AT a recent meeting of Ross Rotary Club, Eileen Hammond, first vice-chairman of Inner Wheel District 10, gave an interesting, informative and amusing talk on her 40 years as a professional fundraiser for various charities, which have included Sight Savers and the Save the Children Fund.

Eileen recalled her early days as a fundraiser on the board of trustees of a local hospital, raising funds through a number of events including a pro celebrity golf tournament, before moving on to become the north of England manager for Sight Savers. It was within this role that she first had contact with the work of Rotary and it has been a close relationship ever since.

One story Eileen recounted was of an event to raise money to convert a disused hospital into sheltered accommodation for the elderly. A group of seven titled ladies she was acting as consultant for decided to raise funds by holding a programme of diminishing lunches. It was during the discussion on the format of these that it was suggested that Eileen should hold a lunch as "it would be nice to invite some ordinary people"! Despite this unintentional slight, the lunches were held and, with other events, the money raised.

Eileen also spoke of some of the pitfalls of fundraising projects. These included charity tea towels printed with a calendar year, the enormity of selling enough tickets to cover the cost of a car as a raffle prize and the problems associated with accepting clothing for international appeals. However, the car raffle had a delightful outcome: it was won by a local district nurse who had had to give up her work vehicle when she retired a week earlier.

Eileen made the point that money isn't the only solution to addressing a need. When a number of sewing machines were required to equip and train seamstresses in Africa, a radio appeal produced all the machines necessary.

Ross Rotary meets every Monday evening 6.30pm for 7pm at the Chase Hotel. Guests and potential members are very welcome. Please visit our website at www.rossrotary.com