AT A recent guest night the club heard from former president John Barret about the successful completion of a water project in Ghana which he began during his presidency.

A first attempt, in conjunction with the local Rotary Club of Kumasi, provided four 15m wells but these silted up.

Mr Barret then embarked on a second stage to provide four much deeper 50m wells, helped by a matching grant from the Rotary Foundation.

In May last year the then president Howard Marsh, accompanied by Mr Barret, formally opened two of the wells.

Initial attempts in the other two villages failed to strike water but in December Mr Barret announced water would soon be flowing from all four wells.

He went on to describe how he and his wife, Janet, have each sponsored a boy and helped provide much-needed facilities at schools in the west African country.

In recognition of his efforts, Mr Barret was installed as an honorary chief, his wife having already been installed as Queen Mother — a rare honour.

The club is holding an antiques and collectors fair on March 7 at Hayes Free Church, Pickhurst Lane.

It meets every Monday evening at the David Lloyd, Beckenham, in Stanhope Grove. For details, call 020 8658 6178.