My First Year - How I came to join and why I'm glad I did...

My First Year

I was introduced to the Rotary Club of Dover by a very good friend – I was caring for my daughter and looking for something to get me out of the house.  From my very first meeting in January, I was warmly welcomed and by the February had made the decision to join the Fellowship programme - a one year, no-obligation ‘try before you buy’ scheme that is unique to the Rotary Club of Dover - as I didn’t feel I could commit sufficiently to take on full membership owing to my caring commitments.

Fast forward to April and I was finding so many ways of being able to be involved in the Club.  With my friend’s impending Presidency approaching – the Rotary year runs from 1 July to 30 June to avoid clashes with other cultural, religious or financial new years - I made the decision to take the step and become a full Rotarian.  Unfortunately, just a couple of weeks after my induction my daughter deteriorated and sadly passed away. I was so pleased that she had been able to attend some of the Rotary meetings with me and as a result of that it felt easier to accept the support and fellowship of my Rotarian family.  The support I received was greatly appreciated and in fact the regularity of the meetings and the fellowship that I received made a very difficult period of my life a little easier and continues to do so.

My involvement in the Club continues to grow and I am finding more and more opportunities arising with ways to help in the Club, the community and beyond.  In my first year I have found myself involved with several very successful events, I have joined in public collections, assisted with taking Santa in to a local school and done training in order to be involved with a global grant.  A year ago, I would never have considered half of these things were possible.

All of these things have given me a new purpose but there is one thing that really sticks in my mind and endorses my decision to become a Rotarian.  One day I was aimlessly browsing through Facebook and a lady was desperately asking for help to raise funds in order to access some essential match funding for a project in the town providing much needed activities for disabled children during the summer holidays.  Something about the appeal made me reach out to the lady and we ended up having a telephone conversation about the scheme and other avenues of funding.  Following the conversation, I took appeal to our Club’s Council – the 12 Rotarians elected annually by Club members to do the decision-making donkey work.  When I called the lady to tell her the Club would like to make a donation, her words made me realise why being a Rotarian is so important. She said to me, “Thank you so much for the donation but you gave me so much more by reaching out – you gave me hope.”  In a year where our motto was “Create Hope in the World” I felt at that moment - This is what it means to be a Rotarian.

Let us all remember it is not always about the money it is about the caring, the listening and the being willing so as 2024 starts let us all try and “Create Hope in the World “. I am entering 2024 proud to be part of the Rotary Family.

Autumn 2024 Update

My Rotary journey continues apace.  At the beginning of this Rotary year, I took on the lead role for our Club’s International projects.  Our main focus at the moment is working in conjunction with a Rotary Club in Nepal to enable the construction of toilet blocks in two schools in a countryside district of Nepal.  Schools without decent loo facilities…something that would be rightly unthinkable in Kent!  To find out more click here https://www.justgiving.com/page/dover-rotary-nepal-project 

Speaking of Districts, our Dover Club is one of about 70 in the South-east District of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland.  Our District is attempting to buy a new Rapid Response Vehicle for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance. You can read more about this project and why it’s so important to me in our KSSAA news item.