District 1280 is a relatively 'young' District
having been formed only in 1987 by the division of Clubs within
the 'mother' District 1050. It covers a small geographical area
from the plains of Cheshire, through the industrial part of Lancashire
and Greater Manchester to the infamous moors of Saddleworth and
of course the famous TT course on the Isle of Man.
The District has many places of interest including the Peel
Tower in Bury which was erected in honour of Sir Robert Peel.
Sir Robert reorganised the London Metropolitan police force and
from whom originated the terminology 'the British Bobbie' after
his first name, and Tynwald, the oldest parliament in the world
at St. John's in the Isle of Man.
There is also the famous 'Gracie Fields' theatre in Rochdale
and of course 'Wigan Pier'. The district is not only commemorating
the past but looking to the future with the new 'Lowry' Centre
in Salford and a special 'Peace Centre' in Warrington which was
built following the difficult times in that town some years ago.
Since January 1986 the Rotarians in
District 1050 had been working on laying a solid foundation on
which to build District 1280. The first District Governor was
Norman Wellens who said in his inaugural address 'Rotarians of
District 128 your continued support is essential to maintain
and always improve our district in the years to come'.
That improvement has not only been
seen in the formation of new clubs (the District has fortyeight
clubs at present - four of these in the Isle of Man) but
also in the Service of Rotarians within the local and world-wide
communities. The District has been fortunate in that four of
its members have been awarded Rotary's highest honour of the
'Service above Self' award.
The District has been, and is continuing
to be, active in all aspects of service within Rotary and has
developed both Community and International projects, which have
been extended within Rotary
in Great Britain and Ireland. Amongst some of these are the
'Daffodil Planting' scheme and the 'Rotary
Shoe Box' scheme.
It is actively involved with 'Youth
Activities' and has carried on the 'Summer Camp' which
was started in District 1050 in 1947 and is the longest serving
camp within Rotary International. Young people from all parts
of Europe attend a camp (ironically over the past few years
held in District 1050) for two weeks during July and August
to join in fellowship and international understanding.
The District has three Rotaract
Clubs, and two Interact
Clubs. They give service within the local and world-wide
communities and support Rotary projects. Recently one of the
members of Rotaract went on a trek with the Nepal Trust carrying
out valuable work for the trust and another member went on
a Group Study Exchange to New Jersey, USA. One of the Interact
Clubs went out to the Czech Republic to work in a Children's
home.
Since 1990 the District has been supporting
'Life Education Centres' which
is a health and drug prevention education programme designed
for primary school children. The first mobile unit was borrowed
and now the District supports six mobile units which are operated
through two charitable trusts. Each year over 75,000 children
in 200 primary schools hear and remember the messages of keeping
healthy and avoiding drug misuse and abuse.
Many large community events are carried
out within the District and these not only provide finance for
community projects but also serve the community. Perhaps two
of the well known events are the 'Saddleworth Show' in Saddleworth
and 'Rotaraid Day' in Ramsey. The District also substantially
supports 'Kids Out'.
Continuing within the aspect of Community
Service 'Sports for the Disabled' is supported with a 'North
West' sports day which is held in St. Helens and a team
is chosen to represent the area at the finals in Coventry.
Over the past few years the team has achieved First place three
times, and third place once. One of the team members became
a world champion in his own field of weight-lifting, and more
recently out team won the National Finals.
The District chose not to merge the
Community and Vocational Service committees
and as a consequence, have retained a strong sense of identity
within both. The District 'Youth Activities' Committee looks
after such service as 'Youth Speaks' and this has further strengthened
the Vocational Committee. Over the past few years there have
been public debates, behind the scenes visits to research establishments
and a 'Science Extravaganza' for young people.
Within the service of International the
District has supported all aspects of world community service
and in particular in recent years a mobile clinic in Uganda and
a kindergarten in Romania. It has been successful in winning
the 'Connecticut' Trophy awarded for International Service by
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.
The principles of International Understanding
have been extended through a Group
Study Exchange programme each year which has ranged from
India to Japan, Uganda to Finland, to name but a few, and exchanges
are proposed with India and Poland.
The District, as many others, has
it's own successful web site and within the area of Communications
one of the clubs has been awarded RIBI 'Public Relations' award
and also an RI 'Public Relations' award.
Since the majority of the clubs within
the District are mainly inland towns the District Conferences
are held in seaside resorts outside the District such as Llandudno,
Scarborough and Southport.
The conferences are well supported with nearly 900 delegates
attending. For the first time in District 1280 the Conference
in 2000 was held in Douglas which was very special as the District
Governor, Harry Pease, is a member of the Rushen and Western
Mann club, one of the Isle of Man clubs.
The District has been the home of
many celebrities including Gracie Fields, Sir Cyril Smith the
member of Parliament for Rochdale, Dr Patrick Steptoe who pioneered
the test tube baby and of course Sir Norman Wisdom who lives
on the Isle of Man. Sir Norman Wisdom has over many years actively
supported the service of Rotary in the District. The Rotarians
in District 1280 will continue to improve the district in the
years to come.
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