Rotary Club of Ascot

PRESS RELEASE – 21^st December 2006

Communications & Press officer Ian Valentine ian@cival.info

Christmas Cheer and a Charity Donation

70 Rotary Club of Ascot members, partners and guests took a break from their fund-raising activities to enjoy a “Black Tie” Christmas Dinner at the Royal Ascot Golf Club recently (20/12/06). Guests of Honour were Gordon and Ann Parris, founders of the “Children With Special needs Foundation”, which is a local charity targeting local children with special needs. This charity is the primary beneficiary from the Rotary Club of Ascot Charity Golf event (August 2006), and during the Christmas festivities the Club President, Geoffrey Donovan, made a presentation of a cheque for £5,200 towards a school minibus project currently being undertaken by the Charity. He said “The importance for our Club of working with a smaller charity is that we can see more clearly how the money is spent, and can direct our contribution towards specific projects of local significance.”

Accepting the cheque on behalf of the Children With Special Needs Foundation, Ann Parris spoke of the importance of establishing cooperative links with local fund-raising organisations, and thanked the Rotary Club of Ascot for again nominating the Foundation as the primary beneficiary of the 2007 Charity Golf Day.

Gordon Parris then spoke to the assembled Rotarians and guests about the history of the Foundation and about current projects, including recently taking over 1,400 children to the Christmas pantomime in Woking, and projects to take children to Euro-Disney and to Florida. He explained how the geographic coverage of the charity now extended across all of Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and West London, and he was looking forward to further cooperation with the Rotary Club of Ascot.