Club Blog

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14th and 15 th of September 2024
The club hosted metal detectors from around the South of England. This event has been staged since 2010.
85 participhants turned up on Saturday and and 65 were counted in on Sunday, approx 10 detectors made an overnight stay on the camping field. This year the catering was provided from a food truck provided by The Traveling Cupcake company normally seen in Andover High Street.

22nd of August saw some members and their partners meet at The Hampshire Golf Club for the club's annual Footgolf Competition.

The game was followed by a supper at The Crook and Shears pub in Upper Clatford.

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12th to 18th July 2024 Boat Trips on Kennet and Avon Canal

The club hired a canal boat for a week and arranged a number of daily trips, 3 Special Schoolls,a group from a womans refuge and a club day out on Sunday 14th. A great time was had by all and the club trip could become a yearly adventure.


23rd June 2024. Anton Rotary Car Show

The Car show was again held at the Weyhill Show Ground. About 70 cars turned up with drivers keen to show off their pride and joy. All monies donated will be give to the Countess of Brecknock Hospice Appeal.
27th May 2024 Annual Duck Races on the river Test at Town Mill Pub

Once again the people of Andover turned out to support this annual community event. This was probably the largest attendance and over 200 ducks turned up to race and the kids coloured their boats for the 2 special races.This is now a regular community event and will be next staged in May 2025

2nd May 2024 Skittles Night at the Eagle in Abbotts Ann

More sport, Back to the Eagle for another competitive evening with friends joining with the members to demonatrate how difficult it can be to roll a skittle's ball in a straight line.
The evening was concluded with a buffet supper.

19th April 2024 Presentation to Andover Trees Project of the Kings Award for Voluntary Service.

Having met all the requirements Andover Trees were one of only 3 Charities within Hampshire who were awarded this new award. The presentation was made on the King's behalf by the Lord -Lieutenant of Hampshire. The club have supported 'Tree planting' by local shool children for a number of years and have also planted a number of Trees within the Harmony Wood Project.
The Club were represented by President Gary Adams, IPP Ian McLeod and Kat Uren.
January 24th 2024 Darts Competition Evening

The year has turned and before getting down to serious work a fun evening took place at the Foresters Arms pub in Andover. A general competition took place through the evening with members and guests fighting it out to be declared Archer of the Evening.


18th January 2024 Cheque Presentation

Following the Christmas Collection at Tesco Extra in Andover, the club was visited by Joe Osborne a Support Worker for Andover Young Carers. The Club handed over a cheque for £2000 being the result of the collection over the 3 days at Tesco's. Joe ran a presentation used by AYC while also describing AYC and it's activities. The Club have had a relationship with AYC stretching back over 10 years.



Our 2023 Christmas collection at Tesco's Extra in Andover. 3 days in front of the shop allowed us to collect in excess of £1500 from which a donation of xxxxx is to support Andover Young Carers work in the town.
We have to thank Tesco's for allowing the collection to take place and the genrousity of the people of Andover who have once again made the club's efforts worth while.
16th, 22nd & 23 December 2023 - Anton 's Christmas Collection



20th Dec 2023 - Club's Donation to Andover Hospital

The Club had raised £4500 for The Hampshire Medical Fund. The money has been used to purchase a motor powered Bariatric wheelchair, designed to assist staff moving larger patients around the hospital.
President Gary handed the chair over to Lucy Liddell. Lucy is the Charity Director of the HMF team.

14th Dec 2023 - Clubs Christmas Party

This took place at The White Hart Hotel in Andover. Members,Ladies and Guests had a 3 course meal and a convivial evening enjoying fellowship and the opportunity to turn out in their finest dresses.


21st Nov 2023 - School's Tree Planting

On a cold winters morning a group turned up to assist 93 enthusiatic pupils from Balksbury Infants School set about planting trees on Bury Hill in Upper Clatford near Andover. A g=reat time was had by all. Picture shows the club's treasurer overseeing operations, a change from looking after the club's finances.


Saturday 18th November - Charity Concert Presentation

President Gary received a cheque for £250 from TVBC who helped to sponsor the event. The club thanked all the sponsors and performers who made this event possible.

Saturday 18th Nov. - Clubs Bi annual Charity Concert.

Once again the club hosted a variety show in St. Mary's Church in Andover, The performers included a
The Rock Choir Led by Rachel Hart, The Mad Melodies Choir led by Maddison -A. Soloists and our long time supporters The Quest Band.


16-17th September 2023 - Metal Detecting Weekend

Over 100 detectorist joined us for the 2023 event which took place in a new location at Haydown Farm at East Cholderton. Saturday was a very hot day and a number of finds were made. Sunday started very wet but dried up later in the day' There was a hot food van and a bar (micro brewery) in the farm yard which appeared to be enjoyed by our guests. A number of disaster Shelterboxes have been purchased following the event.


24th August 2023 - Footgolf evening

The members put on their kicking boots for a fun evening at The Hampshire Golf Club - Footgolf arena. This was followd by a meal at the Royal Oak in Goodworth Clatford.




30th July 2023 - Andover Festival of Cycling

The Club were supporting this annual event designed to encourage cycling in the area. A number of organised routes had been designed offering the riders the choice of distances. A children's event also took place in the Andover town centre.


23rd July 2023 - Annual Motor Show

The show had to be moved from it's usual Easter date due to the field being flooded.The alternative date in July was also hit by high winds and kept the number of both exhibitors and visitors lower than expected. An amount of money was donated which will be fed into the clubs funds to support local charities.


29th May 2023 - Duck Day

The sun shone brightly, the people of the town turned out and a great day was enjoyed by all.Catering was supplied by Town Mills and The travelling Cupcake. This turned out to be the largest of these events and all the races were sold out including the 2 'Kid's Boat Races'. The club's new gazebo was on show for the first time



15th February 2023 - Donation

The Macular Society, based in Andover,was presented with a cheque for £1000 to assist research in '
Improving Reading Apps for Visually Impaired People'.
Club President Ian is handing a cheque to Susie McCallum, Community and Event Fundraising Manager of the Macular Society.

Christmas 2022
The club collected at both the Time Ring (High Street) and the Tesco Extra Supermarket. Over £2000 was raised which is destined for the Andover Foodbank. The Clubs Christmas Dinner took place at Bourne Valley Inn, 'Black Tie' was the order for the night and a great time was had by the members and their guests.

5th July 2022
Duck day took place on the Queens Jubilee Weekend, This fitted with the local celebrations throughout the town.
A special race was added where kids could purchase a basic boat (produced by theMens Sheds group) which they could decorate and cheer on their own boat as it raced down the river.




1st February 2022 - RDF Donation

Andover 'Riding for the Disabled' is a charity the club has supported over the years and following a talk by Mary Childs the club agreed to a donation of £1000 to assist the charity support local children.
President Richard presented the cheque on behalf of the club.
16th December - Annual Christmas Dinner

After many discussions regarding Covid precautions it was decided that the Dinner would go ahead at The Oak. With the predominance of candleabrums the room had a gothic look which with the members dressed up in their DJ's this gave the event a look of a 1950's movie. . The club entertained 4 visitors Graham and Nigel North (The farmers whose land has ofter been used for our Metal Detecting events) and Ben Tuffin from The Andover Observer and his pertner Becky Speculo. Entertainment was provided by the members each of whom had been asked to bring a joke or a story to present to the dinner.
22nd- 26th November - Tree Planting

As the community forest grows north of Andover more requests are received to assist in completeing the project. Again this week Rotarians were out assisting school children to do their bit to help 'Save the Planet' by planting trees to absorb the CO2 in the atmospherer. Over 850 school children have been involved with this stage of the project. We were tasked to assist small children to plant, mulch and cover individual saplings. The kids all bit their bit and enjoyed doing it. Club members then went to check on rtheir earlier efforts and found a real rewilding situation. Probably best that the trees are left to grow themselves!


18th November - Skittles night.

Prior to a busy period in the run up to Christmas the club took an 'away evening' to the Skittle Alley at the Queens Head Hotel in Ludgershall. This was to be a social evening and the members were joined by their ladies. The participants were split into 2 teams ied by Jean McLeod and Sandra Fluen. After a ferocious battle Jean's team rolled out victorious. The individual with the highest score was the Treasurer's wife Jane with an individual score of 20 pts over 3 rounds. The food was good, the company the best and a happy and involved evening was enjoyed by all.

10th October - Andover Cycling Festival

The club were asked to assist with the administration of the event by manning the registration desks. Our part of the day which started at 7.30am was based in the Guild Hall in Andover High Street. There were 3 runs planned 15, 50 or 80 miles and the competitors ranged from 7 year old to a 77 year old. The day started out damp and overcast but improved as time went on.







18th - 19th September Metal Detecting Weekend.

On a sunny weekend around 150 keen metal detectors set off to scour the fields around Weyhill for historical treasures. The action was spread over two days as normal with a number of people camping at the Weyhill fair overnight. The fun carried on on Sunday with a good selection of items found and reported. One of the interesting finds were a number of 'Trade Tokens' these were a form of payment for small transactions, some times when small coins were in short supply. In general they did not display the monarchs image as thiis would be considered the production of a counterfeit currency.At some times they were considered as 'The Poor's Coins.





30th August 'Duck Day

This was the club's first public event since the lockdown regulations were resinded. All the club members turned out ably assisted by the 'Mens Sheds' group from Andover to provide a fun day for all. This years event included a new race where children could purchase a boat and decorate it themselves. These boats were entered in a special race with a cash prize. A childrens carosel and coffee van were on site to extend the options for children and parents. Love Andover provided all the PA services and the music was supplied by a group from Farnbourgh.
26th August

In preparation for the major event next Monday the club had a stall on the Thursday market in Andover High Street. We were selling duck tickets and small boats (provided by 'Mens Shed', these were to be taken away and decorated by the children before returning for a special race on Monday afternoon.
31st July

The club is out assisting Naomi House and Jack's Place who were running a Bubble Rush Fundraiser at The Charlton Lakes Park Lots of fun for all as they ran round the park and through all 5 bubble tunnels. About 500 turned up on the day the children espicially liked the bubbles..

10th July.

The club is back in action. The local Andover Hospice was running it's annual fund raising night walk. Starting at John Hansen School, the course was a 2.5 mile circuit through the west of Andover. The club was asked to assist as route marshals, 5 members took part and we were spread around the course sharing marshalling statioms with other volunteers.
The walk started at 9 pm and thelast weary walkers signed back in around 2am on Saturday morning. Most of the participants completed their sponsored distance. A successful evening which should have raised arounf £15,000 for the hospice.



17th June 2021.

The Rotary year was coming to a close and the AGM/Assembly was held at The Oak. Due to the changing Covid regulations the meeting took place in a marquee outside the pub. While the rain drummed on the fabric the club turned its attention to the next3 months and discussed a number of projects suggested by the projects group.

© Anton Rotary Club March 2023