Best Foot Forward 2024 presentation
Members of the Rotary Club of the City of Wolverhampton, invited guests and members of Central Youth Theatre and Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre came together in the City Suite at Wolverhampton Civic Centre for a presentation of the funds raised by the annual walking fundraising event
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00:00That's a bit of a walk, isn't it? Good afternoon, everyone, and a very warm welcome to the City
00:19Suite. It is my pleasure to be hosting you all for the annual Best Put Forward presentation.
00:25Patrons, charities, best putters, and members of the Rotary Club of the City of Wolverhampton,
00:31you are all most welcome here today. I very much enjoyed attending the Best Put Forward,
00:38even though it was a very whirlwind of an event for me, but it was lovely. That was
00:43earlier in the summer, and I listened about some fantastic fundraising that is achieved
00:49by you all. I do hope you enjoy your time here, and I look forward to chatting with
00:54you all later. I'd like to hand over now to Rotarian Lorraine McCarthy, President of
01:00the Rotary Club of the City of Wolverhampton. Thank you, and have a good afternoon.
01:14Good afternoon, everybody. First of all, I need to deal with the housekeeping matters,
01:20I've been told. We're assured there's no fire drills planned, so if the alarm goes
01:26off, it's for real, and we'll need to make an orderly exit through the doors, and the
01:31appropriate exits are signed and posted. May I start this afternoon's proceedings by introducing
01:37my colleagues who are seated on the table? Joining the Mayor is Richard Welsh, who is
01:44the Head of Partnership at Wolverhampton City Council, and Vicky Redshaw from James
01:51Beatty's Charitable Trust. So both Wolverhampton City Council and James Beatty's Charitable
01:57Trust are the major patrons and supporters of Best Put Forward, alongside the Express
02:02and Star. We also have Holly Harry, CEO from Central Youth Theatre, who are based in the
02:10Wolverhampton Arts Centre, and Paula Anderson, who is the Centre Manager for Wolverhampton
02:19MS Therapy Centre down at Newbridge. They represent the charities who are going to benefit
02:27from the fundraising this year through Best Put Forward. As an organisation, City of
02:34Wolverhampton Rotary Club has its own charitable trust, who will also benefit from the proceedings
02:39which have been raised through Best Put Forward, and the charitable trust money is used to
02:46relieve hardship locally and internationally. So I'm going to do a pitch. Rotary is an
02:52international organisation, established in Chicago in 1905, and is committed to serving
02:58the community while promoting goodwill, peace and understanding. Wolverhampton City of Rotary
03:04Club was formed in 1921, and we are one of the oldest in the country. We currently have
03:11over 40 members, who are part of a worldwide membership of 1.4 million people, and we undertake
03:19community projects and also raise and distribute about £50,000 every year, providing support
03:25where it's needed locally and overseas. We're always looking for new members. Individual
03:33members, corporate members, sponsors and supporters of the work we do, and we welcome
03:38the opportunity to meet those of you who may be interested in joining the club after the
03:43presentation takes place. So that's my bit done. All I need to do now is hand over to
03:49Rotarian, Mike Boyce, who will take us through the next part. Thank you.
03:56Thank you Lorraine. Well most of you in this room are aware of how, having spotted an event
04:06in the sunny harbour of Monaco, we brought it back to the equally spectacular Wolverhampton,
04:11and with the help of Geoff Lowndes and our Rotary Club, adapted it and created Best Put
04:16Forward. Now I don't propose to repeat the entire story today, but I thought I would
04:20explore what makes the event tick. We see the event as the outcome of a series of teams
04:26working together in harmony towards a common goal. That common goal being the successful
04:31staging of Best Put Forward to generate funds within our community. The first of these teams
04:36is a group that we value as key supporters of Best Put Forward. There's the City Council,
04:41who let us use Aldersley Stadium without charge, for the good of the community. The staff at
04:46WV Leisure are always very helpful and host the event superbly. There's the Express and
04:51Star, who give us no end of publicity, prior to and after the event. It was to the City
04:57Council and the Express and Star that we went to in 2011 to explain the concept of this
05:02new community initiative. We desperately needed their clout as big hitters to persuade others
05:08to come on board as patrons to actually fund the event. Both the Council and the Express
05:14and Star listened, and to our relief, said yes. There's the James Beattie Charitable
05:19Trust, who most generously contribute towards our overheads. As well as being patrons, their
05:24support has been fantastic. There's WCRFM, who not only give airtime to promote the event
05:30in advance, but have turned up every year to broadcast from the stadium, providing us
05:35with PA facilities, music and encouragement. There's Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Living
05:41magazine, who give us valuable space, enable us to share news and of course the final outcome
05:47too. There's also the anonymous donor, who sponsors the bananas given out to sustain
05:51those on track. And there's everyone in the Civic Centre here who helps us with today's
05:56event. The Mayor, the Mayoral Office, the Keepers and WV Catering.
06:01Now the second team is our very generous group of patrons. The charity part is created by
06:0730 companies and organisations. These patrons do it not for what they can get out of it,
06:13but for what others can get out of it. We're particularly gratified that over half of this
06:18year's patrons featured as founder patrons back in 2013, and have been providing their
06:24backing ever since. We've said it before, but the whole thing depends on the support
06:29of the patrons. No patrons, no charity part, no event. Simple.
06:35Thirdly, we have the Rotarians who give their time to the committee which plans and delivers
06:39this event. The planning starts in autumn and goes on right up to the day of the event
06:44and beyond. Then there are Rotarians who come on the day to run the event, manning the various
06:49workstations, setting up and clearing up afterwards. The event lasts 12 hours, so that's a lot
06:55of hours and a lot of Rotarians. On the day, we also have a small group of other helpers
07:01who, whilst not Rotarians, also give freely of their time.
07:06Fourth, we have the charities. When we set up Best Foot Forward, we had the idea that
07:11we would provide the tools for charities or other groups to use Best Foot Forward as a
07:16means of boosting their own funds. Many groups have availed themselves of this facility over
07:21the years, and this year we have the Coronary Aftercare Support Group leading the way by
07:26raising over £5,000 for themselves. We're delighted that Chris Skordis is able to join
07:34us today. This year's two nominated charities, Central View Theatre and Wolverhampton MS
07:40Therapy Centre, who each receive a share of the charity part, both use the event to raise
07:45extra funds alongside the funds donated by the event patrons.
07:50And finally, we have those who actually took part, our Best Footers. We are so grateful
07:56to our Best Footers. Many join us every year, come rain or shine, and complete the laps
08:01required to draw all the money from the charity pot. The event is inclusive. We have endurance
08:07runners, park runners, joggers, walkers, wheelchair participants, babies in pushchairs and even
08:12some canine entrants. Now, whether the last two entry categories are fully aware of what
08:17role they play in the event is, shall we say, unclear, but at the end of their sessions
08:22they too receive certificates of achievements along with everyone else who wants one detailing
08:27their contribution to the cause. There's a wide range of ages, abilities and we really
08:32appreciate all of the laps completed, whether it is many who complete a few or the few who
08:38complete many. It's a testament to the dedication of our Best Footers that this year we had
08:4330 members of the Centurion Club, these who did 100 laps or more. So these five teams
08:50working together have once again delivered a successful Best Foot Forward. So now I hand
08:55you over to Richard Horrell who will complete the presentation. Thank you.
08:59Thank you very much Mike. After all the planning referred to by Mike, the 29th of June had
09:15arrived. Shortly after 7am Rotarians were on site at Aldersley Stadium preparing for
09:21the start of Best Foot Forward 2024. The weather forecast indicated that we would be in trouble
09:27by the weather, dry and not too hot, perfect for our participants. We started the day with
09:33a record number of over 340 pre-registered entrants. This all went well as we set our
09:40sights on clocking up the 11,700 laps needed to empty the charity pot. It is always a big
09:47ask and there is always that slight concern that the number of laps completed might not
09:52be sufficient to empty the pot. We need not have worried. Our Best Footers did not let
09:58us down, in fact they did us proud. Over the course of 12 hours we had 590 people, building
10:05up the lap count, easily a record number. The final lap count was 15,352, completely
10:13blasting the old record off the track. Our 590 Best Footers averaged 26 laps each and
10:2130 of them, as Mike has already said, clocked up 100 laps or more and became members of
10:27the exclusive Centurion Club, yet another record. Among those making a significant contribution
10:34to the lap count were students and staff of the Royal School who turned out in numbers
10:39to clock up 819 laps. We are indebted to the School Principal Mark Haywood and his colleagues
10:46Jane Kyle and Alex Large who managed the logistics. And we are delighted that Mark
10:51Haywood can join us today. Thank you. Our thanks also go to Chris McAllister, Headmaster
10:57of Technol College, whose students clocked up 240 laps. Again, thank you. References
11:03have already been made to the Centurion's Club, comprising those special Best Footers
11:08who log 100 or more laps. That's a whisker short of a marathon, so that's some going.
11:15The Best Foot Forward 2024 Centurion Club has 30 members, several of whom have qualified
11:20before. Happily some of them can be here today and I'm going to invite them up in groups
11:26to collect their certificates from the map.
11:29I have no clue.
11:38Right, the first group, Hayes Barrett, Marie DaCosta, Matthew Dickin, all on 101 laps.
11:48Cal Sain clocked up 102 laps but unfortunately work interfered with his being here today.
11:54Chris Scornis of the Connery Aftercare Support Group will collect Cal's certificates.
12:51Right, next, Steph Penza with 103 laps, Andrew Goodwin 104 laps, Rebecca Tricchlow 106 laps
13:01and Jo Yarmouth 107 laps.
13:08Congratulations.
13:09Congratulations.
13:13Thank you very much.
13:14Thank you very much.
13:15Thank you very much.
13:16And now I'm finding a connection with user.
13:17So thank you for this time.
13:18It was great seeing your initials but John is on the back, John Martin is in the front
13:21and I was dragging his neck...
13:49The next group is Jamie Bird on 108 laps, Preston Grundy on 110 laps, Preston is a seven
14:11time Centurion, and Martha Cummings on 121 laps. Martha is a five time Centurion.
14:41The final group is Stephanie Onions and Brian Slater who both covered 153 laps, and Earl
15:07Edwards who clocked 161 laps. Earl and Brian are both eight times Centurions, and Stephanie
15:23is a four time Centurion.
15:53Thank you Madam Mayor and thank you Centurions. Now we are going to distribute the charity
16:11pop, the main reason we are all here today. This year's event charities are the Central
16:17Youth Theatre and the Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre. Both will receive a cheque for £4,100
16:24from the Mayor. First please can I ask Holly Parry to come forward on behalf of the Central
16:30Youth Theatre to be presented with the cheque by the Mayor.
16:57Good afternoon everyone, I just wanted to say a few words. My name is Holly Parry, I'm
17:01CEO of Central Youth Theatre. For those who don't know about Central Youth Theatre or
17:06CYT as it's more affectionately known, we are Wolverhampton's longest running youth
17:11theatre and 2024 marks our 41st anniversary of working with children and young people
17:18across the city of Wolverhampton. We provide theatre opportunities for children aged four
17:23to 25 years old, including live theatre performances, film work, backstage training opportunities,
17:33heritage, intergenerational social action projects, as well as the unique opportunity
17:38of participating in international youth theatre festivals across Europe. All of that sounds
17:43pretty incredible right? Well thankfully our members, staff, trustees and volunteers seem
17:49to think so and that's what counts. We strive to be the first choice organisation for any
17:55young person from Wolverhampton who wishes to develop their performance and personal
17:59skills. But we're not like other corporate performance groups out there. There's something
18:04quite different about the way that we work with young people that makes us quite unique.
18:08But what is it? Well we're a registered charity and our survival depends on year round innovative
18:15and creative fundraising. Our offer to young people goes way beyond turning up for a two
18:20hour rehearsal on a Sunday. We ask that all of our young members get behind the survival
18:25of the organisation in order that we can continue to grow and enhance the opportunities we offer
18:31as part of our artistic programme. That means that all of our members know they have a responsibility
18:37to unload the van full of costumes, to volunteer backstage during our shows, and take part
18:43in and gather sponsorship for all of our fundraising activities. Which brings me to
18:48Best Foot Forward. CYT have been taking part in Best Foot Forward since its inception and as a
18:53fundraising event it is absolutely perfect for us. There's no logistical organisation from our end,
18:59just tell our young members to turn up and do as many laps as they can. And what's even better,
19:05that they can turn up anytime between 8 and 8 which is perfect when working with both giddy
19:10and excitable four-year-olds who are up at the crack of dawn and the less so enthusiastic
19:15teenagers who don't wake up till midday. And this year we were honoured to have been chosen as one
19:21of Rotary's nominated charities and to make the event a little more enticing for our members we
19:26decided to offer three internal prizes. They were the person who raises the most sponsorship,
19:32the person who is best dressed, and the person who completes the most laps. And I think you may
19:36have seen Andy on the photos who was dressed as a cross between a witch, Willy Wonka and a
19:41scarecrow. But I'm thrilled to be joined by two of our incredible CYT members today who went above
19:47and beyond in this year's Best Foot Forward. Ace has always been the member who completes the most
19:52laps and last year completed 65 laps and this year they achieved an incredible 101 laps.
19:57And on the day Alice, who is also here, was determined to complete the 100 laps and
20:02diligently arrived at 8am. She walked all day long chatting to fellow members, listening to
20:06podcasts, reading a book, even on her way round. But at 7pm she just couldn't go on and having
20:13completed 93 laps she stopped. Well here's the example of what makes CYT unique. That evening
20:20Ace texted me to say they knew how much Alice wanted to reach the 100 lap milestone and would
20:24it be okay for Alice and Ace to share the CYT accolade and prize for the member who completed
20:30the most laps. To which I beamed and replied of course and what a wonderful human you are.
20:36This year we have the most number of people attend and participate under the CYT team banner.
20:41We've collected just under £1,500 through our members collective sponsorship efforts which
20:46really goes a long way to reaching our annual fundraising targets. I'd like to say a huge thank
20:51you to Rotary and everyone who's made this incredible event possible and also to our
20:56amazing young members. It is through their passion and determination to get involved with
21:01fundraising initiatives like this that keep CYT not simply surviving but thriving. Thank you everyone.
21:16Now if please may I ask Paula Anderson from the Wolverhampton MS Dairy.
21:44Okay first of all thank you very much for inviting me here today and may I thank you for
21:49the presentation of the cheque. I am going to apologise because I feel a little bit out of kilter
21:55and as you're aware Mr Williams isn't very well at the moment and it's locked us all for six at
22:01the centre so I do apologise. I'm going to keep this very short. This year we're going to be
22:09creating a new physiotherapy service which we're going to extend out to the NHS at West Park to
22:16the rehab team and so some of the funds will go to help us evolve that and create the group
22:27and then the rest will go to oxygen therapy masks and I'm really sorry this really short.
22:34It's their song.
22:45The Rotary Club's Charitable Trust receive a similar sum in support of its activities.
22:52Well what about the overall outcome? This year's charity pot amounted to £11,700.
22:58This brings the total received by event charities since 2013 to £79,267
23:07with the club's own charitable trust collecting £42,081. Charities using PestFoot Forward to
23:15boost their own funds have raised a further £82,000 with £9,000 being raised this year alone.
23:222024 was the 10th staging of the event and produced £21,621. This lifts the total raised
23:31since 2013 up to £2,322. This is largely being shared by organisations in and around our city.
23:45All of this has been done simply by people being prepared to give of their time by going
23:51around in circles. We at the Rotary Club are proud to have been able to introduce this fundraising
23:56concept to the United Kingdom. We know that while we may have brought the idea to the city
24:02as Mike has already outlined we have been and remain dependent upon others to turn our dream
24:08into reality. In a variety of ways we're indebted to everybody in this room.
24:14There is one more big thank you I must make and that is to Councillor Linda Leach,
24:18Mayor of our city. Not only has the Mayor welcomed us to the Civic Suite today but also
24:24joined us at Aldersley to give her own boost to the event. Madam Mayor we are very grateful both
24:30for your hospitality today and for your wider support to what we do. This is the end of the
24:38formalities. Please feel free to enjoy the refreshments, the cakes look rather magnificent
24:45but first if you could make a note please of best foot forward 2025 which will be on Saturday
24:53the 28th of June Aldersley Stadium 8am or whatever time suits you better. If I could ask
25:00representatives from the two charities and the Centurions past and present to stand by for a
25:07group photo call with the Mayor and the President. Thank you everyone.