International Rally
The District International Service Rally
Every Year a District International Rally is held at which the clubs take individual stalls to raise money for the chosen International charity for that year. Goods are made and sold, such as Craft items, Christmas crackers and decorations, and cakes and preserves. Many clubs organise sideshows, such as 'Water into Wine', 'The Underground Game' and 'Guess the weight of the Cake'. Some clubs do the same stall each year, eg. the knitted and crocheted goods produced by Margate Craft Group, and others swap what they wish to do so that there is plenty of variety. A delicious lunch is provided and there is plenty of opportunity to look at all the various stalls, before a Presentation is made by the International Charity for that year. At the end of the Rally there will be a cheque presented to the speaker. Each year a colour theme is chosen for the Rally.
Members can see pictures and information concerning previous International Service Rallies on the Events page side bar.
The 2019 International Rally was held as usual at Ditton.
The charity this year was 'Footsteps International' and the colour theme was Bright Light Blue.
District International Service Chairman, Pat Sanford gives her report below.
'What a fantastic day it was! The hall was prepared by the time I got there at 8.30 am and soon it was buzzing with ladies setting out their stalls! The Hall was so colourful and the variety of stalls was wonderful and very inventive. Thanks to Jackie and Fran, the flower table decorations added to the colour and the ambience of the day. The schedule was a little different this year and we were treated to the thought-provoking presentation from Mary and Martin Print first. Wow! Did they grab our attention! They both spoke with such passion and enthusiasm about their work in Kenya.
Thank you to Marion Keeble for giving us her personal reflections on her visit to Kenya with 'Footsteps International'.
DC Liz then formally opened the Rally, and everyone joined in with gusto! I could see bottles, sweets and other items being won by so many members. There were also many bargains to be had on several stalls!
I am so pleased to tell you that there was a total profit of £3180.16 on the day!
What a wonderful amount, the balance of which 'Footsteps International' have been sent, £500 having already been presented on the day. This enables the charity to use the monies with immediate effect.'
Martin and Mary have sent this message
"Once again, please pass on our thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the Rally a success and to make us feel so welcome. Today we received news of Edward Makari, a street boy who we took into our Sunshine Centre way back in 2004. He graduated from Masai Mara University in December with a 2:1 degree and has now started working at Eldoret International Airport hopefully the start of a high flying career!"
"Thank you all for making the Rally such a success!" Pat
