MP visits the Rotary Club of Billericay
Recently John Baron MP visited the Rotary Club of Billericay at its regular meeting. In a wide-ranging talk he praised the Rotary Club of Billericay for its service to the community, and covered recent political and constituency events, including a good-natured Questions and Answer session.
John Baron MP said:
“We started the annual Fun Walk in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Year and 20 continuous years later we celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, having raised over £1,500,000 in total. I am delighted that the Rotary Club of Billericay is a long-term supporter, this year raising over £3,500 including their £1,000 bonus.”
“I congratulate the Rotary Club’s members for their service to the community. The Club has raised substantial sums for a wide variety of good causes, to which it donated over £26,000 last year alone. In the four years before Covid the Club organised the Billericay Soapbox Derby where up to 10,000 spectators enjoyed exciting and wacky races, raising over £100,000 for charities and good causes.”
“More recently it raised over £25,000 to dig ten water wells in Kenya providing over 5,000 schoolchildren at ten primary schools with fresh water to drink and grow food, despite the widespread drought. It also founded and sponsors two RotaKids clubs at Buttsbury and Quilters Junior Schools, supporting the children’s efforts and the staff who lead the clubs.”
President Michael Ginn said:
“We are very proud of our fundraising, the work we do and our continuing commitment of service. We welcome all like-minded people wishing to join us and help complete future community projects.”
Notes to Editors:
The attached photographs show John Baron MP with Billericay Rotary Club President Michael Ginn, and John Baron MP speaking to Rotary Club members.
Other good causes supported by the Rotary Club include:
- The End Polio Now campaign to rid the world of Polio, started by Rotary, has reduced polio cases by 99.9% since its first project in the Philippines in 1979. The Rotary Club of Billericay has supported this cause for many years with major donations, worth over £12,000 last year.
- In addition it has raised money for many causes such as Ukraine (over £1,700), and the Billericay Food Bank (another £1,000 towards the purchase of a transit van).
- RotaKids have fun while making a positive difference, and undertake projects of their choice to raise money for local and international causes. The Buttsbury Junior School RotaKids recently received a prestigious “Presidential Citation” from Rotary International Headquarters in the USA for its achievements.
