Rotary clubs all round the country give us tremendous support in all sorts of different ways – from fundraising and sponsoring projects, to tool refurbishing and organising specialist tool collections. Here are just a few of the ways you have been helping us.

Sponsor a project – The Rotary Club of Christchurch paid for our spring 2009 tool shipment to Malawi. Our upholstery, tinsmithing and carpentry project with Malawian partner Samalani is also being part financed by the Rotary Club of Hove. The Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets is again raising money for us by taking part in this year’s British 10K Run in London. Bath Rotarian Pat Colbourne has just set out on a 5,000 mile walk around the UK coast to raise money for Tools for Self Reliance and four other charities.

Pay for specific items of much-needed tools and equipment – The Rotary Club of Winchester bought a new grit blaster for the Netley Marsh Training Group in 2008, the Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets helped source some anvils, and the Rotary Club of Bognor Regis and 11 other Rotary clubs bought shares to help us buy a new Tools for Self Reliance van.

Organise a tool collection – The Rotary Club of Ealing and Hanwell & Northfields organised a tool collection in collaboration with our Sutton refurbishing group. They went the extra mile and presented tool donor Hilary Smith with a personalised ‘thank you’ – a photo album of her late husband’s tools.

Help out in the workshop – When it comes to refurbishing tools, Rotarians don’t mind getting their hands dirty either, as our volunteers in York, Hereford and elsewhere will tell you. And if you’ve got a surplus of tools and you need someone to help organise a tool sale, Rotarians help there too.

Can your Club help?

We need your support right now. Your club can help us by:

• raising money for our Skills for Life project in Ghana – make a lasting impact on the lives of artisans in the rural north of the country
• committing to one of the suggested actions in our Rotary Club Pack or coming up with your own ideas.

If you think you can help please give Jo Bush a call on 023 8086 9697 or email her at jo@tfsr.org.

Photo © Dominic Jones

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