As President of the Rotary Club of Elthorne-Hillingdon I am walking the length of the Thames from the source to the Thames Barrier. As this is during Covid-19 there are changes with the route due to local restrictions that may occur.

As the club has not been able to fundraise this year due to lockdown restrictions and shielding. The President is doing a socially distanced walk as Ratty the Rotarian

So I am keen for people to join in and donate and send a photograph in.

The money raised will support local people who have hit difficult times such as the foodbank, Christmas Hampers for the women cared for by the Topaz team at Hillingdon Hospital and others. We are also looking at a project to help Make Hillingdon Dementia friendly especially people from the BAME community.

The club also supports a Vocational Training Team, this team teaches birth emergency skills to health professionals in Ngora, Uganda.

This is one of the local antenatal clinics.

It is important to teach people about handwashing and when people cannot read then alternative media such as illustrations have to be used to stress the importance of handwashing. This makes a difference in reducing infection and the spread of diseases.

Money will also be going to The Rotary Foundation which provides grants for maternal and child health and the latest area of focus is environmental.

So Ratty has been chosen because in Wind in the Willows he believed in fellowship and supporting the community and both of these are Rotary ideals as our Mission Statement is "Service before Self". Wind in the Willows is about the River Thames. Ratty as a Water vole requires clean water and unfortunately the River Thames is heavily polluted in microplastics. So we want to raise awareness about the environment.

So please donate it will make a difference