Rotary in Darwen - welcome! Please scroll/swipe down through this page to find out more about us, in addition to the pages linked in the menu, top-left.
Featured pages
Darwen Jubilee Tower Restoration Project
Raising £100,000.00 to fund the restoration of Darwen's iconic tower
Details
Blackburn with Darwen Brass Band Hymn & Marching competition
23 brass bands from across Lancashire and Yorkshire competing in an open competition on the new Darwen Market Square
DetailsAbout us
As part of the Nation's fight against Covid-19 all physical meetings have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. We continue to meet electronically via Zoom and are active in the community.
If you would like to attend one of our meetings, please use the contact button at the bottom of this page to request the link.
A bit of history about Rotary in Darwen
The Rotary Club of Darwen formed in 1933 and brings together men and women to give service to our community and to enjoy good fellowship. We also raise funds to support local, national and international good causes.
The Club is active in all avenues of Rotary Service. Darwen Rotarians have played leading roles in establishing Darwen's Old People's Welfare Centre, the Abbeyfield Society and our Probus Club. The Club has a wide range of activities supporting local and international charities. The club recently undertook a project to build a Lego© model of Darwen tower to raise £25,000 for local good causes, charities and community groups. Currently we are raising £100,000 for the restoration of Darwen's Jubilee Tower. The club runs other fund raising activities and these are distributed annually to local charities and good causes.
Internationally the Club sponsors the education of a child in Sri Lanka. In the last year we have organised the funding of Shelterboxes and Aquaboxes, School books to Gambia and have supported Mercy Ships.
In 1959 proceeds from a Home Trade Exhibition formed the basis of the Rotary Club of Darwen Educational Fund. Subsequent legacies from past Rotarians have helped this fund to grow and it assists young persons and educational establishments in the Darwen Area. The Club is a supporter of Life Education Lancashire and there work in local primary and secondary schools. We have also established RotaKids groups in primary schools in the town.
Members are also active in many other spheres of local life, fulfilling the Rotary motto 'Service above Self'.
If this were not enough, Rotarians meet regularly to enjoy an evening together.
Darwen Tower
The most easily recognised symbol of Darwen. It stands on the moors overlooking the town and was built in 1897/8 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign.
On 11th November 2010 the dome and top section of the tower were blown off during a night of very strong winds that caused much damage across the area. Local businesses volunteered their services in repairing the tower and it was hoped to finish the work by the end of March but we waited until May 2011 for English Heritage's blessing.
The replacement has been manufactured from stainless steel by apprentices at WEC engineering, a Darwen firm.
The new dome was lifted into place on Friday 13th January 2012 by helicopter. There is a spectacular video of this operation on UTube (although you may wish to fast forward the first 25 seconds).
The Tower has suffered from the ravages of the weather over the years. We organise fund raising to have it repaired (see project details above)
Repairs are now under way with scaffolding going up.
December 2020 January 21 Bulletin.pdf
To find out more click on the What We Do button at the top right of the web page
Happening soon...
Sat, Oct 16th 2021 9:25 am - 3:30 pm Sat, Oct 23rd 2021
Crocus planting
Planting 20,000 purple crocus corms on Borough Road
Sat, Oct 23rd 2021 11:00 am
Walk a mile for Polio
Sponsored walk through the centre of Darwen to raise awareness of Polio and to raise funds for its global eradication
detailsMon, Oct 25th 2021 6:30 pm
Social meeting
Meeting on Zoom
Mon, Nov 1st 2021 8:00 pm
Council meeting
Sat, Nov 6th 2021 6:30 pm
Darwen Town Bonfire
Log in for more.
Darwen Town Bonfire in aid of the Mayor's Charity. Held at Darwen Cricket Club to raise funds for Cancer Relief.
detailsMon, Nov 8th 2021 6:30 pm
Business meeting & SGM
Meeting on Zoom
Meetings & Venue
Where and when:
We meet on Mondays at 18:00 for 18:30
(No meetings on Bank Holidays. We meet twice a month. Please check future events section for details of dates etc. ) Meeting on Zoom for the foreseeable future.Rotary News
Be part of a global network of volunteers, trying to make the world a better place. Please also see the 'links & news' page for information from the local district and live feeds from Rotary International and Rotary International in GB&I.