Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Llanelli Rotary Club welcomed a new member at the weekly meeting held at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. Elfryn Davies, of Five Roads, was officially inducted by Llanelli Rotary President Ken Abban. Mr Davies, who runs The Stag pub in Five Roads, was proposed into membership by Rotarian Mark Evans. Mr Davies said in his acceptance speech that it was an honour and a privilege to be invited into membership of the Rotary movement. He added that he would do his best to follow the Rotary motto of 'service above self'. Photo: Elfryn Davies is welcomed into Rotary by Llanelli club president Ken Abban, flanked by, left, senior vice president Hywel Bassett, and, right, junior vice president Sue Roberts.

Brynwgyn Comprehensive School pupil Tegan Andrews had her chef's hat on again to help cook a special dinner for members of Llanelli Rotary Club and their guests at the Stradey Park Hotel.  Tegan, 14, was the winner of the 2014 Young Chef competition staged by Llanelli Rotary Club. She also won the inaugural competition last year. Since that first victory, Tegan has been gaining experience helping in the kitchen of the Stradey Park Hotel and other restaurants in Llanelli. This year, she also won her way through to the regional final of the national Rotary Young Chef competition staged in Stoke. "Tegan has been a wonderful ambassador for Llanelli Rotary Club," said club president Ken Abban. "She was a worthy winner of our Llanelli Rotary Young Chef competition and performed with distinction in subsequent competitions." Tegan's culinary skills came to the fore again when she cooked dinner for more than 50 Rotarians and their guests at the club...

Prize-winning public speakers from St John Lloyd School in Llanelli addressed members of Llanelli Rotary Club at their weekly meeting at the Stradey Park Hotel. The teams from St John Lloyd carried off the senior and intermediate team prizes in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks public speaking competition staged at Llanelli Town Hall. They went on to win the area finals staged at Gower and Llwchwr Rotary Club. They now go forward to the Rotary District 1150 competition (for all of South Wales) on March 7 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The next step then would be a regional final to be held in Gloucester and a national RIBI Rotary final to be held in May. Last year, one of the St John Lloyd teams made it all the way to the national final held in Hull. The St John Lloyd intermediate team debated ‘We’re all going on a term-time holiday, what’s the big deal?’). The team members were – Chair Jack Rees, Speaker Joseph Toft, Vote of thanks proposer Francis Venzon. ...

The members of Llanelli Rotary Club were honoured with a visit by their District Governor (area boss) at their weekly meeting at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. David Curtis is the current chairman of District 1150 (South Wales) of Rotary International Great Britain and Ireland. Mr Curtis is a member of the Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent, club. He is a former international gymnast and trampolining champion. He was welcomed to the meeting by Llanelli Rotary Club President Ken Abban. Mr Abban said it was an honour to greet Mr Curtis and to listen to hear him speak about Rotary's work in South Wales. Mr Curtis praised the Llanelli club for their fund-raising efforts and for their many community projects. He said he was delighted to attend the second oldest club in Wales. The vote of thanks to Mr Curtis was given by past District Governor and past Llanelli Rotary President Mr John (JC) Williams MBE. Website - http://www.llanellirotary.com

Autism campaigner Tom Nasmyth-Shaw was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel. Tom explained about his "life-changing" experience sleeping on the streets of London for a week to help families affected by autism. Tom, from Burry Port, decided to sleep rough in the capital to support the cause after his four-year-old son Jack was diagnosed with autism. After months of fund-raising, Tom jumped on a Paddington-bound train armed with just warm clothes, his phone, a stab vest, and a sleeping bag. He told Rotarians: The experience was mentally draining and overwhelming. There were a couple of times when I wanted to give up, but I didn't." During the week living rough on the streets of London, Tom kept a blog and tweeted about his experiences. It was his first night that proved to be the most dramatic. After bedding down in a doorway in Victoria, Tom had a rude awakening by a man standing over him. The conversation t...

Chemical warfare, feminism, fast food, school holidays, food wastage, overpaid footballers and the legacy of the 2012 Olympics . . . These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. The competition saw St John Lloyd scoop the team prizes in both the senior and junior intermediate section to progress to the next round of the Rotary competition – zone area and district finals. Last year, the St John Lloyd senior team made it all the way to the national Rotary finals in Hull. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one. Llanelli Rotary Club president Ken Abban explained that the Youth Speaks event offered an oppo...

The Editor of the Llanelli Star, Rebecca Davies, was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. Mrs Davies gave a very informative and entertaining talk on her work at the Star, expressing her desire for the newspaper to highlight the positive aspects of community life in and around Llanelli. She also brought Rotarians up to speed with the latest changes in the world of digital media and the development of the Llanelli Star's website. The vote of thanks was given by Rotarian Susan Roberts, junior vice-president. Mrs Davies, second from right, is pictured with (from left) Mrs Susan Roberts, Llanelli Rotary Club president Ken Abban and vice president Hywel Bassett.

The countdown is on to one of the social events of the year in Llanelli, the annual Rotary Club Ball. This autumn's ball will be at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli, on Friday, November 1 (7 for 7.30pm). Llanelli Rotary Club president Ken Abban said: "The ball is always recognised as one of the social highlights of the year in Llanelli - and it also raises a huge amount of cash for charities. "There will be entertainment, a charity raffle and auction and plenty of fun during the course of the evening." Tickets are £35. Llanelli Rotary Club is actively engaged with local charities, community groups, schools and individuals providing charitable donations and support. Llanelli Rotarians also support international causes including the End Polio Now Appeal , Shelter Box and the provision of a 'Hark' Land Rover mobile audiology field clinic for Ghana. Llanelli Rotary Club recently provided funding towards a Rigid Inflatable Boat for the Llanelli Sea ...

Llanelli singer Samuel Morris was the guest soloist at Llanelli Rotary Club's 'President's Night' at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. Accompanied by Andrew Pike, he gave memorable performances of 'Stars' from the musical Les Miserables and 'Anthem' from Chess. Samuel is having a very busy autumn with solo spots at Radio Carmarthenshire and Scarlet FM Local Hero Awards, the Royal British Legion Gala Concert at the Lyric in Carmarthen and in the Night of the Stars at Ffwrnes Theatre, singing alongside Shan Cothi and Mark Llewelyn Evans. All this, when he only started singing this year. Samuel is pictured above - (left to right) Andrew Pike, Llanelli Rotary Club President Ken Abban and Samuel Morris. Samuel is part of an ambitious plan to develop young talent in South West Wales. Cerith Owens, the director of Loud Applause Productions has set up a ‘Rising Stars’ platform as part of his concert and theatre company. Samuel is a 17-year-old student at ...

Members of Llanelli Rotary were given a hugely informative talk about the workings of the prison service when they held their weekly meeting at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. The talk was given by two members of Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) service, David Richards and Tarul Clement. Mr Richards gave his address from the perspective of his work at Swansea Prison in Oystermouth Road, Swansea. Mr Clement is deputy controller at Parc Prison in Bridgend, which is run by G4S, so he was able to provide a view from the private prison sector. Mr Richards, left, and Mr Clement, right, are pictured with Llanelli Rotary Club president Ken Abban. Website - http://llanellirotary.com

Llanelli Rotary Club welcomed in its new president at a special dinner. The 'handover dinner' was held at the Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli. Ken Abban, a retired audiologist, was installed as the club's new president. Mr Abban succeeded Alan Owen. Mr Abban (wearing the chain of office) and Mr Owen are pictured with other members of Llanelli Rotary Club and the president of the Cefn Sidan Rotary Club, Les Williams. Website - http://llanellirotary.com/

The guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli, was Malcolm Shead from the Shelterbox Response Team. Mr Shead is from Llandeilo and recently visited Burma to help some of the 70,000 people believed to have been displaced by civil unrest. Mr Shead, who works from his home in Bridge Street, Llandeilo, has been working with the ShelterBox project for more than four years. ShelterBox is supported by Rotary clubs worldwide. The UK charity ships out boxes with essential survival kit to countries hit by natural disasters and war. Mr Shead said he was proud to be involved with ShelterBox. "The first time I went away it was the earthquake in Chile," he said. "Two years ago I went to some bad flooding in Colombia, and last year I was in the Peruvian Amazon, which experienced the worst flooding in the Amazon basin for 40 years." ShelterBox cater their aid boxes to the needs of the people on the ground and ...