The Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge
TSUNAMI EARTHQUAKE -
ROTARY AQUABOX APPEAL - UPDATE
On behalf of the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge, we would like to express our thanks for your generous response to Rotary’s Aquabox Appeal for the victims of the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
The response from the local community and from local schools has been almost overwhelming and my colleagues in Rotary feel this has been one of the most worthwhile projects that we have ever been privileged to undertake.Following our Radio Bristol appeal on New Year's Eve for money to buy Aquaboxes and for donations of the essential survival items needed to fill the boxes we were inundated with offers of help.
On New Year's Day, Julia and Derek Smart opened their business premises in Fishponds, Bristol, as the initial reception and sorting centre for donated items. The same day Chelwood Village Hall was made available and by the next morning had been converted into a virtual 'production line' thanks to the amazing volunteer help of so many of the village people. This became the main sorting and packing centre.
On 4 January BBC Points West filmed the operation generating further publicity for our appeal. A Midsomer Norton businessman then offered to set up a second sorting and packing centre a few days later and the District Council made the Old Council Chamber in the High Street available.
Over the next three weeks goods donated were sufficient to fill a grand total of 1,981 temporary aquaboxes and enough money had been received to pay for the first 500 Aquaboxes with their filtration kits and survival bags. During February we were able to complete the packing of some 750 Aquaboxes for onward transmission to the Tsunami victims in South Asia. Money donations continued to be received and we now have sufficient to cover the cost of Aquaboxes for the remaining 1200 temporary boxes.
This represents a remarkable outcome and the Rotary Club of Chelwood Bridge would like to thank everyone that responded by donating money or essential survival items. We are also very grateful to the volunteers who manned the two 'production lines' right through to 24 January, and the businesspeople who made gifts of items we would otherwise have had to buy or provided their services free.
The whole exercise has shown us and so many people living in our communities what Rotary is capable of. We also found we had unintentionally helped to bring communities together with former strangers working cheerfully alongside their neighbours in the interests of people who had been left destitute on the other side of the world. As well as individual help and various village community groups across the Greater Bristol area and beyond, Chew Valley School, all our local junior schools and a number of others in and around Bristol played a great part in raising money and collecting items for us.
All in all this was a tremendous experience and out of extreme adversity much good has been achieved. Now that the immediate survival needs have been addressed we are linking with Rotary Clubs in the devastated countries to see how we can assist with longer-term reconstruction projects.
We were very proud to have been of service in this way during Rotary's Centenary Year and thank everyone who helped in whatever way.
Hugo Pike
Operation Aquabox Co-ordinator
