Rotarians pick projects to get slice of £20,000

Six lucky youth groups will receive a share of the £20,000 put up by the Portsmouth & Southsea branch.

The Rotarians wanted to celebrate 100 years of their club by helping projects that supported youth work in the city.

They put out a plea for groups to apply for funding and after consideration from members, they have picked Portsmouth Division Girl Guiding, Around and Around, Be Your Best Foundation, Enable Ability, Off the Record and Portsmouth Young Carers to receive shares of the money.

Rotarian Bernard Parsons said: ‘It is important that we look after our youth.

‘They all tie in with children with disabilities or who are disadvantaged or they are youth groups that lack facilities that they perhaps cannot afford.’

The Enable Ability group was awarded £3,000 to help provide a Saturday club for 60 severely disabled children during term time. This offers respite for parents, allowing them time to themselves at the weekend.

Manager of Enable Ability, Richard Soutar, said: ‘We collect and return the children in wheelchair accessible vehicles.

‘We have a theme for the day that can be something very topical ­ for example, during the Paralympics, we had a Paralympic day. We give the children a choice of what they do. We are reliant on funding bids and donations for us to function.’

Around and Around is a sailing charity, which was awarded £2,000.

One of its projects is the restoration of the Lively Lady.

The boat holds legendary status in Portsmouth, after Sir Alec Rose circumnavigated the globe on the vessel in 1968.

The boat is currently in need of refurbishment.

The project allows children to gain life skills working on the boat and a lucky few are able to sail it.

Member of the charity Alan Priddy said: ‘All money will go to a complete rebuild.

‘It’s very important the youngsters work hard for their end goal.’

Mr Parsons explained how the winners were chosen.

He said: ‘We considered firstly that it had to be to do with youth.

‘We spent a long time sifting through the entries until we came to a conclusion.’

Mr Parsons also urged other local enterprises and organisations to get involved with local youth projects.

‘We really want to see others with plenty of money provide these opportunities,’ he said.

A presentation evening for the awards will take place on Tuesday, July 12 at the 
Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.

The club meets on Tuesdays at the Mountbatten. For more details go online at rotary-ribi.org