I recently took the opportunity to meet with Caterham Rotary’s newly elected President Geraint Jenkins. He was born and bred in Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley and is a Welsh speaker who continues to be a member and trustee of the Chapel and vice president of the local choir and Drama Group there.
Geraint qualified at Swansea University and initially worked as a teacher with Voluntary Service Overseas at a school in Kimilili, Kenya for over two years. He returned to the UK, and became Head of Geography at the then Eothen Girls’ School in Harestone Hill and then moved to become Head of Geography and Special Needs at de Stafford School where he taught for over 30 years.
During his time at de Stafford School he organised many Working Party Trips from the schools in Caterham and enabled staff and students to experience working on development projects in Kenya and in particular the Kimilili schools and hospital with resources and finances. He was awarded the MBE in 2012 for “Services To Education”.
More locally Geraint has been a Trustee for The Caterham Overseas Aid Trust (C.O.A.T.) and Community Health and Education for the Children of Kimilili (C.H.E.C.K.) since their inauguration and has been a member of Caterham Rotary Club for the last 8 years.
He sees his basic aims for Caterham Rotary over the next 12 months firstly to increase the Club’s efforts to support local community initiatives in order to combat hardships experienced due to the coronavirus pandemic. He told me” there is a much goodwill being shown by members of our community at present and I would like encourage everyone in our area to embrace the spirit of volunteering and get involved Caterham Rotary’s aims.”
He continued “we subscribe to the principle of “Service Above Self” and we have great fun, making new friends and learning new skills in our pursuit of helping and supporting the community.”
Geraint is also keen to see the Club strengthen its’ links with Rotary overseas so that they can work on sustainable, educational, medical and food and water programs.
To learn more about Caterham Rotary Club and what we do please visit www.caterhamrotary.org.uk
