Rotary honours for local people

FOUR local people have been honoured with special awards from the Rotary Club of Gorleston on Sea - among them the two men who have brought the town's Pavilion Theatre back to life.

Last week's Rotary meeting acknowledged the voluntary work of the four, who were presented with a framed Rotary parchment for Service to the Community, Community although their interests were focused in different directions.

Husband and wife Denis and Heather Cave retired in 1994 and like many before them had found, after the luxury of not having to conform to a regular routine, that they had time in hand which they wished to use in a way that would be beneficial to those living in this area.

Both gravitated towards voluntary work at the James Paget University Hospital. and they soon found themselves in “red coats”, recognised by the public as volunteers who will greet, help, inform, direct, and generally assist outpatients and visitors unsure of their whereabouts, and perhaps nervous of the outcome of their visit to the hospital.

Both flourished enjoying the contact they made and when the JPH became a Foundation Trust, Denis became a governor representing the voluntary sector, a position he holds to this da .

Heather also moved sideways when she became treasurer of the Hospital's League of Friends eventually becoming chairman 10 years ago. She still holds both positions and to date the Friends have contributed over �1m to all departments of the hospital.

Stuart Durrant and Kevin Lynch's contribution to life in the Gorleston area has been quite different, for they have, during the past 16 years, brought life back to an ailing institution and listed building which was once almost condemned to the scrapheap by the then local authority.

They took over the running of Gorleston Pavilion in 1994 and through hard work, imagination and determination to succeed, they have given the area a facility to be proud off. Today, apart from professional shows, it is used by many local amateur and school theatre groups, often at reduced rates or none at all. Charities also benefit from the bucket collections in the theatre's vestibule.