Presidents Diary

Presidents Vision 2021-22 

‘Changing Lives Together’

The Rotary theme for 2021-22 is ‘Serve to Change Lives’.

Our club has a 45 year history of ‘serving to change lives’ both internationally and on the Isle of Portland and we are fully committed to continuing in this vein.   As with all clubs, our activities have been severely restricted over recent months, but we look forward positively to increasing opportunities to reunite as a group and make plans for the coming year.

As Rotary President for 2021-22 my vision for the Island and Royal Manor of Portland Rotary Club is for us to raise the profile of Rotary on the island, to maintain stability for our current members and attract new members.

Raising our profile is important for many reasons.  There are still misconceptions about who we are and what we do, which means we may not be on the radar of our local community, or potential new members, and our visibility has naturally reduced during lockdown.

We can raise our profile with a simple plan which can be easily implemented by the existing resources within our club:

1. A programme of Rotary events, activities or projects to raise money, simply have fun or to support a local cause will improve our visibility. 
   1. I’ve introduced a theme of environment as this is a current topic both in and outside of Rotary.
   2. Members are asked to contribute to the plan by identifying one or two large projects and a number of activities to focus on for the year ahead.
   3. Project Teams/ Committees will lead with engagement from the whole club to complete the task.

2. A focussed PR campaign to showcase the positive impact of Rotary on the island and internationally, opportunities for working together and offering support, giving information on how to become a member including different types of membership.
   1. Meet our island organisations to showcase what we do and identify opportunities to support or work jointly.
   2. Review and update our promotional leaflets and circulate to local groups and organisations
   3. Display posters on community notice boards
   4. Publicise widely through local publications and newsletters  via press releases and photos
   5. Use our social media coverage to promote what we do – make use of ‘Portland’ pages
   6. Proactively seeking opportunities to engage with our population
   7. Improving our visibility when performing community duties perhaps with new polo shirts/tabards with the Rotary logo.  

This plan aims to highlight to the community what we do – keeping us in the public eye, attract new members, empowers us to be proactive and responsive and able to plan ahead.  Perhaps the greatest benefit is bringing members back together after an extended period of separation and in some cases isolation, to celebrate being a Rotarian and doing what we do best… ‘changing lives together.’