THE latest community news from Aberystwyth

Aber Aid and Mid Wales Refugee Action

A GREAT evening was had by all at the Mid Wales Meets the Middle East Aberaid and Mid Wales Refugee Action fundraiser where an amazing £1,120 was raised.

The money will be split between two charities: The Hope Project, working to support refugees arriving on Lesbos, Greece; and the Sanctuary project, offering respite breaks to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

The visit of the Syrian refugee community from Newtown, who joined everyone for the evening, making new friends and sharing the entertainment, was also supported.

Giulio Mescia of Mid Wales Refugee Action said: “We have the double aim of helping creating integration in our communities of people recently resettled in the UK from war zones, while at the same time delivering urgently needed support to people temporary stuck in refugee camps in the north of France and further afield.

“The money raised today will address the first cause, as we’d like to fund the so-called ‘sanctuary breaks’.

“They provide very welcome respite for asylum seekers who are sometimes stuck for many years and are unable to travel, cannot aff­ord any leisure activity or holidays and are unable to take a break from the city to which they have been dispersed.

“We believe sanctuary breaks offer hope and resilience to asylum seekers, enriching communities, enabling new friendships and support networks and making a real difference to the lives of all involved.”

Lindsey Gaunt, chair of Aberaid, updated the room about the community sponsorship program and shared the good news that a family is about to arrive in Aberystwyth through the community sponsorship route and thanked everyone for their support.

Rotary Club

MEMBERS gave a warm welcome to John Watkin who shared some of his memories of working in the world of TV production.

Born in Llanrhystud, he att­ended Ardwyn Grammar School and Trinity College, Carmarthen, before taking up his first TV post working on Blue Peter. There he persuaded John Noakes to be filmed on a parachute jump.

He particularly enjoyed working with John, who proved himself the equal of any task, however dangerous. Many of which were reshown following his sad death last year.

He then secured a post to develop TV in Brunei, whose ruler was then the richest person in the world.

This gave rise to particular problems for John, given the need to broadcast in Malay and to remain constantly aware of Islamic sensitivities.

A version of Mr and Mrs was adapted to local needs – especially as most husbands there had more than one wife – and proved especially popular, as did men’s tennis from overseas. Women’s tennis however, was frowned upon as their playing kit was deemed too revealing.

Having returned to the UK he became involved in a series of programmes on women in high places.

He remains very proud of his profile of Indira Gandhi, despite the practical difficulties in securing time from her busy schedule.

She was focused on the needs of her people, 70 per cent of whom lived in the countryside, John told the group.

Dunlop tyres for every trailer and an electric pump for water in every village seemed like a very simple idea to us in the West, but would make a huge difference to the quality of life for hundreds of million.

John was especially affected when, having just finished the final production of the programme, news came through of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by one of her Sikh bodyguards.

True to the old showbiz adage, John left his audience eager for more, keeping his three-year stint in China and other TV experiences for another day.

President Martin thanked John warmly for his engaging talk and looked forward to inviting him back on another occasion.

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