Grand effort by Rotarians as £11,969 raised at Christmas presented to charities!
The Rotary Club of Banstead has raised a magnificent £11,969 for local charities over the Christmas period thanks to the generosity of Banstead!.
The club held a very enjoyable Cheque Presentation Dinner at the Cuddington Golf Club last Tuesday 25th February. This was the largest Supper of John’s Presidency. A great evening was enjoyed by all. Friends and charity partners also joined us as our special guests. The Club took the opportunity to present cheques to our charities to ensure that the money raised is put to good use as soon as possible
Banstead Rotary’s main Christmas activity is the Santa Sleigh which tours around the streets of Banstead Village, Nork, Tattenhams and Preston Hall from the end of November for three weeks up until Christmas.
The Santa Sleigh has been running for a great number of years since the 1950s and is a popular festive feature in the community.
Returning for the Christmas period, Santa and his charity partner elves raised £11,969.
Other Christmas activities this year included participation in the Banstead Village Christmas Shopping Evening with the Club’s Santa magically switching on the lights.
The Club also organises supermarket collections and this season they were at Waitrose Banstead and at ASDA in Burgh Heath.
These activities plus Gift Aid resulted in bringing the total of the raised funds to over £11,969.
Some of the charities to benefit include Home Start , Dyscover, Age Concern Banstead,Macular Society, National Autistic Society Surrey, Epsom and Ewell Foodbank, Epsom and Ewell Talking Newspaper, East Surrey Talking Newspaper, Diamond Riding School, Q.E.F, Princess Alice Hospice, Crossroads Care Surrey.
Other special attendees were Connor Diffley, Teacher/ Leader of The Beacon School Interact Club and his colleague Lauren Sharkey. The Club made a donation to “The Beacon School Imagination Station”.
Connor was also inducted as an Associate Member of the Club.
The distribution of the funds to charities attending took place at Cuddington Golf Club after the celebration dinner. Other donations made immediately after Christmas were to the Scouts & Guides as well as The Banstead Five Churches who were unable to attend on the night.
John Draper the President of the Club, commented: “We have just completed another successful year in fundraising.
"For us Rotarians it is very important to support local charities with our fundraising and
We thank everyone who has supported us during this period and we are grateful to Waitrose Banstead and ASDA in Burgh Heath for giving us the opportunity to do collections.
"We would love to see more people joining Rotary. We have a friendly and welcoming Club and want to extend an invitation to everyone who is interested in learning about how Rotary makes a difference in our community. All are welcome and just contact us via www.bansteadrotary.com.”