Letters
to the editor
Rotary crosses borders to honour heroes
There has been a gratifying response from Rotarians to my article 'Rotary crosses borders to honour heroes' (Rotary Spring 2024) in which I described a visit to Belgian Rotarians with my son and daughter to pay tribute to their grandfather who gave his life as the pilot of a Wellington bomber in 1943 while circling his burning aircraft to avoid housing.
A great deal is known about this fateful flight because three of the crew survived having spent the rest of the war as prisoners. We even know the name of the German pilot who shot them down because he visited them in hospital.
The tail of the Wellington stands as a memorial and the Rotarians arrange a ceremony every year in memory not only of the Wellington crew but all the Allied forces who rescued them from tyranny.
I give a 20-minute talk about the incident, and this is being extremely well received by clubs. I would be happy to present this talk either on Zoom or face to face to any club. Please contact me at richard.green51@talktalk.net
Richard Green
Rotary Club of The City of Wolverhampton
9 million TikTok views
It was interesting to see the article “Putting the fun back into fund-raising” (Rotary Magazine Winter 2024).
The first time I came across a Human Fruit Machine was in 2022 when the Rotary Club of Penzance had a stall at a local fete. My own club (Mounts Bay) had a tombola stall but most of the amusement was coming from the Human Fruit Machine.
As Foundation Chairman for Mounts Bay Rotary, I wanted the club to be seen more in the public eye, by attending more local fetes and rallies, to be more attractive to new recruits and at the same time raise funds for Foundation.
I made a Human Fruit Machine which could be easily carried in a car. I also had an old telephone bell that I mounted on three table legs with a one-arm bandit type lever for customers to activate the bell to start the HFM.
We had a very successful day at the Morvah Pasty Day, a village on the north coast of Penwith between St Just and St Ives. It was here that a person took a video which has recently been put on Tik-Tok and gone viral with over nine million views. The video shows Jon, a member of the Mounts Bay club, with his wife and also Hugh from the Penzance club.
We had further success at the Mousehole Carnival the following weekend. Crowds of people laughed and applauded the antics of the Human Fruit Machine. I think the HFM was probably the most photographed event.
Christopher Relf,
Mounts Bay Rotary Club, Cornwall
How the Treekly app works in practice
I refer to the article about COP28 in Rotary Magazine (Winter) to congratulate Rotary members in the UAE where COP28 was held who are planting 50,000 mangrove trees in partnership with the government.
However, it is important to congratulate too the 1,451 current volunteers who are taking the Treekly challenge across Great Britain & Ireland by walking and donating to enable the planting of mainly mangrove trees in now seven countries.
In total, at 19.55 on 19th March 2024, 168,122 trees have been planted since its launch.
The volunteers can plant trees if they complete 5,000 steps a day and can also donate. Therefore, not only are you making a contribution to the climate crisis but also helping your overall health and well-being.
My own contribution on 19th March 2024 was 6,252 trees planted.
This contribution will capture 312.60 tonnes of CO2 up to 2030. Altogether, my club has funded 6,358 trees and I estimate the total contribution of the 1,451 volunteers will be to capture 8,406.1 tonnes of CO2 up to 2030.
In addition, we are providing regeneration of natural forests that have been lost, much needed employment mainly in very poor areas and a buffer against coastal erosion among other benefits.
It shows what Rotary can achieve working individually and together and I think this achievement needs to be recognised.
Desmond Lynch
Rotary Club of Strabane/Lifford, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Editor’s note: For more details about the Treekly app, visit: treekly.org
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