The Rotary Year 2008/9 for Whitstable Club can truly be described as a watershed year.  At the beginning of the year the enthusiasm of the incoming Council with a format compatible with the Club Leadership Plan was  evident. The weather was reasonably kind for the Regatta and our stalls. The Centenary project was nearing completion and we all anticipated an opening ceremony in the near future.

Rob Webb  and his Membership Committee started work on a series of evenings for potential new members and took to heart the greater emphasis on membership which was to be a recurring theme throughout the year which ended with some 7 new members for the club. This was in no small way a result of the hard work put in by Rob and his team. David Green had set to work to try to raise the level of awareness within Whitstable of the Whitstable Rotary Club. The plan to build a data base of businesses and supporters of Rotary within the local business was not well supported by the general club membership despite the dedication of David and his team.
 We welcomed the first of our speakers for the year with a talk by Stewart Grainger discussing landmines and giving us all an idea of the tragedy that is unfolding in so many parts of the world following the use of anti-personal armaments.  The president and his wife attended a session of the Kent Coastal scheme aimed at helping young offenders to steer away from unsocial behaviour. This scheme was supported by the club.

In the later summer we welcomed a large group from Cham-in-Bayern for a fantastic week end incorporating a trip to St Paul’s, to Cambridge and that never to be forgotten Barn Dance which was an educational experience e for nearly all of us let alone the visitors.

Bt the ends of the summer John Hawkings was working hard on developing the Voucher Scheme with Sainsbury’s and planning was being undertaken for the Christmas Collections at Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.

In the autumn we received a wonderful visit from young ladies of the Kent Music School who played for their supper and our enjoyment at the Club. At about the same time a group of nearly 20 members visited  our French contact club in Merville for an evening of ten pin bowling. Despite claims by the French I clearly recall that we had a resounding victory that lasted well into the night as we were feted by our colleagues in France. I suspect that their recollection might be strangely different.

A small group of the Club attended the District Conference and it was good to have the Club represented,

Autumn also saw the Rotary District Fun Day in which Ray helped to keep the Club represented stall. The day was enjoyable and tireing with help from Mike and Kevin but few others. Nevertheless we completed our commitment and we should be proud of it

Bowling against a team from Herne Bay and Bat and Trap against the same club were both evenings to be recalled despite. Whitstable won the bowling to make up for the earlier defeat in the annual cricket match but we had to bow to accept our deficiencies as regards Bat and Trap.

Plans were being made by Gordon and his team for the Christmas Disco which was another great success, and Rob was getting to grips with the arrangements and funding for the Battle of the Bands.
Kim was making arrangements that eventually had to be grasped from the ashes for the Kent Music Evening at the Playhouse and  the President was making arrangements with Canterbury City Council for a painting   competition for the Whitstable School Children as well as an enhanced event for the Turning on of the Christmas Lights.

As we approached Christmas a large number of paintings and drawings landed on the President’s desk for adjudication as Whitstable Rotary was emblazoned on all literature and advertising relating to the Christmas activities in the town. We are extremely grateful to Linda Mason with whom we worked on the painting competition, the car parking at the Junior school and the turning on of the lights with adjuvant activities of dancing just before Christmas. Santa’s Grotto was as popular as ever with some 400 children's gage being given out by Santa both at the Grotto and at the Supermarkets a few days later.

The Christmas Collections were well organised as ever and although by now the financial problems with which we have all become too aware were beginning to have a significant effect on peoples’ generosity, the income over the 6 days of collections was only marginally down on the previous year.

The annual pre-Christmas party was supported with a Mike Bantin sing-along which led up to the Christmas festivities.


Spring revealed the terrible fires in Australia  After a debate it was decided to make a contribution through District to help those in need. This was followed be a lively debate within the club over the Club Leadership Plan and the decision was taken to return to the previous structures within the club.


We did, however make donations to Dial, Whitstable Child Minding Group, Gambian Cleft Palate Mission, Strode Park, No More Landmines, Carers’ voice, and through the outstanding success of the Battle of the Bands to Simon Langton Girls school and to Herne Bay High music departments.

The Battle of the Bands was one of the great evenings for the Club in 2008/9 year and the club’s gratitude to Rob and his team cannot ever be overstated.

The year ended with a magnificent Golf Day organised by Pete to whom we are all indebted for the amount of work that he puts into these events, and the final show of the year was a  Murder Mystery Evening held at the Marine Hotel which was attended by some 50 people from the Whitstable, Chestfield and Forest of Blean Rotary Clubs.

In summary an exciting vibrant year which has never been dull. We have a significant number of  new members which has been a counter to the gradual loss of membership over the recent past few years. We have raised our profile locally and we have supported may individuals, organisations and charities throughout the year.

I wish the incoming Council all the very best goodwill and hope that through their guidance the club will continue to prosper, continue to be vibrant and will continue to keep the values  and concepts or Rotary at the heart of the club and its undertakings.

Roger Baker (Immediate Past President)

Roger Baker