The Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds meets on Tuesday evenings at the Bury St Edmunds & Farmers Club

Welcome to the website of the Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds.

Bury St Edmunds has two Rotary clubs: the Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds and the Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds Abbey. 

The Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds celebrated its 85th Charter Anniversary in 2024. 

Our Club meets weekly and currently has 25 members plus 3 Honorary members, with an average attendance at weekly meetings of around 18. We enjoy fellowship, serve the local community, raise money for good causes, and establish lasting friendships. We are an active club, one whose ambitions exceed our resources at present. Most of our members are in their fifties or retired and keen to put their skills to further use. Two have joined us during this Rotary Year. 

Visiting Rotarians are always welcome and we seek new members. You are welcome to come to a Fellowship evening (second Tuesday of the month). You may prefer to come to a Dinner & speaker meeting (£24 for a three-course meal). For Dinners, please let us know by the preceding Friday evening using the contact link at the top of this page so that we can arrange a meal for you.

Every Club member belongs to a committee. 

Our Community committee, chaired by Lucy Perkins, meets regularly throughout the year to consider requests for funding assistance received from local charities and other worthwhile causes. 

Our International committee, chaired by Jenny Benfield, responds to requests for immediate help after natural disasters and supports on-going projects such as lendwithcare. Our 'pandemic' project led to Bury St Edmunds becoming a Toilet-Twinned Town. 

Paul Rossi maintains our links with the Rotary Foundation. Our Club has supported a project in Nepal though a Rotary Global Grant. We once planted 5,000+ crocuses in Parkway , BSE, in support of End Polio Now.  The Club supports the Rotary Post-graduate Peace Scholarships with placements at the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia. Each year at least one Scholar visits the Club and gives a presentation of their work. 

The Vocational & Youth committee, chaired by Richard Hopper, works with local schools and also arranges our Club visits. Secondary School events include annual public-speaking competitions (Years 9 and 12) and our Service above Self Awards held at St Edmundsbury Cathedral. As part of the Rotary Dictionaries 4 Life project we gave dictionaries to 80 pupils in two of our local primary schools. 

Two Club members also offer support as mentors to young people in the locality as they prepare for their RYLA Course.  For futher details www.ryla.co.uk

The Fund-raising coordinator, Shelagh Wallace, is always on the look-out for new fundraising ideas. At present, we have  three annual projects: a Charity Golf Day in September, the Christmas Santa collections and an Charity Swimarathon in March.