We enjoy a one course meal served to us in an upstairs room at The Pheasant Inn, prior to our meetings. We gather in the main bar from 6.00 pm onwards. See 'Meetings & Venue' section below for where and when meetings are held. 

Please contact Chris if you would like to join us to discuss what we do. 

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Our History

The Rotary Club of Telford Centre was chartered in 1992 on the initiative of Wellington Rotary Club.

Wellington, one of the older clubs in England, founded way back in 1929, set out to establish a brand new Rotary Club which would reflect the modern ethos of the then still 'New Town' image of Telford and it was very much with this in mind that Telford Centre Club was set up.

From the beginning Telford Centre reflected the latest thinking in the Rotary movement, it was initiated as a breakfast club and a concerted effort was made to introduce female Rotarians – something quite unusual for Rotary at the time. From the earliest days women Rotarians have contributed greatly to the success of the Club and a number of have served as Club President with all making a huge contribution to the Club’s continued success.

At its Charter Night in 1992 (a new Rotary Club is 'chartered' when it is formally accepted as part of the Rotary movement) the club got off to a flying start, with its 33 new Rotarians receiving the good wishes of clubs from across the District especially from Wellington Club, which presented the new club with much of its Rotary Regalia.

Rotary is largely about its members joining together in fellowship to be of service to the community, and from the start Telford Centre Rotarians engaged enthusiastically in a broad range of Rotary activities to assist the community locally, nationally and internationally.

For many years the Club took part in a key local Rotary fund raising event, the Christmas collection at Telford Centre, involving Rotarians getting out with collection tins and appealing to local people for cash, generally on behalf of local charities. In the 1990’s this appeal was highly successful, and many tens of thousands of pounds were raised.

In recent years the emphasis for the Christmas Appeal has moved away from the traditional collection to the Tree of Light fund raising initiative. This involves local Rotarians providing a very personal opportunity for people to remember loved ones at Christmas time and has been enormously successful. The Rotary “Tree of Light” project regularly raises approximately £40,000 for local charities and celebrated its 25th year or operation in 2020.

Telford Centre Rotary Club has been at the forefront of the Tree of Light initiative, indeed for a number of years it was led by a Telford Centre Club Rotarian. The Club is immensely proud of its involvement in the project, and of how it has enabled us to give significant help to charities such as the Severn Hospice, Hope House, Air Ambulance, Blood Bikes and smaller local charities.

Over the years the Club has also been active in Rotary projects at National and International level, both by fund raising and by direct personal participation of individual Rotarians. Many of the fund-raising efforts of course have the added benefit of providing great entertainment for the Rotarians involved, as witness the Club President of the time getting soaked whilst on a “Water Ride” at Drayton Manor Park when taking local disadvantaged children on a “Kids Out” day.

Of course, Rotary like any other organisation which wishes to thrive, must constantly be prepared to adjust to changing circumstances. Over the years since its inception Telford Centre has shown itself very willing to adapt. For example, some time ago it became clear that the most favoured time for meetings was no longer at breakfast time but instead as people left work, in the early evening. Accordingly, our weekly meetings now take place at “twilight” (6.30pm) so that Members can come along immediately after work, contribute to meetings, and still be home at a reasonable time in the evenings.

The Club then met weekly at The Ramada Hotel for many years but again, in response to requests to adapt following the Coronavirus in 2020 the Club currently holds its regular Tuesday meetings at The Pheasant Inn at Admaston but now only on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month.