| Starting to prepare for the next Rotary year |
| We are at that time of year when as leaders, within our clubs and districts, we will be going through preparation for the next Rotary year. It is a vital part of your role to ensure that you have a successor to carry on your work. If you are a club membership team leader, is there someone who will step up if you decide to move on? If you work alone as a membership leader for the club, is there someone who can work alongside you as you prepare to take your next steps? Do you know who your district membership team leader is? If not, it is really important that you seek them out, make contact with them! For Rotary Yorkshire Lincolnshire (D1040 Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire), it is Anne Sutcliffe who can be contacted via the drop down option Support Team Contact - Rotary District 1040 (ylrotary.org.uk) Did you know that your district membership team leader has a Rotary International budget to use for membership materials ($500 each year)? |
| So how do I go about starting a new Club? |
| This is a common question. This month we thought we would answer it, by giving you an example of what Rotarian, Clive Doubleday of Peterborough Rotary did. At the initiative of our current District Governor, David Morris, District 1070 (Central Eastern England) had employed a social media expert to raise the profile of Rotary throughout the region. Peterborough Rotary offered a networking event at a local pub, where a room was hired, and tea and coffee were offered. Peterborough is a multi-cultural city of approximately 210,000 people. It accommodates people from over 100 nations. Over the last 40 years, I have done a number of “Thought For The Day” radio interviews and so with my contacts at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire I was able to do a live on-air promotion of the evening. This helped to encourage more people to attend the event on the night, and promote Rotary in general. There were over 100,000 people listening! I am delighted to say that we had six people attend, representing four nationalities - Nigeria, Poland, South Africa and the UK. The three local Rotary clubs have a combined membership of 55. The original club was chartered 90 years ago, and they have just two members from non-British backgrounds. It was therefore decided to start a new club that was more diverse and inclusive, as well as flexible. I gave a brief presentation on the role of Rotary within the community, nation and world. Having been a Rotarian myself for the last four and a half years, I recognise that the two main barriers to joining Rotary are time and finance. After answering a number of questions, the group thought that the best style for the new club would be hybrid, two meetings a month, one on Zoom and one face-to-face for a coffee. Following this meeting, three folks and I decided to meet for breakfast at the local Beefeater and they invited their friends, making a group of 10. They hope to form a satellite club very soon. We are on our way to starting a brand new club that is multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-generational and of course diverse, capturing many nationalities that make up the beautiful city of Peterborough. Reverend Clive Doubleday JP BA |