Community Service

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    Each year Sidcup Rotary Club hosts a Community Day Lunch to honour the contribution made by the voluntary sector to the local community. The lunch is organised by the President Elect and the recipient is chosen by the Community Services Committee.

If you are a local community group or charity that are not already regularly invited, please contact Sidcup Rotary Club by email at rotarysidcup@gmail.com to be put on the list of those to be considered for next year’s award.

The Mayor of Bexley, Councillor John Hunt attended this year’s award ceremony on Wednesday 10th March 2021 via Zoom with our President Martin Low when Jeannette Judge,  Welfare Officer for the St. Lawrence’s Charitable Fund was presented with the award.

Representatives of all organisations present were thanked for their work by the President Elect, Peter Allsop who introduced each guest and set out what Sidcup Rotary Club does locally, nationally and internationally. 

President Martin read out a citation:

“Our Nominee has always been concerned for people who are less fortunate than herself - despite all the other trials and tribulations which life has thrown at her.

She served as a member of her local church Parish Council and subsequently on the Parish Finance Committee for approximately 20 years. 

Together with others, she organised a three course monthly lunch (with wine) in the Church Hall. This was available to anyone in the community who wanted a meal and the company. A voluntary donation of any amount or none was acceptable. Many of these meals she would cook herself at home.

For over 30 years she has rendered conscientious and devoted service to those less fortunate families in the local community both as a trustee of the St Lawrence’s Charitable Fund and in her role as it’s Welfare Officer, liaising with Social Services, donors and beneficiaries to improve their lives”. 

Janette is pictured with her certificate.

Sidcup Rotary Club has supported the Sidcup Community Garden Project since its launch in the Summer of 2015. The walled garden at Sidcup Place, for many years a formal rose garden, had become run down, litter strewn and neglected as Council funds were cut following the 2008 financial crash. The Project was started by Rob Leitch, a then local Councillor, who called on local volunteers to take over the replanting and maintenance of the garden, and asked local organisations and businesses to provide financial support.

Sidcup Rotary immediately agreed to support this local project, providing finance, manpower and plants donated by Rotary members. Their all-round support of the project has been ongoing. In November 2016 Rotarians turned up in force on a very rainy Saturday to help the Garden Project Volunteers plant over 500 rose plants. 

All 30 beds in the garden have now been replanted. The garden has been graded as “Outstanding” for 3 consecutive years by London in Bloom which is the top award for the community class. In 2019 the garden was judged Community Garden of the Year by Kent Life Magazine.

This one acre garden is a haven of peace and tranquillity as well as a riot of colour. It is carefully and proudly tended by an enthusiastic band of volunteers and appreciated by local residents and visitors alike. There is plenty of seating and the paths are wheelchair friendly.

In 2019 Sidcup Rotary club were pleased to provide a further 5 years of financial support for the Sidcup Community Garden Project.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rotary Club of Sidcup had to curtail our Christmas Collections this year. But we plan to prepare the refurbished sleigh for Christmas 2021 when we will cover 13 street collections, static collections at Morrisons, Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, Sidcup Railway Station and McColls, the Newsagents, on Halfway Street. 

The 12th Bexley Young Musician of the Year Awards Concert, organised by the four Rotary Clubs of Bexley, was generally felt to be one of the best. The standard of musicianship was extremely high. The winner was Charlie Keeling who played the trumpet. Charlie is a pupil at Bexley Grammar School where he is currently studying for his GCSE examinations. He has attained grade 8 for trumpet and took up the viola two years ago to experience a different aspect of playing in an orchestra. In addition he has been playing the guitar since primary school. He attends Bird College where he is in the Concert Orchestra (viola), the Bexley Youth Band, the Little Big Band and he also sings in the Senior Youth Choir. Charlie plays in his school’s Big Band, Improvisation Group, String Orchestra (viola), Rock School (guitar) and Show Band (trumpet). He enjoys composition and hope to pursue a career as a musician.

The photograph L to R shows: Michael Clark Chairman T G Baynes, Mayor Cllr Geraldene Lucia-Hennis, Winner Charlie Keeling, James Brokenshire MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup Minister of State for Security at the Home Office. photo by Brian Aldrich

We supported the Circus at Ruxley Manor Garden Centre on two occasions providing tickets to various organisations so that disabled children with their parents or carers could attend. Following each event a donation of £300 was made to Demelza that was Ruxley director James Evans’ nominated charity in recognition of the tickets donated by him to the Club.

Rotary International’s new initiative to encourage activities which sustain the environment has been enthusiastically embraced by Sidcup Rotary Club. The Club helps to maintain the Walled Garden at Sidcup Place (for which it has won various awards), plants trees in season (with the Woodland Trust) and litter picks the streets, parks and road-side verges in various parts of Sidcup - all of which are done in co-ordination with Bexley Council.

Other actions planned include influencing commercial wastes, supporting groups which look after our parks, supporting river pollution control and encouraging the public to report littering, fly tipping, and road/pavement problems and street lighting failures to Bexley Council.

It was over 60 years ago when the Rotary Club of Sidcup, Queen Mary’s Hospital and the local community set up the ‘Friends of Queen Mary’s’. The new Friends Café was opened in 2017 after the Friends Refreshments Bar was closed as part of the major redevelopment of QMH and is now situated inside the main entrance to QMH. The Café also has a counter serving the Urgent Care Centre. The Friends also run a Trolley Service serving clinics and wards.

The Friends is supported by volunteers who work to generate profits which are then distributed in the form of discretionary awards for the benefit and well-being of patients, visitors and staff at Queen Mary’s Hospital. More than £3m has been awarded over the years. Without the considerable efforts of the volunteers these grants could not be made. The Friends need more volunteers. Can you help?

  Find out more by clicking on the link below