The Rotary Club of Sidcup held its annual Community Day Lunch on 8th March to honour the contribution made by the voluntary sector to the local community. Attending the lunch were the Mayor of Bexley, Councillor Eileen Pallen, and members of charities and organisations operating in the Borough of Bexley.

The representatives of the various organisations were thanked for their work by the President of Sidcup Rotary Club, Malcolm Greening. However, the highlight of the afternoon was the presentation of the Community and Vocational Service Award to John Arundel from Sidcup. President Malcolm said that John had distinguished himself by many years of exemplary service and has consistently devoted large chunks of his time to a number of charities and voluntary organisations, including Lark in the Park where he tirelessly raises funds for the event by visiting local businesses and writing grant applications. And then when it starts, John, like all the 500+ volunteers, can be found giving his time freely everyday of the 16 day event to make it happen.

And it’s not simply local events that benefit from John’s generous time and effort. He promotes and raises money for The Dalitso Trust (which delivers sustainable projects in rural communities of Malawi) and has played a major part in the success story of KangaWrap. The KangaWrap is an award-winning comfortable baby sling for mums & dads to bond with their baby on the move. Profits from the fair trade baby slings help fund maternity health training and care in the slums of Delhi and Kenya. John’s passion and skill in promoting and supporting such a variety of projects are benefitting people far and wide.

In her address the Mayor thanked everyone for the work that they did and stressed the importance of their contributions to community life in the Borough of Bexley. She also said she was very pleased to find that there were younger volunteers as well as older ones in the borough and that she had met John Arundel at the Lark in the Park and had been very impressed by his contributions to the community.

John said afterwards “I was pleased to receive the award from an organisation for which I have so much respect. It was a nice surprise after an enjoyable lunch where I had the pleasure of meeting other volunteers in various services across the borough.”

Submitted by Derek Hope