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Shepperton Orbit Club |
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Mixed Social Club |
- Meetings: 1st and 3rd Monday, 8.30pm
- Where: Hersham Village
Hall, Queen's Road, Hersham Surrey KT12 5LT
- Contact:
shepperton@orbitclub.org.uk
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Orbit is a network of service clubs
throughout the United Kingdom aimed at persons from
their late twenties upwards, from all walks of life whatever
their background. |
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The organisation was the first mixed
club of its kind in the UK and was originally started in the
Surrey area of the country during the late 1970s. |
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Orbit clubs arrange
social and fund raising events for the benefit of the local
community. Club members may also get involved in community
action projects, but above all the emphasis is to enjoy
doing it. |
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Our target age is
28-45, having said that we do have people outside that age
range. After all if you are over 45 and still enjoy it why
should you give it up? If you are under 28 and like the idea
of the club why should you have to wait until your 28th
Birthday? - Come along and join in. |
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Shepperton Orbit Club Newsletter
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Amazed by their own longevity, Shepperton Orbit clocked up
their 21st anniversary this summer. The Club's first meeting
in July 1978 was not a roaring success; it failed to attract
any visitors. The then Chairman, Peter Clausen-Thue, put a
positive spin on this for the local newspaper ("disappointed
...... but not downhearted") and the 6 founder members
soldiered on.
On Sunday, 27 June this year, 40
current and former members met for a celebratory buffet
lunch at a riverside hotel in Shepperton. This included 16
of the Club's Chairman and Chairwomen - Shepperton has so
far managed to find a fresh candidate for the poisoned
chalice each year without any repetitions.
Recalling
the many social and fund raising events held over the years,
the outgoing Chairman, Steve Harding, reported that
Shepperton Orbit has collected a total of over £23,000 for
charity. Some of the local organizations benefiting from
this, included a Toy Library, a branch of Talking News, a
hospice and the Ambulance Service. We have also bought
specialist equipment for several hospitals in the area.
Local branches of national charities supported include the
Red Cross, MacMillan Cancer Relief, the Samaritans,
Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme and Leukaemia Research.
Fund raising methods have taken in car boot sales, street
collections, discos, a recipe book, carol singing and a
regular autumn barn dance. Specifically to mark Shepperton's
21st, Charmian Green, the new Chairman for 1999/2000,
organized an 8 mile walk in March this year covering the
area in which the Club has had different meeting places -
mainly pubs - over the years. This event raised �600 for
charity. We also had some limited edition Shepperton Orbit
souvenir mugs created - who knows, one day on the Antiques
Roadshow ....
After 21 years, we know we still can't
take anything for granted - but here�s to Shepperton Orbit
(and all other Orbit clubs) striding into the next Millenium |
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