Activities   The Rotary Club of Banchory-Ternan Service above Self Good causes that we have supported   Nearly £20,000 is donated to charity every year by the Banchory-Ternan Rotary Club. Charities include local, national and international bodies. Some of the charities we have assisted are: ALEC Aquabox Archie Foundation Banchory Academy - 2010 Alaska Trip Banchory Academy Dux Awards Banchory Air Cadets Banchory Bag Campaign Banchory Boys Club Banchory Brownies Banchory Christmas Lights Banchory Cricket Club Banchory Initiative Banchory Primary School Banchory Scouts Banchory Shaw - St Ternan's Fair Banchory Singers Banchory Surgery Banchory Trampoline Club Banchory RC Church African Well Bonnie Banchory Appeal Banchory West Church Barnados Breast Cancer Research Fund British Heart Foundation British Red Cross Cerebal Palsy CHAS - Children's Hospice Chest, Heart and Stroke Association Children 1st Children in Need Cornhill Hospital Crathie Opportunity Holidays CREDO Dalvenie House Deeside Aid Romania Trust Dementia Scotland Dictionaries for Life Erskine Hospitals Euroscola Family Mediation Grampian Forget-me-not Club Friends of Glen o' Dee Hospital Friends of the Anchor Unit Gordon Highlanders Museum Grampian Blind Target Shooters Grampian Families in Need Grampian Hospital Radio Grampian Schools Liason Guide dogs for the Blind Hearing dogs for the Deaf Help for Heroes HomeStart Deeside Inchmarlo Golf Foundation Kids Out Little Drops Charity Low-cost Housing in Kerala, India Lumphanan Playgroup Make a Wish Malaria No More UK Malawi Aids Clinic Marie Curie Cancer Care Maroc McMillan Cancer Relief Mercy Hospital Ships Message in a Bottle Scheme Mozambique Flood Appeal Multiple Sclerosis Nebulisers for local surgeries New Roxburgh House Niger Crisis Appeal NHS Grampian - Needy Families Peruvian Dental Trust Polio Eradication Fund Primary School Quiz Project Scotland Project Trust - various students Red Cross Sudan Appeal Rotary Xmas Pudding Appeal Riding for the Disabled RYLA Samaritans Sandpiper Trust Save the Children Scolty Centre Scottish Huntingdons Association Shelter Box Trust - Asia & Haiti Quakes Shoe Box Appeal Sightsavers SmarKids Foundation SPARKS St Colomba Ikelenge well project Stonehaven Flood Appeal Student Volunteers Abroad Tafo Trust The Anchor Unit The Forget-me-not club The Pakistan Earthquake Appeal The Tsunami Appeal Torphins Community Garden project Torphins Scouts Torphins Surgery UCAN Water Aid Wheelchair Foundation World Challenge Tanzania Young Carers We've also supported local sports talent, sent local school pupils on international exchange visits, organised young musician competitions, young speechmaker events, assisted young enterprise ventures, provided tutors for Cookie Challenge and 'Life After School' events.......plus many more activities. It is amazing just how many initiatives and activities our club is involved in on a regular and ongoing basis. Many are charitable, some sporting and some social. These include: International Evening Once a year we invite foreign students and young professionals to attend a dinner. It is an opportunity for them to meet local Rotarians. Crathes Vintage Car & Motorcycle Rally Established in 1996, this is the first event on the vintage motoring calendar and is attended by over 200 vehicles. The rally draws over 4,000 visitors and raises over £6,000 for charity. Stroke Awareness For the last three years the club has jointly operated a blood pressure screening session with the Banchory Surgery at the local supermarket. Kids Out A full day of entertainment, snacks and fun for children in Aberdeen Shoebox Appeal In conjunction with local schools, the club organises a shoebox collection. Each box contains food, utensils, toys etc and is sent to needy families in third world countries or disaster zones Shelterbox Appeal Founded by the Rotary club of Helston in Devon, Shelterbox is a modular survival kit containing a tent, cooking utensils, tools and general survival equipment. Each box can support 10 people and thousands were recently sent to Haiti. Our club funds 3-4 of these boxes per year. Rotary Foundation Our own international charity is the world’s largest private, independent charity and has been working on the eradication of Polio (see Polio Plus). Additionally the Foundation funds charity and relief work globally, supports international student and cultural exchanges. President’s Barbecue This is an annual social event for club members and their guests. Inchmarlo Golf Challenge The golf challenge is kindly hosted by the Inchmarlo Golf Course and is a competition between teams of four players. Teams are entered by local businesses. Young Speechmaker Working with around 6 local primary schools, the club encourages pupils in public presentation skills. For many of the participants this is the first time that they have spoken in public. Young Engineers Originally started as the Shell EcoMarathon, the object is now to build and run a vehilce that will go as far as possible on a single battery charge. Pupils from Banchory Academy compete on the circuit at Alford. Winners then compete in the UK finals at the Rockingham race circuit. Our club has assisted with this event in the past. Young Enterprise Banchory Academy pupils are encouraged to get involved in enterprise project where they design a product and then market the product. Our members have assisted as mentors. Stroke Awareness Strokes and TIAs are a major cause of both death and disability - yet a simple test enables medical professionals to assess the probability of a person suffering a stroke. The club has promoted the Stroke Awareness event in the local community for the last four years. Cookie Challenge For the younger pupils at the Academy there is an annual commercial competition to create a biscuit, the package and the marketing strategy. Our members have acted as mentors. Life After School - Inteview Techniques Interviews are a crucial element in opening opportunities to college, university, employment etc. Members assist by tutoring in interview technique and by acting as independent interviewers. Young Musician Competition Until 2010 this was an annual competition between Banchory, Aboyne and Mearns Academies. As of 2010 the competition is between Banchory Academy pupils only and determines the local finalist for the regional heats. Our club works with the school music department to arrange an evening concert. The Ternan Times Our very own, award-winning publication that chronicles events in the life of the club and its members. Banchory Show The club has a fund-raising stand at the Banchory Show. The Banchory Directory For over 12 years the club produced the ‘Banchory Directory’ which was a business and community listing. Another, competing directory was launched five years ago and the future of the Rotary publication is under discussion. Braemar Royal Highland Gathering The club represents Rotary at this event and welcomes Rotarians from around the world to this traditional and evocative event. Each guest is presented with a personalised certificate of attendance and has their photograph taken. The Banchory Street Map Also 12 years ago the club produced and marketed a street plan of Banchory. Again, other publishers copied our example and maps are now easily available on-line so it is unlikely that this will be published again. Deeside Steam and Vintage Rally Held in August, this large event runs over a weekend. Our members have provided gate-keeping services for the event. Deeside Photographic Competition & Calendar Run for the first time in 2010, entries were invited for photographs of Deeside at work, play and through the seasons. An A3 sized colour calendar was published using the the winning entries. The Banchory Webcam We are in the process of installing a webcam somewhere in the centre of Banchory. The images will be available on this website and can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the world. The cam has full compliance with the Information Commissioner’s regulations and has been approved by the commissioner’s office. Pensioners Christmas Party Every Christmas the club organises a concert party with entertainment, teas and snacks for the senior citizens. RYLA - Rotary Young Leadership Awards Rotary clubs from the north of Scotland all sponsor secondary school pupils to attend this out-door course at Nethybridge. Applicants are interviewed, selected and then sent on the one week course. On their return, they give a short presentation on their experiences. Sponsoring two young Indian Pupils in Chennai As the result of the Indian charity work of local golf professional Muriel Thomson of Portlethen Golf Club, our club has ‘adopted’ two young boys in a school in Chennai in India. We pay for school fees and will continue to do so though their primary education. Dictionaries for Life This initiative provides a dictionary for every 6th year primary school child in the local catchment area and includes Banchory, Hill of Banchory, Crathes, Torphins, Strachan and Woodlands of Durris schools. Banchory Development Initiative We currently have a representative on the above committee. His job is to reflect the views of Rotary and also to relay any feedback on the various planning issues. Fishing Thanks to the generosity of some of the local salmon fisheries, our club members can enjoy some excellent salmon fishing on the River Dee. Golf Several of our members are golfers and play in Rotary competitions both locally and in other parts of Scotland. Hillwalking Keen walkers form the ‘Last of the summer wine’ group who meet weekly during the summer months and explore the many local walking routes. Gavel Competition This is an inter-Rotary sporting challenge that depends more on a mis- spent youth than athletic skill. It involves darts, bowling, deck quiots, snooker and a range of other sports. Our club has won through to the semi-finals in past years. Curling The club currently fields a single team of 4 players who play in the Rotary provincial league and are based at Curl Aberdeen, one of the newest and possibly one of the best curling facilities in the world. President’s Barbecue Normally held in May, this is a relaxed afternoon/evening of enjoying good food, good company and perhaps even a little to drink. Normally open to guests of members too. Christmas Dinner On the last Wednesday before Christmas, this is an evening to which partners are invited. All the normal Christmas fare and razz-mataz is present and Santa always makes a star appearance. Burns Night As Scotland’s national bard, Rabbie Burns is celebrated with haggis, chappit neeps and skirlie. The usual speeches are given and whisky is enjoyed. District 1010 - Scotland North Aberdeen & Deeside