ABOUT ROTARY

Rotary International is a global network of service volunteers. It is the world's largest service organisation for business and professional people, with some 1,210,905 members (men and women)operating in 168 countries world-wide. It is a major sponsor of Health, Educational and Youth projects all over the world.

There are some 58,000 Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland in 1,845 clubs, helping those in need and working towards world understanding and peace. Its a fulfilling role, and Rotarians can get involved as much or as little as their time will allow.

Each Rotary Club is a member of a "District" - a local group of Clubs. The elected District Executive, chaired by a District Governor, promotes Rotary in its area, supports its constituent Clubs and encourages co-operation between them.

But there is much more. Clubs meet on a regular basis, which allows members to build firm friendships. Every Rotarian has a right to attend any Club meeting anywhere in the world, so there is always somewhere to go, and people to meet, wherever business or leisure travel may take you.

Various Clubs have different emphases, which can reflect differences in size. A small market town may have a Club of perhaps 20 members, whereas in large centres the number can be closer to 100. Some concentrate on local community or vocational projects. Others link up with a sister club in another country to undertake an international project. Each Club decides how it wants to use the resources it has available.

Attracting new members is vital to a Rotary club's long term success, and so clubs put a great deal of emphasis on expanding their membership with enthusiastic and service-minded individuals.

Prospective members must actively hold -or be retired from -a professional, proprietary, executive or managerial position. And they must have the desire and ability to serve and to meet the club's attendance requirements for its weekly meetings.

An important distinction between Rotary and other organizations is that membership in Rotary is by invitation. However this should not stop anyone who feels that they might like to become a Rotarian from indicating an interest, either by speaking to a Rotarian, or by getting in touch with a local Club - with no obligation on either side.

Clubs usually maintain a list of the types of businesses and professions in their community and seek candidates to fill classifications not already held by an active member of the club, but classifications are many and varied.

Examples of classifications include, for example: Schools; Universities; Eye Surgery; Tyres - Distributing; Tyres - Retailing; Dramatic Arts; Law - civil.) In this manner, a club aims to include a significant cross section of its community's vocational life, and has the widest possible resources and expertise for its service programs and projects.

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