In April, The Rotary Young Artist Competition made a welcome return to the town. The intention behind the competition and exhibition is to give local children aged seven to 11 years old the opportunity to take part in an art exhibition and display their work to the public.
Entries have increased every year since it started in 2015, with the last competition before the break brought about by the pandemic attracting hundreds of entries and making for a very colourful display.
Happily, this year’s theme ‘The Coronation’ caught the interest of many young people and entries were of a very high standard, and again made for a beautiful display. The children’s work was featured as part of the Retford Art Society Exhibition alongside local artists.
Members of the Rotary Club of Retford enjoyed a busy afternoon mounting all the artwork for display to the public. Held in St Swithun’s Church, the exhibition was open for three Saturdays from the end of April to mid-May.
Over 21 young artists were recognised with merits and there were nine prize winners from six local schools and over 120 pieces of art. The judges, courtesy of the Retford Art Society, looked on as the gleeful children bounded forward to collect their prizes before the finale, with Ordsall Primary School awarded an enormous trophy and prize for best school drew the evening to a close.
The Rotary Club was pleased to donate £500 to Ranskill Primary School to replace old, tatty and damaged books with some new ones, so that the children can be provided with good quality resources to encourage a love of reading.
The Club President-Elect joined up with a member of Rotherham Rotary Club to make a trip to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Nottingham and deliver shoes boxes containing donations for Ukrainian service personnel. The plight of Ukraine has not been forgotten, and local clubs, as well as the Rotary organisation nationally and internationally, continue to support the people of Ukraine across a range of projects.
Keen to contribute to The Big Help Out for the Coronation, a group of Retford Rotary members and volunteers held a litter pick. Several bin bags of rubbish were collected from along the river and on various roads around the town. The pickers received several complimentary comments from passing people and one even made an on-the-spot donation to the Club!
Finally, the club will be holding a Charity Golf Day on Wednesday 19th July at Retford Golf Club – fingers crossed for a sunny day after the rainy event of last year! It is held in support of the NSPCC and Focus on Young People in Bassetlaw; if you are interested in entering a team to support these charities please see the Retford Rotary Club page on Facebook for further details and contacts.