In March 2008 Cleckheaton Rotaract raised over £240 for the Forget Me Not Trust by packing customers' bags at the Tesco store in Cleckheaton!
The Rotaractors carefully packed the eggs and bread as they stood at checkouts in the superstore, packing for the Saturday shoppers in Cleckheaton. They were joined by Tom, president of Skipton Rotaract, who came along to help out and support the event.
Collection buckets were placed at all the tills, and although the group only occupied five checkouts, shoppers kindly donated loose change. Cleckheaton Rotaract would like to extend a big thank you to Tesco in Cleckheaton, and the shoppers in Cleckheaton that day who gave generously to this well-deserving charity!
October 2007
Cleckheaton Rotaract's 30th Annual Charter night- we raised over £600 in aid of the West Yorkshire Forget me Trust!
Cleckheaton Rotaract hosted their sold out 30th Annual Charter night in October to friends, family and guests from all branches of the Rotary & Rotaract family. Guests included Rotaractors past, present and hopefully future members, in addition to an excellent representation from Rotary clubs around the district.
RGBI National Chairman Paul Simon delivered grace, and Cleckheaton Rotary President Anthony proposed a toast to the club. Rotaract president Rachel shaw responded on behalf of the club, before handing over to guest speaker, John Clough- Cleckheaton Rotaract's Inaugural President. John regaled the guests with amusing anecdotes about past Rotaractors, many now Rotarians!
Inner 9 Assistant Governor Keith Davison responded on behalf of the guests, before D1040 Rotaract Chairman Brett surprised the club by handing over their original Charter- clean and framed! Finally the raffle was drawn and the dancing began- the amount raised will be announced in the next couple of weeks, please keep checking the website!
We will be announcing the date of the 2008 Cleckheaton Rotaract Charter night within the next month, so please make a note in your diaries to attend this special event!
August 2007
Banbury camping rally, Horley Scout Camp near Banbury
Cleckheaton & Skipton Rotaract flew the flag for Yorkshire at the RGBI Banbury camping rally at the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2007.
Once the tents were set up and the air beds inflated, they enjoyed the sunshine and cracked open a beer. By the end of the night it was hard to tell where the day-glo pink T-shirts ended and the sunburn started!
Then they partook in the Line Dancing tutorial before dinner at the Scout hut!
By this time the evening's activities were starting and various cowboys, cowgirls and Indians from around the country boogied and drank the night away, before heading outside to the hay bales and camp fire.
On the Sunday the RGBI council attended the meeting which gave the members an excuse to enjoy more Blue WKD, and one member who shall remain nameless spent much of the weekend surgically attached to Vodka and lemonade in a huge flask...
The afternoon then lead to the welly wanging contest. Laura & Gillian refused to participate, until Laura was lifted up and carried over to the contest, still eating a packet of crisps...she was supported by the rest of the camp who retreated to their tents in fear.
After tea and helping Tim dismantle his tent, they attended the closing ceremony where it was revealed that the venue for the 2009 National Conference will be...Cardiff. Following this the camp stood on a pallet and continued the fun. At the karaoke Laura & Michelle from Deben recited a tuneful and emotional rendition of "Wonderwall" whilst the others tested their earplugs.
The campers left with fond memories, extensive sunburn and extreme tiredness...roll on Southport!
July 2007
Emergency Services Gala, West Yorks Fire Service HQ, Birkenshaw
Members of Cleckheaton Rotaract helped Cleckheaton Rotary at their wine & water stall at the Emergency services Gala at Birkenshaw in July.
Members of the public were invited to test their visual wine spotting skills, as they tried to distinguish between wine and water in the wine bottles! A correct guess of wine won the lucky participant a bottle.
Apart from a couple of stray bottles dropping over, and causing the stallholders panic to "save the wine", the event was a brilliant success and raised over 200 pounds for the Rotary President's chosen charity, Tools for Self Reliance. The charity gather used tools as donations from the public, which are expertly refurbished and provided for the use of skilled tradesmen in developing countries.
Visitors to the gala also enjoyed a flying visit from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Archery and the female Rotaractors showed a healthy interest in the heroic efforts of the emergency services.
May 2007
Yorkshire Air Ambulance cheque presentation, 23rd May 2007
Rotaractors joined Cleckheaton Rotary at a presentation by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service in May 2007. They also presented their cheque for the previous year.
A speech was given, here the YAA outlined their objectives for the next few months and beyond. We learned that the YAA was due to take delivery of a second helicopter in the month, and that the charity are planning on relocating to Wetherby and also creating a dedicated visitors centre there. The relocation will enable the service to cover more locations within Yorkshire and the surrounding areas with greater ease. The presence of a second helicopter will enable the service to attend critical calls whilst the first craft in employed, therefore attending to any casualty's injuries quicker and maximising the service's response.
During 2005 - 2006 Cleckheaton Rotaract raised a thousand pounds for the charity, with various events and a sponsored walk.
Ice Cream selling, May day Fair, Little Gomersal
Cleckheaton Rotaract members provided a "cool" service to the guests at Little Gomersal's May Day fair. They sold ice creams to the public. At one point one Rotaract member was heard to ask a group of young men "what child doesn't know what a 99 is?"
The sauce for the ice creams proved an effective adhesive, resulting in sleeves and kitchen roll being almost permanently welded to the ice cream cart.
The day proved an amazing success, gaining a profit of over 110 pounds for the three hours the fair was open. All proceeds will be donated to the West Yorkshire Forget me Not Trust.
RGBI National Conference, Watford, 5th May 2007
Rotaractors from Cleckheaton & Skipton attended the Saturday night gala ball at the RGBI conference in Watford. During the day we enjoyed the breakout sessions, including wine tasting and card making, though ended up with more stickers on ourselves than on the cards!
The evening finished off with a disco and some excellent dance moves!
The following morning Michelle Johnson from Deben and Phil from the Conference crew donned comedy outfits to get the crowd up and dancing to Benny Hill! The delegates then heard speeches from CLICSargant, a charity which offers support to children suffering from various forms of cancer and their families. They also heard a motivational speech from Christine Scally of Eltham Phoenix Rotary, entitled "Life After Rotary". The national team also donned beards and dressed as shepherds to emphasise "What has Rotary done for us?"
The conference sessions finished off with a hilarious "Miss Rotaract" contest- though you guessed it, these were male Rotaractors participating! We thought some of the contenders were far too well versed to have never done this before though. Congratulations to Richard Burnett, who was crowned "Miss Rotaract". Photos of the evening are available on the photos page!
March 2007
Ten Pin Bowling with Leeds Rotaract, 11th March 2007
Cleckheaton Rotaract joined Leeds Rotaract club for a ten pin bowling match in Leeds!
Leeds Rotaract organised the night as a social event, but they were also donating the proceeds to the Prothesis Donation in Thailand, who manufacture prosthetic limbs in Thailand.
The members showed off their bowling aptitude (or lack thereof in Laura's case), and congratulations to both John and Mark who won a match apiece. A mention must also go to Gillian who protested beforehand she was "abysmal" and then came second in both games!
Members of Leeds Rotary also joined in the spirit of the occasion.
More photos from the night are available in the gallery to view!
It was spangles, lurex and Afros all the way when six rotaractors, dressed in various giggle inducing costumes, descended upon the good people of Cleckheaton to raise money for the Forget Me Not Trust..
It was a struggle getting the afros through the door frames of some of the establishments, and the girls complained of itchy fabrics in their costumes. Could we have ever lived with backcombing, Afro combs and spandex?
The outfits raised a few titters in pubs (and that was only the bar staff.) However, after the generosity of the public, a visit to six pubs raised £144 in aid of the West Yorkshire Forget me not trust.
Fab!
January 2007
First of all, a happy new year to you all!
2007 looks like being a superb year, so far we have planned a weekend in the Lake District, a fancy dress pub crawl, a "Bunny race" night especially in time for Easter, not to mention numerous other occasions such as a night out in Sowerby Bridge and of course a couple of housewarming parties!
In December members of the club attended numerous events, including the Skipton Mediavel Festival, the Cleckheaton Rotary Christmas meal, Carol singing with the Friends of Hunsworth, and several different New Year's Eve parties (photos in the gallery).
The club is constantly growing, with new members joining in 2006, and hopefully 2007! Why don't you come and see what we're all about?
November 2006
Cleckheaton Rotary's Charter Night, Berties, Elland, 25th November 2006
Cleckheaton Rotaract supported their Rotary club at their 74th Annual Charter night at Berties, Elland.
The proceeds of the raffle were donated to the West Yorkshire Forget me Not Trust.
Band "Chequers" provided the evening's entertainment until Rotaract took over and entertained the crowds with their appalling barn dancing!
The evening's speakers included District governer Keith Bancroft, Vice President Anthony Hick and Joanne Catlow wowed the audience by performing her speech in rhyming couplets!
Bulb Planting with the Friends of Hunsworth, 18th November 2006
The club donned their spades and wheelbarrows and set about helping the Friends of Hunsworth in their mission to plant 60,000 daffodil bulbs in and around the village of Hunsworth, near Bradford.
The Friends of Hunsworth are organising a carol-singing evening on Sunday 17th December, see upcoming events for more details.
ABBA Tribute night, the Frontier, Batley, 14th - 15th November 2006
Birstall Luddites Rotary club painstakingly organised an ABBA tribute night in support of the West Yorkshire Forget Me Not Trust (Cleckheaton Rotaract's nominated charity 2006 - 2007) and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service, amongst other charities. Demand for tickets was so high that the original date of 15th November sold out fast and the club had to add an extra night to cope with demand!
The ABBA tribute group, Bjorn Belief were supported by numerous other local youth acts, including a teenage rock group and a school of performing arts. WYFMNT fundraiser Mandy Barwick addressed the crowd succinctly and stated the charities' objectives. Highlights of the night included a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses.
All in all, everyone agreed it had been a superb night and there were cheers of delight when it was revealed that the event had exceeded its target of raising 15,000 pounds by 2,500 pounds.
With thanks to Pitts Wilson Electrical for supporting our particular group!
Blackburn Rotary/Rotaract Bonfire, 4th November 2006
There's no War of the Roses in Rotaract, as proved when Cleckheaton took a trip over the Pennines to help out with the huge Blackburn bonfire, which is organised by Blackburn Rotary and Rotaract.
Once they'd bored of playing in the adventure playground, Cleckheaton sampled the delicious junk food on offer, and donned their fluorescent waistcoats to set out on an Apprentice-style challenge to sell more light-up gadgets and treacle toffee than the rest of Rotaract.
Highlights of the night included a fun fair which was "just too loud" (we are getting old), the lighting of the bonfire, a firework display, hot chocolate (water flavoured) and cold chips and mounds of grated cheese. By the end of the evening the Rotaractors were exhausted but Laura, Gillian and Simon are never too tired to polish off a bottle of wine a piece!
There are a couple of photos in the Gallery, too!
October 2006
Rotary District 1040 Annual Conference, Scarborough- 13th - 15th October
Cleckheaton Rotaract joined other fellow Rotaract clubs from Hagley, Halifax, Keighley and Skipton to celebrate Rotary district 1040's annual conference in the foggy seaside town of Scarborough.
Of course the weekend involved the usual partying and fun loving, however the Rotaractors did have an aim- to promote Rotaract to Yorkshire's Rotarians by standing out from the crowd! They employed various tactics, such as "crap fancy dress" (see photo) and wearing luminous pink T-shirts emblazoned with the Rotaract Logo.
Rotaract district Chairman Tim Los had a good response from the Rotaract stand, gaining recommendations for new members from passers by who expressed an interest in knowing more about the organisation. He also delivered an articulate speech on Sunday morning, reaching out to the assembled Rotarians.
But it wasn't all hard work. They enjoyed various activities including leap-frogging traffic cones, air hockey tournaments, 2p waterfall championships, visiting the Sea Life centre, shopping for enormous bow-ties, dancing and of course hollering down a traffic cone.
On the Friday night they danced to band "Chequers" and listened to the evening's comedian. Sadly the bar was closed when they returned to the hotel which meant they had to find an "alternative" watering hole, which got them some funny looks whilst wearing fancy dress!
On Saturday night the group played casino games in the grand hall, trying their hand at Roulette and Black Jack! In the other areas of the Spa, there was dancing, discoing and shows- something for everyone.
Upon returning to the hotel, the girls slipped off their dancing shoes and had crisps and mouse sized sandwiches for afters! Once again the brave few headed out to their favourite nightspot after the hotel bar closed and managed not to cause too much damage to the road works!
In 2007 the conference will be hosted in Southport- see you all there next year!
September 2006
Cleckheaton's 29th Charter night was celebrated in the usual fashion...see "Charter Night" page for write up, and "Gallery" for Photos.
August 2006
August 25th - 28th: Banbury camping rally
Cleckheaton Rotaractors braved a weekend of Christmas themed activities when they joined numerous other Rotaractors from around the country at the Banbury camping rally for the August bank holiday weekend!
President Laura's Christmas tale...
Christmas Eve
On Friday night, once they'd managed the arduous task of getting their tents up, the tents began to resemble something like home (see photo!) and faced the next challenge- getting changed into full costume under 4ft of canvas (luckily the Angels were hybrid fairies and were equipped with twinkling wands to light their way).
Next they headed off the main tent to enjoy the main attraction- sitting on Santa's knee, and telling Mr Claus what they all wanted for Christmas. Once they'd all made their wishes, they began to take advantage of the criminally cheap bar and start dancing.
Christmas day
On Christmas morning, I awoke, to find that it in the true spirit of the occasion it was a "Wet" Christmas. The rhythmic pattering of the raindrops on canvas only emphasised the fact I needed the loo, which was a fair trek across a wet and windy campsite. With great aplomb, I pulled on my wellies and anorak with my shorts and T-shirt and stumbled over to the toilet block! Later, after a "morning campers, Santa came in the night" announcement on the tannoy, I hauled myself out out of my five sleeping bags and unzipped my front door, to find I'd missed breakfast. However I did find time to receive Santa's goodie bag, where I was presented with, amongst other invaluable items, two tubes of anti-tightness foam for men (could be useful, I mused), many stars, a pencil, a miniature hero (the sweet, not a real hero) and couple of balloons. Where was the house I'd asked for, Santa?
The Rotaractors spent the rest of day in various locations; we went to Oxford, ate a delicious lunch and fabulous ice cream, and laughed ourselves sick inside at people falling off boats. Other people enjoyed paying over the odds to visit Warwick castle, and the rest of our crew visited the motor museum. Could you imagine a more perfect Christmas Day?
Christmas day quickly progressed to New Year's eve, and the Rotaractors yelled the Countdown and mimed the traditional New Year's Anthem Auld Lang's Syne.
After this followed a unconventional sing song around the nettle strewn campfire, where I managed to fall over fourteen times and get stung twice. Or should that be the other way round?
New Year's Day (Sunday)
I woke with stinging feet in time for breakfast! I unearthed my plate and hopped over to the food hut to see what delights had been cooked up for me. The veggie sausages were bloody fantastic, but I thought the scrambled eggs had sun-dried tomatoes added (has Gordon Ramsey been in the night?) Upon tasting, I soon realised these were not sun dried tomatoes but the carbonated flaking from the pan. A quick glance around worried me, everyone else was enjoying the metallic eggs! I tried again, only to confirm my worst fears (the eggs has third degree burns) and left them.
After breakfast, I returned to our tent area and slobbed out with numerous others with the Saturday telegraph, and waited a good hour for the kettle to boil for a cup of tea. By the time we'd had a cup of tea, it was time for lunch. We headed, en masse, to the White Horse pub, where I drank diet coke from an internally furry glass and attempted to ingest a meal containing twelve bulbs of garlic.
We returned to the campsite, and asked, "What time is the Rotaract Welly Wanging Contest?" As though by magic, a speaker came onto the tannoy and announced that the Welly Wanking Contest would begin at 4 o'clock prompt. You read right.
The wanging contest proved to be fun, some throws were awarded negative points for throwing into the gazebos behind the start line; one throw was carried out by a teddy bear, and one man launched himself onto the ground after throwing his welly.
The winner was crowned, Phil Poole from district 1040 (a fellow Yorkshireman!) became the new champion welly wanger. A big cheer for Phil! Very welly done!
Simon (Left) tries to prove he is a little angel...
After dinner, we all attempted the assault course with hilarious consequences! Later we were called to the main tent to enjoy the rock covers band and again exploit the ludicrously low drinks prices, before getting a good night's sleep ready for the drive back on Monday...
July 2006
1st July: Race for Life, Temple Newsam
Five ladies from Cleckheaton Rotary and Rotaract undertook the 5km "Race for Life" in aid of Cancer Research UK at Temple Newsam, Leeds.
Their joint fundraising efforts netted approximately £600 in aid of Cancer Research UK!
On the day, five thousand women completed the race in sweltering temperatures of 28 - 30c by running, walking and at times, just standing still, due to the volume of people traffic.
However, we all managed to get past the finishing post (some of us sprinted to give the appearance that we'd run all the way around!). Our sponsors are all thanked on the "Who Benefits" page. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the ladies' efforts on the day!
June 2006
29th June: President's handover
Tom handed over the chain of office and the responsibilities associated with being president to Laura at the Cleckheaton Rotaract handover meal, at the Wheatsheaf, Little Gomersal.
The meal was attended by Cleckheaton Rotaract, Rotary and guests, who all wished Laura well in her year as president.
This year, Laura aims to increase membership of Cleckheaton Rotaract, forge stronger relationships with other clubs in the district, raise lots of money for the West Yorkshire Forget me Not trust- and ensure everyone enjoys her year as president!
"We're also hoping to achieve bigger and better events with the support of the Cleckheaton Rotary club"
17th June: Cleckheaton welcome Skipton for Indian meal
Skipton Rotaract enjoyed a four course Indian buffet meal with Clecheaton Rotaract at the Aakash Restaurant Cleckheaton, the biggest Indian restaurant in the world!
As the guests ate, they discussed joint district events, marathons and dressing up as giant mice and nurses. "Plenty of fun is planned for Scarborough this year!" we heard.
We tucked into bhajis and aloo saag with super-sized bottles of Cobra on hand to wash it all down.
10th June 2006
Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service visit
Cleckheaton Rotaractors visited the Yorkshire Air Ambulance service in June, Cleckheaton Rotaract's nominated charity 2005 - 2006.
The club had a tour of the HQ, and learned about the work involved in raising the profile of a fundamental emergency service within the Yorkshire area. The state of the art system in the office enables the coordinator to prioritise which emergencies need their assistance.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance depends upon the generosity of the general public in order to subsidise the operations of the service, and the volunteers donate their own time and campaign tirelessly to raise monies to save lives throughout the region.
Rotaractors were lucky enough to watch the helicopter landing before their eyes after it had attended an emergency. It was noted that when standing in the direct force of wind speeds of 100mph, President Tom still didn't have a hair out of place! The girls, on the other hand, were frantically smoothing their ruffled locks before the handsome paramedic emerged to speak to them!
The Rotaract club of Cleckheaton
3rd June: The Mile of Coins Fundraising event
So, the challenge was: to raise enough money, that if laid end to end would make a mile...
We enjoyed the unusually glorious Yorkshire climate to raise funds for the Yorkshire Air ambulance from the generous shoppers of Huddersfield town centre.
Donors were given the chance to win a pair of tickets to a match of their choice, to see the Huddersfield Giants play at the Galpharm Stadium.
Punching Balloons were offered for donations, which Rachel advertised in classic Market trader style!
However, we had a dilemma, how to transport 200 pounds worth of coppers across town? Thanks to Sainsburys for the loan of the trolleys!
A big thank-you to everyone who contributed towards this worthy cause!
May 2006
District delights: On the 24th May Skipton Rotaract welcomed Cleckheaton for a delicious Italian meal. Cleckheaton are set to return the favour and welcome Skipton for an excellent Indian meal in June.
(everyone say Parmesan!)
20th May: Charter night, Derby. Cleckheaton Rotaract attended Derby Rotaract's charter night in Derby town centre for a night of barn dancing, whiskey blending and to receive some interesting tombola prizes, including a "Yakult" mug, a cheesboard and biscuits and wine, generously donated to the Cleckheaton babes from the Rotaract club of Hagley!
The May Day Fair, Little Gomersal: they can sell ice to the Eskimos!
Cleckheaton ran their ice-cream stall at the May Day Fair in Little Gomersal on 1st May 2006. They made ninety pounds profit- in spite of the usual bank holiday weather!
We also sold punching balloons, with all proceeds going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
April 2006
29th April: Greenway Clean-up, near Tesco store, Cleckheaton. We cleared a skip full of rubbish from the Spen Valley greenway in April, removing everything from toilet seats to old shoes, to mobile phones and children's bikes!
14th - 17th April: The RGBI national conference, Bowness on Windermere
Members of Cleckheaton Rotaract recently attended the RGBI National Conference at Bowness on Windermere
We participated in treasure hunts, got birthday bumps, swathed in giant nappies!
Our "Mile of Coins" was nominated in the search for service awards
Cleckheaton also managed to do the "Wide Awake Club", staying up until 6am to watch the sun rise over Lake Windermere!
Right: the Wide Awake Club
The fancy dress theme was "A Taste of Home"- our stipulations were that we had to dress as famous characters from our district. What could three women and a man from Yorkshire in their twenties go as?
In March 2008 Cleckheaton Rotaract raised over £240 for the Forget Me Not Trust by packing customers' bags at the Tesco store in Cleckheaton! 
rget Me Not Trust..
We returned to the campsite, and asked, "What time is the Rotaract Welly Wanging Contest?" As though by magic, a speaker came onto the tannoy and announced that the Welly Wanking Contest would begin at 4 o'clock prompt. You read right. 
Cleckheaton Rotaractors visited the Yorkshire Air Ambulance service in June, Cleckheaton Rotaract's nominated charity 2005 - 2006. 
operations of the service, and the volunteers donate their own time and campaign tirelessly to raise monies to save lives throughout the region. 
The Rotaract club of Cleckheaton
We enjoyed the unusually glorious Yorkshire climate to raise funds for the Yorkshire Air ambulance from the generous shoppers of Huddersfield town centre.
District delights: On the 24th May Skipton Rotaract welcomed Cleckheaton for a delicious Italian meal. Cleckheaton are set to return the favour and welcome Skipton for an excellent Indian meal in June.
The May Day Fair, Little Gomersal: they can sell ice to the Eskimos!
