DAWLISH Water Rotary Club has again sprung into action following the devastating earthquake in Morocco, writes Bruce Pell.

The club has sent £500.00 direct to ShelterBox, which already has people on the ground assessing the situation and providing shelter and other equipment.

‘We realised the need to act swifly to aid the huge relief effort that will be required to help people who have lost everything,’said Gray O’Hanlon, ShelterBox co-ordinator for Dawlish Water Rotary.

‘In addition we are planning a street collection In Dawlish to further boost our efforts, on September 23.’

Rotarians have raised many thousands of pounds for ShelterBox – their efforts for many years being led by the late Bill Hande - and recently they received the ShelterBox Silver Award in recognition of their substantial fundraising.

After a summer of outside activities, it is already proving a busy year for local Rotarians as £500.00 of emergency funding has also been donated to Dawlish Community Transport after the tragic loss of minibuses caused by the recent fire.

Dawlish Community Transport Manager Sally Preston and her team say they have been overwhelmed by the remarkable support of the wider community, with money pouring to rebuild the fleet.

She added: ‘The contributions have enabled us to purchase the first replacement vehicle “Eric” – named after our driver of over 30 years – and this will be on the road in the next few days.’

A donation of £500.00 has also been made to Chances School for the development of their Forest School - a contribution made in association with the club’s American honorary member Sharon Durtka in Wisconsin.

Chances is an OFSTED registered ‘Good’ school which provides short-term alternative education provision for students who, for a range of reasons, are struggling in their mainstream school. The programmes use sport and physical activity to empower young people to improve their physical, personal, and social development.