Hello all,

Here in London the nights are drawing to a darker close, earlier in the evening and despite a recent escape of mine to the Corsican sunshine, its probably time to start thinking of travels in 2011 and to listen to what our many Globetrotters & friends have been up to lately. The start of the new seasons in the London & Chester branches has meant a new burst of energy & a chance for friends and travellers to catch up on each others news. Anyway without any further delay …

What has been happening lately across the club & the wider world ?

Foremost in most long standing members is the sad, sad news that club founder Norman Ford has passed away L As charted in this article on the club’s web site, http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/history/FOUNDAT.html, Norman started the club off on its way with the idea of sailing around the world, once the dust of WWII had settled … however life took him to the USA for a whole new set of adventures he never expected notably as a long distance cyclist & prolific author !

If you scroll down to the article Write in (2) … Norman D. Ford by The Ant you’ll see a tribute that shows a different side to Norman, one that tells of his family life & his later years across the States … still travelling, style writing. All in all Norman led a varied & extremely interesting life, and we in the club managed to be inspired by some of them. Thank you & adieu Norman …

Have your say at the Globetrotters Club AGM. Globetrotters Club Annual General Meeting will take place at 1.30pm (BST) at The Church Of Scotland, Crown Court, London. (behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden), directly before the London Meeting on Saturday November 6th 2010. All members are invited to attend and contribute to the running of their club.

Agenda

Review of plans for the year from AGM 2006

1. Chair’s report
2. Treasurer’s report
3. Election of Committee Members & Club Officers
4. Plans for the coming year
5. Any Other Business

Should any member wish to add items to the agenda, they should send an email/letter to the secretary as soon as possible – info@globetrotters.co.uk

• In this edition you can also meet the new editor of the members only newsletter Chloe Marshall and hear from Victoria Leat about the charity Links for Change
• Our very own Dan Bachmann is exhibiting with London Photographic Meetup Group at Chelsea Old Town Hall, London through until 10 October … see http://www.meetup.com/lpmg-org-uk/calendar/14089231/ for more details
• And finally … Are you a budding travel writer, perhaps in the ilk of Palin, Hemingway or Chatwin ? Perhaps youÂ’re just starting out on a literary career … either way have a read of http://www.puretravel.com/Guide/Travel_writing_competition/How_to_enter/How_to_enter and consider sending through your own entries J And if you shortlisted even better, let me know about it & IÂ’ll feature your story in a future edition … good luck.

That’s all for now, enjoy the read and keep sending me more of your stories, adventures and articles J

The Ant theant@globetrotters.co.uk

Julia Massey Stewart : Through My Lens

Julia Massey Stewart started taking a very interested audience through her approaches to photography by taking us on a journey through her world of travel. At the icy Lake Baikal in Siberia, Julia showed us her fascination of close ups, with ground level details of the ice itself before moving on to Southern Africa’s wild life parks, where a close up of an elephant’s trunk caught most of us out !

We were then whisked off to Death Valley (USA), the Canary Islands, India & Tibet and the Caribbean to work with plants, people & wildlife each pose different challenges that require the photographer to be adaptable & thoughtful in their approach. From what I recall Julia listed the following as strong starting points & guidelines:-

Tips to set you on your photographic way

• always have your camera to hand – you will see pictures that are there for a moment
• handle picture composition by using “the rule of thirds” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
• consider working from the viewpoint that photos are made rather than taken
• be aware how to use light & how to avoid it
• have faith in the decision to take a photo, however unsure you are and only review/amend or delete once you get time to reflect via a computer screen (considered from a digital view)
• consider how chopping & cropping can alter dramatically what is represented in a digital picture, remembering to give the picture space to breathe

Julia nicely rounded off by showing us the different world of lomography and how it can make you think very differently about making pictures ¦see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography for an introduction into this intriguing niche

Picture courtesy of The Mango Lab : Julia & one of her many cameras

Philip Koniotes : Cycling down the Danube

Starting in Germany, Philip & Lindy, headed out to tackle one of Europe’s long distance cycling challenges from the source of the Danube river down through central Europe towards Hungary. Both are long term club members & are widely travelled … we knew we were in for an adventure that afternoon as we listened to their journey

Departing from Donaueschingen, their sunshine & easy paths soon changed into rainy rides as Philip & Lindy cycled themselves into a routine … covering 820 miles, through four countries over five weeks ! German towns & cities zipped by Ulm, Weltenberg, Kelheim, Passau and across into Austria. You could hear Philip & Lindy enjoy themselves differently each day … lunching in fantastic cake shops, the Fisher & Tanner House, the Napoleonic commemorating Hall of Liberation, the ferries and the monasteries & abbeys.

Like most adventures there were some mishaps – a wrong turn got them lost in Slovenia, they had to hotel in a converted horse stud stables and then they met the rain. It seemed that the further south they headed, the more the rural tracks & journey demanded of them. Closer & closer they edged towards Budapest, but the unseasonable rains grew more incessant and eventually at Komarom, 78 miles from their target, they agreed to stop & enjoy a well deserved break.

What stuck out most for me about Philip’s talk was the how they enjoyed meeting people … along the trail & at points they stopped to recuperate. The cycling was a challenge but it was also an ice breaker where ever they went.

Well done Philip & Lindy and good luck with the next trip …

To read more about the Danube Trail read

Details of the London branch’s forthcoming meetings will soon be detailed at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html

The London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: London Meeting Programme.

The Talk by Liam D’Arcy Brown entitled the “The Emperor’s River” described the magnificent canal system of China running 1,776km from Hangzhou in the south to Beijing in the north. This unique journey by boat, foot and bus along waterway and dried canal bed, follows the history and development of this inland strategic waterway from ancient time to the present day. His book of the same title is a must for anyone visiting this area. Visit Liam’s website for further information visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_D%27Arcy-Brown

The second speaker Brian Burnett, covered his experiences sailing the coasts and seas of Europe and the Mediterranean. From the very first small 25ft vessel, through a home built project to his latest motor sailing yacht, Squirrel, a wonderful collection of photographs together with Brian’s narration took the viewer from the coastal Islands of Scotland and Scandinavia through the French canals to overwinter in sunny Mediterranean climes. True adventure at its best!

The next meeting is on Saturday 27th November starting 1pm – we have two talks again, the first by Don & Eve about their recent trip to Australia and the second about living in Japan by Matthew Proe. The meeting is the Grosvenor Museum, Chester.

Tickets £2 including refreshments.

Contact Angela or Hanna for further information of this & future events at Chester via email at chesterbranch@globetrotters.co.uk

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

This article has been reproduced from the web site of Kerrville in Texas, USA & depicts one of founders in a nice, rounded manner. It is a fitting tribute that 60 plus years we’re still here in our idiosyncratic, independent way … still travelling J Thank you Norman for setting us on our way … The Ant

Kerrville – Norman D. Ford, 88, of Kerrville, passed from this life on June 19, 2009 at a local health care center.

Born in 1921 to Frederick William John Matthew and Jessie (Shortland) Ford, Norman Ford grew up an only child in Wales, England and was a lifelong cyclo-tourist, mountain hiker, kayaker, traveler, healthy lifestyle advocate and environ-mentalist.

By the time he was 18, Norman had already bicycled the United Kingdom, so when World War II abruptly put an end to all civilian travel, he trained to become a radio officer in the Merchant Navy and spent the next six years sailing the seas on merchant ships and visiting ports in countries from New Zealand to USA, the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

Early in 1947, he immigrated to the US and after working several jobs, he managed, in his spare time, to write a book called “Where to Retire on a Small Income”. First published in 1950, this guidebook became a popular seller. With the royalties, he quit his editorial job, moved to Florida and became a freelance travel writer.

By the mid 70’s, however, travel writing had become extremely competitive, so he moved to Boulder, Colorado and began writing health books. After about 10 years, due to an ever growing population in Boulder and loss of cycling-friendly roads, he then moved to Kerrville where he lived until his passing away. He was somewhat of an iconic figure in the cycling world, both locally and nationally.

During his 50 years as a freelance writer, he had written sixty books–mainly on travel, health and retirement- including two that sold a million copies each. Norman was also founder and first president of the Globetrotters Club, which encourages members to travel and explore the world on their own via bicycling. Altogether, he had bicycled in 38 countries and once, he even bicycled 2,234 miles in 28 days from Istanbul to London.

He was once quoted as saying: “Never try to tell everything you know, it may take too short of time”.

He is survived by his 2 sons, Eric and Kirk Ford and 3 stepsons, Douglas A. May, Roland R. May III and Curtis W. May.

Picture courtesy Kerrville Funeral Home : Norman smiling

A memorial service will be held to celebrate his life on Friday, July 24, at 12:00 P.M. at the main chapel of Kerrville Funeral Home of Kerrville, and his sons, Eric and Kirk Ford are hosting a commemorative 3 mile bike ride in/near Kerrville at 7:30 AM that same day.

The full article can be found at http://www.kerrvillefuneralhome.com/content/obituaries/view.jsp?OID=50085

We’re all too aware of the difficult time everyone’s facing: news of redundancies, a severe lack of new jobs and students unable to get into universities even if they’ve made the grade are a depressing reality. But these challenging times are creating a new, positive reality for many people, not least, people who seem a million miles away for these troubles. Volunteering and volunteerism are on the increase, giving people an opportunity to build their skills, improve their CVs and take stock of what they really want out of life. Individuals are now in a position to take some time out, give something back to those who really need it and are helping to shape a brighter, more equal future for everyone.

With this new influx of interest in the volunteer business, it has become just that: business. Just type ‘volunteering’ into a search engine and you are flooded with tantalising possibilities from turtle conservation in Costa Rica to orphan childcare in Uganda. However, how do you know what you’re getting? How do you know that you will actually be helpful whilst you’re away? And, how do you know that the often high fee you pay to companies who arrange these placements is being used to help the people who really need it? The simple answer is you often don’t. This is where a new enterprise called Links for Change comes in. They are seeking to challenge the way volunteer placements are organised and developed and create a sustainable, ethical volunteering sector.

Links for Change links volunteers and charities worldwide. They do not arrange their own placements but partner with local, grass-roots charities who request volunteers with specific skills and experiences to fulfil a particular need in their organisation. This system is deliberately created to ensure that volunteers respond to the real needs of communities. With much debate and research on the value and positive effect of aid on communities REF, Links for Change values this ‘community-led’ approach to volunteering. This also reassures the volunteer that they are going to undertake work that is valid and necessary. After all, who can afford to give up their time, energy and resources for something that potentially is more damaging than beneficial? All of Links for Change’s partner organisations are fully vetted and approved for partnership so volunteers can be assured that their experience will not hold any nasty surprises.

Links for Change works to place volunteers, based on their needs and experience with organisations worldwide. A potential volunteer can indicate the area they would like to work, their preference on role, their budget and duration for volunteering. Links for Change also requests information on what the volunteer wishes to do next so that their placement can be chosen to help them make the next step towards their career or life plans. Using this information, Links for Change then provides a number of placement options for the volunteer to choose from. As much information as possible is provided to the volunteer, including if they will have to pay for accommodation or if the charity they will work with will provide this for them. The aim is to provide the volunteer with all the information possible so they can make an informed choice and feel confident in this decision. So far, Links for Change has a 100% success rate in finding volunteers suitable placements.

When a volunteer is happy with their choice, their placement is confirmed and Links for Change works with the volunteer to provide them with as much practical support as required. The service offered is designed to be flexible and all inclusive so volunteers know that, however much support or advice they need, they will not incur any additional costs or be left without help. From visa support, packing advice, finding the cheapest flights or simply discussing any fears, Links for Change is on-hand to assist. And this support does not end when the volunteer gets on the plane. Throughout the entirety of the placement period, Links for Change provides continuing support for both work and personal issues. For added reassurance, Links for Change offers a free reassignment option (subject to availability). This ensures that if a volunteer is not entirely happy with their placement, for whatever reason, Links for Change will work to find them another placement so they can continue with their volunteering.

But what about the cost? Many volunteer agencies set a high price for their placements, which seems to multiply exponentially based on duration, services provided, location or type of work. And where does this money go? This is an issue Links for Change has been working to challenge. Their fee is a low, fixed payment regardless of how much support is required, where a volunteer goes or for how long. The company has also created a system that ensures that the fee volunteers pay does not go straight into the pockets of the management. Instead, the fee is used to cover admin and staffing costs and to provide the linking service free to its partner organisations. Links for Change also offers a free advice service, providing technical assistance to its partners so that they can grow and develop to support themselves. The key to all of Links for Change’s work is sustainability and efforts are made at every stage to ensure this. They also donate 5% of their income to local charities.

So, if you’re thinking of volunteering, want a service that can adapt to your needs, are concerned by the potential costs and what happens to your money, need reassurance that your volunteering experience will be worthwhile and make a difference whilst helping to support over 100 charities with your fee, visit www.links4change.com or email info@links4change.com for more information. With a free consultation, there’s nothing to lose and potentially a world of experiences to gain.

Victoria Leat
Director | Links for Change
Email: victoria@links4change.com
Skype: links4change
www.links4change.com