President Ted Benneyworth and Young Doug

Every year on the second Wednesday in June hundreds of Rotary Clubs across the UK put on a special day for children with special needs. Farnborough Rotary club holds its own special day for many children across the region too.

This year we held a balloon race. The winner was young Doug..

Here are a few words from President Ted Benneyworth..

“The winner of the balloon race was Doug of Ash Grange School. I went down to the school and presented him with the prize of £15.00 for the balloon which went the furthest. The balloon tried to get into the Glastonbury Festival but was stopped by security fencing.  The school will be using the money for gardening materials”.

History Of Kids Out

Lady Grantchester, of the Moore’s family and owners of Littlewoods, suggested to the Rotary Club in Kingston, where she lived, that they take disadvantaged children on a day out. She approached Rotarians Peter Jarvis and Graham Child about the idea. A deal was struck, and in 1990 the Kingston Rotary Club and Kingston Littlewoods store organised an outing for 200 children to go to Thorpe Park. The day was so successful that Lady Grantchester offered a one off grant to any Rotary Club willing to take part in a similar event on the 2nd Wednesday in June. Overnight 800 Rotary Clubs from all over the UK joined in and the National Rotary KidsOut Day was created. It immediately became the biggest single outing for disadvantaged children in the UK, with tens of thousands of children taken out on the second Wednesday every June.

 

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