Blog Posts
Talk: You and Your Hormones – Nov 2020
Prof. John Wass, Professor of Edocrinology at Oxford University and consultant physician at the Churchill Hospital gave a talk entitled “You and Your Hormones.”
He commenced with a quick summary of the the significance of hormones and the medical conditions that can be created in the event of hormone imbalance.
Next he focussed upon the effects of some particular hormones upon the body. These included growth hormone and the way that it’s extraction from human sources had given way to safer biochemically engineered hormone.
He also discussed sex hormones and their use in ameliorating conditions ranging from sexual dysfunction to genetic abnormalities and some associated transgender issues.
The importance of the thyroid and its associated hormone thyroxine upon weight, energy, mood etc was described and the surprisingly high prevalence of this in women over 60.
The role of insulin in diabetes was more widely known but the fact that losing 10-15 kg often has the effect of controlling type 2 diabetes was a surprise to some.
After a lively and wide ranging Q&A session the speaker was thanked in the normal way for a talk that had commanded full attention despite the vagaries of Zoom!
Christmas Appeal – Dec 2020
Our fundraising efforts have not been immune from the difficulties experienced by most charities in this pandemic year!
Whatever we raise from the Rotary Club of Banbury Christmas Appeal this year will be shared between Katherine House Hospice and other local charities.
You can easily donate anything from £1 upwards to this by clicking here to visit the donation website.
Rotarians will also be entertaining you with street organ Christmas Carols on Tues 15 Dec outside the old Moss Bros shop, on Sat 19 Dec at the Market Place, Tues 22 Dec in Castle Quay and on Thur 24th Dec, Christmas Eve, at the Market Place.
Discover Rotary for yourself – 24th Nov 2020
Rotary is one of the world’s largest and most successful Global Membership and Humanitarian Service Organisations.
Join us and discover the world of Rotary!
Volunteer with Rotary and help make good things happen!
If you would like to join us please email: kate.rotary1090@gmail.com
Rotary Supporting Children in Need Raffle – Nov 2020
Rotary GB&I is supporting BBC Children in Need through the promotion of a prize draw hosted by Raffolux to win a F-Type Jaguar.
The national raffle is now live and open to anyone over the age of 18. The raffle will close at midnight on the 30th November. The draw will be announced, 3rd December 2020
This 2016 Jaguar F-Type in Santorini Black with a supercharged V6 engine could be yours to drive home this Christmas. With just 20,069 miles on the clock, the 340BHP sportscar boasts eight speed auto transmission and adaptive dynamic suspension.
Every ticket sold helps an amazing cause, as 92% of the net proceeds will be donated to BBC Children In Need, who strive to ensure that every child in the UK grows up safe, happy, and able to reach their full potential.
BBC Children in Need’s mission is to help ensure that every child in the UK is safe, happy, secure, and has the opportunities they need to reach their potential. We fund local charities and projects who help remove the barriers that are facing children and young people, so that they can thrive.
Young Photographer: Getting started – Nov 2020
We hope students and club members are begining to get ideas about suitable subjects to photograph for the “Wild Nature” competition.
Don’t miss an opportunity
Often it can be a chance sighting that leads to a great photo 🙂 It’s good to get the perfect lighting and the perfect angle and distance – but animals don’t tend to hang around whilst you fiddle with your phone or camera! So – don’t miss an opportunity altogether by waiting for the perfect shot. Nowadays photos can often be reframed or the lighting improved later on a computer.
Learn about depth of field
For older entrants or those using a more sophisticated camera – if you don’t already understand the concept of depth of field it would be worth reading up about it.
Basically a wide the lens aperture gives a narrow depth of field – where only the content a specific distance away is in focus. A small aperture gives a deep depth of field with pretty much everything in focus. Both are useful but a narrow depth of field can ‘spotlight’ your intended subject uncluttered by the background.
Shutter Speed
If you’re photographing fast-moving animals – like flying birds – you’ll need a high shutter speed (and maybe panning) if the photo is not to be blurred. (Some photos deliberately don’t use a high shutter speed in order to introduce blurring to create the idea of speed.)
Smartphones usually have ‘settings’ that can be changed.
Smartphones often have a zoom facility using finger movements on the screen that can be useful. They will also have other options you might want to learn about and experiment with. These vary according to the make and model of phone.
Meeting the criteria for the competition
The competition title is Wild Nature. Remember that you have to include a statement to explain why you think your photos comply with this title.
A few local photos
Below are a few photos taken by some of our not so youthful members of Banbury Rotary Club. We include them not because they are great photos but because – with a few exceptions – they were obtained at or very close to home.
I’m sure I left it here! 
Bark of Black Pine Tree 
Ooh! Cliff-Edge decision! 
Is it Christmas yet? 
Fungus 
Seagull Aerobatics 
Winter’s hard! 
Red Admiral on Buddelia 
Swanning Around! 
Snowdrops 
You looking at me! 
Buzzing around! 
Voice is a bit croaky today! 
Mother and child – potato 
New spider family 
I’ll just pretend I am a twig 
Just popping out with the kids! 
I can see you! 
Which way to the woods? 
In a bit of a rush! 
Hmm – Can’t eat that! 
Red Kite over Bloxham 
Windswept 
No-one told me it was someone’s garden! 
What time is it? 
I spy with my big eye… 
He’s come of of his shell! 
Morning has broken 
I’ll just beetle around here awhile! 
Lincolnshire seal 
BBBbbig! Tree
For full details and to register a school or club to take part visit: https://banburyrotaryclub.org.uk/youngphotographer/
…in lieu of Christmas Cards Dec 2020
Donate to Rotary in lieu of giving cards
As is now the club tradition, members are invited to make donations to the club in lieu of exchanging Christmas Cards.
This year would be a particularly appropriate one to consider this given the current pandemic induced difficulty of raising funds..
Members should log in to the member section to find out more.
Rotary – brightening up Banbury Oct 2020
More crocus corms planted in Banbury
Crocus Planting to highlight the Purple for Polio Campaign
Ignoring the possibility that Friday 13th could be an unlucky day to venture outside, we needn’t have worried – we were lucky!!
The weather was fine and Rotarians Malcolm Dibb, Phil Cavill, Malcolm Douglas and John Bennett teamed up with some Cherwell District Council park rangers to plant this year’s consignment of crocus corms.
Our partnership with CDC and BTC has seen way over 100,000 purple crocus corms planted around the Banbury area in the last seven years, to publicise Rotary International’s on-going mission to eradicate polio worldwide.
The planting this year was on the site of the old Admiral Holland pub, in the bank opposite the shops, so don’t forget to look out for them in early spring time. They should add a welcome splash of colour!
Talk – Carbon Income and Carbon Tax – Nov 2020
“Carbon should not flow unpriced into the atmosphere any more than you should be allowed to toss your garbage into the street!” This was Nigel Deakin’s headline quote as he explained that we are potentially on the cusp of a new, challenging but just and fair plan to tackle one major aspect of climate change.
“Between 1970 and 2019 the use of coal in the UK shrank from 156 million tons to 0.9 million.” With facts such as this Nigel urged Friday’s lunchtime zoom audience to recognise past success and join the increasing public effort to address the issue in the UK.
It is widely recognised that a tax on carbon is needed for us to reduce carbon emissions to acceptable levels. However, where carbon taxes have been introduced by governments, they have not proved popular with voters, even to the extent that rioting has ensued as in the France (the Yellow Vest protests) and Ecuador, as a result.
Nigel explained that many top scientists and economists across the world are currently promoting the idea of a tax on carbon matched by a dividend that would flow back into the economic cycle of each country participating in the scheme. Carbon would be taxed at source and the money raised paid back as a monthly dividend to all citizens equally. The vast majority of people would receive more from the dividend than they would have to pay through increased fuel prices due to the tax, with the least well-off (lowest carbon users) benefitting the most.
On the introduction of the carbon tax, fuel prices would increase with the knock-on effect of a more rapid transfer to the use of sustainable energy and low carbon sources.
The world is now watching Canada and Switzerland to see how these countries fare as they introduce the scheme so that everyone becomes aware that it is transparently a more just economic system for all.
As Nigel rounded off his talk, audience members joined in a lively Q&A session highlighting the need to avoid the scheme becoming a party-political football, looking to the strongest economies such as China to take a lead, and clarifying the need for a trade balance across the world with no tariffs between countries participating in the scheme.
This excellent talk concluded with everyone looking forward more positively to the Global Climate Change Conference to be hosted by the UK next year. Many thanks from us all to our Speaker.
For further insights please visit Citizens Climate Lobby UK. Here’s the link: https://citizensclimatelobby.uk/carbon-fee-dividend/climate-income/
Rotary& Our Environment
Join like minded people who care about Improving the Lives of Others and Making the World a Better Place, whilst having Fun.
Together we can do so much more!
ROTARY HAS CHOSEN TO ENSURE THE NATURAL WORLD IS GROWING NOT SHRINKING ON OUR PLANET
If you would like to learn more about Rotary email kate.rotary1090@gmail.com
Talk – Opera Anywhere – 6th Nov 2020
Opera Anywhere
Mike Woodward told us about the highly impressive creation of Opera Anywhere: an organisation aimed at providing relaxed access to opera and operetta bringing joyous, family-friendly, high-quality live music available to as many people as possible.
Additionally they engage in a significant number of outreach work, community events and educational projects. around the country.
Opera Anywhere’s professional singers and musicians give performances all over the UK. These may take place and are to be found in theatres, concert halls, churches, festivals, museums, galleries or the great outdoors!
Pre-pandemic they were notching-up 65 live performances per year!
After responding to various questions the speaker was thanked in the normal way.