Those of you who have read my columns (I do hope that someone reads them!) will have a fair idea of what our Rotary Club is like, and in particular our activities to raise funds for local and international charities. I am sure you will have thought things like ‘good on them’, ‘very impressed with their fund raising’. You may well have thought ‘I’ll go along to one of their events to help their good works’ or even ‘that sounds like fun’.
There is, though, another side to Rotary. One of our prime functions is to provide Fellowship. Fellowship is a bit of an outdated word, I think (unless you are a Tolkien fan). Friendship might be a better word. Rotary Clubs are very sociable and a great way of increasing your circle of friends. Friendships made in Rotary have proven to me to be lasting, real and deep. My Rotary friends have been a great source of support and encouragement and in a sort of chain rection have introduced me to others.
If you would like to benefit from this sort of friendship and be a part of a group who work hard for others whilst having fun please contact me at the email address at the bottom of this piece. You can come along to one of our meetings and meet the members, see if it seems like the right thing for you and find out all about Rotary.
If you join you will become a member of a community of over 1.4 million, with 46000 clubs in over 200 countries. And you will be welcome to attend any of those clubs, and the welcome will be warm and sincere.
Just to be clear, Rotary has room for all. There are no special requirements for membership – what your work was or is does not matter. We have no secret handshakes or regalia, no strange ceremonies, no religious affiliations. We are people like you.
If you are interested send me a mail at: [email protected]. I will get back to you and we’ll arrange a visit to a meeting. No commitment, no pressure. Just a warm welcome.
Ian Graves (Past President)
