20 November

Speaker  Jim Cook from Cornerstone
Jim spoke for twenty minutes about what Cornerstone does, which is providing support services to those with learning difficulties.
Jim qualified as a Mental Handicap nurse in Banff and spent many years at the Woodlands Hospital, now demolished, from the early 1980s.
In the 1990s, the institutional model became outdated with, for example, cramped wards of about twenty unrelated children.  Cornerstone brought a transformation to community based care for 700 service users with about 2000 staff across Scotland.  Activities are funded by (hard-pressed) local authorities.
It now supports children with complex health needs plus dementia and head injury patients.
The Woodview factory in Stonehaven provides embroidery and printing of e.g. logos on T shirts.
Their retail outlet is at the ‘Gift Corner’ off the main square in Stonehaven.
Many businesses have found that Cornerstone has provided them with their best employees.
Cornerstone can be contacted for work requests via Mike Craig.

Questions elicited that the workers have learning difficulties but are highly skilled in certain abilities, e.g. catering, cleaning or driving.
The Woodlands School has now been demolished but the pupils therein have been relocated to King Street.
Cornerstone cooperates with other charities, e.g. the Prince’s Trust.

Ian Reid led the vote of thanks, noting in particular the self-fulfilment generated in the people supported.
 

6 November

No speaker due to Gavel Competition vs Banchory.

30 October

Outside Visit to Raemoir Garden Centre

The group were welcomed by Dr Frank Mair founder of Raemoir Garden Centre to Raemoir, with a brief introduction to the garden centre which opened in May 1990 from a business idea which began in 1988. The catering part of the business is a very profitable part of the business and the Catering Manager Irene and 7 chefs now prepare the food for customers in both the Restaurant and Food Hall. They provided a great choice of main course and sweet followed by beverages which was enjoyed by all. From very humble beginnings, and with a staff of only 12, the business has expanded and grown, and now employs around 120 at peak times of the year.
After dining, club members and guests were divided into small groups to receive three presentations from staff.

Susan  the food hall manager, explained how they sourced many new products from local manufacturer/suppliers. Customer’s suggestions have lead to many new ranges of food, including gluten free and diary free products, becoming available. The members and guests were invited to try cheeses, apple juice and chocolate. Susan also mentioned and new local FETA cheese marketed as FETALIKE.
Douglas who is plant manger gave a very informative talk and handy hints on shrubs and plants that thrive in the local area. Many of them came from far off lands such as Russia, China and India.
Finally Elliot Mair (son of Dr Frank) gave us a potted history of the Garden Centre from the humble beginnings, through to the opening of the new build in 2008. The expanded centre doubled its floor space. The employee numbers increased from 12 to around 120.
Members and guests had an opportunity to peruse the centre and buy goods during the evening. On behalf of the Aberdeen Deeside Rotary, a vote of thanks was delivered on by Isabel Grant, and members and guests joined in the thanks, in the usual manner.

23 October

International Students Night

President Mike R welcomed all Rotarians and for the benefit of our guests gave a few details about Rotary:  had existed for 100 years in Glasgow and for almost as long in Aberdeen;
helped draft the constitution for the UN;  in the ‘End Polio’ campaign, had eradicated the disease from 125 countries 25 years ago to 4 now.  While Rotary existed to raise money for worthwhile causes, fun and fellowship was also a requirement.

Rotaract VP Lilly introduced her club, which is for 18 to 30 year-olds and meets on Thursday evenings between 6 and 8pm in the University of Aberdeen Students Association.

There will be a ceilidh and dinner on Friday evening at the Elphinstone Hall, and on Saturday between noon and 4pm at Union Terrace Gardens there will be fund raising for a Shelter box.

Speakers.   The ‘speaking’ part of the evening was hosted by Norman Patterson, International Convener, who introduced the guests and invited them to speak for a few minutes each on random questions handed out to them.  The students are variously from Nigeria, Canada, Peru, UK, Venezuela, Indonesia, Iran, India, USA, Italy, Russia and Cameroon.  A few notes follow.  For brevity, the nationality of the student is used.

First impressions of Aberdeen?  Nice weather, easy to move around, nice, gentle people. (Peru).

Where do you want to visit while here?  The distilleries, to compare with those of Venezuela.

Where would you take us to visit in your home town?   The King’s palace, near Djakarta. 
(The young lady from Indonesia let slip that she is descended from a bidie-in of the 10th king of Indonesia, of which they are now on the 35th, but she declined to be called a Princess).

How did you choose RGU, Aberdeen?  High ranking in the oil and gas field.  (Iran).

Surprises in Aberdeen?  How grey it is, with no Gaelic or Doric spoken.  (India).

Difference from your home university?  Size – the University of Missouri is big enough to have its own police force.  (USA).

Where would you take us to visit in your home town?   Around Laurencekirk – the Howe of the Mearns, the green fields and hills, the red earth.  (UK).

Best experience?  Visiting Pittodrie, wearing a blue jacket among a sea of red.  His accent indicated he isn’t from Inverness, who were playing, so he was made very welcome and invited to buy a season ticket.  (Italy).

Pre-conceptions of Scotland?  How intelligent the people are (confirmed).  (India).

Inspirational Scots?  Alexander Fleming, Logie Baird, Alexander Bell, Alec Ferguson, Rabbie Burns, JK Rowling, Sean Connery, Tony Blair, Alec Salmond and William Wallace.  (Asked of a Scotsman).

Impressions of Aberdeen?  Colourful in the sun, the beautiful beach, the smallness.  (Russia, near Murmansk).

What you said when you phoned home?   ‘I’ve spent all day trying to teach people how to pronounce my name’.  (Yann-Antonio Tchiemigni from Cameroon).

Surprises in Aberdeen?  Men in kilts – hadn’t believed it until she saw it.  (Hungary).

The vote of thanks was led by Ian Connon who thanked the students for a tour of the world in humour and fascinating stories.

Linda Jenkins, Staff Member from RGU, thanked Rotary for a most enjoyable evening, the first one she’d attended.

Jim Houston, District Governor, talked on  ‘Rotary experiences for the elevator’  and congratulated the club on many of our achievements this year.

In concluding the evening, the wine raffle was won by Dave Gordon and the Italian student.  ‘Rotary the world over’ was toasted, and it was felt that, as planned, fun, fellowship and laughter was had by all as well as being interesting and informative.

16 October

Speaker:  Doug Nisbet OBAAT – One Brick at a Time

Our own Doug Nisbet stood in as Speaker at very short notice!   Doug told us about OBAAT – One Brick at a Time.  This is the organisation that will take the lead for the Kitarasa School project in Uganda - for which we expect a Foundation District Grant of £3000.  Furthermore, OBAAT will support President Mike with the “Connecting Communities” presentation to the District Conference in Aviemore next month, and help at a Club stand in the Conference House of Friendship.
OBAAT has significant experience of building work in Schools and a Health Centre in Uganda, including projects that improve the lives of children by reducing the risk of contracting malaria, and infection by the jigger (sand flea).  Typically, OBAAT provide water harvesting with building projects in Uganda.
Doug noted that OBAAT organise training projects in Uganda where UK tradesmen work with local trainees to the benefit of both groups.  OBAAT also operates community building projects, and supports their economy by purchasing locally rather than importing goods.
Doug answered a wide range of questions from Club members prior to Alan F giving the vote of thanks.

2 October

Speaker : Mr Ian Forbes ( Blairs College Museum)

Ian  was introduced to the Club by Brian Stephen.
Ian introduced himself to the meeting explaining that he was an ex teacher at Cults Academy, having graduated from Edinburgh Teaching College after a period of studying for the priesthood (1968-1972). He taught Geography at Blairs College for 9 years up until 1986 when the College closed.

By way of an introduction to Blairs College, Ian gave a brief history of Catholic schools in Scotland from the early 1700’s up until 1827 when John Menzies donated the land for a college at Blairs - which opened in 1829.  The building was later extended in the period from 1900 to 1910 to house more students, and was again extended in 1928.  The College was occupied by 230 people, comprising of 200 students, 15 priests and 15 nuns. The daily life of the students revolved around prayer and study, with sport (in particular football) playing a large part of the their development. Meanwhile, current plans for the college involve the construction of a five star hotel, golf course and an initial build of 44 houses with a further 280 to be built at a later date.  Ian supported his talk with numerous slides, photographs stressing the links of the pupils and their involvement in the local Aberdeen community. 

Ian finished his talk by extending an invitation to the Rotary Club to visit the Museum.

25 September

Speaker: Hillary Gordon First Steps Nepal & Himalaya
Assistant District Governor, Hillary Gordon talked about the work done in Nepal by two charities 1) First Steps Nepal and 2) First Steps Himalaya. The latter is based in New Zealand and is primarily a fund raising organisation. The first is based in Nepal and provides young children with access to their rights to a childhood and this includes pre school education. The work is done in Sindhupalchok a town, which is around 3 hours, travel time from Kathmandu.  In addition to Oldmeldrum and ourselves there are another 21 clubs supporting the venture, which has been ongoing for some years.  It appears that 24% of children do not complete their primary education and only 29% of children attend secondary school. There is also a problem with undertrained teachers. 2 Grants have already been given to Nepal and all worked carried out locally is carefully reviewed prior to the start of the next step. Around $60,000 has been spent of the provision of pre school activities, mainly sourced locally and other charities such as Books Abroad have also assisted. The rotary involvement appears to be assisting in motivating both the children and the head teachers.
The next phase will include assistance at P1 through P3 and will include a vocational team from here going out in April 14 to provide training.
The Ministry of Education and the local community are very supportive of the work and it is thought that it will be able to continue even if rotary stopped its assistance.
Numerous questions followed the talk
Jim C on behalf of the Club thanked Hillary for her extremely interesting talk, which also reflected her dedication and hard work for the cause. It would seem to be a very poor and underdeveloped part of the world and education is the route for improvement in all aspects of society
 

Speakers:Fawn Holland, Greg Brimble and Fraser Gutherie RYLA Experiences
Fawn, Greg and Fraser (all pupils at  Cults Acadamy) had all attended the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) camps last July at  Abernethy and spoke about their experiences. (We sponsored Fawn and Greg, Fraser was sponsored by St Fitticks Club)

Harry A gave the vote of thanks and said they spoke very confidently without notes and made us happy that we had sponsored them. Certificates of scheme completion were also handed out to each speaker

4 September

Speakers:Helen Rennie and Sally Thomson Art in ARI.

Helen Rennie started the presentation by explaining that patient treatment is changing and that she had been approached by Grampian Health Art Trust (GHAP) to find two artists at Roxburgh house which she did. It might seem strange to bring artists in when people are so ill but with the help of trained professional artists the patients have been encouraged to paint and draw with brilliant results. The majority have never painted or drawn before. The result gives the patient another outlet in life and helps family conversation. The artists help, encourage and find out about the patients and this helps the patients to relax and cope better with their illness and overall makes caring easier. Patient’s paintings act as lasting family memories. Family books are often made up with up to 10 paintings. These are shared with others showing that Roxburghe is a place that works for both patient and family. Woodend hospital is doing a similar thing.
The artists are supplied by GHAT. They also have a writer in place who is preparing a book about local sayings and dialect and the memories of the patients which can be given to the family. All of the artwork in Roxburghe has proven to be a fantastic opportunity for the patients to enjoy.
Sally Thomson as the Art Director then took over explaining that making art work in healthcare has been a Grampian NHS vision for the past 50 years. It was started in 1985 with an idea from Sweden and was recognised as a wonderful idea. GHAT now have a collection of 4500 art works from artists as famous as John Bellamy and other local artists. They have 240 wards and sites to display the artwork in Grampian. The art room in Roxburghe House creates dialogue between patient and family, it is creative and meaningful and enjoyable. None of the artwork belongs to NHS but GHAT look after it and need funds to do this. Ghat are still looking for funding. They will have a bespoke art gallery in place in ARI within the next year which will be the first in Britain, of contemporary art. There is a plan to put a whole body MRI scanner in the gallery to show that science is also a creative subject. Sally said that GHAT is here to stay and everything that is done is due to donations received. There is a new corridor in ARI where artwork is newly displayed. Sally took questions and explained that they are looking at ways of making the art collection work for them with plans for selling some original prints that have been on show and possible making up postcards of the paintings. They have just completed an audit of the 4500 art items. Valuation of the artwork is done by art experts. Assistance with funding is still needed for teaching staff and materials for art room projects. GHAT's main aim is to make the buildings and spaces of NHS Trust more pleasing and less clinical looking. Brian Stephen thanked both Helen and Sally for a very informative presentation on how patient participation in artwork creates very positive effects.

28 August

Speaker : Liz Foubister – ‘The Hunt for James – a romp through the records’

Liz started off by saying that though she had been married to Alan for 48 years she had been obsessed for the last 20 years with another man - James S. Foubister! 
Liz then gave a very interesting and informative talk on how to research family history, focussing on the Foubister family at Deerness in Orkney as an example.  Alan had a mystery photograph that he thought was of his Great Grandfather. Liz then demonstrated, by using the golden rules of family history research that the photograph was actually of his Great Grandfather’s nephew (a relative anyway!!). Several questions ensued, reflecting the high level of interest in the subject. Quentin gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the members adding that he was still looking forward to a job talk by Alan.    

For information:   The family name Foubister is derived from Fou (low lying) and Bister (farm building).  

1 August

Speaker: John Whitfield Around the World

John gave a very entertaining account of his recent circumnavigation of the globe. He immediately grasped the attention of the native Aberdonians in the club when he described how he began his travels on the 50p bus to Glasgow in order to catch a more luxurious coach to Southampton.

He visited many exotic places and some not so exotic. His trip clearly had widened his general knowledge for now he knew where CJD had originated. His mind had been blown away by his visit to Karnak and so his copious notes were frequently consulted and thus he was able to describe the various religions he had come across in his travels.
With regret his description of his trip was terminated by lack of time and ended prematurely at Japan.

John Martin the club navigator gave the vote of thanks. Having used a compass and sextant John was never lost for long. His extensive knowledge of the world indicated the speaker had followed a zig zag route but the speaker explained his talk was not in chronological order. It had been a wonderful experience and the speaker urged that if anyone felt so inclined the ship, the services and the facilities of P and O were second to none. There was no truth in the suggestion he was on commission from P and O.

7 August

Speaker : Harry Arnold Finding Interesting Ancestors (part 2)

Our own Rotarian Harry Arnold gave the second part of Finding Interesting Ancestors – and his search for nobility.  This was “an interesting and informative presentation” (Harry said), with lots of questions from the floor to follow.  Mary Lennox gave the vote of thanks describing it as thoroughly enjoyable.