Recently, president-elect Elaine Bradbury presented a cheque to the organisers at Cylch Meithrin, Bloomfield Community Centre, Narberth.

Four of the pre-school age youngsters are seen proudly mounted on their new equipment with broad smiles.

Elaine commented: “In our Rotary Club we like to support the education and physical development of young people. We learned that due to financial cut backs and increased rental costs, the Cylch Meithrin in Narberth had to hold a number of successful fundraising events, such as car washing, to try to supplement their finances, but they were still short of money for important items of kit. The president and members of our club had received a letter requesting our support which after a little debate was supported wholeheartedly.”

During the month of October, Rotary past president Mary Adams held meetings with the headteacher of the Narberth Primary School, Mrs. Nia Ward, who kindly agreed to get involved with the Rotary Club of Narberth and Whitland to set-up the organisation called RotaKids.

Mary explained: “RotaKids is an exciting way for those 12 and under to lead and engage in important, lively activities that will make a positive difference in their school, in their local community and globally. At the same time, RotaKids develop the ability and confidence to take up their place in society as responsible, successful, effective citizens both now and in the future.”

RotaKids is chartered through Rotary Britain and Ireland (RIBI).

As citizenship is part of the school curriculum, headteacher Nia Ward realised that this is an opportunity for Rotary to support and expand the work already happening in school. The decisions made always involve the RotaKids. Jobs for fundraising or service projects can be divided up between the class in lesson times.

This develops team work. RotaKids take the following Pledge to demonstrate their commitment to being good citizens: “As a RotaKid, I endeavour to be fair to all to serve my community and to show respect for others.”

A particularly good example of this is the school’s involvement in The Rotary Christmas shoebox appeal. The Rotary Club purchases the special boxes from the Rotary trustees (a small group of Rotarians who administer the scheme). The boxes are sent ‘flat packed’ to the club. The school children and their families then kindly fill the boxes with gifts and the boxes are then retrieved by the Narberth and Whitland Club.

The filled boxes are then returned to the central warehouse and for subsequent delivery to Eastern Europe to less well-off families. This work has been co-ordinated by Rotarian Nigel Towns and his committee members, including Yvonne Llewellyn and Mary Adams.