Rotary volunteers in Daventry haven't let the coronavirus pandemic get in the way of helping others - home and away.
In fact, Rotary Club of Danetre Daventry has broken two records.
International chairman of the club, Bob Leaper, said: "Few people could imagine that a local Daventry club could have a record-breaking year at such a difficult time as a global pandemic, but we’ve broken not one but two records.
"Much of this work is made possible by the annual ‘Father Christmas’ collections, which take place throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas.
"This year the record for this collection was broken again, to produce the maximum amount ever collected in the 57 years it has been going on – more than £20,000."
All the money collected by Santa and his helpers is used to support local organisations and good causes in the Daventry area.
Bob added: "In recent years we have helped the local Food Bank, sports clubs, community activities, Afghan refugees in the area – and lots of other helpful initiatives.
"But Rotary also has a strong International focus and our club has been breaking records in this area too.
"The Rotary Club of Danetre, Daventry has, for the last two years, been spearheading a project to fund a solar-powered water pumping installation for a remote, hillside community in Nepal – the largest International project ever undertaken by the club."
The reason for this support is because many areas of Nepal lack good quality, piped water.
Bob went on: "It means women and children are obliged to collect water from a local stream or source and carry it uphill, sometimes over a mile or more, to just fulfil their normal daily requirements.
"The SolarMUS installation, as it’s called, enables water to be pumped to reservoirs in the community every time the sun shines, so there is a constant local supply of clean, filtered water."
The club started the project with £1,500, raised by other charitable activities, then attracted other clubs in the Rotary District (Dist. 1070) to add their donations in order to collect an amount of £12,000.
Bob said: "Fifteen other clubs and a commercial organisations contributed to have their club banners and logo shown on this picture of the solar panel array, a solar array like this will be installed in Nepal to power the water pump.
"To fully fund the equipment required for this project, the club needed to contribute a total of £20,000 so a District Grant was also applied for. The District Grant enabled a further £8,000 to be added to the 12,000 already collected. This was the first time that an award of the maximum £8,000 District Grant has ever been made in District 1070 – yet another record-breaker.
"So, in total we have raised £20,000 for local good causes, and £20,000 for the international project in Nepal, meaning that overall the Rotary Club of Danetre, Daventry, has been responsible for providing over £40,000 in support of good causes in Daventry and Internationally in the year 2021 – 22."
Volunteers would like to thank everybody who has supported their efforts.
