Email: K.M.Milczewska@pgr.reading.ac.uk
On Friday 17th February, the annual Meteorology Ball provided a great excuse for members of the department and their guests to dress up for the evening. But for all the excitement of this year’s masquerade theme, the Ball is mainly a charity event. Through the sale of raffle tickets and an auction of promises, the event aims to raise money for the David Grimes Trust, administered by the Reading San Francisco Libre Association (RSFLA), in honour of the well-remembered academic from our department who devoted a great deal of his time to the charity.
RSFLA supports environmental and educational projects in the rural Nicaraguan town of San Francisco Libre, which was ‘twinned’ with Reading in 1994 in order to encourage the exchange of culture and knowledge. Over the past few years, the Meteorology department has supported this link through regular cake sales, running the Reading Half Marathon and, of course, the annual ball.
David Grimes was a respected, integral member of the department and there are many among us who reminisce about his goodwill, interactive lectures and Panto appearances. There are also those among us who, despite never having had the chance to meet David, can easily imagine the positive impact he had both in and outside of our department, through our continued support of the charity under his name. The money raised is mainly spent on educational support in the San Francisco Libre district: helping to fund a scholarship programme, build a library and toilet facilities among various other projects – and the people who benefit directly have a special message for us all!
https://youtu.be/vWsf9TWwWp4
The generosity of over 80 people attending made the event a great success, raising over £1500 through bidding on bizzarre auction items and lessons, as well as purchasing raffle tickets. To add to this, Santander will be chipping in with an extra £1500 to match, bringing the total raised to over £3000 for the charity! Such success would never have happened, had it not been for all the help we received from Santander, local businesses offering prizes for the raffle, and most importantly: all of those who bought a ticket to come! On behalf of all the organisers, I would like to finish this post with a massive bout of thanks for making the evening worth all the effort and continuing the important tradition of fundraising for the David Grimes Trust.
The Social Metwork 