Fri Jan 20th 2012
The latest member, Peter Dilkes, being inducted into the Rotary Club of Broadstairs, on 21st February 2013

New Members:

............are most welcome, we are actively recruiting ladies and gentlemen who want to make a difference; please come and join us.

Rotary International is the world's oldest service club organisation and is made up of more than 1.2 million members, in over 33,000 Clubs, in more than 160 countries around the world. Rotary's original motto "Service above Self" exemplifies the humanitarian spirit of the organisation's members.

What you could gain from joining Broadstairs Rotary club:

• Networking – Rotary is the oldest, most prestigious service club in the world.
• The Opportunity To Serve – Rotarians provide service at both the community and international levels. Service programmes address health care needs, hunger and poverty, illiteracy, disaster relief, environmental clean-ups to name a few. There is a sense of fulfilment from helping others.
• Personal Growth & Development – Whatever their ages Rotarians can benefit from the opportunity to take part in team-building, public speaking, fundraising and leadership.
• Entertainment & Fun – Many social and even sporting activities within individual clubs provide the lighter side to service. Being a Rotarian should be an enjoyable experience – having fun and helping others is the aim.
• Ethical Standards – Rotarians practise a 4-Way Test: "Are my words or actions based on truthfulness, fairness, goodwill & friendship and are they beneficial to all?"

The Rotary Foundation is Rotary's own charity, and operates the largest Educational Scholarship programme in the world. It also finances the largest International humanitarian programme in the world, each year more than 1,200 projects are assisted financially by the Foundation, these provide water wells, medical care, literacy classes and other essentials to people around the world that are in need.

The Rotary Club in Helston, Cornwall, aware of the number of major disasters that occur worldwide and that deprive thousands of people of the basic needs of survival, developed a short term solution to help the victims of such disasters, sending a Shelter Box. This contains a tent capable of sleeping 10 people, water filtration equipment and dehydrated food to maintain those10 people for 4 weeks, plus emergency equipment, clothing, sleeping bags etc. Over the past 10 years over 115,000 shelter boxes have been funded and sent by Rotary Clubs in the UK, to such disasters as the Boxing Day tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, the hurricane that destroyed much of Haiti, the flooding in Bangladesh and the recent disaster in Japan. At a cost of £600 each that represents charity funds raised and spent of some £69 million.

The Rotary Polio Immunisation Campaign is the largest service project undertaken by Rotary, and our commitment to global Polio eradication began in 1979. Since that date Rotary has contributed more than US$600 million and with its partners including the W.H.O, the Centres for Disease Control and other organisations, has immunized over 2 BILLION children around the world. In 1985 more than 125 countries were polio endemic, but now only 4 countries remain. Rotary is presently engaged in a campaign to raise $200 million for this final part of the process. This is proving to be the most difficult as many children need to receive up to 8 doses of the vaccine in a year to ensure its effectiveness. Each year Rotarians travel at their own expense to India to take part in the vaccination programmes. A prime example of Rotary's service to the community.

Although the Rotary Club of Broadstairs is very active in participating in and supporting these international programmes, a great deal of community service is aimed towards the people of Thanet. These are some of local initiatives: Each June the Rotary Club organises a day out at Santus Circus for 1200 children attending local schools, concentrating on those children with learning difficulties. This is probably the noisiest of all our programmes! Just after Christmas we organise a pantomime outing for severely disabled children resident in the specialist homes in Thanet. For some of these children this is the only outing they will enjoy. Late January we invite just over 100 older people to a Winter Tea Party and again we try to include those who would not otherwise get out. Rotary members are also active in many other local charitable organisations, not just for fundraising, but to act as volunteers in helping the community. These include the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Thanet Youth Centre, the Charles Dickens School, Maurice House and the Women's' Refuge.

For additional information on Broadstairs Rotary Club phone Broadstairs Rotarian Brian Short on 07721452294 or for how to become a Rotarian please look at http://www.rotary-ribi.org/districts/committeedetails.php?DistrictNo=1230&DistSubCtteeID=1956