pharmacy Project - This project was first discussed by Peter and last year’s International Committee. To recap, Rotarian Bryn Button has been in contact with the Limbe Rotary Club in Malawi who have suggested this as a possible project for us. At present, a large percentage of the drugs being used at the hospital become spoilt due to the lack of suitable storage facilities; in other words they are not being stored at the right temperature due to the lack of air conditioning. The aim therefore is to provide a suitable system of cooling by the installation of a suspended ceiling and a compressor in a part of the building. Bryn, as usual has worked extremely hard in researching this and the latest estimate he has been given is for an approximate total cost of £10,000. If we were successful in obtaining the various matching grants from District and Evanston. our contribution would be approximately £2,500, so you can see that it is a fairly ambitious project. We are now enquiring as to the likelihood of matching grants.
Mary’s Meals - This is one of the incoming District Chairman’s favoured projects and we were given an excellent presentation at the District Assembly. This is a comparatively young charity and it has grown at a remarkable pace. It now manages to provide over 400,000 African schoolchildren with at least one substantial meal a day, and apart from the obvious nutritional benefits it has dramatically improved school attendance. Unfortunately again, the main focus is on fund raising, and if we are to support the Chiradzulu project, this is probably beyond us.
However, another aspect of the Charity is the Backpack Project, which entails packing a backpack or school bag with basic items such as notepads, pencils, soap, toothbrush etc to be distributed to the pupils receiving the school meal, in Malawi, Likema, Uganda, Haiti and others. This is hopefully something we can pursue and it can possibly replace the Shoebox Scheme we have undertaken in the past.

AGM 2009/10 report - 27th April 2010 (Chairman Peter Gardner)
Pig Roast at Nantcellan - The year started with the Pig Roast in July at Nantcellan , a successful day with a total income of £2017- 20 which after deduction of expenses of £357-71 gave a profit of £1659- 49. This was shared almost equally between Rotary and Inner Wheel. Our share went towards the club’s contribution to the Polio Plus project.
The Shelter Box project - The year brought mayhem and destruction to many areas of the world from natural disasters, The Club has responded by sending a total of £!500 sufficient for three boxes. In addition Geraint took the lead in liasing with three primary schools Plas Crug, Penparcau and Comins Coch to raise money sufficient for their own box. This was not a case of just squeezing money from innocent children but to form the basis of an educational project in following their numbered box to it’s final destination and possibly beyond.
The Malawi water aid project - In November, Bryn discovered that 8 locally financed bore holes had found no water and it was probable that our chance of success was the same. Since then he has concentrated on the alternative project of the temperature control of the Chiradzulu Hospital Pharmacy requiring new refrigerators,air conditioners and the construction of a false ceiling to reduce the spacial volume to be cooled, to avoid damage to medication. I have exchanged e-mails with him. He has after some delay he has received a quotation which was raised a week later due to an “error” on the first one and is now £20,994- 69. Bryn is now looking elsewhere. I have suggested to him that at this high cost we are going to need sound justification for the project to be accepted for a matching grant at local , District and Central stages .I asked him whether there was authenticated evidence of drugs and vaccines being damaged in the past , or the inability to use either of these knowing that they would be damaged by the high temperature. He agrees and will investigate


AGM 2008/9 report - 28th April 2009 (Chairman Geraint Thomas)
Pig Roast at Nantcellan - Sunday 27th July 2008 was a glorious sunny day, giving the International committee a wonderful kick-off to the year’s activities with the Pig Roast hosted through the kindness of Peter and Celia Gardner at Nantcellan. The surplus of £1569 was shared equally between Rotary and Inner Wheel.
Polio Plus - In conjunction with Foundation we undertook to respond to the appeal for funds towards Polio Plus. Two signs were put up on the Rotary Wishing Well to inform the public that the money donated would go to Polio Plus and the response has been very encouraging. The Treasurer informs me that the collections up to the end of March was £690.02.
Aqua Boxes - The committee decided to purchase 3 Aqua Boxes during the year ; an ‘Aqua 30’ box containing 30 filtration units at a price of £250 and two Standard boxes (£50) filled with articles provided by Rotarians. These boxes are always in demand wherever there are disasters and in countries that lack clean water and basic sanitation.
Christmas Puddings Appeal - The Cwmbran Rotary Club still run their Christmas Pudding appeal in aid of ‘Adopt a Minefield’ 36 puddings were sold to members at £10 each thus £360 went from this club to the Adopt a Minefield Appeal again this year.
Shelterboxes - These wonderful shelter boxes of essential equipment to help a group of 10 people survive for 6 months following any kind of catastrophe or disaster were the brainchild of a Rotarian from Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, - Tom Henderson a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver. The boxes have helped well over half a million people to survive in all sorts of natural and other disasters. I am so pleased that as a committee we undertook to purchase 1 box from this club for £490 as well as encouraging staff and pupils from Ysgol Gymraeg, Penglais and Penweddig to purchase a box. The Rotary box has not yet been allocated but we will be told fairly soon
Schools 4 all in Africa - This was the RIBI chosen charity for this year and as a committee we decided to aim for a sum of £1000 to aid the Schools 4 all in Africa work in Uganda through The Leonard Cheshire Disability Charity to provide the opportunity for 1000 disabled children to attend school for the first time in their lives. As a club we have managed to raise £1235. We will have a report from the Leonard Cheshire Disability as to how the work is progressing in Uganda within the next 6 weeks.

AGM 2007/8 annual report - 29 April 2008
Pig Roast at Nantcellan - The year got off to a good start with a dry day for the Pig Roast hosted by Peter and Celia Gardner at Nantcellan on Sunday, 5 August 2007. The event was run in conjunction with the Inner Wheel and a net surplus of £1,204.34 was raised to be shared between Water Aid (Rotary) and Born Free of HIV (Inner Wheel). Thanks to Peter and Celia Gardner for hosting together with John Bradshaw and Gareth Williams for taking charge of the spit.
Adopt a Minefield - 3 dozen Christmas Puddings were purchased for sale within the Club again this year. Unfortunately, 7 puddings had to be returned because the seals were defective and not airtight. The net proceeds amounted to £295, including a donation of £5. £3 from the sale of every pudding went to the Adopt a Minefield Charity. The £92 raised in this way (including the £5 donation) was match funded by the UN. The project (run by the Cwmbran Vale Club) was expected to raise £15k this year which, together with match funding from the UN, meant that a combined total of £30k would be raised to support mine clearance work in Bosnia. Thanks to Emlyn Watkin and Colin Eagles for collecting the money.
Aqua Boxes - An "Aqua 30" Box containing 30 filtration units (£250) and a Standard Aqua Box (£50) filled with items given by Rotarians, were purchased. Thanks to Colin Bancroft who lead on this project and to all Rotarians for their generosity in contributing items to fill the second box. With the frequency of natural disasters around the world these boxes are in constant demand and are shipped out by Rotary on an almost industrial scale.
Collective Matching Grant Project - The Club contributed £194 to the Collective Matching Grant Project organised by AG Tony Park for Clubs in Zone 1. The project, with the Rotary Club of Mussoorie (India), provides funding for school uniforms, stationery, Hepatitis A vaccinations, Haemoglobin tests and iron supplements for all 975 students in the 12 primary schools of Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, India. The award is for INR 623,200 (equivalent to US$ 15,200). With match funding, the total grant budget for the project is INR 1,379,978 (equivalent to US$ 33,658).
William Williams’s Run
On Sunday, 9 December 2007, William successfully completed the 10k run organised by the Aberystwyth Athletic Club in association with Macmillan Cancer Support and the Cambrian News. William completed the run in under an hour; a remarkable achievement. The total amount raised was £1,291 plus Gift Aid (28% on eligible donations). Cheques amounting to £1,250 were given to Sue Williams of the Aberystwyth and District Chernobyl Children’s Project at a presentation evening held at the Richmond Hotel on Tuesday, 11 March. A further cheque will be given to the project when the amount of Gift Aid has been finalized and received by the Treasurer.
Silent Auctiion - held at the RAFA Club on Friday, 7 March raised a total of £688.85. Rotary Clubs in RIBI are sponsoring a Water Aid project to provide clean water and sanitation for 10,000 people in Tanzania. The proceeds from the Silent Auction are to be sent to Water Aid as our contribution towards to cost of the project. Many thanks to Bill and Mildred Jones for taking the lead on this event.
Social Evening and Book Swap - The final event of this Rotary Year for the International Committee is a Social Evening and Book Swap (Cheese, Wine and Nibbles) to be held at the home of Colin and Delyth Fletcher between 7.00 and 9.00 pm on Thursday, 22 May. Part of the proceeds will go to make up the Club’s donation to Water Aid to £1,000. Any amount raised over and above that required for this purpose will be put towards the Rotary Polio Appeal (an average of $1.000 has been requested from each club for each of the three years from 2008 to 2010 to match the $100m grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Rotary Foundation for polio eradication).

We should also remember Richard Francis, a member of the International Committee, who sadly died earlier in the year.