How do we give service?
A brief overview of how Rotarians give service to their communities.
Our motto in Rotary is ‘Service Above Self’, in other words serve others before you serve yourself.
We have identified five avenues in which we can direct our service activities. Here is a brief description of each:-
- Club Service - focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan. We encourage all members to get involved in the activities of the club, to help lead projects (under guidance from more experienced members if appropriate), to contribute new ideas and expertise and accept leadership positions when asked.
- Vocational Service - calls on every Rotarian to work with integrity and use their vocational expertise to improve the problems and needs of society. This may be simply guiding the Club's thinking and planning, to helping local organisations to develop, to helping out with Rotary projects overseas.
- Community Service - encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest. We do that both individually and as a Club. Because we are a wide-spread group our community service will often involve helping another local Rotary club's activities.
- International Service - exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this service avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects, seeking partners abroad, and more.
- Youth Service - recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programmes such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange. These are specific programmes of Rotary which all Rotarians across the world recognise and try to support. More information about them can be found by clicking on the links which will take you to the main Rotary International website.
In Great Britain and Ireland many Clubs offer opportunities for our youngsters by running competitions and events such as Young Musician, Young Chef, Youth Speaks, Young Writer, etc., and again more information is available here
