Rotary club's £500 donation part of drive to support young people

As part of its enhanced focus on helping young people, Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club has announced a £500 donation to support the Share Shrewsbury charity.

At its club assembly, Rotary members heard the work that Share Shrewsbury is doing to deliver alcohol awareness education to children in Shropshire through their schools programme.

The vision of charity founder Jane Mackenzie was inspired by the story of her talented and charismatic daughter Amy who began drinking alcohol secretly as a teenager and sadly died from alcohol addiction at the young age of 37.

Writing to the club, she said: “Through Amy’s Story schools programme, we deliver engaging and memorable workshops that help children understand the risks associated with alcohol, build confidence to make safer choices and encourage open conversations with trusted adults.

“Our ambition is to become the leading provider of alcohol awareness education for young people in Shropshire.  This year we aim to deliver at least 20 Amy’s Story workshops in local schools, reaching hundreds of children across Shropshire.”

She added: “Thank you for considering our request and for the valuable work that Rotary continues to do in our community.”

Members heard that the programme requires around £6,000 to deliver and that their £500 contribution would be equivalent to a month’s funding.

Proposing the contribution, club secretary Gareth Watkins said: “Young people need our help and I would really like us to support this charity.”

Thank you for considering our request and for the valuable work that Rotary continues to do in our community.”

Speaking at the annual club assembly, president Johnathan Callwood said his first year in office had been both ‘interesting and challenging’.

“We have started things which haven’t yet come to fruition so I’m not ready to hand over. I plan to complete what I have started.

“I am confident membership of the club is going to increase. The message is getting out there.

“We are putting together hugely successful projects. We have a new idea for a digital photo frame which will attract additional fund raising, show what our club does and can be easily installed into appropriate locations.”

He added: “We will have a youth mentorship and support project which is going to be my legacy project – bridging the age gap between older and younger people.

“My goal is to build our reputation and increase our interaction with young people.”

“The coming year will see our club concentrate on supporting children and young people.

“The current difficult economic conditions are especially affecting families and young people and we can make a positive impact.

“A close working relationship with Shrewsbury College will help us spearhead these activities.”

Jane thanked Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club, adding: “We are incredibly grateful to president Jonathan Callwood and the members of Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club for their generous support.

“It was inspiring to hear Jonathan speak about his commitment to strengthening Rotary’s work with young people and building connections across generations.

“Amy’s Story is all about giving children the knowledge, confidence and resilience to make safer choices. Rotary’s donation will help us reach more young people across Shropshire with this vital message, and we are proud to be part of the positive vision Jonathan has set out for the year ahead.

"Amy is a constant source of inspiration to me, her life was full of talent, kindness and potential. By sharing her story, we hope to prevent other families experiencing the heartbreak that alcohol addiction can cause. Rotary’s support will help us continue our mission across Shropshire.”