The Ludlow Supports Refugees Group which helps families fleeing from the war in Ukraine, the Ludlow Men’s Shed Project which aims to provide a social setting for men through involvement in DIY activity, and the South Shropshire Engineering Ambassadors which works with schools to promote an interest in engineering amongst children, were three of the local organisations to benefit from this year’s community grants scheme run by Ludlow Rotary Club.
‘Ludlow Rotary Cares’ is the name the Club has given to the scheme which offers local charities and other organisations supporting community life the opportunity to apply for a modest grant of up to £500. Over the past eight years the Club has been able to invest over £40,000 in over 85 local community projects in and around Ludlow through this scheme. At a special meeting of the club on Tuesday 23 May, a further ten grants amounting to £5,000 were awarded.
The full list of award recipients comprises:
The Friends of Cleobury Mortimer Primary School
The Arts Society Teme Valley
Kimbolton St James’ Primary School
South Shropshire Engineering Ambassadors
Ludlow National Childbirth Trust
Hands Together Ludlow (Ludlow Men’s Shed Project)
Ludlow Food Bank
Clun Valley Music
Clun Valley Sewing Team
Ludlow Supports Refugees Group
Speaking at the event Club President, Hillary Delaney Hall, said “Apart from the opportunity to offer practical support to many local and valued initiatives, these occasions also bring home the amount of unseen but dedicated volunteering which goes on in our communities. It’s good that we are able to recognise and applaud it in this small way.”
“However, our support is possible only as a result of our fundraising efforts each year. Notable amongst them is our annual Dog Day event which, this year, is taking place on 23 July at Stokesay Court and which we hope will, in turn, attract widespread interest and support.”
BF/AJT/24/05/23.
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Ludlow Mens Shed – A note from David Burton – “Ludlow Men’s Shed has now purchased a range of battery-powered portable power tools funded by Ludlow Rotary Club – using these tools removes the risk of electrical cables being cut and trips hazards around the workshop. A great “thank you” to Ludlow Rotary Club from Ludlow Men’s Shed! 21/06/2023
“Ludlow Rotary Club have been fabulous supporters of Ludlow Men’s Shed. During 2023 the Rotary Cares Grant enabled us to move from using mains-fed power tools to battery-powered tools. This has made a huge difference – no more power cables trailing across the floor or risks of electric shocks plus the ability to move around the workshop and assist others without setting up electrical connections. We have subsequently had no trips, falls or accidents this year – well done Ludlow Rotary Club!” 02/11/2023.
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you again for the grant money that you generously granted us back in May. I just wanted to share with you some photographs of what we’ve spent the money on and worked on over the summer holidays. We’re so happy with how the redevelopment is going and we simply couldn’t have done it without your kind donation.
We’ve been able to buy an outdoor blackboard hundred square, the beautiful waterfall water-play equipment, the writing cupboard with resources, the outdoor sink and hose and the planting/potting shelving unit. It’s taken time to purchase everything and build/erect it , and as always, there’s still lots to do, but we’re super happy and so grateful for what we’ve been able to achieve this far! In January the area looked in a completely different state affairs- and yes, my husband has been the handyman/magic man whose brought of the purchases to life!!
Thank you so much again for everything. I know the dog fun day was a success as our teaching assistant attended and she said it was amazing!
You really do make such a difference to the local community”
Kind regards Sara Smith
Posted 13/11/2023
Ludlow Supports Refugees Group
The support group were aware that the school holidays posed a particular problem for Ukrainian families living in South Shropshire and North Herefordshire. These families do not have the usual support networks open to them for childcare, through the school holidays. This is due to both a lack of family or friends available, and also those who are working are in in low-income jobs, many of which are part time nature. After discussing this with a local Ukrainian lady who was a teacher in Ukraine, we set about providing child- care and activities for four mornings per week from 9.00 am to 1.00pm. This was free for the parents and allowed them to continue to work through the school holidays and gave the children a wide variety of activities which were both fun and educational. We also wanted the children to learn about our local history so each week one of the mornings was dedicated to attending a museum in Shropshire and Herefordshire. We were able to use the Quakers Meeting House in Ludlow which provided the children with an area to develop crafting skills, a cooking space, and a large garden to play games. The children had a fantastic time with lots of outdoor play, yoga classes, salt dough modelling, cooking, drawing, bracelet weaving, paper appliques, quilling, sports quests outside, and the museum visits. We had up to nine children at each session. A huge thank you to Iryna K for putting on this camp and supporting families with much needed childcare, so they could continue to go to work, without too much disruption. This was a very successful summer project, and we hope to repeat this during other holiday periods. We would be very happy to supply any other information you may require.
Thank you for providing funding which contributed towards the costs of the summer children’s holiday camp.
Erica Garner, Volunteer Coordinator, Ludlow Supports Refugees
Posted 13/11/23
Friends of Cleobury Primary School
New sports equipment to enrich the play time of pupils
Posted 13/11/23
Clun Valley Sewing Team
“Thank you for the opportunity of updating you on what we have been able to achieve so far this year. With the support of Ludlow Rotary Cares we have been able to deliver 120 menstrual care kits to women and girls in Angola. We mentioned in our presentation in May that we were keen to show support for these incredible women who carry out work to remove mines from the land to make Angola safe and give hope for a peaceful future. Kits are also provided to young girls to enable them to attend school throughout the month, both improving their life chances and giving them dignity. Your kind grant enabled us to buy the fabric and other items needs to make the kits. Each kit costs around £10 to produce so your support was vital in helping us to achieve this goal. We have been lucky enough to receive some photos of the kits being delivered and were thrilled to be able to spot the specific kits we produced from the beautiful fabric we carefully sourced. We work hard to make sure each kits is brightly coloured and a joy to own, as well as the life changing practical difference made by having access to menstrual care items.
On a recent sewing day one of our team members who specialises in making the carry bags for the kits told us that she keeps a record of how many bags she has made and so for it total 120! This lady didn’t have any sewing skills when she joined us so this is a huge achievement. She has also recently expanded her skills and is making dresses for her granddaughter. This is a fabulous example of the positive impact on local people as well as the final recipients of the kits. We continue to be humbled by every aspect of our team and what it means to all those involved.
We have attached some pictures which make what we do feel real. The first was taken on the day we packed the first batch of kits to go to Angola and the others were taken in Angola by the team who delivered them.
Once again we thank you for your support, it means the world to us.
Tracey and Debi on behalf of Clun Valley Sewing Team
Posted 14/11/23
South Shropshire Engineering Ambassadors
SSEA have very kindly shared draft copy of their annual report with us and attached is a copy. It makes great reading and everyone at SSEA should be congratulated for the inspirational work they do with young people in South Shropshire. They are laying the foundation for the next generation of engineers. SSEA Report SSEA have had their wonderful work inspiring children by receiving a Kings Award for Voluntary Service.
Posted 16/11/23
Arts Society Teme Valley Summer 2023Volunteering Project – Funded by The Arts Society – Patricia Faye Grant & Ludlow Rotary Cares
Report for Rotary – November 2023
This has been such an exciting experience. Some of our members attended sessions in the Library, St Laurence’s, Hagley Place and Hendra House to work with local children, the public and senior citizens to gain an idea of what people remembered and loved about Ludlow in their past and now. At a workshop in the Library we collected images of Ludlow from magazines and newspapers from the 1950s, and, with the help of a wonderful collage expert Caris Jackson, we ran three further workshops, attended in total by about sixty people, to discuss the material collected, prompting conversations about the changes which had taken place in and around the marketplace and sharing memories of living and working in the town. It was a wonderful experience for many of us to hear what people remembered and wanted to share. The older generation thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk and remember. We recorded their experiences of the past through cutting out and clipping some of the images and then gluing them together to make a whole range of creative pictures which told stories
about how things had been. Some people talked about the old swimming pool, the range of shops available and the items sold, others remembered the Old Town hall, the fashions of the day, the cinema, the tea dances and the ‘sticky carpet’ club at the Starline club in what is now the Assembly rooms. The children all loved the creativity and talked about what the pictures meant to them. The older generation told us how much they had enjoyed the wonderful afternoon and were clearly enlivened by it all. The result from each workshop was a collection of collage pieces and lots of quotations to use on the screen that was to be the enduring product of the project Caris took all the pictures away and created a fine piece of art on the two middle panels of the fourfold screen . A graphic artist, Mark Ansell from Blast Design, worked in partnership with us creating two side panels full of quotations from the 1600’s, 1950’s and now. We held a celebratory event in October at the Assembly Rooms when Mandy Thorn, Shropshire’s High Sheriff unveiled the screen in the presence of many of those who had participated. Many of the residents of Hendra House enjoyed the chance to meet up with other people who had been involved over a cup of tea, sandwiches, and cakes! Photobooks and magnets provided souvenirs and mementos of the project for each person. The project had been fun and productive, and Teme Valley Arts Society has received several letters of appreciation. In the future we hope the screen will be on public display at a venue in Ludlow, it is currently travelling around to the various workshop venues. We will remember the whole experience for a long time.
Report prepared by Judith Payling Co-Chair ASTV Project Lead – November 2023
NCT Ludlow Playgroup
Steph from Ludlow NCT bumps and babies group has now sent us some great photos of how they used their grant.
updated 15/01/24.