Events

Youth Speaks
The 2025 Youth Speaks Rotary Competition is being held by the Club on Thursday 16th January at 6pm, at The Church of the Holy Spirit, Bedgrove. There are 3 teams from
local schools participating this year. The District Final is then being held at St Michael’s Catholic School, Aylesbury on Thursday 6th Feb and Friday 7th Feb 5.00 pm onwards.

Young Chef
The 2025 Young Chef Rotary Competition is being held on Saturday 18th January.
9.00am onwards to around 2.00 pm, hosted by Kingsbrook Academy School. There will be 8 contestants from local schools.

Technology Tournament.
The 2025 Technology Tournament is being held on Monday 10th February, hosted by The Grange School from 9am -3pm approx. There are a number of entries from schools in the Aylesbury Vale area, and there is a very interesting challenge this year.

A talk and presentation by our Club Member, Tony Divers, on Memories of the D-Day landings, as told to him by his father, who was there.

A Guest/Friends evening at The Plough, Aylesbury, at 7:00 for 7:15 pm.

A talk by Linda Grantham from Enrych Buckinghamshire. Enrych believe that every adult should be able to choose how they live and be empowered to realise the choices they make. Their mission is to work collaboratively to eliminate social isolation and improve wellbeing for adults living with disability.

https://www.enrychbuckinghamshire.org.uk/

A Guest/Friends evening at The Plough, Aylesbury, at 7:00 for 7:15 pm

On Monday 17th February the Club will present cheques to representatives of the 7 charities/good causes that we supported on our Santa collection evenings. They are:

PACE
Chiltern neuro
Stoke Mandeville Spinal research
Emmetts Genies
St Mary’s Christmas Meal
Florence Nightingale Hospice (hospice at home)
Aylesbury Society

A Guest/Friends evening at The Plough, Aylesbury, at 7:00 for 7:15 pm

A guided walk through the Waddesdon Estate countryside

In aid of Dementia UK

The Rotary Club of Aylesbury Hundreds would like to thank our sponsors for the support they gave us for our recent STRIDE Charity Walk:

Waddesdon Manor Events Management

Waddesdon Cricket Club

Dementia UK

Digital Services Tring

Dayla Drinks

Wenzel’s

Morrisons

Tesco

The event was enjoyed by all who attended, and especially by those that took part in the walks through the beautiful Waddeson Estate countryside.

Thank you for all your support with your fundraising for Dementia UK.

Our popular and successful Rotary Rocks programme
comprises fundraiser concerts featuring both locally and
nationally recognised acts. Apart from raising money for
worthy charities, the programme also seeks to bring our
community work to a wider audience through promoting acts
representing different musical genres. To date there have been
five raising in excess of £4,000 for seven charities. The gigs
are held at the Limelight Theatre in partnership with The
Queens Park Arts Centre. The most recent event on Saturday
9th March 2024 saw the return of the hugely popular ‘Man the
Lifeboats’ who in 2019 helped us raise £760.00 for The Vale of
Aylesbury Charity School Therapy Dog Project at Stocklake and
Booker Park Schools. Their latest concert raised nearly £750
for Buckinghamshire Mind. Watch out for our next Rotary Rocks gig – they are always a good evening out, and always raise funds for local charities.

Each year the Club arranges for the sale of poppies at a number of locations in Aylesbury, in support of The British Legion.

On Remembrance Sunday, at the Memorial In Market Square, the Club’s wreath was laid by our Honorary Treasurer, Roger King.

Next round of Youth Support events to be held in January and February, 2024.

Technology Tournament

For teams of four students from local schools and colleges, providing challenging and enjoyable ways to enrich their STEM learning. Working in teams to solve technology based tasks whilst using oral, written and graphical communication skills
to compile a project portfolio. The task aims to test the collective knowledge, ingenuity, innovation and manual skills of the four students and their ability to work as a team.

Youth Speaks

Designed to encourage your people to develop the ir creative and presentation skills essential to the art of public speaking. In teams of three, participants present arguments and and points of discussion, before taking questions from a preselected
member of the audience. They can select a topic go interest or
importance to them, giving them the opportunity to delve deep into research, formulate ideas, and build confidence.

Young Chef

YOUNG CHEF. Second place prize, working with Hartwell House Head Chef Daniel Richardson. With President Peter Linford.

The objective is to encourage and develop creativity in young people, which here is in the kitchen. Students prepare and present a two course meal within a pre-set budget and time limit, which is judged by an expert panel. The students learn to
cook a healthy meal, develop food presentation skills, consider food hygiene issues, develop organisational and planning skills, and develop ability to cope in a demanding situation.

In support of the Rotary International Polio Eradication Programme.

Members of our Club helped The Kingsbrook Rangers plant crocus bulbs in the grounds at The Kingsbrook School. There were 4000 bulbs! Loads were planted at the school and others donated locally. We look forward to seeing a magnificent display at the school and across the estate in the spring.

Shoeboxes

Members of the Interact Group with club President Peter Linford at The Kingsbrook School, Aylesbury filled 20 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. These go to support children who might not otherwise receive a Christmas gift.

Santa Float Thanks

December 2024 – Santa flew into Aylesbury and with the help of the two local Rotary Clubs (Aylesbury and Aylesbury Hundreds), and local charities/good causes, he visited as many locations as possible in the Aylesbury area.

Santa’s Carol Float travelled around many of the Aylesbury estates, and a number of pre-publicised static locations around the town.

The aim as always was to bring Yuletide cheer to Aylesbury residents and visitors, while raising as much money as possible for our local charities, good causes, and foodbanks.

Here are some memories from the visits, which we hope you will enjoy:

A HUGE thanks from us all at Aylesbury Hundreds and Aylesbury Rotary Clubs to the people of Aylesbury for your welcome and generosity as we visited areas around the town with our Santa Floats before Christmas. This event is always a joy and this year was no different. To see all those happy faces greeting Santa warms hearts even on the coldest of nights.

Our thanks also go to Nissan Aylesbury, who provided a vehicle to tow Santa about; to Motts, and to Friars Square, who allowed Santa to rest in their yards during the day; to our volunteer drivers, who made sure Santa could be seen around the town; and to Trackit24/7 for their support with the tracking system. Thanks also to Chiltern View Nursery and Tesco Tring Road for hosting us.

We were joined on a number of rounds by local charities and good causes. Thank you everyone for volunteering and joining us.

We look forward to seeing you all again next December
2025.

If you would like to help us as a Friend of Rotary on our Santa
Sleigh rounds next December, or would like to learn more about us and Rotary, then please CONTACT us.

ROTARY ROCKS – MAN THE LIFEBOATS – 9th March 2024
MEMORABLE EVENING

Man The Lifeboats

Another memorable gig by Man the Lifeboats who first played for us in 2019. Their unique and original blend of ‘full throttle alternative folk’ was enjoyed by an enthusiastic and appreciative sell out audience. A lively and happy evening – a tonic for these troubled times!

Nearly £750 was raised for Buckinghamshire Mind. Many thanks to everyone who bought tickets and raffle tickets, to Man The Lifeboats, and to our partner charity The Queens Park Arts Centre who looked after everybody so well.

Thanks too for the raffle prizes provided by; Heritage & Sons Funeral Directors; Rococo Lounge; Waterside Theatre; Queens Park Arts Centre; Miller and Carter; Morrisons; Man The Lifeboats; and members of the Rotary Club of Aylesbury Hundreds.

Watch out for our next Rotary Rocks gig – they are always a good evening out, and always raise funds for local charities.

On Saturday 20 January 2024 Aylesbury Hundreds Rotary Club held its annual Young Chef Competition in a new home at The Kingsbrook School. Many thanks to Mr Cook and the team for their support and hospitality.

Contestants this year came from The Kingsbrook School itself, Aylesbury Grammar School and Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School.

Students had to prepare two courses to a budget of £18.00. Dishes included Cheesy polenta with grilled tomato chicken and tender stem broccoli; blueberry and lemon cheesecake pots; Wiener Schnitzel with Hasselback potatoes and steamed baby carrots, followed by a light chocolate mousse and Sea bass fillet with a pureed cured parsnip and roasted cauliflower, roasted vine cherry  tomatoes, followed by a deconstructed  crumble with poached pear apple juice and vanilla ice.

The competition was judged by Daniel Richardson, Head Chef at Hartwell House, supported by Ben from his own team and Mohammed, Head Chef from the Woolpack.

The standards were again amazing and attending adults got to try them out, which was very enjoyable. Our thanks go to the teachers for supporting their students in the competition.

Our winner was from Kingsbrook, with a runner-up from Sir Henry Floyd. Our winner enjoys coaching from Daniel Richardson before the next Rotary District round. Our runner up has a meal for four, kindly donated by The Woolpack. Our third place contestant took home a book of 50 American recipes, one for each state.

Prizes were presented by Deputy Mayor Cllr Alan Sherwell.

We look forward to further success for our winner in the next round!

Rotary District 1260 in Beds, Bucks and Herts Young Chef Finals. Our sponsored contestant from The Kingsbrook School, Aylesbury prepared Cheesy polenta with grilled tomato chicken and tender stem broccoli, followed by Blueberry and lemon cheesecake pots. The Judge Chef said he would happily have been served any of the entries in a restaurant. Great work. Photo shows District Governor Barbara Middleton with contestant and Head Judge.

On Monday 5 February we held our annual Technology Tournament at The Aylesbury Vale Academy.

Teams of students from across Aylesbury were set the task of designing a powered device to cross a crocodile-infested swamp. Each team was presented with materials and given a list of permitted tools. After an hour of planning they were allowed to begin their building. The success of the device was judged, as was their portfolio of designs and deliberations.

We had winning teams in three age bands from The Grange School and The Cottesloe School. There were also awards for students from Aylesbury High School and The Kingsbrook School.

We were delighted to be hosted again this year by Aylesbury Vale Academy. It is our third year at this venue and we extend our thanks to Principal Gavin Gibson and his team.

The event was also supported by our friends from the Wendover and Winslow Rotary Clubs.

Youth Speaks Competition – Preparing at Rotary Club Evening for District Final & at District Final Evening at The Plough, Aylesbury with a presentation from pupils at The Kingsbrook School, Aylesbury for Rotary Youth Speaks.

Youth Speaks final. Our sponsored team from The Kingsbrook School, Aylesbury with District Governor Barbara Middleton and Club President Peter Linford. Their topic was ‘Female athletes are disadvantaged in elite sport’ . The Chair did an excellent job of hosting the debate and both speakers gave persuasive speeches, handling well the question from the floor.

Young Chef – 20th January

We are delighted to be hosted this year at the Kingsbrook Secondary School. Thanks to Mr Jonathan Cook for his support in running this event, which will take place on Saturday 20 January 2024.

We have contestants from Aylesbury Grammar School, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, and The Kingsbrook School, whose work will be judged by Chef Daniel Richardson of Hartwell House, and his fellow judges, one of whom is an award-winning chef who was formerly a Rotary Young Chef contestant, bringing it nicely full circle. Students prepare in 2hrs a two course meal on a budget of £18.00, served to the school’s dining room. Our winner will progress to the Rotary District Final in a month’s time.

Youth Speaks – 1st February

Our public speaking tournament takes place at Church of the Holy Spirit, Bedgrove, on Thursday 1 February 2024.  

We have teams from The Kingsbrook School, Aylesbury High School, and local Guiding taking part, presenting their cases for and against a motion and taking unseen questions from the floor. They will be keenly judged by Celebrant Andy Bell, preacher Lydia Lee and our host, Rev Martin Kuhrt.

We are in two age ranges and winners in both progress to the next round.

We start a 17.00. Family and friends are welcome to come and listen to the debate.

Technology Tournament – 5th February

Our annual Technology Tournament is held for the third time at Aylesbury Vale Academy. On Monday 5 February 2024, 20 teams from schools across Aylesbury and beyond will be set the task of designing, building and demonstrating – we couldn’t possibly say! – to our Rotarian judges. They must show how they arrived at their design, their rationale for choosing that design over others, their plans for construction and that works. There are no later rounds of this. It’s a one day event with a trophy awarded to our winners in Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced stages. They are provided with resources, but bring their own tools. 

Guided walk from Roger King
Meet 6.30 pm Corn Exchange Arches,
Market Square
Guests welcome
No need to book
Nominal charge of £2.00 per head
Food at The White Hart (optional)

‘The Coronation’ a talk from

Lt Col Charlie Field
Deputy Chairman
C P J Field

A Guest evening at The Plough, Aylesbury, on Monday 15th April, 7:00 for 7:15 pm

Mary’s Meals presentation – David Chapman

Presentation on the work of Mary’s Meals https://www.marysmeals.org.uk and possible support.

Guest evening to be held in the Club private room at The Plough, Tring Road, Aylesbury.

Meeting starts with dinner at 7:30pm.  Arrive 7:00 to 7:15pm. 

Venue – Aylesbury Rugby Club, Weston Turville

A very successful Rotary Fundraiser for British Heart Foundation enjoyed by all, and celebrating 25 years of Fergies Fitness classes at Bedgrove Pavilion.​

Presentation of Cheques from Donations on the 2023 Santa FloatRounds – 19 February

Cheque Presentation Evening at The Plough, Aylesbury with our Santa Float Charity Partners. L to R Paul & Kim Walters St Mary’s Christmas Dinner Appeal, Louise Walker The Pace centre, for children with motor disorders, Roger King The Aylesbury Society, Kirsty Robson Chilterns Neuro Centre, Kate Favell Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research, Eve Hellyer WheelPower and Peter Linford President

Mayor of Aylesbury Cllr Steve Lambert visited the club on 4th Marchat The Plough, Aylesbury
With Vice President Ann Routledge and Treasurer Roger King

Members and Friends of the Club held a very enjoyable Christmas Dinner on 27 November at The Woolpack Inn, Stoke Mandeville.