Rotary Club of

         Bala and Penllyn

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND DISTRICT 1180 Registered charity no. 1045774

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Welcome to our club web site www.balarotary.org

Who are Bala Rotarians?.......

In common with all Rotarians throughout the world, we are a group of friends from various business and professional backgrounds who enjoy a lot of fun, good conversation and food together whilst serving our local community and raising funds for charitable causes.

Bala Rotary Litter clean-up

31st March & 14th April 2012

On a sunny springtime Saturday 15th April volunteers turned out for another morning of litter picking in Bala. The first event was undertaken before Easter on Saturday 31st March and the second was arranged for post Easter.

Focusing on areas not normally covered by the regular and efficient work provided by Gwynedd Council, the volunteers on the second phase collected over 50 black bags of paper, cans, bottles, plastic and polystyrene in addition to a number of larger items such as hub caps, discarded roadwork signs, temporary fencing, etc.

During the Easter holiday the approach roads from four directions, the Llangower road, several footpaths and private car parks have been cleared of deposited litter, enhancing the appearance of our town and aesthetic experience for visitors and residents alike.

Sincere thanks go to "Tidy Towns" scheme sponsored by Gwynedd Council, the Snowdonia Society who provided gloves and picking equipment and volunteers and to our local Rotary members who organised and
co-ordinated the event as part of Rotary International in the British Isles' spring-clean initiative.

The photograph shows some of last Saturday's volunteers with their bags of spoils!

Aelodau'r Clwb Rotari yn Clirio Sbwriel

Ar fore Sadwrn, 31ain Mawrth, gwelwyd nifer o aelodau'r Clwb Rotari lleol yn eu siacedi melyn wrthi'n clirio sbwriel o ymylon ffyrdd a llecynnau parcio o gwmpas tref y Bala. Trefnwyd yr ymgyrch mewn cydweithrediad a Chymdeithas Eryri a Chyngor Gwynedd yn ychwanegol i'r clirio rheolaidd a drefnir gan y Cyngor. Mae'r ymgyrch hefyd yn cydredeg ag ymgyrch genedlaethol Rotari i dynnu sylw at broblem sbwriel yn cael eu taflu'n ddifeddwl mewn mannau cyhoeddus.

Ddydd Sadwrn ymwelwyd a mwyafrif y ffyrdd sy'n arwain i dref y Bala ac roedd yn syndod faint o sbwriel gasglwyd mewn teirawr. Poteli plastig a gwydr, caniau diodydd, bagiau creision a melysion, cartons polystyrene sglodion a bwyd parod oedd yr eitemau amlycaf a daflwyd i'r gwrychoedd a'r cloddiau'n ddifeddwl. Ychydig iawn o'r rhain sy'n pydru a diflannu ohonynt eu hunain  - mae nhw'n cymryd blynyddoedd maith ac yn aros yn fler a hagr heblaw bod yn beryglus i bobl a chreaduriaid. Llanwyd nifer sylweddol o sachau duon i’w trosglwyddo i ganolfan ail-gylchu’r Cyngor; ee. 14 sachaid o faes parcio Llangywair ar hyd y ffordd at Bont Mwnwgl y Llyn.

Amcan yr ymgyrch glirio sbwriel yw ceisio creu ymwybyddiaeth leol o'r broblem a cheisio dangos i ymwelwyr gwyliau'r Pasg fod ein ffyrdd a'n mannau parcio'n daclus yn y gobaith y gwneir ymdrech i'w cadw felly. Gwneir helfa debyg ar fore Sadwrn 14 Ebrill pan gawn weld faint o swriel daflwyd dros wyliau'r Pasg.

Cefnogwyd y digwyddiad hwn gan Gynllun Trefi Taclus Gwynedd sy'n cael ei gyllido gan Lywodraeth Cymru.

Rotary Members Litter Picking

On Saturday morning, 31st March, a number of Bala and Penllyn Rotary members were out in their yellow tabbards clearing litter from road verges and parking areas around the town of Bala. The litter picking initiative was arranged with cooperation of the Snowdonia Society and Gwynedd Council in addition to the normal litter clearing service provided by the Council. The event also coincided with a national litter awareness campaign supported by Rotary to publicise the problem of thoughtless deposit of litter in public areas.

Teams of volunteers tackled most of the roads and public spaces on the outskirts of the town of Bala and the amount of litter picked in a three-hour shift was surprising. Glass and plastic bottles, drinks cans, crisp packets, polystyrene fast food cartons, sweet bags and chocolate wrappers were the common items thoughtlessly thrown into hedgerows and onto road verges. Very few of these are biodegradable – they can remain an eyesore and a danger to humans and wildlife for years. A substantial number of refuse sacks were filled to be transferred to the Council recycling site; eg. 14 sackfuls were collected between Llangywair station car park and the road junction at the Dee Bridge, Bala.

The aim of the excercise was twofold: to raise local awareness of the litter problem and as an example to visitors who may, hopefully, refrain from throwing litter onto clean verges.  Litter often invites more littering. The excercise will be repeated on Saturday 14th April to check the amount of litter deposited over the Easter holiday.

The event was supported by Gwynedd’s Tidy Towns Scheme, which is funded by the Welsh Government.

Ty Meirion presentation

President of the Bala and Penllyn Rotary club, Mike Gareh, was pleased to present Ty Meirion with a cheque to the value of £100 to help purchase musical instruments. This was at the request of a Bala mother who has a child in the unit.

Ty Meirion is situated at Ysgol y Gader Secondary School at Dolgellau. Currently there are 11 pupils with additional needs attending the Unit.

Ty Meirion offers education for pupils from all over Meirionnydd and beyond. All pupils integrate to the mainstream for registration, School Assembly and some pupils for various mainstream lessons. The pupils receive weekly horse-riding lessons at The Meirionnydd Riding for the Disabled Centre at Ty'n Sarn and regular swimming lessons at Bala Leisure Centre together with Music Therapy. We are aiming to compete in the Urdd Creative Music Competition this year. Money donated by the Bala Rotary will be invested in purchasing musical instruments.

We welcome contact from other Rotarians around the world and promise you a reply if you send an e-mail . Contact us

Let us know if you are likely to visit this beautiful part of Britain, you will be sure of a friendly welcome. Why not come to one of  our meetings? Need accommodation? visit our town's tourism website www.visitbala.org

We meet on Monday evenings, 7.15 for 7. 45p.m. at the Plas yn Dre Restaurant, High Street, Bala.

A phone call to our secretary, Mike Gareh, (number in your district directory) would be appreciated so that we can be ready to greet you.